Standards . Without a doubt both in Massachusetts and the rest of Oildom this gets some guys hackles up like nothing else . It ’ s the ‘ Series Piping Rule ’ as shown in Figure 4 that is taken from NFPA31-2011 , Figure 8.9.1
Now , lets get a few things understood . I personally would never put in tanks this way and that settles that . But , because I live and work based in Massachusetts I ’ ve never been in a situation where the customer has been able to say to me , “ keep the outside pipes to a minimum ” and not been able to pipe up to 2 tanks using the “ Parallel Piping Rule .” But , although the customer is not always right , he is the customer and I have no problem with giving him what he wants if he ’ s willing to pay for it .
First things first ! Every oil tank must have its own fill pipe , no getting around that . In series piping I fill the first tank with any size pipe of 1-1 / 4 inch or greater . But , since my vent must always be equal to or greater than the fill pipe and the crossover pipe is required to be two-inch ( 2 ”), then my vent , in Massachusetts , must be 2 inch leaving the second tank per NFPA1-11.5.1.10.5 ( 10 )( c )
The crossover pipe I refer to as a ‘ spill pipe ’, instead of a fill pipe because if you think about it , that second tank is filled from a spilling of the first tank . That ’ s the reason I don ’ t like it . In addition , 2-inch pipe is more expensive than 1-1 / 4-inch pipe and being a Yankee Oilman I am cheap and I hate change . That crossover has to have swing joints and a ground joint union . What ? I don ’ t need this , I ’ ll do it as a parallel piped job .
In parallel piping I install two fill pipes , one to each tank and a common vent . That vent can be 1-1 / 4-inch pipe according to NFPA31-7.2.5.1 . I twin them together and leave the building with 1-1 / 4-inch pipe . In Massachusetts I could do up to four tanks with four fills and one vent , but my vent would have to be 1-1 / 2-inch to comply with the code .
Well , that ’ s it , my take on how to install oil tanks without ending up with an insurance claim or lawsuit that will break your back . See ya . l FON
George Lanthier is the owner of Firedragon Academy , a Massachusetts Certified School teaching gas and oil and other heating subjects . The Academy ’ s website is www . FiredragonEnt . com .
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