<"....... We Wasted a Day of Sunlight!"The Oil DrumDrumBeat: September 12, 2007>

25 comments on It's That Time Again (or Refining 101: Winter Gasoline)

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PeakTO on September 11, 2007 - 10:04am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Robert, if you were going to store some gasoline...which is better...summer or winter?

The way I read it is, that if you store Winter into summer...all the butane would boil off?

But it wouldn't be as bad storing or using summer blend in winter?

Is that right?

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SunnyvaleCA on September 11, 2007 - 11:41am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I believe that the concern with summer fuel in winter is with use: it may be harder to start your car/mower/boat/etc when using the summer fuel in winter time, as the colder temperatures and lower RVP would conspire to make for difficult starting because the fuel would remain a liquid in the colder engine.

As for diesel: summer diesel can become viscus in cold fuel lines. In that case you won't be going anywhere.

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richlev on September 11, 2007 - 3:46pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

From a mechanics perspective, storing gasoline for longer than 3 or 4 months is a bad idea because it turns brown and gums up a fuel system. You can use "stay-bil" to extend this a few more months but it is costly.

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expat on September 11, 2007 - 11:21pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Two notes about storage, and a warning -
1. Gasoline can most certainly be stored for longer than 3-4 months before having the problems you describe. At least if it was Amoco's best (gold, if I recall their naming correctly), from the mid 1990s - don't know about today, of course. My bike was left in the U.S., and when visiting, I would use the left over gas - cranked with no problem even after a year (however, I did drain the carbs before leaving - and when I originally bought the bike, the fuel had gummed, since it hadn't been ridden for a while).
2. The dealer I know was also unconcerned about storage times for gasoline or diesel, and was somewhat skeptical about my past experiences. Of course, he was also unfamilar with the idea of storing gasoline or diesel for any amount of time. (although heating oil may be stored for months in a home tank between two winters).

The warning is simple - don't store gasoline anywhere where people live, or in a structure which you care about, or with anything valuable. Gasoline is very dangerous, a fact which seems almost impossible to get across to most people. I am certain that in a shortage situation, a number of people will suffer horribly when they attempt to hoard gasoline.

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Spaceman on September 12, 2007 - 2:21am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Good advice!
I stored 20 gal using Sta-Bil for a year with no problems except I had to filter it because of some particulates that formed during storage.
This year I'm using PRI-G whose website claims 10 year storage.
http://www.priproducts.com/
I'll give an update then (if any of us are still around)
:)

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OilcoEx on September 12, 2007 - 5:07am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

there's a big difference between storing 10,000,000 gallons is a storage tank with a floating roof and storing a gallon in a fuel tank. But you do have to watch the gum formation. US gasoline is pretty heavily hydrotreated these days to get the sulfur out so the bad actors (double bonds = olefins) are gone. In the old days, olefinic blends were welcome in the blends as they have good octane and gave good lead response (IIRC).

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OilcoEx on September 12, 2007 - 5:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

you store summer grade in winter to deliver in spring/summer. That's when gasoline prices bottom and generally the futures will allow you some "carry" to hedge yourself. Refiners will make you summer spec in winter if they have surplus capacity and you pay a small premium. Or you can blend it yourself if you have the right components.

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