FUEL DISPENSORY TECHNOLOGY AT OIL MARKETING

STATIONS – Philosophy

Design
A modern fuel dispenser is logically divided into two main parts
An electronic "head" containing an embedded computer to control the action of the pump, drive
the pump's displays, and communicate to an indoor sales system
Secondly, the mechanical section which in a ‘self-contained’ unit has an electric motor,
pumping unit, meters, pulsers and valves to physically pump and control the fuel flow
Vapor Recovery
Petrol contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which evaporate inside the fuel tank of a
vehicle and fill the air space above the liquid fuel. When a vehicle is refueled, these vapors are
forced out from the fuel tank by the incoming fuel and, unless controlled, escape into the
atmosphere through the filler neck of the fuel tank. Almost 5% is released into the environment,
which may affect the human health

Figure 1 Vapor recovery system

The ‘Stage I’ vapor recovery has been in place for a number of years at storage terminals and at
filling stations, to recover vapors that would escape into the atmosphere during the filling of
storage tanks. ‘Stage II’ controls will capture the majority of the emissions emitted from vehicle
refueling at petrol filling stations.

Fuel Dispensing System

The design of fuel dispensing system for a gas station depends on number of factors, including the size of
the facility, its volume of business, number of grades, blends, or separate motor fuel products sold, etc.
But all retail fuel dispensing systems have three basic components:

 Storage tank

 Pipelines

 Dispenser

Figure 2 Gas station components diagram

 Figure 3 Fuel Dispenser components

Underground Storage Tank

Figure 4 UST diagram

Tank Size

Tank Size when suction pumping systems are used with petrol or other similarly volatile
products, the tank diameter should be restricted to 2.5 m maximum. When submersible pumps
are used, suction lift and therefore tank diameter is not limited. There is then no theoretical limit
to the size of such tanks. Practical limitations will apply.

Time for loading the fuel tanker and unloading:

A top loading transport trailer is on compartment and holds about 6,000 gallons and depending
on product loaded can be from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Some product is heated to over 350 F to
flow and to be easily transferred. Unloading through a 6″ suction hose can take 15 to 20 minutes.
Suction Pump
Suction pump comes in two types
1. Self-contained systems, the pumping unit is located inside the dispenser. Its major
components are:
 A pump
 An electric motor
 An air eliminator
 low regulating valves

Figure 5 Self Contained pump

 2. Remote Pump (or Remote Dispenser) Systems In this type of system, fuel is pressurized
and propelled toward the dispenser by a pumping unit located at or in the storage tank.
The basic components of the pumping systems are:
 A Motor and Pump assembly and discharge head,
 An Emergency Shut-off valve, located in each dispenser, and
 A Control Valve, also located at each dispenser

Most remote systems employ a submerged pump. Thus, the pump and motor assembly are
completely submerged in the storage tank. As seen in the fig below the pump – usually a multi-
stage vertical turbine – is at the very bottom of the assembly. The intake of the submerged pump
is located approximately four inches from the bottom of the storage tank to reduce the possibility
of pumping water or sediment into the fuel system.

Figure 6 Remote Pump Submerged in Storage Tank

Fuel Dispenser flow rates:

Light passenger vehicle pump flow rate ranges up to about 50 litres (13 US gallons) (11 gallons)
per minute (the United States limits this to 10 US gallons (38 litres) per minute); pumps serving
trucks and other large vehicles have a higher flow rate, up to 130 litres.
The Meter
Metering devices in most gasoline and diesel retail fuel-dispensing systems are positive
displacement meters, so called after the basic principle of their operation. In a positive
displacement meter finite quantities of fuel are separated into compartments of known volume.
These compartments may be cylinders within a piston meter, segments between two vanes in a
vane type meter, or the space between rotors in other meters. The most popular type meter in
retail fuel-dispensing systems is the piston meter. A piston moving through a cylinder filled with
liquid will displace a quantity of liquid ahead of it. The amount of this displacement is
determined by the bore of the cylinder (it’s inside diameter) and the stroke of the piston (the
maximum distance that it travels in one direction). The positive displacement method of
metering is employed in fuel dispensers because it is capable of highly accurate measurement.