Ask These Five Questions to Get the Most Out of Your Industrial Fuel Dispensing Equipment
By Steve Stewart
In the grand scheme of things, traditional c-store fueling accounts for only a small segment of Canada’s overall fueling needs. A significant portion of refueling takes place in the vast, remote areas across the country, where traditional fueling infrastructure is scarce or non-existent.
The reliability of fueling equipment in these areas transcends mere convenience. Remote fueling systems are vital to safety, operational continuity, and economic vitality. They are essential to keeping Canada’s most far-reaching and demanding sectors running smoothly: national defense, emergency response, agriculture, oil and gas, and forestry, to name a few.
So critical is the reliability of remote fueling equipment to national productivity, public safety, and social well-being that when a single component fails or causes a critical fueling error to occur, it can be like removing a key block in a game of Jenga. The balance tips, operations falter, and the entire structure of logistics and output begins to sway.
Take aviation, for example. Remote airfields are crucial for connecting communities in Canada’s expansive and often inaccessible geography. A disruption in aviation fueling at a remote airstrip can isolate a community, delaying critical goods, services or even emergency response efforts.
Beyond aviation, mining operations face similar systemic risks. As key economic drivers, these sites depend heavily on uninterrupted fueling. Disruptions can halt production, triggering a chain reaction that affects contractors, suppliers, and the surrounding communities that rely on mining activity. The resulting instability ripples through regional economies and supply chains, further highlighting the critical importance of reliable fueling infrastructure.
While keeping the economy moving forward is certainly important, the dependable supply of fuel plays an even more crucial role at the community level. With most of Canada’s remote communities relying on generators for electricity and heating, a consistent supply of diesel and fuel oil is necessary to keep people safe, commerce flowing, and maintain the quality of life.
Rising to the Remote Fueling Challenge
To address the unique challenges facing fueling operations in Canada’s remote areas, leading manufacturers are engineering solutions that place reliability and equipment longevity at the forefront. From rugged tank truck components to CSA B139 Series code-compliant aboveground storage tank infrastructure, each piece of equipment used in every stage of downstream fueling must be engineered to minimize service disruptions.
When it comes to industrial-grade fuel dispensing equipment, there are specific performance and system optimization factors to consider. With that in mind, here are five questions OPW Retail Fueling recommends operators of remote fueling applications ask their equipment supplier to ensure the fuel dispensing equipment they install will enhance reliability, improve safety and simplify maintenance and repairs.
What design features help fuel dispensing equipment withstand harsh operating conditions?
Extreme cold, heavy precipitation and high winds are all inherent to Canadian weather. Therefore, fueling system equipment needs to be engineered to perform in a wide range of temperatures, prevent corrosion and withstand dust and debris.
Adapting equipment to prevent damage from contact with rough surfaces is also essential. For example, utilizing counterweight or spring balance hose retractors to keep excess hose off the ground and out of the way prolongs hose life and prevents hazardous operating conditions. Nozzles that include drag lugs protect the nozzle when it is dragged across abrasive surfaces. Nozzles outfitted with dust caps help keep the spout clean.
How is the equipment designed to enhance safety, protect the environment and prevent operator errors?
In heavy-duty, high-flow truck, and bus and home fuel oil delivery service applications, choosing a nozzle with a venturi-type mechanism that automatically shuts off the flow of fuel helps prevent spills that contaminate the environment and waste costly fuel. To ensure your nozzle is up to the challenge, make sure it is ULc listed for this exact application. Pairing high-flow nozzles for high-flow, bulk fuel oil delivery service with a high-volume breakaway designed to limit fuel spillage from either end of the hose helps prevent a high-volume spill from occurring.
In aviation applications, selecting fuel nozzles designed to prevent misfuelling incidents is critical. Best-in-class Jet A nozzle spouts are designed to prevent the accidental fueling of a piston-engine aircraft. Colour-coding the nozzle lever guards for either Jet A or Avgas further reduces the risk of a disastrous operator error.
What components in the fuel dispensing equipment contribute to a higher rate of reliability?
Material choice and manufacturing processes have a significant impact on the longevity of fueling equipment. This is particularly true of seals, bearings, and surface coatings.
For example, fuel oil nozzle hose swivels containing nylon bearings offer several advantages compared to metal bearings. Nylon bearings are capable of reducing friction between the two rotating ends of the swivel without additional lubrication. They are also corrosion-resistant and lighter, which helps reduce the overall weight of the nozzle-hose assembly.
Seals are another critical, but often overlooked, component. Fuel dispensing equipment seals must withstand chemical degradation and extreme temperatures. Breakaways featuring fluorosilicone, for example, provide excellent resistance to a wide range of fuels, including gasoline, diesel, biodiesel and jet fuels, and they have a temperature range of -59°C to 204°C (-75°F to 400°F).
Protective coatings are also vital for durability. Red-anodized or nickel-plated components are better equipped to stand up to harsh operating environments compared to untreated metal parts.
What aspects of the dispenser fueling equipment simplify maintenance and repairs?
In the event a part needs to be replaced or serviced, making it easy to install and internal components easy to access reduces downtime. Breakaways that are easy to reconnect by the fueling operator and nozzles with easy-to-replace spouts not only help get fuel flowing again quickly, they extend the service life of the equipment.
What listings and certifications does the fueling equipment have?
Rigorously testing, inspecting, and evaluating fuel dispensing equipment is critical for ensuring it will do the job it is intended to do, and that it will do it safely. Equipment approved by UL Solutions indicates it meets the organization’s robust safety and performance standards. Fueling equipment with UL approval meets UL Solutions’ standards for U.S. markets. Fueling equipment with cUL approval meets standards for Canadian markets. Seeking out fuel dispensing equipment with these approvals is an important step toward maximizing reliability.
Conclusion
From heavy-duty, high-flow fueling applications to fueling airplanes and farm equipment, keeping fuel safely flowing is foundational to operational continuity in Canada’s rural communities. Even when small fueling system parts fail, it can lead to a cascade of adverse consequences, including downtime, delays, and compromised safety. With so much on the line, taking care to install fuel dispensing equipment that prioritizes reliability and service life longevity is nothing short of an exercise in risk prevention.
Steve Stewart is the senior Canadian & Caribbean sales manager for OPW Retail Fueling, based in Smithfield, NC, USA. He can be reached at steve.stewart@opwglobal.com. For more information on OPW Retail Fueling, go to opwglobal.com/opw-retail-fueling.
