Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: dave5358
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Durango
WhyMe,
Your question might put us back as to how gas is made and whether the process is more or less the same as the other manufacturers. If I remember gas is basically made the same. It's the chemical detergency and how much is put in the truck before it leaves the plant/depot. If the quality is suppose to be considered just as good then generally it must have enough detergent to keep fuel injector and pistons clean. Perhaps as a precausion you might consider an extra bottle in the tank every 6 months along with a full fresh tank of gas should keep thing fine.
Fuel is pretty much a commodity. Just do a search here and several former fuel truckers will vouch for that. There are some specialty fuels (race gas, no ethanol, or 93 octane) out there, but few and far between. In California it's going to be commodity fuel if it's 87/89/91.
They all go to the same fuel terminals and load the same base fuel. TiredTrucker mentioned having everything arranged ahead of time before arrival, including the amount of fuel, type of fuel, and end customer. The terminals have piping to meter amounts of each end customers' proprietary additive as well as generic additives available to any customer. He said each driver has an ID card that gets swiped after hooking up. They already know who ordered and where it's going. So the additive gets dispensed first, and then the fuel which mixes. The fuel is the same. It's highly regulated and differences in the base fuel are minimal.
Who made the base fuel is generally a matter of geography and/or availability. Some fuel terminals are right next to refineries. Others are located far from refineries where the fuel is sent by pipeline. One gas station is likely to get fuel consistently from the closest fuel terminal.
Is there much (or any) federal regulation of this process? This came up in another thread, with one responder stating that the fuel had to meet [unspecified] federal regulations.
I think it's pretty much between the refiner, pipeline operator, tank farm operator and end consumer (e.g. Costco or whoever). The feds might get involved if there's a spill or threat to the pipeline or tank farm or something like that (but they do that for railroads as well - NTSB or Homeland Security, probably the same agencies for pipelines).
But for routine business, is there any government involvement?
There are test procedures involved, although I'm not sure who does the testing. I think it's in the interests of the seller to make sure they get what they paid for.
California has random, unannounced inspections through its own reformulated gas program.
Quote:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/fuels/inspections.htm
A primary component of the ARB's Motor Vehicle Fuels Enforcement program is the inspection of California gasoline and diesel fuel at production, transport, and dispensing facilities.
ARB Fuels Inspectors conduct frequent, unannounced inspections of refineries, service stations, distribution and storage, bulk purchaser and consumer facilities throughout the State of California to obtain samples of gasoline and diesel fuel. The samples are then analyzed in the Mobile Fuels Laboratory.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/fuels/mobilelab.htm
Today, the mobile fuels laboratory contains all the analysis instruments and support equipment necessary to test for the parameters of gasoline and diesel fuel which are regulated by the ARB. Gasoline samples are analyzed for Reid vapor pressure, T50 and T90 distillation temperatures, oxygen, benzene, total aromatics, and olefin and sulfur contents. Diesel fuel is analysed for sulfur content, aromatic hydrocarbon, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon content. The mobile fuels laboratory also contains support equipment, including two power generators, a battery/inverter system, water system, compressed gas handling system, fume hoods, and safety systems.
The formulations are pretty tightly controlled for federal reformulated gas. I don't know how much of an incentive there would be for a reputable refining company to cheat. You can look through the EPA's rules.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/gasolinefuels/rfg/compliance.htm
Thanks to all. Good information. I don't think there is anything remotely like mobile fuels lab testing in Ohio... zero... nada. The county auditor is supposed to test pumps for accurate delivery. He then puts a sticker on the pump which prominently displays his name.
The EPA does monitor air quality - mostly done in cities. Some years ago, the EPA was a big mover behind the Ohio E-Check program to test vehicle emissions. The state built a bunch of E-check stations, caused a lot of headaches for a lot of people... and then the whole program went away. It was deemed ineffective. So now we're back to... zero. Beyond that I have never heard of a state program to test anything.
There is a large tank farm and pipeline terminal in town. Shell and BP both have their own terminals but there are one or two others with no brand name prominently displayed. Some of the gasoline may come from the Husky Refinery in Lima, Ohio, which is on the other end of the local pipeline. This same pipeline may go on to Cincinnati.
Anyhow, thanks for the info.