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View Full Version : Pumping Gas - Snake Oil Ideas?



DEFYANT
03-12-2011, 06:46 PM
Got this in an email. Sounds legit, but what do I know. Thoughts?

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in
California we are paying up to $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. 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. You should be pumping on low mode, 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.

To have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It's
really simple to do.

ImpalaSlayer
03-12-2011, 06:50 PM
interesting thoughts

sailsmen
03-12-2011, 08:14 PM
I have seen this going around, including from friends in the fuel bus. Think about it. Most the time you are buying ~15 gallons. In that case this is a lot of poppycock.
What has a much greater impact is the ethanol which has about 20-30% less energy than gasoline. He gives us all that info and leaves out the one with the biggest impact, ethanol.

Mr. Man
03-12-2011, 08:42 PM
15 gallons I wish. Titan has a 37 gal tank. Good thing is it lasts about a month

05crownsport
03-12-2011, 08:47 PM
I have heard of the pumping early in the morning before, and since reading that, it makes sense. Nothing in that article would cost anything to try, so it sounds legit. Thanks for sharing.

DEFYANT
03-12-2011, 09:04 PM
Here is where you can find E85:
http://find.mapmuse.com/map/ethanol85/41.19,-92.425,8

Would think there would be more stations around.

boatmangc
03-12-2011, 09:09 PM
Check out that story on snopes.

I do believe the bit about cold fuel Vs warm.

Fosters
03-12-2011, 09:54 PM
I don't see the whole tanks being underground thing having the effects described. The ground temperature is pretty much constant; that's what geothermal cooling and heating relies upon.

The speed at which it pumps, sure that has some impact on things. With my old diesel jetta, that was the most obvious; by waiting for the foam to die down and filling up with more fuel, it would easily swallow another half a gallon or more, and that meant another 25+ miles to the tank.

How the pump measures the fuel on each speed... who knows. I personally can't wait to take the marauder out so I can stop driving the 11mpg excursion...

LIGHTNIN1
03-12-2011, 09:54 PM
Would not hurt to try but I am also going with a dead chicken in the trunk and a copper headliner.

MERCMAN
03-13-2011, 04:48 AM
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

Bluerauder
03-13-2011, 05:47 AM
Impact would be negligible IMHO. Gasoline is stored, shipped and sold based on a STP (Standard Temperature and Pressure) of 60*F. Underground tanks are usually close to a constant 54*F. If gas, contracts and expands 1% per 15*F change, then the difference between the ground tank temp and the standard is only .4% (or .004). On an 18 gallons fill-up, the difference is probably less than 0.072 gallons. At $3.80 per gallon, that's a 27 cent difference and might be 1.4 miles difference on a tankful. Total dollar impact is about $14.22 over the course of a year. Not a really big deal IMHO.