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[cleggy]

I don't know how true this actually is but it's plausible


PETROL TIPS - info!! (MUST READ)


With Petrol expected to reach £2 per litre by end of 2011 these tips that I received from a friend might come in handy.


TIPS ON PUMPING PETROL


I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol.... I am paying up to £1.35 to £1.50 per litre. 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 Litre:


Here at the Shell Pipeline where I work , we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period .. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 Litres.


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 petrol, 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. You should be pumping on low mode, 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 Petrol tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more Petrol you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. petrol 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 petrol truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy Petrol, DO NOT fill up; most likely the petrol is being stirred up as the Petrol is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

[millwall]

been doing the rounds for ages a load of old tosh apparently

[blackviper90210]

Its not all a load of old tosh to be honest.

When I used to do aircraft refuelling, we had to check the density of the fuel periodically throughout the day because of temperature changes. Fuel is denser when cold and as it warms up, yes it does turn to vapour much quicker. The downside to it being colder though, is you do end up with more water droplets in the fuel too!

When they do deliver to service stations, yes it does stir up impurities at the bottom of the tanks. Try pouring liqiud into a jug at home with, say sand, and see what happens to the sand no matter how carefully you pour it in 

[millwall]

its been proved on many forums its old tosh  this email has been doing the rounds for years
Although it's true that, by law, fuel is sold by volume at the pumps with no temperature compensation (ie. not sold by mass) since the ground temperature at 3ft below the surface down to about 2000ft is always 8 deg.C no matter whether it's -20 outside or +30, the major argument for this theory is flawed. The fuel tanks are underground, the temperature of the fuel is always going to be at or near 8 deg.C within a few hours of it being delivered.

do a search online its on about almost all car forums

[Sir Tigger KC]

I think something really radical will have happen somewhere golbally, for petrol prices to reach £2 a litre in the next 8 weeks.....  But hold on, lets not throw the baby out with the bath water, because there are some interesting points....

1) We all learnt at school that temperature has an impact on density and I can imagine this would make a difference if we are talking tanker loads (floating types), but probably not in 50 - 100 litres or so 

2) Being a bunch of Petrolheads we also know that petrol evaporates quicker than Tigger's sentient thoughts (and that's pretty quick!) so I can see why more vapour is created when pumped at full speed ie agitated. I bet however that the difference is minimal, filling up the average car as opposed to your average supertanker! 

3) Vapour return? Really?  So the Barstewards are sucking it back as quickly as we're pumping it!!  Glad I'm on LPG!!  I'm not dissing this theory though because I really don't know about this...... 

4) The thing about evaporation, is that it has to have somewhere to evaporate to... We've all left a car/bike/lawnmower for some time, and come back to the same amount of petrol even if it is stale! , so if this theory was true, every time you parked up for any time you'd drain the tank! 

5) I used to work with trucks in Africa.  Company policy was never let the tank go less than half full if possible , and NEVER fill up if there was a tanker at the filling station.  This was for good reason. Dirty diesel is common in Africa and I've spent many dirty, hot, smelly hours, draining, cleaning and bleeding a truck fuel system because of this!! Standards are probably higher in GB 

Interesting points Cleggy, and I'm not saying it's a load of old testicles!  Just my thoughts on the matter 

[cleggy]

Like I said in the opening line'I don't know how true this really is'

I agree that it is plausible, but only for vast amounts not the amount I use

[millwall]

cleggy thats basically the conclusion mentioned on other sites  it needs to be vast amounts to make a difference but generally wont have any effects chucking £90 in the tank

[Sir Tigger KC]

Golbally??? Meant Globally!!! 

And what about this vapour return business? Anybody know? 

[the alarming man]

With millwall on this loads of old codswallop and yep been doing the rounds for about a year started off in the USA all that happened is all the figures have been made into £ not $...and I know its total rubbish as I have just sat a 3 day petrol course and even the manufactures of the pumps say it total rubbish lol

[Andy H]

Golbally??? Meant Globally!!! 

And what about this vapour return business? Anybody know? 

I haven't seen it on any pump I have filled up at but I have read about it.

It is required in California. I think they started by requiring the vapour vents from the underground tanks to be modified to send the vapour displaced in the tank back into the fuel tanker when a tanker delivery is made (stage 1). Stage 2 seems to involve special nozzles at the pump to capture vapour from the car fuel tank.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/vapor/vapor.htm

[the alarming man]

Golbally??? Meant Globally!!! 

And what about this vapour return business? Anybody know? 

I haven't seen it on any pump I have filled up at but I have read about it.

It is required in California. I think they started by requiring the vapour vents from the underground tanks to be modified to send the vapour displaced in the tank back into the fuel tanker when a tanker delivery is made (stage 1). Stage 2 seems to involve special nozzles at the pump to capture vapour from the car fuel tank.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/vapor/vapor.htm

you are sort of right...it is a bit more involved but you do have vapour vents at petrol station and always have...they look like back to front gutter pipes