TABLE OF CONTENTS Crude oil is processed at oil refineries, generally located around coastal areas, and then transferred to a nationwide network of oil fuel terminals, from where it is distributed to customers. Fuel supplies to the customer can be made by road delivery vehicle, rail tank wagon or coastal tanker, depending on the location of the customer's storage installation.
Deliveries of oil fuels by road are made by vehicles with capacities ranging from 11 800 to 28 700 l (2600 to 6300 gal). The vehicles discharge fuel into customers' storage by pump or compressed air at rates up to 1050 1 (230 gal) per minute, and can deliver to a height of 10.7 m (35 ft) above the vehicle.
There are occasions where the noise of vehicle discharge needs to be minimized, examples being night discharge at hospitals, hotels and adjacent to residential areas where there are parking restrictions on daytime deliveries or where a customer agrees to a 24-hour delivery service. In such cases, the customer can install a offtake suction pump as part of his storage facilities, thus eliminating the use of the vehicle engine for vehicle pump operation.
There must, in all cases, be safe road access to sites where tanks are situated and suitable hard standing provided for the vehicle during delivery.
The capacities of rail tank cars are generally...
