I may be able to get 500 gallons of new #2 diesel for free from my fathers company. I live in Wyoming and it gets pretty cold here and I was wondering How I could store this stuff without it going bad on me. Thanks for the help.
Shawn

The air force way to store diesel is to leave it in the sun, in a vented tank for years on end.
Seems to work.

Five hundered free gallons! Lucky you!

I'm no diesel storage expert by any means, but I have had some experience with bulk liquid storage in the chemical industry. You did not say how long you expected this fuel to last. If only six months I'd think you could store it almost any reasonable way, but if a year or two you should probably take some steps to maximize its life. Here is how I would do that:

Personally, I'd stay away from one large tank. Although convenient there are a lot of safety issues with pressure, venting, and spill potential. Smaller sealed containers like metal or plastic drums are also better to prolong the life of the fuel (only if full - if partially full they are worse). You know your abilities and storage area, so remember 10 55-gallon drums are heavy, Also in winter it is a lot easier to warm up a 55-gallon drum than a 500 gallon tank I'd absolutely make sure any plastic containers were approved for diesel. If not you could end up contaminating the whole batch or having the local Hazmat team knocking on your front door (!)
I'd winterize about half the drums with kerosene as I filled them and mark them for winter use only Sunlight encourages growth of bacteria and fungus, so I would keep the containers in the dark. Light-tight metal containers would be best but if I used plastic I'd keep them in the dark (paint 'em black?) For long-term stroage it is important to keep the containers as full as possible. This prevents pressure build-up and also minimizes the amount of O2 and water vapor contained in the headspace. I would add a biocide to the containers that would be stored the longest. If you get fungal growth you can filter it out but what a pain that would be. I once got fungus in a yellow container that sat outside for only two weeks, so it does happen I'd try to keep the temperature of the fuel as constant as possible with no large temperature swings.



This seems like a finnicky list, but everything except the biocide is accomplished simply by putting the fuel in full drums and storing them in a garage. Open a fresh drum as needed.

Finally, although not gasoline diesel fuel IS a flammable liquid. Use approproate safety precauctions when transfering from drums, including grounding straps.

Of course the BEST way to store it is to get it from your Dad's company and then talk them into letting you pump your 500 gallons from their tanks as you need it.

Thanks for the great info, it will be stored in 55 gallon drums, so it should be easy to store. I really appriciate the help.

How do you plan on getting it out of the drums? Northern Tool has some nice fuel tranfer pumps.