Pipeline
Pipelines exist for the transport of crude and refined petroleum, fuels – such as oil, natural gas and biofuels – and other fluids including sewage, slurry, water, beer, hot water or steam for shorter distances and even pneumatic systems which allow for the generation of suction pressure for useful work and in transporting solid objects.
[4] Pipelines are useful for transporting water for drinking or irrigation over long distances when it needs to move over hills, or where canals or channels are poor choices due to considerations of evaporation, pollution, or environmental impact.
These provided an estimated 8 per cent of all petroleum products used by the Allies on the Western Front between the Normandy landings and the end of Second World War.
Small NGL processing facilities can be located in oil fields so the butane and propane liquid under light pressure of 125 pounds per square inch (860 kPa), can be shipped by rail, truck or pipeline.
A major ammonia pipeline is the Ukrainian Transammiak line connecting the TogliattiAzot facility in Russia to the exporting Black Sea-port of Odesa.
One example is a 525-kilometre (326 mi) slurry pipeline which is planned to transport iron ore from the Minas-Rio mine (producing 26.5 million tonnes per year) to the Port of Açu in Brazil.
The famous Han dynasty court eunuch Zhang Rang (d. 189 AD) once ordered the engineer Bi Lan to construct a series of square-pallet chain pumps outside the capital city of Luoyang.
[27][28] Pipelines are useful for transporting water for drinking or irrigation over long distances when it needs to move over hills, or where canals or channels are poor choices due to considerations of evaporation, pollution, or environmental impact.
[35] The village of Hallstatt in Austria, which is known for its long history of salt mining, claims to contain "the oldest industrial pipeline in the world", dating back to 1595.
[41] The construction and maintenance of marine pipelines imply logistical challenges that are different from those onland, mainly because of wave and current dynamics, along with other geohazards.
[45][46] The Biden administration has sought to permit the respective states and tribal groups to appraise and potentially block the proposed projects.
For example, in the State of Washington it is mandatory for pipeline operators to be able to detect and locate leaks of 8 percent of maximum flow within fifteen minutes or less.
CPM takes information from the field related to pressures, flows, and temperatures to estimate the hydraulic behavior of the product being transported.
Once the estimation is completed, the results are compared to other field references to detect the presence of an anomaly or unexpected situation, which may be related to a leak.
They connect to issues of geopolitics and international security as well, and the construction, placement, and control of oil and gas pipelines often figure prominently in state interests and actions.
Because the solvent fraction of dilbit typically comprises volatile aromatics such as naptha and benzene, reasonably rapid carrier vaporization can be expected to follow an above-ground spill—ostensibly enabling timely intervention by leaving only a viscous residue that is slow to migrate.
Effective protocols to minimize exposure to petrochemical vapours are well-established, and oil spilled from the pipeline would be unlikely to reach the aquifer unless incomplete remediation were followed by the introduction of another carrier (e.g. a series of torrential downpours).
Benzene can cause many health problems and is carcinogenic with EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set at 5 μg/L for potable water.
[51] Additionally, the exposure of livestock, mainly cattle, to benzene has been shown to cause many health issues, such as neurotoxicity, fetal damage and fatal poisoning.
Because the effectiveness of remote inspection is limited by the cost of monitoring equipment, gaps between sensors, and data that requires interpretation, small leaks in buried pipe can sometimes go undetected.
Based on the advanced detection methods and pipeline shut-off SOP developed by TransCanada, the risk of a substantive or large release over a short period of time contaminating groundwater with benzene is unlikely.
In the reduced-scope worst-case exposure scenario, the volume of a pinhole leak at 1.5% of max flow-rate for 14 days has been estimated at 189,000 barrels or 7.9 million gallons of oil.
[53] The actual movement of the plume through groundwater systems is not well described, although one estimate is that up to 4.9 billion gallons of water in the Ogallala Aquifer could become contaminated with benzene at concentrations above the MCL.
Heavy rains caused the river to overtop existing dams, and carried dilbit 30 miles downstream before the spill was contained.
Remediation work collected over 1.1 million gallons of oil and almost 200,000 cubic yards of oil-contaminated sediment and debris from the Kalamazoo River system.
While corrosion, pressure, and equipment failure are common causes, excavation damage is also a leading accident type that can be avoided by calling 811 before digging near pipelines.
[74][75][76] In pipeline transport systems, the efficient and safe movement of fluids—whether gas, oil, water, or chemicals—relies on effective fluid control mechanisms.
These mechanisms help regulate the flow, pressure, and direction of the fluids within the pipeline, preventing blockages, backflows, and ensuring smooth transportation over long distances.
This helps to prevent damage caused by pressure surges or drops, ensuring that the pipeline system operates within safe and efficient parameters.
Powered by electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic sources, actuators allow for automated fluid control, making them essential for pipelines that require continuous or remote monitoring.
