GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. -- Turn Down Hot Fuel, a campaign its backers say is intended to educate consumers on how "hot fuel" affects the cost of fuel and to provide an avenue for communicating to lawmakers the need for automatic temperature compensation at every retail fuel pump has been launched by a professional truckers' organization, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), and includes a website, www.turndownhotfuel.com.
The phrase "hot fuel" refers to expanded diesel fuel [image-nocss] or gasoline that is sold at retail pumps at temperatures higher than the century-old government standard of 60 degrees. That is the temperature/volume used in the petro-chemical industry to measure all petroleum liquids at the refinery and every point after the refinery, except at the retail pump, said the group.
At the 60-degree standard, a gallon of fuel delivers a certain amount of measurable energy, referred to as Btu. But when expanded by higher temperatures, that same amount of fuel actually delivers less energy, according to OOIDA; the warmer the fuel, the less measurable energy and fewer miles to the gallon a vehicle will receive.
Devices can be installed on retail pumps to make up the difference, called automatic temperature compensation retro-fit kits.
"Temperatures of the fuel in underground storage tanks do not change dramatically enough during a 24-hour cycle," said OOIDA Project Leader, John Siebert.
Some people mistakenly believe in-ground tanks at gas stations keep fuel at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the website says. According to the association, however, the insulated, fiberglass tanks tend to keep fuel at the temperature it was delivered. Larger retailers turn over fuel supplies very rapidly, greatly reducing the time the fuel spends in the tanks.
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