IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUNK TANKS FOR. STORING OIL & SPIRITS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I, PATRICK MOLYNEUX of the Atlantic Wharf, Devon's Road Bromley-by-Bow,
in the County of Middlesex, Managing Wharfinger, do hereby declare the nature of
my Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUNK TANKS FOR.
STORING OIL & SPIRITS" to be as follows:-
Whereas heretofore sunk tanks for the storage of Oil & Spirits have been without
drainage, causing water to rise between tank and lining, also causing the lining to
rise and give way and cause leakage In constructing tanks I propose thoroughly
draining the under part or bottom into a reservoir under the said tanks, thereby
drawing off all superfluous water that may arise. And also to provide a separate
drain and reservoir for receiving any Oil or Spirit that may leak from the interior
of the said tank.
And also in building the walls of the said tanks, I build them of Concrete made
of Portland cement, Brick rubbish, Cinder Ash, and Sand in proportion to quality,
thereby forming a wall that will not crack.

page_text: I PATRICK MOLYNEUX of The Atlantic Wharf Hawgood Street, Devons Road
Bromley-by-Bow Middlesex do hereby declare, the. nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUNK TANKS FOR STORING OIL AND
SPIRITS and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
Whereas heretofore sunk Tanks for the storage of oil and spirits have been
without drainage thereby causing any water that may find its way between the
walls and lining. of the tanks to accumulate and so cause the lining to rise or bulge
and ultimately give way until leakage of the contents of the tanks is produced.
To remedy this defect I propose in constructing such Tanks to thoroughly drain
the lower part or bottom into a reservoir under the tank thereby drawing off all
superfluous water which may arise and also to provide a separate drainage and
reservoir for receiving any oil or spirit that may leak from the tank through its
lining.
I build the walls of the said tank of concrete made of Portland cement mixed
with brick rubbish, cinder ash, and sand, in proportion to quality so as to form a
wall that will not crack.
And in order that ny said invention may be well understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same reference being made to the accompanying
sheet of drawings.
Figure 1 represents a sectional plan of my improved tank for storing oil or
spirits Figure 2 a longitudinal section on line A B in figure 1. Figure 3 a cross
section on line C. D. in figure 1 and figure 4 a cross section on line E F in figure 1
like letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
a. b represent the walls and bottom respectively of my improved tank and c the
lining thereof this lining being generally made of lead.
Beneath the bottom b of the tank which I' slope downwards from each side
towards the middle is a reservoir d, to which are laid horizontally or inclined two
(or more) main pipes e which are perforated for a portion of their circumference for,
allowing any water which may arise between the walls and bottom a. b of the tank
and the surrounding soil to enter the pipes e through which it flows into the
reservoir d―to be pumped or drawn off therefrom through the suction stand pipe f
which dips into the reservoir d and extends above the top of the tank where it is
connected as often as required with any suitable pump.
By this arrangement no water can find its way between the tank and its lining c
as it is intercepted by drainage into the reservoir d and any bulging or displacement
of the lining c is consequently effectually obviated.
In the case of any leakage of the oil or spirits contained in the tank taking
place through the lining c I provide a separate arrangement of drain pipes g
opening out from the inside of the bottom wall b of the tank, against which the
lead lining c is in contact, and through these pipes g any oil or spirits leaking from
the lining c between it and the walls a will flow into pipes g¹ and thence through
the main pipe into a second reservoir i which is of metal lined with lead and from
which the oil or spirit can be pumped or drawn off through the suction stand pipe j
as in the case of the water from the reservoir d.-The pipes g g¹ and h are shewn
laid in the concrete of the bottom b but they may be laid beneath the latter if
desired.
i

page_text: By thus separating the two systems of draining and pumping off the water and
oil respectively I am enabled on the one hand to protect the linings of my improved
tanks and at the same time in case of any leakage of the oil or spirits through the
said linings I can readily detect the fault and preserve the oil or spirits which
would otherwise be lost and wasted.
The various pipes throughout each separate and independent system of draining
the water and oil are arranged as conveniently as possible to facilitate the flow by
gravitation to the respective reservoirs d and i but I do not confine myself to the
particular direction and arrangement of the pipes and reservoirs as these may
evidently be varied without altering or effecting my invention.
In building the walls, and bottom of my improved tanks I preferably make
them of concrete composed of Portland cement mixed with brick rubbish cinder
ash and sand in various proportions so as to obtain a structure that will not crack
and that will be more or less impervious to moisture.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
In the construction of sunk tanks for storing oil and spirits the application and
use of pipes with combined reservoirs substantially as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 28th day of November 1884.
EDWARD W. FURRELL & BROTHER,
Agents, Bank Buildings,
124, Chancery Lane, London, E.C.