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Tuesday, 12 August 2008 |
Fuel economy
tips from a
petroleum
industry
professional
In summer, only buy fuel
early in the 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 denser the fuel.
When it gets warmer the fuel
expands, so when you buy in
the afternoon or 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
play an important role. A rise
in temperature of one degree
is a big deal for this business.
Here, where I work, every
truck that we load is
temperature compensated, so
that every litre is the exact
amount. 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 fast mode. If
you look, you will see that the
trigger has three stages: low,
middle and high. In slow
mode, you should be
pumping at low speed,
thereby minimising the
vapours 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
sucked back up and back into
the storage tank so you’re
getting less for your money.
One of the most important
tips is to fill up when your
tank is half full. The reason
for this is that the more fuel
you have in your tank, the less
air there is in there. Petrol
evaporates faster than you can
imagine. Petroleum storage
tanks have an internal floating
ceiling which serves as zero
clearance between the petrol
and the atmosphere, so it
minimises the evaporation.
Another reminder: when
you stop to buy and there is a
fuel truck pumping into the
storage tanks, do not fill up.
Most likely the petrol/diesel
being pumped is being stirred
up, and you might pick up
some of the dirt that normally
settles on the bottom.
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