Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Petrol Tips

Received Email:

TIPS ON FILLING YOUR CAR(S)



I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol.... but here in Durban we
are also paying

higher, up to R7.35 per litre.

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 litre. Here at the Marian
Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban , we deliver about 4 million litres in a
24-hour

period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and
petrol,

LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of
16,800,000 litres.



Only buy or fill up your car or bakkie 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 fuel
, when it gets warmer petrol expands,so buying
in
the afternoon or in the 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 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 vapours
that are 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 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 tank is HALF FULL
. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have
in
your tank the less air occupying its empty space
. petrol evaporates faster
than
you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof.
This
roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol 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 litre is
actually
the exact amount.



Another reminder,
if there is a fuel truck pumping
into the storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT fill up
--most likely the
petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel 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!

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