I wouldn't be willing to give up that much GH space for such a tank. I'd rather pay a little and use regular heat.

I wasn't planning on have a little greenhouse! ;~)

I've already commited myself to buying it. So, it's a
done deal. (I can always use it for a variety of other things.

It's going to be big and solid for the long-term.
We're on the down side of peak oil. I know that for a fact!
My family has been involved with oil/geothermal companies since the sixties.
I've watched it happen and I hear some of the inside talk and gossip.
Regardless, I'll have one heck of a greenhouse! :~)
Hmm!
If I were really paranoid, I could make a bomb Shelter!! ;~)

This is going to involve a lot of passive and, perhaps, active solar tech. It's above one of my seasonal creeks
and I'm also considering a micro-hydro system with energy storage. Wind is too unreliable here, although I'm still
looking at it's overlapping possibilities.

Not to mention that my intended location isn't close to the curent house.
I intend to use several 40' modified shipping containers as a northern shield/ work space.
I have the room. It's just a matter of building where it doesn't ever flood and keepin' the cows out of it. ;~)

I'm still interested in what chris_in_iowa was talking about, back in October!
I had been on the site before, but hadn't really considered the other options.

If you don't remember the first one, here's a link to it.
The other ones can be found by doing a site search on greenhouse domes.
These are where I posted thoughts and asked questions. :~)

Scott

Here is a link that might be useful: Sustainable Solar Greenhouses

And, with some clever fitting out, it could later double as space station.

Or, the BBQ of the century. Mygawd, you could roast my neighbor's Charlois bull on it! (I wish someone would.)

OMG!
You're brilliant!
Food Channel...here I come!

Screw the greenhouse! :~)

Since I have Dexter's, I could roast the whole lot of 'em!
The seller also has a 6500 gal one and I could use that for just family BBQ's! :~)
What's that thing where they start out with an elephant and stuff progessively smaller things into it?
So much for my diet!

Scott

Hmmm. You could set it up vertically and divide it into an upper and lower section.
The upper section stores your water for the circulating heating/cooling pipes for your GH.
The bottom section houses your giant barbecue grill. When the GH gets too cold, fire up the grill for some outdoor dining and you warm up the GH in the process.
Heck, channel the grill's chimney through the center of the upper compartment for better heat exchange while you are cooking.

By the way, that tank is bigger than my entire greenhouse lol.

How large is your GH?

What GH?

I've said that it's in the late planning stages
and I'm gathering potential materials as they come up.

Although I had been planning on a dome for a long time, I did throw out my curent obsesssion with these!
"I intend to use several 40' modified shipping containers as a northern shield/ work space."

Since this is going to be big and for the longterm, I'm stressing over a wide variety of designs. I want SOLID!
I don't want to go out and find that it had collapsed under the snow/earthquake, froze/overheated, melted to ground from fire
or was raided by cows/deer/scummy people/racoons and/or other vermin!(As with everywhere anymore, we have a huge drug problem!)

I posted this a while back as a dome example that I was interested in trying for, at the time!
{{gwi:291688}}
I have read a lot about the use of parabolic solar GH's.
While this may not be the Artic, I have several months of freezing weather on top of the huge amounts of rain.
I've had major power outages during this time and have had to use a generator for heat/light.

I found this photo last night and borrowed it as an example of what I was originally thinking of.
{{gwi:301165}}
The only sun exposure that I want will come from the South.
The vast majority of winter cold/wind blows from the North, as does the harsh summer sun. Shielding that area
will cut down on my heating and cooling requirements.

With the potential use of the steel storage units, I'm thinking that something like this might work better!
It's the one that chris_in_iowa liked!
{{gwi:301166}}
I could build it off of the units, between them, or...

We do have some experience with using these things. Although the roof hasn't been attached yet, this is the second one that we've built. The other one was at a different location.
As this is just an example...ignore the truck, building stuff, etc! ;~)
{{gwi:301167}}
I can do this higher, wider, with a back unit, longer, angled into a V or whatever I think will be most effective/strong!
If I do something with these materials, I'll likely cover the walls/heatsink with faux rock/hypertufa, or something similar.
Like I said...I'm buying things that I know will be useful and playin' with the possibilities!

