Propane tank pictures, suggestions?

[goosegunner]

Here are two pictures of the propane tank I found. 4 ports in the middle.

one 2"
Three 1-1/2"

Any suggestions on what to add now that you see the pictures?


gg

 

[dogwood]

Maybe a long diptube so your return water can come back to the bottom of the tank if you don't have a bottom fitting. There's a hexagonal type fitting that has a both an outer thread and a threaded hole in the middle for threaded pipe ends. You might utilize the 2" hole to accomodate a fairly wide diptube with this type fitting. Wish I could remember what it's called.

Mike

 

[ewdudley]

Maybe a long diptube so your return water can come back to the bottom of the tank if you don't have a bottom fitting. There's a hexagonal type fitting that has a both an outer thread and a threaded hole in the middle for threaded pipe ends. You might utilize the 2" hole to accomodate a fairly wide diptube with this type fitting. Wish I could remember what it's called.

Mike

Double tapped reducing bushing, 2.0" x 1.5" might do the trick. F W Webb is one place that carries them.

 

[goosegunner]

Thanks,

The guy that I am getting the tank from will cut and put in any additional fittings I want. He said $50 an hour plus fitting cost. He thought about an hour per hole to cut and weld.

I found out today that the tank also has a 1-1/2" hole in the bottom for a drain.

Maybe I should add a high on one end and a low on the other end?

What about the big 4" on the end for solar?

gg

 

[dogwood]

I'm using the bottom hole on mine for the return.

Mike

 

[goosegunner]

I guess I could also do that. Does that cause any issues will not mixing the water?

I thought If I had a high on one end and a low in the other it would mix the tank better.

gg

 

[stee6043]

I guess I could also do that. Does that cause any issues will not mixing the water?

I thought If I had a high on one end and a low in the other it would mix the tank better.

gg

One thing you'll find is that "mixing" is what you don't want when storing hot water. Some folks have gone to great lengths to minimize turbulance in the tanks to keep the hot water/cold water seperated in your tank. The better the separation during transfer the more efficient your system will be. Obviously there will come a point when the tank is filled 100% with hot water but once you start drawing it out you want to keep that cool water on the bottom and the hot water on the top...

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

You want the hot boiler water to go in the top of the tank & cold return water out the bottom(I would weld in fittings accordingly). I forget if you are running a gasser. If you are you will need a return mixer to keep temps up. Your system loop is typically 2 more fittings one below the top & one just above the bottom fitting. With my tank I just copied the ones on Kotly's website. Don't worry about welding in small fittings for temp wells, you can tap right into the 1/4/5/16 plate if needed. I used immersion thermometers(no wells). Randy

 

[goosegunner]

You want the hot boiler water to go in the top of the tank & cold return water out the bottom(I would weld in fittings accordingly). I forget if you are running a gasser. If you are you will need a return mixer to keep temps up. Your system loop is typically 2 more fittings one below the top & one just above the bottom fitting. With my tank I just copied the ones on Kotly's website. Don't worry about welding in small fittings for temp wells, you can tap right into the 1/4/5/16 plate if needed. I used immersion thermometers(no wells). Randy

Ok so what I am hearing here is that I could use this tank as is. I could supply to one of the center top holes and return to either the bottom drain hole which is 1-1/2" or the center hole that has the dip tube installed.

I don't want to mix the tank so it should not be an issue if all the ports are near the center?

gg

 

[ewdudley]

Ok so what I am hearing here is that I could use this tank as is. I could supply to one of the center top holes and return to either the bottom drain hole which is 1-1/2" or the center hole that has the dip tube installed.

I don't want to mix the tank so it should not be an issue if all the ports are near the center?

gg

It shouldn't really matter that the ports are in the middle or one end or the other. Ideally you'd like to have horizontal pipes, but that's probably more fabricating that it's worth.

What you can do is devise some sort of diffuser to deflect vertical streams of water.

For instance take a short nipple and weld small rod inside on one side and then weld a disk small enough to fit through the port to the end of the rod, and then some strips of springy steel strapping to the disk so that they fold through the port and then will fan out.

Any other diffuser you can come up with that will fit through the port would be better than nothing.

Then again probably not a big concern. Since the tank will be charged continuously until the boiler runs out of fuel, the fact that there was mixing at the top of the tank at the beginning of the burn won't matter in the end. And since cool return water will be entering the bottom of the tank at a relatively slow rate the jetting effect will likewise be less.

--ewd

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

GG; My tank is vertical & doesn't mix with large diameter horizontal inlets/ outlets. The baffles for your tank sounds like a good plan & large diameter piping(I'm running 1 1/2") will also help with mixing. I think most members are running horizontal tanks & happy with the results, Randy