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Auto Refueling Tips
Author: Unknown
I've been in petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years, currently
working for the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline here in [SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1191705471_0 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed"]San Jose, CA[/SPAN]. We deliver
about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period from the pipe line; one day it's
diesel, the next day it's jet fuel and gasoline. We have 34 storage tanks
here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Here are some tricks to
help you get your money's worth:
1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still
cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried
below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it
gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in
the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel
(gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are
significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature- compensated so
that the indicated gallon-age is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree
rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't
have temperature compensation at their pumps.
2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to
buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being
stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that
dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.
3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the
more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates
rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal
floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the
atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation. )
4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery
settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the
trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow
setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at
the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor
recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the
high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being
sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your
money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump.'
