Petrol Shelf Life

[RossM]

[RossM]

and from BP fact sheet.Fact SheetFor further information:Please call the BP Lubricants and Fuel Technical Helpline on 1300 139 700.A guide to storing fuelAt BP our fuels are manufactured to rigorous quality guidelines. In addition, the fuel in the underground tanks at ourpetrol stations is replenished so regularly that storage problems rarely occur. However, in smaller storage containers suchas drums, storage problems may occur. This fact sheet contains useful information to help you maintain the quality offuels away from the petrol station.For domestic use, fuel should be stored in steel cans of 2.5 litres, 5.0 litres or in 25.0 litre jerry cans. Plastic containers ofthe approved type with the Australian Standards mark (AS2906-1991) on the bottom can also be used. Please note thatthe storage of fuel in any quantity is hazardous and this fact sheet does not include safety and legislative guidelines forfuel storage. For details on these safety and legislative guidelines for fuel storage please refer to the Australian StandardAS1940.PetrolPetrol is a mixture of many components with different properties that contribute to the performance of the fuel. Whenpetrol is kept in an open container where it is exposed to the air, it will - in time - completely evaporate. As it evaporates,the composition and properties will change because different components evaporate at different rates. This is a normalfeature of petrol and helps describe the process which takes place when it is stored in equipment fuel tanks.Petrol in sealed containersThe storage life of petrol is one year when stored under shelter in a sealed container. Once a seal is broken the fuel has astorage life of six months at 20°C or three months at 30°C.Petrol in equipment tanksThe storage life of petrol in equipment fuel tanks is one month. This can be extended by topping up with one third offresh fuel, which restores the volatile components that have evaporated.Topping up with fresh fuel will help, however it is not a foolproof strategy for engines that are used only intermittently.The following principles may also help:> Keep the tank half full to stop water vapour from being sucked in and condensing.>Consider using a fuel that contains anti-oxidants, metal deactivators and corrosion inhibitors to protect metal surfaces;such as BP Ultimate.> Use a hotter spark plug to help to reduce carbon deposits

[RickE]

I store my fuel in 20litre plastic containers and always leave the small vent cap slightly open, based on Ross,s information maybe the containers should be kept airtight.The fuel in the gyro tank is permanently vented therefore it made sense to vent the containers as well, any advice would be welcomed.

[birdy]

If your container is sealed, no vapor can escape, so no loss of wotever and no water condensation.Twice a day the container will "breath", pushn out vapor then sucn in water vapor.Your fuel tank is vented coz you wouldnt get any fuel out if it wasnt.

[RickE]

My fuel tank vent tube has an in line filter which I guess stops moisture getting into the tank. It must work as I haven"t detected any water in the fuel over the last couple of years.From what you are saying Birdy I gather the advice would be to keep the containers sealed tight.

[bosca]

Rick,Ross was saying the exactly the same thing in his article.

[birdy]

Filters wont stop condensation, coz the water enters the tank asa gas. The filter would stop bugs n stuff getn in.Iv never drained a drop of water from my tanks in near 20 years( deserts are like that), but i came down once coz a mob of hornets climbed up the vent line, got gassed in the tank n blocked the outlet.It pays to have sum sorta screen on the end of the vent tube to keep the little f*****s out.They put seals on jerry caps for good reason Rick.

[blakemorem]

I noticed a comment that fuel at servos should be fresh as the tanks are frequently filled. I recall a comment made by a fuel truck driver that it"s not a good idea to fill your car if you see a tanker dropping fuel as it stirs the crap in the underground tanks and come back the following day when it"s settled. I have found strange floaties in my fuel checks and it was after filling with BP ultimate and a filtered funnel. Another pilot had strange floaties with his BP ultimate fuel too. I can happen with any fuel i guess but it pays to check. I have noticed fuel will go off color after a month in a full sealed jerry can. I have also noticed a half full plastic jerry can will swell considerably on me ute a full plastic jerry can won"t so oxadising and gassing...i know a forestry fella that won"t use plastic as they are dangerous he reconds they will burst on a hot day, but on that note you need to consider the high gas pressure in metal jerry cans i"ve opened the lid once on a full one and the fuel gushed out the spout with the gas build up. Mike.

[blakemorem]

Just found a quote from another blog. "Anyway don"t worry about that small amount. My brother worked for a BP depot and they mixed fuels all the time especially when a truck driver put the wrong fuel in the wrong tank. They actually have a % of diesel and petrol they can mix and still be sold. Generally it will just be mixed with a larger amount of the other so that they stay under that %." Mike.

[MadMuz]

I agree, keep plastic gerrys tightly sealed and in a cool dark place so it doesn"t puff up like when it has been left in the sun. When I store petrol, I use plastic gerrys, only fill it up to the line, put the lid on loose, squash as much of the air out with my knee and tighten the cap. This way there is hardly any air inside to evaporate fuel into, if the air pressure (barometer) increases, the Gerry cant compress, but if the air pressure decreases, the container wont expand either. Before opening the cap to use, I shake the container, so anything that did evaporate out has a chance of getting back in again.Most service stations NEVER clean out their tanks, it is not uncommon for there to be hundreds of liters of water and other cr@p in the bottom of the tanks, so definitely don"t buy petrol if the tanker is there, and change your fuel filter regularly, especially if you know the servo you use has "issues" with lousy fuel.

[RickE]

One of the guys at our airfield picked up some BP ultimate recently and noticed a whole heap of s#*t in the funnel as he was filling up his aircraft. He ended up emptying the whole lot out and had words with our local supplier.I"m not saying BP are the only culprits but I have heard a few stories now and their name seems to keep cropping up.Here in Sydney BP are consistently the cheapest fuel supplier for all fuels including 98 and diesel, makes you wonder!!!!

[blakemorem]

Yeah Rick i was a faithful BP Ultimate user but i have found Shell V has a little better performance in my ute then ultimate not using me ute as a reference to rotax but i have also noticed the Shel V won"t go off color as quick. I have read a few shockers of accidental fuel mixes from fellers that work in the tanker area of refineries. One accidental mix was a 6 million liter tanker of diesel with a significant load of ULP accidentally mixed and the feller said you will rarely find the accidents happen from tanker to service station as quality audits are precise it will happen from refinery to tanks and ships. So fuels take on a new perspective. I recall a Shell servo got a beating from the media about mixing fuel and i"m guessing it happened at the refinery as the quantities are too big to deliberately do it yourself and it would be business over if you had half a brain. I"m guessing the publicity impact to Shell would have been too big so they used the Shell servo as a sacrificial goat and may have paid him some compensation SHUT UP MONEY maybe I"m a little skeptical. You only have to read the blogs from fellers that have worked in the refinery industry to get the bigger picture and apparently it"s difficult to put the mixed fuels back through the refinery as it"s set up to process crude oil and a lot of hassle to try and re process mixed fuel. Mike.

[MadMuz]

I heard from a tanker driver that old fuel, fuel not up to spec or contaminated just gets mixed with a bit of ethanol and goes into (gets dumped into)

[Brian]

Stuff ups are bound to happen, years ago I had changed from unleaded to premium in my overhead tank, had taken a while to get changed over as I had to buy the premium in 200 litere drums in town

[MadMuz]

So what did they end up doing Chopper? Did they take it away and give you fresh premium?