Guides
The sums a petrol pump does every day, in plain words
Every guide gives its source: the Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024, ASTM D1250 and the companies’ own tank charts.
Petrol pump basics
Ethanol-blended petrol: what changes at the pumpE10 and E20 are petrol with 10% and 20% ethanol. What changes for a petrol pump: the same density range, the right water-finding paste, and the risk of water in the tank.Totalizer readings: how sales are countedA dispenser's totalizer is a lifetime counter of litres. Sales are closing reading less opening reading on the same nozzle. How to read it, test fuel, and why the seals matter.What are MS and HSD?MS is Motor Spirit, the trade name for petrol; HSD is High Speed Diesel. What the terms mean on invoices and registers, their standards, densities and colours.
Density
The daily density check at a petrol pumpThe three density checks MDG 2024 asks of every dealer: morning density by 10 AM, each tanker compartment, and the tank after decanting, with the density register format.How to calculate density at 15 °CStep by step: take a sample, read the hydrometer and thermometer, and find density at 15 °C from ASTM Table 53B, with two worked examples for petrol and diesel.How to use a hydrometer: the jar testHow to do the hydrometer jar test at a petrol pump: the jar, the sample, reading the scale at the right line, the thermometer, and the mistakes that give a wrong density.What is the density of petrol and diesel in India?BS-VI petrol must be 720 to 775 kg/m³ at 15 °C and BS-VI diesel 810 to 845 kg/m³. The limits, where they come from, and what a reading outside means.Table 53B and Table 54B: what is the difference?Table 53B converts a hydrometer reading to density at 15 °C; Table 54B gives the volume correction factor to litres at 15 °C. How the two work together, with an example.What is ASTM Table 53B?ASTM Table 53B turns a hydrometer reading at any temperature into density at 15 °C for petrol, diesel and kerosene. What it is, how to read it, and why pumps use it.Why is density corrected to 15 °C?Fuel expands as it warms, so its density and its litres change with temperature. Why the industry uses 15 °C, and how much a warm day changes the figures.
Dip and tank charts
BPCL tank dip chartBPCL underground tank dip charts for 10+ models from 8.4 KL to 70 KL: inside diameter, length, full litres, and litres every 10 cm of dip.How to read a dip rod: cm, mm and barsHow to read a fuel tank dip rod marked in centimetres and millimetres, or in centimetres with four 2 mm bars, and the costly mistake of writing bars as a decimal.The dip to litres formulaThe formula behind every dip chart: litres in a horizontal cylindrical tank from its diameter, length and dip, worked step by step for a BPCL 20 KL tank.How to take a dip readingStep by step: how to dip a petrol pump's underground tank, read the rod, check for water with paste, and turn the dip into litres, with the mistakes to avoid.HPCL tank dip chartHPCL underground tank dip charts for 9, 16, 22 and 35 KL: inside diameter, length, full litres and litres every 10 cm of dip.IOCL tank dip chartIndianOil underground tank dip charts for 15 KL and 20 KL: inside diameter, length, deadwood, full litres and litres every 10 cm of dip.How big are petrol pump underground tanks?Common underground tank sizes at Indian petrol pumps, from 8.4 KL to 70 KL, with their inside diameters and lengths for BPCL, IOCL and HPCL, and why the size alone does not give the chart.Water in the tank: the water dipHow to check for water in a petrol or diesel tank with water-finding paste, why it matters for ethanol-blended petrol, and what the MDG asks a dealer to do.Why do two tanks of the same size have different dip charts?A tank's dip chart depends on its inside diameter and length, not its size in KL. Why two 20 KL tanks give different litres at the same dip, and how to find your model.
Tankers
How much density variation is allowed?The density of each tanker compartment at 15 °C must be within ±3.0 kg/m³ of the invoice density. What the MDG says, how to check it, and what to do if it fails.How to receive and decant a tankerEvery step of receiving a tanker at a petrol pump as MDG 2024 sets it out: invoice checks, seals, compartment dips, water paste, density within ±3 kg/m³, samples and the 50 litre composite check.Tanker shortage: how to find it and what to doHow to catch a tanker shortage before and after decanting, the difference between a real shortage and temperature, and the MDG steps for making up and recording it.The three-tier sampling procedureHow petrol and diesel samples are drawn at depots and petrol pumps under the three-tier procedure: tank lorry retention samples, who signs, how long to keep them, and oil company sampling.
Stock and losses
How much evaporation loss is allowed?MDG 2024 allows petrol 0.75% evaporation and handling loss up to 600 KL a year and 0.60% beyond, and diesel 0.25% and 0.20%. What it covers and how to work it out.Stock variation: the 4% ruleHow petrol pump stock is verified: opening dip plus receipts less sales gives book stock, compared with the closing dip within ±4%. The MDG 2024 method with a worked example.
Rules and daily checks
The 5 litre measure testHow to do the 5 litre measure test on a petrol pump nozzle, the ±25 ml permissible error, the ±10 ml line in the MDG, and what to do when a nozzle delivers short.The petrol pump daily checklistThe checks a petrol pump dealer makes every day under MDG 2024: morning dips and water dips, density by 10 AM, 5 litre test on every nozzle, seals, and the registers to keep.
For customers
The filter paper test for petrolThe filter paper test is a quick check for adulterated petrol. Every Indian petrol pump must keep Whatman 2 filter paper and give it to customers who ask. How to do it and what it shows.How to check petrol quality and quantity at a pumpFive checks any customer can ask for at an Indian petrol pump: the zero on the meter, the filter paper test, the density on display, the 5 litre measure, and the complaint book.What every petrol pump must give youWhat every petrol pump in India must give customers under the oil companies' MDG 2024: free air with a calibrated gauge, a clean toilet, telephone, first aid, prices, complaint book and contacts.