Friday, July 8, 2011

Tips on Pumping Petrol: Reduce Petrol Costs

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
Here in Melbourne we are paying up to $1.30 to $1.50 per litre. I have been in the petroleum industry for about 31 years now so here are some time-tested tips to get more from every litre.

Here at the Shell pipeline where I work in Melbourne, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period through the pipeline. 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 if you buy in the afternoon or in the evening our 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 stages: low, middle and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimising 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 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. Petroleum 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 minimises 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.

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.

For more fuel saving tips visit http://web.goxft.com.

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