Here’s the situation, this guy, he’s fully capable of welding and fabbing, I have seen his work. “He is planning on building a custom air tank for his air bagged truck. He wants to build it square so it tucks up in the frame well and takes advantage of all space available. He wants to build it out of 1/8”. “Now a guy came on saying that a square air tank would explode, and he should be using at least 3/16”. Now you never know on this forum, there are a lot of wannabe experts and this guy is not exactly a guy thats been around for awhile on there. “So I figured I would take it to the pros, would a square air tank made out of 1/8” provided its welded properly withstand at most 200 psi but most likely 145 psi operating pressure.
I’d rather be wrong than maimed or dead. “Around 1.5 cu ft tank or so is needed to air up four 33″ tires at 130 psi. I’m assuming stainless steel is the way to go instead of mild steel because of the problem with condensation forming in the tank and rusting the tank from the inside out until it potentially explodes. A 10” cube tank filled to 130 psi will have 13000pounds of push on each tank wall.
Assume 100PSI MAWP, and a diameter of 100 inches,,, the force on the shell in the circumferential direction from a one inch long slice will be 100 inches times one inch time 100PSI=10000 pounds, so each side of the ring will need to hold 5000 pounds. Using a steel of yeild 40000PSI, you need 1/8 square inch to support 5000 pounds, and therefore, a thichness of less than 1/8 inch will be insufficient and fail. The same 40000PSI yeild steel will fail if less than 0.052 inch thick, so a safe thickness would be about 0.25 inch, for a safety factor of near 5.
While there are air compressors that run on a demand system, that is, the compressor motor runs all the time but the pump only compresses air when the air system calls for it and have no tank to speak of, the air compressors that most of us are familiar with in our basement or garage workshops are those that have a compressed air tank. The compressor air tank on the DIY or small workshop type air compressor can be pancake shaped, it can be round, hot dog shaped, and some air compressors even come with two small, parallel air tanks instead of just one compressor air tank. If your air compressor comes with a too small tank and it is forever cycling on and off to keep you in compressed air supply, then adding a compressor air tank to increase the store of pre-compressed air is a good solution.
Like mentioned, you can fill the tank with water while welding and then drain the water. I’ve welded on quite a few diesel fuel tanks that had holes but you must take precautions, like make sure the tank is full of diesel fuel at least over the level your welding on, and have some fire fighting equipment at hand and someone else to watch while you weld to see what going on that you can not see, for safety, but I think anyone doing this should have experienced people doing this very dangerous operation. We did it fairly often and were used to it and were more than safe, your life depends on it, don’t weld on gas tanks, unless filled with water!! best wishes, ray.
Althоugh mаnufасturing dеfесtѕ саn саuѕеd tаnk tо еxрlоdе, thе lеаding саuѕе оf аir соmрrеѕѕоr tаnk ruрturе iѕ соrrоѕiоn оf thе tаnk frоm wаtеr соndеnѕаtе. Thе соndеnѕаtiоn thаt fоrmѕ inѕidе thе tаnk muѕt bе drаinеd rеgulаrlу tо hеlр рrеvеnt thе bоttоm оf thе tаnk frоm соrrоding. Thе еаѕiеѕt wау tо рlumb thе ѕесоnd tаnk intо уоur ѕуѕtеm iѕ tо diѕсоnnесt уоur mаin аir fееd fitting аt thе соmрrеѕѕоr tаnk аnd run thе linе tо thе nеw tаnk соnnесting thе twо tоgеthеr.
why are air compressor tanks round Related Question:
Why do air tanks have round ends?
Keep in mind that air tanks are round with rounded ends for a reason. Square or rectangular tanks when under pressure will be trying to become round. Every pressure cycle will be another fatigue stress cycle that may or may not be significant to the tubing used.
Why are air tanks round and not square?
Because round tanks have fewer angles to fail under high pressure. Most, if not all, compressed gas tanks and cylinders are round. Your bic lighter is not because it is at a much lower pressure. Sharp angles are points of failure.
Can air tanks be square?
American manufacturer SquareTank specializes in building uniquely designed composite body air tanks. Using CNC-machined connecting rods, composite tubing, and square-shaped end caps, the company creates beautiful, sturdy, and functional aluminum tanks.
Why do some air compressors have a tank?
Compressor tanks provide a simple goal for the system to reach, reducing cycles and preventing excessive loading or unloading of air into the system.
Why are gas tanks round?
Large tanks tend to be vertical cylindrical, or to have rounded corners transition from vertical side wall to bottom profile, to easier withstand hydraulic hydrostatically induced pressure of contained liquid.
Why are oxygen cylinders round?
Why are cylindrical? Actually, whenever a liquid or gas is placed in a vessel, it creates the highest pressure at the corners of that vessel. The advantage of being round or cylindrical is that the entire cylinder has the same pressure. If there is less and more pressure at some places then it can be dangerous.
What are air bumpers?
Also known as bumper air dams, front bumper air deflectors are installed to improve the aerodynamics of the car for better speed. This allows the driver to control the vehicle with more confidence at sustained high-speed driving situations.
Why are air tanks cylinders?
Cylinders provide gas to the diver through the demand valve of a diving regulator or the breathing loop of a diving rebreather.
Can I run a compressor without a tank?
A Tank Will Not… Increase or decrease the workload of a compressor to do a job. If you take air out of a tank and put it in a tire, the compressor must work the same amount as it would if you had no tank at all. Allow tires to be inflated any faster than an Oasis compressor can do alone.
Do you need an air tank for an air compressor?
Some air compressors, such as reciprocating air compressors, require an air receiver tank to operate. But even air compressors that don’t need an air receiver tank can benefit from the installation of one.
Does a rotary screw air compressor need a tank?
Because rotary screw air compressors can run continuously, there’s no need to wait for an air receiver tank to fill before you can start using the air. Those tend to be the most popular benefits of rotary screw air compressors.
Why are gas cylinders cylindrical?
The container cannot withstand any high pressure. Pressure is the main reason behind making the cylinder round or cylindrical in shape. When liquid or gas is placed in a container or tank, maximum pressure is applied to its corners. Now if the cylinders are square, they also have four corners.
Why do gas storage tanks go up and down?
“Gas used to be made from burning coal. Coal would be brought to an incinerator near one of the holders via train or boat,” he explains. “As the gas was pumped into the holders, the domed container would rise, telescoping up in enormous metal sections, guided by its steel framework.” And so, the cylinders would rise.
Why oil tanks are cylindrical in shape?
Even the large tanks used in refineries for holding petroleum products are cylindrical in shape. This is because cylinders don’t have corners. Cubes and cuboids have more space, but their corners make them unsuitable for carrying fluid.
Why Helium is used in oxygen cylinder?
The main reason for adding helium to the breathing mix is to reduce the proportions of nitrogen and oxygen below those of air, to allow the gas mix to be breathed safely on deep dives. A lower proportion of nitrogen is required to reduce nitrogen narcosis and other physiological effects of the gas at depth.
