tips on pumping fuel

nightcreacher

Veteran Expediter
TIPS ON PUMPING FUEL (Good information)

I don't know what you guys are paying for FUEL.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.75 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.
I RECIEVED THIS IN AN E MAIL,THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD READING

Only buy or fill up your car or truck 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 gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, 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 vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors 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 gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas 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 gallon is actually the exact amount.

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

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


This one though is almost impossible to follow as there always seems to be a fuel truck emptying out.

I had never heard about not pumping the fuel in as fast as it would go good thing to know.
 

piper1

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
And fuel up any time you want in Canada, pumps are temperature compensated. There should be a sticker on the pump that says 15 deg.C litre.

It was said that you win when the fuel is cold, and since it's cold here more often than not I guess it was hurting the poor oil companies.:rolleyes:
 

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
Vapor is far less of an issue with diesel and other distillates of similar type (home heating oil, kero, jet A, etc.) than it is with gasoline.

Gasoline is EXTREMELY volatile, diesel much, much less so (volatility being the measure of how easily something will vaporize)

Diesel is combustible, gas is flammable.

Which basically means you can take a lit match and stick it in a pool of diesel ...... and all that will happen is the match will go out. It takes alot of heat to get diesel or similar distillates to ignite.

Don't even think of getting ANYWHERE near gasoline with an open flame - the vapors will explode when you get close enough for them to reach a high enough concentration.
 

Crazynuff

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


This one though is almost impossible to follow as there always seems to be a fuel truck emptying out.

I had never heard about not pumping the fuel in as fast as it would go good thing to know.

Most states do not have vapor recovery on their pumps . I know CA does and I think TX . If the thing about filling while a fuel truck was unloading was true we'd see a lot of cars on the side of the road with clogged fuel filters .
 

Broompilot

Veteran Expediter
Steve what would really be helpfull is if you would just lay the nozzle down when finished, and let me pull up behind and I promise to only be half full. Thanks.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
I have heard this don't fuel while the tanker is unloading advice before, but would not the filters between the underground tank and the fuel that comes out the nozzle keep dirt out of your tank? At Flying J, you can see the filters on the pump. I've seen people changing these filters from time to time. With such filters in place, what difference does it make if a tanker is unloading or not while you are pumping?
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Normally the filters should catch a lot of the crud but it also depends on the change cycle and the type of filter.

I know that there are a few filters that have built in bypass valves to prevent them from bursting if they get plugged, like the AC filters on Chevrolets, defeating the purpose for the filter in the first place. I don't know what the pressure that some of these pumps run at but it has to be higher than 25PSI which I think gas pumps run at, maybe 75PSI. Well a larger filter can be a bullet even at that pressure, so a bypass valve maybe a must have.

The change cycle I can't really pin down but I would imagine that it would have to be weekly at minimal because of the amount of fuel pumped at these truck stops. I know of a few pilots that had the same filters on them when I would pass through in a span of a month. I guess the best thing is to maintain the trucks filters, even changing them more often than not in winter conditions.
 

Falligator

Expert Expediter
I also found that it helps to turn the nozzle 180 degrees before you pull it out. this gets the excess gas out of the nozzle b4 you hang it up.
 
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