3rd Year Newbie (2015) will be moving up to a Oil Tank Evaporator.

[Lethalbowman]

My neighbor gave me this Oil Tank he had behind his pole-barn so I intend to convert it to an evaporator by next spring. I picked up 4 sets of old bed rails (1 1/2" angle iron) along with some misc. other angle iron for $10.00 at a garage sale so I should have plenty of material to build the infrastructure. I have plenty of used firebrick on hand to line the inside and just got my hands on a blower motor to really improve my boil rate. I guess the one question I have is; how have others cleaned out the inside of the tank prior to cutting it open? I sure don't want to find out the hard way that it still has enough old oil in it to create an explosion. 981298139814

[psparr]

As long as it had heating oil in it, it won't explode, or even catch fire. It needs to be atomized to burn well. I used a sawzall. The metal is pretty thin.http://www.discussionsnetwork.com/forumfiend/uploads/images/897.jpg

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[wnybassman]

I've tried using bed frame rails on other various projects and I found them to be nearly impossible to work with. Never tried a chop saw, but they eat jigsaw and sawzall blades, and I never found a drill bit that liked them either.

[Lethalbowman]

I have access to a 14" abrasive wheel cut off saw at work and just about any other industrial tools required to get the rails down to the lengths needed. I have found that cobalt high speed bits work great on SS so they should cut through the rails. A couple drops of cutting oil works wonders.

[handtapper]

Angle grinder works better than sawzall you don't get the vibration as bad. You can throw a match in diesel and it will go out. I had to start a fire using newspaper inside the tank just to get it to start. Once it goes it will burn black like a tire fire for a bit.

[Bernie/MA]

If a piece of redhot steel falls into the sludge it will start it burning...fast. I found out using a torch because I was told it would be safe. Just sparks are no problem. BTW, if you will need grates I have some old steam house radiators.

[Too Tall]

I had the same concerns when I built mine. I stuck a 4' fuse in and lit it. Waited about 20 minutes. Nothing happened. Went at it with a sawzall. No issues, just a lot of vibrations and 2 broken blades.

[BreezyHill]

I cut up propane tanks to make vac pump reclaimers. As long as it is vented it will not explode. Great thing to watch for at scrape yards or garage sales are the old SS fire extingushers. They were usually filed with water and have a tire valve on the top. I have three I use when demoing tanks or cutting scrap.

If you have ability to heat and bend the bed rails it will be easier. They are usually a spring steel. Torch, Hammer and a vice and you can do so great metal work.

Good Luck!