fuel oil question - Model Railroader Magazine

Hi!

The oil tanks with a high melting point were heated by "steam tracing".  At Mobil's refineries we wrapped copper tubing around the pipes and hooked the tubing up to steam lines.  The tanks themselves were often lined inside with coils of heavier piping thru which steam was injected.

In really cold climates (Joliet Illinois in winter) you did your best to never let the oil set up - either in lines or tanks.  It was much easier and I believe cheaper in the long run to keep steam moving thru the lines continuously.

The tanks for all the liquids were kept clean and nicely painted at the refineries I worked, but typically the ones with the heavy oils (particularly #6, etc) tended to get dirtier faster.  Of course the value of the heavy oils is less than the light ends (i.e. gasolines), so in some locations these facilities got more housekeeping attention.  The color of the tanks was usually dictated by the company owner - and could be white, grey, silver, black, or whatever the company gurus thought looked best.  

About tankages, usually at a refinery the biggest tanks were for crude oil, and the other tanks were for finished or more likely semi-finished products.  Those tanks that were "spherical" were for propane or butanes (petroleum that is a gas at normal temps) and they are pressurized.  Tanks that are cylindrical are typically for propane and the like.  PLEASE note, the above is a generalization - but much more often the case than not.

 By the way, I "mis-wrote" in my earlier posting when I said asphalt was a direct result of crude refining.  I meant to write "coke" - a very dirty substance for sure.  Asphalt is made from the heavy oils (resulting from the crude cracking process), after being mixed with gravel and other "stuff".

Regarding pictures, I suspect if you go to the image section of google or yahoo and typed in "tank farm", oil refinery, oil tank, etc., you would come up with lots of examples.

ENJOY!

Mobilman44