Driving through Columbus, OH yesterday on the highway and one of the electronic traffic billboards said "air quality alert: car pool or take the bus to help" and it was very hazy in town. When I cane through in the evening, the sign said "air quality alert; refuel after 6pm" My question is How is air quality affected by the time of day you put gas in your car?

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Athens, OH

Some gasoline vapors will always escape during fueling. That could be the reason.



I commend you for walking instead of driving; especially since you require a cane!

hoses and dribbling

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Before the advent of vapor recovery nozzles in California, the refueling of cars was a major source smog. This is because when you pump 20 gallons of gas into your tank then you displace 20 gallons of fuel vapor which has to go somewhere. If your state doesn't require vapor recovery nozzles then the fuel vapor goes straight into the air.

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"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2012 08:10PM by davester.

It's apparently enough that many parts of California require gas pump nozzles that recover the vapors.

Geez, we've had those for so long , is there really any place that doesn't have them stateside any more ?

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I just read recently that CA is ridding itself off those attachments. I believe it is in some way supposed to help the small business owner (gas station owner). I don't recall how. Perhaps the upkeep on those nozzles or something. Sorry, I forget but I am pretty certain they are going away.

I know through the years I didn't see them in some rural parts of CA, and other parts of the country when I traveled, but maybe they eventually became standard everywhere.

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billb
Geez, we've had those for so long , is there really any place that doesn't have them stateside any more ?

Here in Arkansas we don't for the most part. :-(

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(vikm)
I just read recently that CA is ridding itself off those attachments. I believe it is in some way supposed to help the small business owner (gas station owner). I don't recall how. Perhaps the upkeep on those nozzles or something. Sorry, I forget but I am pretty certain they are going away.

I think you read wrong. Vapor recovery nozzles have a major impact on air quality. There's no way they are going away, although there are improvements in them every couple of years.

Edit: I stand corrected. I didn't realize that vapor recovery systems are now built into cars.

Carnos, they are definitely not standard everywhere. I've been through several states that don't have them and I don't think they're mandated in the rural parts of California (because air quality is good in those locations).

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"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2012 12:12AM by davester.

The nozzles can start going away over the next few years, the EPA has published a rules change to that effect since some cars built since 1998 have the vapor recovery built in. All cars since 2006 now have it built in. One article about the change is here, [green.autoblog.com].

Those nozzles are disappearing in NY.

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archipirata
... My question is How is air quality affected by the time of day you put gas in your car?

Here in Atlanta we learned that two main ingredients for smog are non-moving air and heat. When you have both, you have a lot more smog. Take either away and you have almost no smog. Fueling up after the sun goes down reduces smog from escaping vapors at the pump. The same amount of vapors are still there of course but there will be less smog.

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Carnos Jax

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billb
Geez, we've had those for so long , is there really any place that doesn't have them stateside any more ?

Here in Arkansas we don't for the most part. :-(

Was just about to post same. Haven't seen one of those add-ons in more than half a decade.

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