فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

In this study, a novel venting system, referred to as the solar vent, is experimentally evaluated for its effectiveness in reducing gasoline evaporation from fuel storage tanks used in fuel dispensing stations. By leveraging the solar chimney effect, the study examines the influence of vent geometry on transient pressure behavior above the fuel surface and the resulting evaporative losses under laboratory conditions representative of practical operation. The experimental dataset analyzed in this work was previously reported in a related publication combined with numerical simulations. However, the present paper is exclusively devoted to a refined experimental interpretation, with emphasis on pressure stability and evaporation behavior. Two identical 220 L gasoline storage tanks were constructed as laboratory-scale models, one equipped with a conventional vent pipe and the other with the proposed solar vent. Both tanks were exposed to identical environmental conditions over a 17-day test period. The study focuses on comparing pressure fluctuations and evaporation losses between the two vent configurations. Experimental observations indicate that the solar vent maintains a slightly higher and more stable positive pressure above the gasoline surface compared to the conventional vent, which correlates with reduced evaporative losses. Under the specific laboratory conditions examined, the conventionally vented tank experienced approximately 3.5% fuel loss. In contrast, the tank equipped with the solar vent exhibited about 0.9% loss, corresponding to an approximate reduction of up to 75% in evaporation. These findings demonstrate the potential of the solar vent as a passive and effective strategy for mitigating fuel losses in gasoline storage tanks at the laboratory scale.