turning this liquid oxygen tank into a fermenter

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jonp9576

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
1,305
Reaction score
5
Location
Lansdale, PA
I working in the compressed gas business we have to take some old cylinders out of service. i found this one out back rusting away so i wondered if the inside stainless container was still in good shape.

i cut into the outer shell, and the vacuum was still good.
stainlesscanistersanddrinkingath-15.jpg


i pulled the inner container out and saw layers and layers of insulation.

stainlesscanistersanddrinkingath-10.jpg


after a little i was left with this. it holds about 25 gallons of liquid.

stainlesscanistersanddrinkingath-1.jpg



i dont think i need a fermenter this ig so i was thinking about cutting it down to be about 15 gallons, or even smaller.

what i need is ideas for how to do this. so far i am thinking about something like this.

stainlessidea.jpg




any ideas as far as valves for racking and such, or a different way to make it open?

thanks
 
Just cut out a hole in the top and use a corny lid with an airlock on it. If you're going to cut it down weld the two sections together.
 
i want to be able to open it up and get my arm in there for cleaning. my arm wont reach the bottom of a corny, and probably wouldnt reach the bottom of this through a corny lid
 
Im really new to this but the first thing that comes to mind is not a fermentor. Possibly a kettle, or cut in half for two kettles, or storage tank for kegging.

If you were to cut out the section I think it would be really hard to make a good seal, even with a gasket. Possibly could work if the ss is thick and the radially cut is perfect. Or if you can find a gasket that wrapes around the edge of the cut. Not an oring, unless you can route a bead in the steel. You could weld a flange on both halves to receive the gasket.

What is the volume, diameter, length
 
right now it would hold about 25 gallons. from weld to weld its 38 inches. and its about 14 inches in diameter
 
If it were mine I would cut it in half then add cones to the open ends, add a corny window to the top and botton plus 3 legs each for two app 14-15 gallon volume fermenters. Add a botton trub dump and racking arm to both. Small enough in diameter to place two together at once in the refigerator.
Lucky good find, where's mine?
 
i want to be able to open it up and get my arm in there for cleaning. my arm wont reach the bottom of a corny, and probably wouldnt reach the bottom of this through a corny lid

buy or build a brush for cleaning? nice find
 
so where do i get the cones?

The next reply has 16" hoppers at $172 and $205 each, way too expensive for me as they make this project add up in money rather fast.
Yesterday I was at my friends custom stainless fabrication shop for a couple hours helping and BSN. With all the marina's and boats on this island 90% of his work is for marine hardware railings or anything related with boats and stainless. Jet powered Ski-Doo he built for run yes he's a thinker and thinker also. A metal artist in stainless bar none.
I would have him slip roll me a set of cones if I had those SS tanks, it would be material cost only. A far cry from what Toledo is asking for their units. I have connections in many fields of work from my background.
 
i might ditch the cone idea because i want to make this for very few $.

what if i just git it in half and use the rounded ends as the "cones"

any ideas on how effective it would be. i am not too concerned with harvesting yeast. but i would like a racking valve

then for the tops i can just make a flat lid
 
i might ditch the cone idea because i want to make this for very few $.

what if i just git it in half and use the rounded ends as the "cones"

any ideas on how effective it would be. i am not too concerned with harvesting yeast. but i would like a racking valve

then for the tops i can just make a flat lid

Just remember that you won't really have a conical. The idea is to be able to EFFECTIVELY rack the yeast from the bottom dump valve. It would still work pretty well.
 
well...since i really wont need anything more than 10 gallons i'll cut it in half. i'll use one half for the fermenter i was talking about making with a flat lid and rounded bottom. and i'll save the other half for a conical later if i decide i need one.
 
well...since i really wont need anything more than 10 gallons i'll cut it in half. i'll use one half for the fermenter i was talking about making with a flat lid and rounded bottom. and i'll save the other half for a conical later if i decide i need one.

Don't cut yourself short (no pun intended) here stating only 10 gallons that I believe would be your maximum batch size. You'll need the extra space above the liquid level your working with for the boil off loss as well foam.
What I was thinking with the added cones you gained more volume for a pair of pefect conical fermenters, this is a high cost item in you equipment collection.
I would add the cones plus look around for a stainless ring that would slip onto the tank, machined and welded with a "O" ring pocket machined on top for the lid to seal against. Add a stainless ring that slides up the body stopping against this added on welded ring with a hoop of app 3" wide out of flat 1/4"SS stock. Weld a 3/4-13 SS rod coupling to the side of this hoop. Use 3/4"-13 ss all thread with a knob. The all thread will apply pressure on a 1/4" thick by 4" diameter disk with a 3/4" washer tack welded as a centering guide for the threaded rod to press against when you tighern down on the lid preventing a high pressure small contact point on the cover pressing in the center. Bottom line you have something special to start with, run with it and make something good out of it, pots and kegs are common items you can get anywhere. A shame to waste this tank but then again it's yours not mine. To me this would be a $1,800 savings not counting materials vs two 14 gallon commercially built frementers. I'll shut up now.
 
if i were to use half for a rounded bottom fermenter and save the other half for a future conical they would be around 12.5 gallons each, plus the volume of the rounded end. probably another gallon or so.

so is 13.5 gallons enough room for a 10 gallon batch?
 
