Thought i would share this with you guys! Murty :)

 

 

Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban , we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.

 

Only buy or fill up your car or bakkie in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the

more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

 

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

 

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

 

Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

 

Another reminder, if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT fill up--most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

 

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

 

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

Good post, heard a couple before, but nice one....

Very interesting about the fast pumping and the temp expanding fuel.

Does this mean I have to get up early to fill up now :rolleyes:

 

:D

All that stuff about the volume makes perfect sense, but just how much difference (percentage wise) does it make, especially given that it's not generally that hot here and the underground tanks will stay at a fairly constant temperature ?

Great tips, cheers buddy think i'll remember those seeing as i use up about 100 litres a week at the moment!

a change in about 8 degrees C of fuel temp realises a 1% change in volumetric amount that you buy

so given the the ground temp at minus 10feet is roughly constant at 13 degrees c

and the air temp is 22 there is aleady a 9 degree change , plus the extra temp change due to flowing petrol and pressure loss. so if petrol is cautiously pumped the fuel saved could be theoreticaly as high as 1 litre in every 100 ...

 

steve

Glad you guys liked it, i was just passed this on from a friend

cool, cheers Murt.

Thought i would share this with you guys! Murty :)

 

 

Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban , we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.

 

Only buy or fill up your car or bakkie in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the

more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

 

Makes basically **** all difference, would be surprised if it saved you a penny over a full tank in a zed.

 

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

 

They do not have vapour return, the filler pipe in your car has a vapour return which essentially vents to atmosphere. Fill it as fast as you can and you will lose less in vapour as your cap is open less time.

 

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

 

You won't lose anything through evap in the tank, it is sealed.

 

Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

 

Another reminder, if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT fill up--most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Irrelevant, pumps have filters, just like your car does.

 

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

 

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

 

Sorry to rain on your parade but this is mostly nonsense.

Sorry to rain on your parade but this is mostly nonsense.

 

:tongue:

 

:mad:

So it's better to fill up early in the morning and only just squeeze the fuel trigger lightly to get the most petrol you can??!! :confused:

So it's better to fill up early in the morning and only just squeeze the fuel trigger lightly to get the most petrol you can??!! :confused:

 

Guess that is what it is saying, i didn't type this, i only passed it on

Read it all before. The morning thing is crap unless you're living in a country with extreme temperature changes. Petrol tanks are buried in the ground under about 10" of concrete. Would take extreme temperature changes to even mildly effect fuel density. In theory, it's true, in reality, see above.

Also, the half tank thing is negligable. With a full tank of fuel, you're lugging around more weight, so whilst you're preventing fuel from evaporating by filling the tank at half full, you're also putting more load on the engine due to the increased weight. So, again, whilst the theory is correct, in reality, they cancel each other out.

If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

 

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

 

This tip is incorrect. I used to work on petrol pumps and they don't recover any vapour. The extra tube in the ZVA nozzle is a sensing tube, which cuts delivery when the tanks gets near-full. Vapour recovery systems ARE used, but only in the forecourt's tank piping, not the pumps.

 

I used to carry out high-accuracy measure check for Elf and I've seen poor measures from diesel pumps, when the main tanks are running dry. The air-separator inside the pump doesn't work as well with diesel as it does with petrol. Basically if you hear a loud hissing noise from the side of the pump when filling up a diesel tank, it's best to stop and go elsewhere, because some air will often get through and be metered.

 

I had a big argument once with a Sainsbury's area manager because he wanted all the pumps set at the minimum legal limit (-150ml/20l in 1994.) I called in Trading Standards and they told me to set them at strike. I'll never forget that arrogant tw@t's face. I never filled up there again after that.

Interesting..........

 

........but I find the best time to fill up is when the little needle on my dash points ever closer to that letter "E" or when the little "petrol pump" light comes on !!!:tongue:

 

Richard;)