Through The Years With OPW Fueling-Nozzle Innovations
By Steve Stewart
Editor’s Note: With this issue we welcome Steve Stewart as the new voice of our “Forecourt Insight” column. Don’t worry, Ed Kammerer is OK and is just handing the reins over to Steve, who has been a respected figure in the retail-fueling market in Canada for more than 30 years, the last 14 of which have been spent with OPW. Steve has a background in marketing and is currently the senior Canadian & Caribbean sales manager for OPW Retail Fueling with responsibility for the OPW sales team in Canada, new and existing sales for OPW, the Canadian distributor and end-user network, regulatory compliance and contractor training. In other words, Steve has his finger firmly on the pulse of the retail-fueling market in Canada and we look forward to reading his contributions to the magazine in the coming months and years.
Welcome aboard, Steve!
The next time you find yourself with a few idle moments as you stand at a fueling island while filling up your vehicle, maybe spare a thought for Daniel Bernoulli and the contribution he made to making those consistently safe, quick, cost-effective and reliable refueling moments possible. Who, you might now be wondering, is Daniel Bernoulli? And no, he was not the goalie on Montreal’s 1953 Stanley Cup championship team.
Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and physicist who lived from 1700-1782. In his long and illustrious career, he was most recognized for his work in applying mathematical theorems to mechanical operations, especially in the realm of fluid mechanics. One of his most well-known and lasting contributions to science is what came to be known as the “Bernoulli Principle.” This fluid-dynamics principle ties the speed and elevation of a fluid to its pressure, stating that “if the speed of a fluid increases, then either its static pressure must decrease to compensate or its potential energy must decrease.”
In layman’s terms, the Bernoulli Principle is this: “As the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases.”
Notable Nozzle Milestones
Which brings us back to that fueling island. For the first 50 years or so of the internal-combustion-engine age, the nozzles used to refuel vehicles needed to be observed at all times during the refueling process. Failure to do so would raise the probability that a full fuel tank would overflow and gasoline or diesel would splash onto the station attendant, the vehicle and the ground, all of which would create a wide array of potential risks and hazards for people, the retail-fueling business and the environment.
That all changed in 1950 when OPW developed and applied for a patent for its Model 210 nozzle, the world’s first to feature automatic-shutoff technology. The secret sauce in the Model 210’s automatic-shutoff design and performance capabilities was the Bernoulli Principle. The Model 210 nozzle used the fuel’s change of speed as it flowed through the nozzle to create a pressure vacuum that caused a diaphragm to activate, in the process causing the nozzle to shut off and stop the flow of fuel when the tank was full.
The Bernoulli Principle and that landmark invention – which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year – remains the operational foundation for every automatic-shutoff nozzle that has been developed since then by any manufacturer anywhere in the world.
With automatic shutoff the new standard in nozzle design and functionality, OPW continued to lead the way in the development of next-generation nozzle technologies. First up was the Model 1A “Fil-O-Matic” nozzle in 1960, the first to be outfitted with a nozzle spout spring, and that was followed in 1971 by the Model 11A, which was a more streamlined and ergonomically friendly version of the Model 1A.
By the 1980s, however, vehicle fueling was changing, driven by the growing appeal of self-service retail-fueling operations that had the driver now performing the job of pump jockeys – iconic for so many years for their sprint from the counter to the car, with the driver commanding, “Fill ’er up!” Putting the refueling process in the hands of untrained, or distracted, drivers brought with it inherent risks, setting the stage for OPW’s next landmark nozzle innovation.
They called it the Model 11B, which marked its 40th anniversary in 2024, the industry’s first “no-pressure/no-flow” nozzle, one that featured a “B-Cap” that would not allow the nozzle to operate until the dispenser had been pressurized and would cease operation once the dispenser became depressurized. In other words, the B-Cap design created a nearly fail-safe refueling operation no matter the experience level or attentiveness of the driver. This landmark technology was also helpful and necessary as fuel retailers switched to “pre-pay” at the pump and dispenser manufacturers rolled out “CRINDs” (Card Reader In Dispenser) that allowed drivers to “pay at the pump” with their credit cards.
The list of additional features possessed by the 11B nozzles is long and impressive:
- Aircraft-grade aluminum spout
- Upgraded seat ring for improved shutoff performance
- Flow-Lock allows nozzle to shut off if it falls out of the vehicle
- Two-piece NEWGARD hand insulator and splash guard
- Accu-Stop to-the-penny Flow Control Technology
- Durable Duratuff level guard that won’t scratch vehicles
- One-finger hold-open clip
- UL-approved O-rings, seals and diaphragms.
- UL 2586 certification for compatibility with all alcohol-fuel blends and bio-diesel blends regardless of the percentage of mixture
- From there, the nozzle innovations kept coming from OPW with almost metronomic regularity:
- 1990s: Improved ring-and-spring spout design that is compliant with SAE J285 and ISO 9158/9159 global fill-pipe standards.
- 2000s: Extreme Cold nozzle versions that are designed beyond the ULc standard for use with winter-fuel formulations and in temperatures as low as -54ºC (-65ºF), making them ideal for Canadian winters.
- 2010s: Nozzles that are compatible with all levels of ethanol and biofuel blends, the number and consumption rate of which have continued to grow.
- 2020s: Clean-nozzle technology that prevents the spillage of any residual fuel in the nozzle onto the forecourt surface, the vehicle or the driver’s hands, shoes or clothes. This includes the industry’s first diesel-capture technology that secures excess diesel fuel in a diesel-capture chamber at the conclusion of a fueling event with the captured diesel reintroduced into the fuel stream when the next fueling cycle begins.
Which brings us to OPW’s latest nozzle innovation, an upgrade to the venerable Model 11B. Scheduled for release in Canada later this year, the remodeled 11B will be easier to open and feature a more comfortable lever and ergonomic barrel cover for a more user-friendly refueling experience. But don’t worry, the new 11B will remain the same tried-and-true workhorse nozzle it has always been, one that for 40 years has set the standard in cutting-edge nozzle performance, reliability and safety.
Conclusion
We’re all familiar with the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” OPW acknowledges that sentiment, but adds a qualifier: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – just make it better.” Such has been its approach to fuel-nozzle design and development over the years. As the company marks 75 years since the creation of the first automatic-shutoff nozzle – thank you very much, Daniel Bernoulli – rest assured it remains committed to remaining a leader in developing industry-standard nozzle technologies, a commitment echoed in the upcoming release of its updated Model 11B nozzle.
Steve Stewart is the senior Canadian & Caribbean sales manager for OPW, based in Cincinnati, OH, USA. He can be reached at steve. stewart@opwglobal.com. OPW is fueled by excellence as it develops fueling solutions and innovations worldwide. OPW delivers product excellence and the most comprehensive line of fueling equipment and services to retail and commercial fueling operations around the globe. For more information on OPW, go to opwglobal.com.
