I have gasoline stored in a metal drum. The Drum is up on wooden horses. The drum is grounded with a heavy wire and connected to a copper rod into the ground. I assume a lightning strike nearby could enter the grounding rod and back feed into my drum. Will the drum explode? I haven't heard of this being an issue but it sounds potentially dangerous. What do you think?
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2That’s the least of your problems. You need a containment system too that resists the rain. The local regulator will have a conniption if they see a homemade rig like that. Of course if it’s B100 biodiesel, they won’t care... – Harper - Reinstate Monica Aug 27 '20 at 20:11
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Is this drum indoors or outdoors? What's the tallest thing near the drum? – ThreePhaseEel Aug 27 '20 at 22:42
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I thought it was inside , outside on horses yikes. – Ed Beal Aug 27 '20 at 22:45
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Gauss' law says there will be no electric field (and therefore no spark) inside the drum. – Jasen Aug 28 '20 at 04:47
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the ground wire is to prevent electrostatic discharge from the drum when you are filling another container from it. – Jasen Aug 28 '20 at 05:02
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where would the current flow after it got to the drum? While yes, the drum would be "charged", so to would everything around it, so the relative voltage would be zero, and thus, safe. – dandavis Aug 28 '20 at 16:40
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I don't know if you've ever seen a faraday cage lightning demonstration, but lightning will flow around any hollow metal object, not through it. Look at it from the lightning's perspective - would I rather flow through metal, or this oil stuff? Additionally, specific concentrations of gasoline in the air in the tank are needed for an actual explosion - only within concentrations of 1.4 to 7.6% by volume. Inside a mostly sealed tank, the concentration will be too high to ignite.
You should be more concerned with properly containing any spills, and regularly cleaning under the tank to prevent external fires igniting from more common causes, and I imagine guidelines are found in building or other codes.
IronEagle
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What would be the electrical potential to draw the electrical discharge from the ground up to the drum? For all intents and purposes I would probably consider the drum insulated because of the wood so there would be nothing to draw the discharge to the drum.
If the spike were to hit the building a large grounded surface may draw the discharge to the drum.
I would bet on hitting the lottery before the drum and lighting would interact.
