Skirt Support for Tank

There is much subjectivity in the answer to your question. Various design firms have different guidelines on when to choose a skirt over leg supports. There is no internationally recognized guideline.

Generally speaking:

For vertical tanks & vessels, skirt supports become the better choice than leg supports when:

1) When the tank or vessel becomes "too tall" and the loads become high

2) When wind or seismic loading becomes significant.

3) When the required distance between the tank bottom and the supporting surface is more than a few feet.

4) When the tank or vessel operates at a significantly elevated temperature

Hope that this helps....

The three most prevalent reasons are:

1. A skirt support is a cleaner looking arrangement, as well as generally stronger.

2. A skirt support hides piping, valves, etc. where the tank is exhausted from the bottom.

3. A skirt support is manufactured onto the tank (and hence engineered), and stops "field engineers" from assembling an unsafe structure to support the tank, from which they would then have to defend themselves in court.