HCOTEG178030 - Measurement: vapour recovery: How is recovered vapour measured?
Manufacturers make various claims for the efficiency of their systems but the huge throughput of a refinery can make the systems a cost-effective investment despite the fact that they have to be present by law.
A rough estimate of the amount of motor spirit expected to be recovered is one litre per 1,000 litres loaded, and for a 1,000 litres of distillates the recovery of liquid is about a quarter to a third of a litre.
Because the amounts recovered are small and many units work by adding the vapour back into a stream of product, it is often not considered possible or practicable to measure the recovered fuel with meters. Accordingly we have a complex formula to work out the amount of duty that can be reclaimed. Vapour recovery claims and this formula are under review by the Oils Team (Policy). »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp current formula is said by one oil firm to result in errors costing it £580,000 a year - but this is for all its operations and before vapour recovery, vapour was merely lost to the air. Claims only began in 1999.