Oil drums for gasoline storage

I your going to run a pressure valve vent I'd run it out side. personally though that's how you loose the quality of the gas over time. I would only need a small hose fuel line if you will for GP to daisy chain from barrel to barrel to pressure vent hose out side , each barrel would need it's own check valve to prevent one low tank from gassing off and pressurizing the rest .
A full to the top barrel does not develop much pressure if any,
It is the vacant air space in the tank that allows the gas to vaporize and pressurize .
I know because I am always filling and using that fuel near the end of the month when my funds are low. We have 100+ degree temperatures here , so I watch this issue very closely.
Also keeping the tank full prevents the tank from flexing the ends when weather heats up . a partially filled tank you can here it bump in the morning and at night. if you intend on filling it for emergency and can't fill it all at once, then leave the bung less then tight so it can breathe bit past the gasket like a pressure valve and then once it's full then tighten it down.
Make you self a strap steel tool for opening the bung and tightening it down again .

 

Putting your drums underground (even in an unused root or storm shelter, or a hole you dig, and line to, hopefully, keep most water out) will solve your temperature variance problems. Underground fuel tanks (or rather large above-ground tanks, most likely bigger than most of us will be able to afford to fill) maintain constant temperature, pretty much year-round.

The only thing you need to be aware of, is that if you do have venting from the drums, it's going to tend to stay down in that hole, displacing the air. Not only flammable, but potentially dangerous for anyone going down there!

A way around that problem is to either:
- naturally ventilate the hole
- install a turbine ventilator, with a pipe going down to within a couple inches of the floor (that way, it's not just recirculating the air at the top of the hole), or
- install a vent from the bottom of the hole to outside (with a loop at the top, to keep rain out), and a forced air supply going into the hole (so you're pushing fresh air in, and pushing bad air out, through that vent).

The trick, with an explosive atmosphere, is that while sucking atmosphere OUT of the space requires a fan with either an air motor, or an explosive-proof electric motor, pushing air INTO the space has no such requirements.

 

Which is why we typically used a pneumatic fan, in the fuels world, for ventilating tanks. Keep the air compressor upwind, and you can run it all day long, without worrying about it.

You could also put a damper in the supply duct, or an opening in the duct, below the level of the electric fan. Vapors will always seek the easiest pathway to flow.

 

I am wondering on the practicality of gasoline storage...not so much with regards to keeping it fresh or stable for the long term but on how much one would actually need to store to make it worthwhile.

Here's what I mean. I looked up the specs for what I think is a fairy typical home generator (a Generac XP8000e) and at 50% load it has a run time of 10 hours for 9 gallons. That means a 55 gallon drum will run this generator for about 61 hours. I assume that other generators will have similar specs. I also assume that some of the time the unit will run at greater than 50% load and sometimes less so that the average will be around 50%. So one full drum of gasoline will last just 2 1/2 days. Thus to have power for a year I'd need to store nearly 150 drums. And that presumes I use the gasoline only for the generator and nothing else. For short term needs I can see the benefit of having a couple of drums stored but I do not believe that it's feasible to utilize gasoline for long term needs.

I'd be interested in hearing what you are actually storing gasoline for. I am looking more and more at converting my home and bug out location to solar and wonder what others are thinking in this regards.

 

As a fuel distributor you probably have a great long term storage solution! That said, for long term SHTF scenarios fuel will still run out. Do you have an alternative power plan?

 

So long as you fill the drum full, no air space, there will be no gassing off. lids must be kept tight.
When you start using your spares, empty one at a time .
You will notice that once you've removed a few gallons the effects of expansion and contraction will begin to take effect on the drum lid.
Gassing off is a bit like eppervesance in a soda bottle , if you' leave it open, the soda goes flat . same with gas .

 

I have 2 barrels for diesel and picked up a new hand crack pump for less than 60 bucks on line works fine hose could be longer.

 

I one thing I would do with a oil drum before filling it with gas is put in A half gallon of gas or so and spin the barrel around to wash some of the oil out. Then use the wash gas to start burn piles

 

Boat out fits use a product called "water finder" It is a green paste that turns almost purple/red when exposed to water.
I check my barrels as the are being filled and see to it there is no water being added. A stick with a dab on the end usually tells me all I need to know .( if rust has already gotten started ,you just have to deal with it a it is exposed.)
If I find any trace of water I take a tube "usually copper" ,and a primer bulb and draw the water from off the bottom .
If it is ignored the barrel can rust away and loose all the con tense .
I just lost an old barrel I had kerosene in . ( never thought to check it for water) fortunately I had an empty barrel to transfer it into.
I need to inspect the failed barrel and see how seriously the rust has eaten .
I'll have to repurposes it for something else.
As for storing gas under ground its not generally a good idea in that if you barrel leaks it's leaking into your soil . Some states go nuts over this issue.