Why are petrol/fuel tankers oval but all other tankers are round?
so they can squeeze into the garage forecourt 
BluBeard:
Why are petrol/fuel tankers oval but all other tankers are round?
Hi BluBeard,
The carrying tanks on petrol tankers are designed to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, which aids stability.
They can get away with the oval cross-section because a petrol tanker is an atmospheric tank, which isn’t designed as a pressure tank.
dieseldave:
BluBeard:
Why are petrol/fuel tankers oval but all other tankers are round?Hi BluBeard,
The carrying tanks on petrol tankers are designed to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, which aids stability.
They can get away with the oval cross-section because a petrol tanker is an atmospheric tank, which isn’t designed as a pressure tank.
I wouldn’t fancy driving one anyway or any liquid tank I tell thee.
Silver_Surfer:
I wouldn’t fancy driving one anyway or any liquid tank I tell thee.
Why not cocker?
dieseldave:
BluBeard:
Why are petrol/fuel tankers oval but all other tankers are round?Hi BluBeard,
The carrying tanks on petrol tankers are designed to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, which aids stability.
They can get away with the oval cross-section because a petrol tanker is an atmospheric tank, which isn’t designed as a pressure tank.
Also to get more volume in as petrol and diesel is relatively light, 29 ton of petrol needs around 42.000ltrs of space.
With an oval tank you have a better use of the space, a equal tank size in round must have a massive diameter, or been extreme long.
I drove a honey tanker ,that was round,I wouldnt want to be there if one rolled over.
Thanks guys.
BluBeard:
Why are petrol/fuel tankers oval but all other tankers are round?
Fuel tankers are discharged by gravity, chemical tankers are discharged by pressure from the compressor on the unit (usually) thus chemical tankers need to be round due to the inherent strength of the structure, put any kind of pressure into a fuel tanker and it will pop
To add to what caladoniandream said, I normally do caustic soda, 28t equals roughly 20,000 lts which means mine is two thirds full so plenty of space for the product to move under braking/acceleration, specific gravity of 1.5 which makes deliverys to Scottish water/united utilities etc pumping stations a bit tricky at certain times of year as these places are usually up in the hills and when you point up the load goes to the back leaving you with limited traction
Petrol tankers are “spirit tanks” and are for a specific load eg petrol or diesel and are made of mild steel as there is no corrosion risk also they are never pressurised.
Hazardous tanks have to be pressurised and made of anti corrosive material eg stainless,glass lined etc.They usually have to have an insulation layer and usually a steam heat pipe system built in.
A round tank spreads any internal pressure over its total internal area but spirit tanks only ever fill/empty using gravity so it doesnt matter what shape they are and an oval tank can have a lower head height and shorter length