I got this email yesterday and thought it would be good to share with my fellow gas guzzlers.

You take this info for what's its worth but I'll certainly be entertained on hearing people's thoughts on it though.


TIPS ON PUMPING GAS (Good information)!

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but in California we are paying, up to $3.50 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.

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 or HALF EMPTY. 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.

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

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

 

intereresting info. thanks.

 

Thanks for the info will keep in mind

 

Thanks...my only comment is that the author advised to pump gas when your tank is 1/2 full/empty.

I don't agree with that because considering the additional time required to pump gas by going there twice as opposed to once and the additional trip to the gas station will probably cost more then your losses in gas vapor.

 

so how much gas on average would u say u lose at each fill up if u had a 20 gallon tank due to vapors?

 

I'm not an engineer or a scientist but I know that there are alot of variables that would have to be considered in the conversion of gas to vapors the variables that I can think of off the top of my head would include the amt of surface space, temperature and humidity. I can't imagine you losing more then a cup of gas via a fillup from vapor lost.

 

Those seem like great tips! I am going to start filling up at night and early in the morning for sure!

 

I always fill up in the morning but I didn't know the advantages. Thanks for the tips!

 

thanks for the advice! makes sense as air is also denser in cold weather.

 

Great info and Thanks for sharing

 

I'm not sure how much of this information applies to us (the consumers).

I do have a few questions that spring to mind. Most consumer gas stations have underground fuel tanks. As opposed to most commercial fuel depots where the tanks are above ground. Presumably they are buried deep enough to allow for the heavy vehicle traffic above them. The ground does keep a fairly even temperature throughout the day and the night, does it not? So there should not be a great difference between the morning or the evening temperatures. In that case there would be no difference in fueling in the morning or evening. The ground temperature will change with the seasonal change, but I don't think it's practical to fuel up in winter and drive in the summer. (???) I think the higher impact could be the heat transfer of the fuel pump itself if it would have been used constantly for a prolonged period of time (many cars fueling one after another with no breaks in between - like on the major highway). As far as evaporation of gas in the vehicle tank. Don't we have a vapor venting systems in all of the modern cars, with the active carbon canister at the end of it. It supposed to equalize the cars fuel tank and outside pressure, but I don't know how much of the vapor actually escapes into atmosphere.

Again, I think that in a large scale commercial fuel business, where fuel is stored above ground, shipped above ground, and where much higher quantities of fuel and vapor (and therefore financial gain and losses) are at play, more attention is payed to physics of fluids and gases as it has a direct impact on the bottom line. In case of us (the consumers), I would be more worried about dishonest gas station owners, that temper with their pumps, or quality of their fuel.

As professionals we tend to apply our extended professional knowledge to all aspects of technical details in the business models that have anything to do with the core of our professional training. (...... My intentions are not to offend anyone .....) I did put some thought into it, and I want to see what others think. I may be way off here. .........

 

I'm going out on a limb here so here's my thought on this since I've been thinking about what was written as well and your logic makes a lot of sense, however consider this.

Although the temperature of the gas may not change much underground in the storage tanks it will change as it travels up and into your gas tank. During the summer the difference in temperature between morning and afternoon could be anywhere from 10 to 30+ degrees so in the case of what the author is explaining is that in the morning the temperature of the ground would be closer to the temperature of the morning air so therefore the expansion shouldn't take place as oppose to during the afternoon when its 20degrees warmer then what the tank is underground.

????

 

Yeah....., but that's only for the gas in the lines between the storage tanks and the pump. Providing that the fuel has been siting stagnant in them for some period of time. Once the fuel starts flowing there is not enough time for the temperature of the surrounding conduit to affect the temperature of the fuel. Or is there? These are all hypothetical questions. I wander if anyone has actually studied it.

 

It's too advance for my knowledge so I stopped thinking about it. It would be cool to know though. I think that its possible that once the gas enters the fuel tank that at that time it expands causing you to get less gas in the tank but that doesn't have an effect on how much money you save.

 

Kphu, I think you're right ..... all this thinking does hurt my head