Portable Fuel Container Spillage Control Project Monitoring and Laboratory Division June 28, 1999 California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board

Portable Fuel Container Spillage Control Workshop  Changes in the Proposed Regulations  Proposed Test Methods for Spill-Proof Systems  Draft Refueling Spillage Test Data  Permeation and Barrier Feasibility Test Data  Estimated Effectiveness of Spill-Proof Systems  Population/Activity/Emissions Inventory  Estimated Price Increases for Spill-Proof Systems  Regulatory Process  More Information

Proposed Portable Fuel Container Spillage Control Regulations  Proposed Regulations apply to both portable fuel containers and spouts  Section Performance Standards for Spill- Proof Systems and Spill-Proof Spouts  Section 2472 (a)&(b). Three flow rate standards based on container size (e.g., 1/2 gallon/minute for containers  1.25 gallons)  Section Permeation Standard of 0.4 grams/gallon/day

Proposed Portable Fuel Container Spillage Control Regulations (continued)  Section Exemptions, rapid refueling devices for off-road motorcycle competitions & portable fuel tanks for outboards  Section Flow rate labeling requirement  Section Test Methods for determining compliance with Performance Standards

Section Test Methods  Test Method Automatic Shut-Off Test Procedure  Test Method Automatic Closure Test Procedure  Test Method Flow Rate Test Procedure  Test Method Permeation Test Procedure

Test Method Automatic Shut-Off  Fill container with water and invert for 5 minutes to check for leaks  Dispense contents into a 1/2 gallon test fixture  Fill test fixture to at least 1 inch from the top of the opening (± 1/8”) without overflowing  Repeat the process 3 times

Test Method Automatic Closure  Apply Test Method 510 protocol except fill the test fixture to approximately 50% of capacity  Hold the inverted container over the test fixture for 30 seconds to check for leaks and proper function of automatic closure  Pressurize container to 10 psig with the spout installed, leave undisturbed for 24-hours and record any pressure loss  Maximum allowable 24-hour pressure loss is 1 psig

Test Method Flow Rate Test Procedure  Fill container to its nominal capacity with water and invert for 5 minutes to check for leaks  Determine the amount of time to dispense all but approximately 1 pint of the liquid  Determine the mass of liquid dispensed by pre and post weighing the container  Calculate a flow rate in gallons/minute using the density of water at 25°C  Test each container 3 times to determine the average flow rate

Test Method Determination of Permeation Rates  Precondition containers with gasoline for a minimum of 4 weeks  Empty and re-fill containers with CERT fuel, seal, leak test, then expose to a 24-hour variable temperature profile  Weigh containers every 24-hours to determine the permeation rate gravimetrically  Must verify weight loss is linear (steady state)  Average of 5 consecutive 24-hour diurnal cycles used to determine the final rate

Refueling Spillage Test Procedure  Randomly selected ARB employees using conventional containers and spouts fill a 2400 ml fuel tank  Each participant performs several trials with randomly selected containers  Mass of the fuel dispensed is determined by pre and post weighing the containers

Refueling Emissions Test Bench

Draft Refueling Spillage Test Data  Out of 56 events, 25 included refueling spillage (45%)  Average per spillage event (less displaced vapor) =16.4 grams  Total fuel dispensed gallons  Testing will continue through July 2nd, final results will be posted on our web site

Permeation and Barrier Feasibility Tests  Average permeation rates determined from testing untreated HDPE containers  Treated containers also tested to determine the effectiveness of barrier surface treatments  Containers ranged in size from 1.25 gallons to 6.6 gallons and included products from 5 different manufacturers  Containers were tested with Phase II California Reformulated Certification (CERT) fuel  Select containers were also tested with a blend of Carbob and fuel grade ethanol (5.7% mass)  Barrier surface treatments included Sulfonation & 2 levels of Fluorination (levels 3 & 5)

Permeation and Barrier Feasibility Tests

Permeation and Barrier Surface Treatment Feasibility Test Data

Average Permeation Rates for Untreated Containers  1.25 gallons g/gal/day  2.06 gallons g/gal/day  2.5 gallons g/gal/day  5 gallons g/gal/day  6.6* gallons g/gal/day  Average Permeation Rate grams/gallon/day

Average Permeation Rates for Treated Containers

Average Permeation Rates Proposed Standard

Estimated Effectiveness of Spill-Proof Systems  Reduce diurnal emissions by 75%  Eliminate refueling spillage - 100%  Eliminate transport and storage losses - 100%  Reduce average permeation rates by 75%  Collects 45% of displaced vapors

Portable Fuel Container (Gas Cans) Population/Activity/Emissions Inventory Mobile Source Control Division June 28, 1999 California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board

Statewide Population and Activity of Gas Cans  Determined through surveys  Residential Survey  Commercial Survey

Residential Population/Activity Parameters  % of households with gas cans - 46%  # of gas cans per household  % of gas cans stored empty - 30%  Average gas can capacity gallons  Average age of gas can years  Plastic and metal gas cans ratio - 76:24

Residential Population/Activity Parameters (Continued)  % Plastic cans with closed system - 53%  % Plastic cans with open system - 23%  % Metal cans with closed system - 13%  % Metal cans with open system - 11%

Commercial Population/Activity Parameters  # of gas cans per business  Average gas can capacity gallons  Average age of gas cans years  Plastic and metal gas cans ratio - 72:28

Commercial Population/Activity Parameters (Continued)  % Plastic cans with closed system - 33%  % Plastic cans with open system - 39%  % Metal cans with closed system - 18%  % Metal cans with open system - 10%

Gas Can Population Estimates  Residential gas can population - 9 million  Expansion Factor - # of housing units by county obtained from California State Department of Finance  Commercial gas can population - 400,000  Expansion Factor - # of businesses which may have gas cans from InfoUSA database

Various Emissions Related Processes Associated with Gas Cans  Diurnal Loss - Ambient Temperature  Permeation Loss - Pressure and gas can material  Spillage - During refueling of equipment  Vapor Displacement - During refueling of equipment

Permeation Emission Rates  1.57 grams per gallon per day  Obtained through gravimetric testing of several gas cans

Diurnal Emission Rates (Draft)  Several cans under different conditions were tested using Sealed Housing Evaporative Determination method.  Plastic/closed system g/gal/day  Plastic/open system g/day  Metal/closed system g/gal/day  Metal/open system g/gal/day

Spillage and Vapor Displacement Emission Rate  17.3 g/refueling - obtained from USEPA’s NEVES report  Vapor displacement g/gal  Waiting for Data

Estimated Prices of Spill-Proof Systems  Average price increase per Spill-Proof System estimated between $ $8.00 per container  Estimate compares retail prices of similarly constructed containers  Breaks containers into 3 size categories, 1-1.5, 2-2.5, 5-6 gallons  Pre-Regulation retail estimates of fuel containers are: u gallon - $3.24 u gallon - $4.69 u 5-6 gallon - $9.99

Regulatory Process  Workshop June 28, 1999 u Consider all comments received by July 9, 1999  Staff Report - August 6, 1999 u Start of 45 day public comment period  Board Hearing - September 23, 1999

More Information On The Emissions Inventory   Archana Agrawal, Manager, Inventory Assessments Section (626) 

More Information On The Regulation   Workshop presentation will be posted on the web site  Dean Bloudoff (916) 