I must see things in a different way and save things like a special item for a special job.
Are you in a scrap salvage yard business? If so what is the weight of that 25 gallon tank after it has been stripped clean? How much a pound for scrap 316 stainless in your area?
 
I do 5 gallon batches in a 6.5 glass fermenter..... so 10 gals in a 13 + gallon fermenter would seem to work.

I know you guys supply gas - do you do your own stainless welding ?

I'm toying with the idea of doing larger fermentations, because I've got the ability to boil 10+ gallons now, but I'm thinking it's probably more reasonable to just split larger batches into 5 gallon increments & then I can experiment with different yeasts or temperatures & get some variety.
 
If you use the ID of 13.750" for 1/8" wall thickness ( a guess of the tanks thickness) of that tank you have 148.48 sq/inch of surface area. At 231 cu/inch a gallon the level will rise 1.555" per gallon added. It would work on what you want that tank to become in you system but any exta added liquids will get you close to the brim rather quickly vs a 16" diameter 15.5 keg.
 
brewbeemer--

i am in the compressed gas business, we had a bunch of these laying around so i cut it open and saw the stainless tank inside and ideas started flowing.

its just under 75 lbs when its all cut away, and the price of scrap is not worth very much at all. the bottom dropped out about a month ago.



XXguy

we do sell the gas, but i am not a very good welder. we supply a bunch of local welders some of who specialize in stainless so i am now in the process of finding out if one of these guys can make some nice cuts and welds for me.
 
Jon; a few questions here.
What other sizes do these liquid oxygen tanks come in and how hard are they for a person like me to locate one? It must be from my area as i'm on thefull left coast in the San Francisco bay are. I would like to locate one like you have or a little larger without having a big diameter unit causing one per refrigerator fermenter. I have the welding equipment with a good friend that works only stainless plus has a 16" Pratt lathe for the sealing rings.
The gears in head spinning on ideas.
 
i have only seen two sizes. the one i am using, and a smaller one about half the size. i am sure they come in other sizes, but you wont find one.

the problem will be finding one. AirGas, praxair, airliquide are companies that would have the tanks. more than likely they wont give you one, but it wouldnt hurt to ask. i would first ask if they have any that are out of service, or very old ones.

File:Liquid nitrogen tank.JPG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

this is a newer one, as you can see the outside is stainless just like the inner cyl.

you might be able to find an old one where the outside is steel and the inside is stainless.

new they are a few thousand dollars.

also, if its taken out of service they are probably going to drill a hole in it or cut it in half before they give it to you. tell them what you want to do with it, most people in my industry are intrigued by this kind of stuff.


you can also try welding supply shops, soda distributors(they sell co2 in these now for bars) any place that sells medical gas.



the bigger the company the more they would have, but the less likely they would be to give you one.
 
The welding supply driver I see in my area delivers at my friends muffler shop and the other friend the stainless fabricator. They both have the same driver for welding gases. I have seen many times the double wrapped stainless oxygen tanks on his truck. No steel wrapped. I'll have to ask him next time about them. Thanks for posting now you got me thinking on how to spend some more magic money I don't have. In my area all scrap metal prices are down again even stainless. Your lucky take care of that tank. Two fermenters would be the only thing I would build out of it if it were mine as kegs and pots are cheap and common, get 'em anywhere. Any brand fermenter is expensive to purchase. You have this perfect chance to build two your own granted it's not going to be cheap but not as much as what is on the market these days. Besides I do not like the design of what is out there. maybe i'm more jazzed about that tank than you are, sorry it's just me. Enjoy.
 
brewbeemer--

i am in the compressed gas business, we had a bunch of these laying around so i cut it open and saw the stainless tank inside and ideas started flowing.

its just under 75 lbs when its all cut away, and the price of scrap is not worth very much at all. the bottom dropped out about a month ago.



XXguy

we do sell the gas, but i am not a very good welder. we supply a bunch of local welders some of who specialize in stainless so i am now in the process of finding out if one of these guys can make some nice cuts and welds for me.

You got that right on the bottom falling out on metals even batteries were up to $0.50 a pound now $3 to $4 each. Great as I have over 850 pounds I wanted to cash in. There went my March pumps and other needed items. Again a day late and a dollar short that's me.
 
well...right before the prices went so hi i had about 300 lbs of copper. i only got $1 a pound for it.

at one point it was over $3.50. very upset about that one
 
i would ask that driver is they have any around. we have one here that a truck backed into. its almost new, but its worthless now.

stuff hapens, you might get lucky.
 
Keep looking for the things cheaper but if I was you, eventually I would save the scratch, splurge and get them from Toledo. You are going to get it way cheaper than if you bought the whole thing commercially.
 
well...i was talking to one of the companies that we sell welding gas to and he was telling me that for him to put 2 cones on them would be at least $300 in materials any way, and he would have to make the cones. so unless we find a cheaper way, i am going to get the cones from toledo so there is no weld in them. he would have to make the cones from sheet steel.
 
Back
Top