Development of A 5,000 BBL, Rubberized Fabric Fuel Storage Tank, Collapsible,

This report describes the development of an experimental 5000 barrel, rapidly deployable, collapsible, rubberized fabric tank for the temporary storage of petroleum fuels. The project was executed in two phases, the first of which involved a state-of-the-art evaluation of the concept, and the second the manufacture and test of four model tanks and a full scale experimental prototype. The original objective of the project was to develop a 7,000 to 10,000 barrel tank, but logistic considerations favored a smaller tank size. The concept evaluation phase concluded that tanks in the 5,000 - 10,000 barrel capacity range were within the state-of-the-art, but that a 5,000 barrel container was the best configuration considering cost, weight and tank ground area. It was concluded that a 68 by 68 tank made using 12 oz per sq yd nylon cloth coated with nitrile rubber would be the most efficient configuration for the prototype tank. A tank of this configuration and four 250 gallon models were fabricated in Phase II using existing production facilities and technology. Assembly tests on the models were performed successfully, as were destructive tests of materials used in fabricating the tanks. The prototype and model tanks were then delivered to the Army for field trials. This report describes the work performed in Phase II of the contract, but the final Phase I report is attached as an Appendix for easy reference. Author