Tips on Pumping Gas ?

[Don]

Are these tips correct or ?

" TIPS ON PUMPING GAS "

" I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, 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. "

[Ron61]

Don,

I am not a chemist but most of what he said I agree with. I have always used the low setting to fill up as I don't want to waste gas by having it splash back and some of the hoses up here don't shut off like they should. I also go in the mornings as I don't like the crowds and heat in the afternoon, but I do know that heat causes gas to expand. I was getting ready to go to town one day a Summer or so ago and I had filled my car the morning before. I pulled it out into the driveway and the temp was around 112 degrees. I went out about 20 minutes later and gas was coming out around the cap. When it was cool you couldn't even see the gas with a flashlight. I know because since the car was new my gas gage has never read above 3/4ths of a tank and I just never drained the tank and had a look at it, so I fill the car until the pump shuts off and then look into the neck to see if I see gas.

Ron

[Ronbo]

At the depth those tanks are buried there's not that much temperature change.

Since your dealing with elevated tanks and pumping 50,000 gallons into a truck .5% makes a difference, my 18 gallon fill-up not so much.

[Tinker51]

While the physics of it are true the tanks are buried deep enough that the temperature is essentially constant. Besides if this were the case then you would want to wait and use a pump somebody else just used as they would have pumped all the "hot" fuel from the lines that are above ground and then you would be getting all the "cold" fuel.

From the Kinder Morgan web site the San Jose Terminal has a 996,800 barrel storage capacity. If you use a US liquid gallon barrel (31.5 gal) That makes 31,399,200 gallons. If you use a petroleum barrel (42 gal) that makes 41,865,600 gallons storage capacity in 32 tanks. Slightly more than the 16.8 million gallon capacity advertised 34 tanks.

I always understood the reason for the internal floating roof on the storage tanks was to prevent to buildup of vapors, not to prevent evaporation. Both are bad in the grander scheme of things.

There are just too many things which don't add up so I am throwing the bull honkey flag.

[427 S/O]

Don, not trying to gang up on you but, a fella I know installs geothermal cooling/heating systems, he told me 57 degrees is the constant temperature when you dig 3 feet and below.

[Don]

Thanks for the comments. I do not know who the source is as the write-up reached me after multiple ++ forwarded e-mails and the originator of the comment was not identified.

Glad I asked for the input. Being from CT, I take it this part is accurate ?:

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline ...... in San Jose , CA