Petroleum practices - practical advice

Practical Advice!



While pumping gas!!

An Extract:

I've been in petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years,
currently working for the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline here in San Jose , CA
. 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 gallonage 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
s ettings: 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'