This is really good information.
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
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'
PASS THIS ON- so that
others may know too.