Scott

Although my modifications are amateurish at best, I was thinking of something closer to this. ;~)
I'm still not really sure and am playing with different variations. As I don't need/want the northern exposure, this might(?) be a possibility.
The top would be attached to the steel shipping containers.
Perhaps, 40ft ones for the sides and a 20ft one for the back, or...

{{gwi:301168}}

This is how I plan to modify the units. I've seen better and I've seen worse.
{{gwi:196808}}

There is also the possibility of something like this...
{{gwi:301169}}
...or, even, this!
{{gwi:196809}}
I'm not saying that I'm getting anywhere that huge!
I just want the most I can get for the effort and want to plan for it. That's why it's all on paper, for now.
These are just ideas that I've "borrowed" from the net! ;~)
Scott

What I would do with the tank if it were clean: Draw the largest square possible on the ends and cut it lengthwise into 4 sections. Then I would weld them together to make 2 very short oval tanks. I would paint them black and put wooden slats on top for benches.

From a plant growing perspective this makes sense because it heats the plants from below during the night and utilizes unused space.

Thanks for your thoughts!:~)

The current plan is still to go vertical!
Water will/can be slowly pumped through a simple solar heater and drain back into the tank during the winter.
I've been working out how to use the water as an under the floor/soil/benches radiant heat source.

I'm looking at doing a facade on the whole thing.
Somthing along the lines of a huge Ficus cotinifolia(Strangler Fig)!
Either with the huge buttressing roots or as if it's growing over a temple, etc! ;~)
I've been reading a lot about different methods.
I'd also like to use it as a potential base(or?) for my solar chimney thoughts/plans.
If I go ahead with this idea of using 40ft steel shipping containers, I'd like to add molded concrete to look like a canyon! ;~)

I'm not intending to have them parallel.
Potentially, more like a pie shape(triangular) with the point toward the north.
This will deflect northern exposure and I'll have more of a parabolic greenhouse.

So far, this is all mostly speculation and having fun with ideas.
I'll have to see how far I'll really go.
Although, I did buy the tank and am scouting out the best location.
So...you never know!! ;~)

and in 1981 I helped w/ a SS tanker tank in-ground
top 6ft deep ! for radiant storage, 2 collectors, 24/7
hybrid GeoThermal-Solar...

GROUND UP TO U: (vs. in-ground)
Since 1980: about 7,ooo btuh [separately in a ditch]
in damp clay as described below can be extracted from
52-deg earth with every 500 ft of 3/4" Poly-Black tubing
and circulated easily [up to 5-3/4" pipe runs with a header to 1.1/4"]
hdpe pipe 160 psi thicker sdr-9
www.geothermal-pipe.com
www.flowcenterproducts.com
on one
1) 1/6 hp (B&G pl 33)

if the loop is ~ 35 degrees (chilled) by/on
www.hydro-temp.com (ARKANSAS)
a heat-pump, having ~ 18% methanol
antifreeze by volume ~20% glycol,
for usable(net) output per the following:
if at a depth of ~6-to-7ft, lower piping runs (back-in-bottom-of-ditch-tightly-packed)
x ditch length of 245 ft, up to 3-pipes in 2ft ditch
and on the bottom of the ditch,
up to 5 piping runs (2 ditches) on 1) pump 1/6hp
damp clay soil, and returns back in same ditch as follows:
RETURNS are on top at a depth of ~5ft (4.1/2 settles to 5ft in backfilling~) like a 'hair-pin over under design on side view...

each ditch may support a "2-TON" Hydro-Temp, which is equal to others' 2.2/2-"ton" rated units that use higher than normal blower speeds, or water:water with over pumping to just get "high" ratings... LOOK at COMPRESSOR labels:
they should have a 19,000-24,000 btuh compressor
IF VERY WET, 52-DEG SUPPORTS A 30,OOO COMPRESSOR
IN THAT DESCRIBED DITCH FOR RATINGS @ "3.0-TONS"
YOU GET ONLY ~85% OF ANY COMPRESSOR ON ~34-DEG LOOPS...

Directly GeoLoops : ECL's (Earth Coupled Loops)
are
generally producing only ~ 4,200 btuh at 40-degrees/avg
and high volumes of ~ 3.1/2 gpm per 3/4"pipe
and no antifreeze keeping things obove 38-degrees
(ie @ 37 entering ECL, from loads applied/
with or without a heat pump... )