Oil And Gas Storage and

Transportation

Fan Zhang
 

Department of Petroleum Storage and

Transportation, University of Petroleum
Beijing, China
◆ Oil and Gas industry in China
◆ Brief Description of Petroleum
Surface Treatment
◆ Treating Oil Field Emulsions
◆ Dehydration of Natural Gas
◆ Hydrocarbon Recovery and Condensate
Stabilization
◆ How to Transport Waxy Crude Oil
Oil and Gas industry in China
CNPC
 Annual Crude oil production 8.53 hundred m
illion bbl (In 2010)
 Annual natural gas production 2.25 trillion
cubic feets
 Tenth among the world's top 50 petroleum
companies
 Total assets 2.63 trillion RMB yuan
SINOPEC
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation
 Crude oil 38.16 million tons
 Gas 5.3 billion cubic meters
 Refined oil products 68.73 million tons
ethylene 3.17 million tons
synthetic resin 4.69 million tons
synthetic fiber 1.28 million tons
synthetic fiber polymers 1.85 million tons
synthetic rubber 500,000 tons
CNOOC

China National Offshore Oil Corporation

 22,000 employees ( 1000 foreign employees)

 total assets of 450 billion RMB

 Annual Crude oil production 50 million ton (I

n 2010).
Brief Description of
Petroleum Surface
Treatment
 1 Well fluids

Well fluids: a complex mixture of liquid

hydrocarbons, gas, and some
impurities.
Impurities : hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide,
free water, water vapor,
mercaptans, nitrogen, helium,
and solids.
 2 Separator
Methods: time, chemicals, gravity, heat,
mechanical or electrical processe
s,
and combinations of these.
Size: dependent upon rate of flow of the
natural gas and/or liquids.
Pressure: dependent upon the pressure of
the gas sales line, the flowing
pressure of the well, and operating
pressure desired by the operator.
Shape: vertical, horizontal and spherical
Two-phase: to separate the gas and liquids
Three-phase: to separate natural gas, liquid
hydrocarbons, and free water
The internals of the vessel, to aid in the
mechanical separation of the gas and
liquids, are of a special design,
depending upon the manufacture.
Although most separators are two-
phase in design separating the gas and
liquids, they can be built three-phase to
separate natural gas, liquid
hydrocarbons, and free water.
 3 Dehydration of Natural gas
Hydrate:
1). Heating the gas stream so that the
temperature of the gas will not drop to
the level at which hydrates form.
 2). Addition of an anti-freeze agent such
as methanol or glycol to the gas stream.

Methods:
1). Removal of water vapor by use of a
glycol dehydrator
2). Dehydration using solid desiccants (dr
ying
agents) such as alumina, silica-gel, sili
con-alumina beads, and molecular-siev
e.
3). Dehydration by expansion refrigeration,
which can be accomplished if there is a
sufficient pressure drop between well-
flowing pressure and separator pressure.
4 Oil Treating
The gas, water, and other impurities
(known as basic sediment and
water) must be removed before
selling the oil. This separation
process is called oil treating.
In selecting a treating system, a number
of factors should be considered to
determine the most desirable method of
treating the crude oil to pipeline
requirements.
Some of these factors are:
1). Tightness of emulsion.
2). Specific gravity of the oil and produced
water.
3). Corrosiveness of the oil, gas, and
produced water.
4). Scaling tendencies of the produced water.
5).Quantity of fluid to be treated and percent
of water in the fluid.
6). Availability of sales line for the gas.
7). Desirable operating pressure for the
equipment.
8). Paraffin-forming tendencies of the crude
oil.
Oil-field emulsions are complex and each
should be considered individually.
5. Heater-Treaters
A heater-treater is normally used in "tre
ating" oil emulsions.
Heater treaters can be vertical or horizo
ntal in design. The size is dependent up
on the volume of oil and water to be han
dled.
 6. Free Water Knockouts

When there is sufficient free water

production on a lease, a FWKO is often
installed to separate free gas and free water
from free oil and emulsion.
This vessel can be either horizontal or
vertical in design.
7. Gun Barrel

In some cases an oil-water emulsion is

not very stable and, water will settle
toward the bottom of a tank. The settling
vessel is known as a gun barrel or wash
tank.
 8. Storage Tanks
The number and size of stock tanks
depending upon the volume of oil produced
each day, method of selling the oil to the
pipeline, and how frequently and at what
rate oil is taken by the pipeline company.
 9. Vapor Recovery System
When oil is treated under pressure and then
goes to a stock tank at near atmospheric
pressure, some liquid hydrocarbons flash to
gas.
Some factors that determine the volume of
flash gas are:
1. Type of liquid hydrocarbons.
2. Treating pressure.
3. Treating temperature.
4. Volume of liquid hydrocarbons.
5.Temperature of liquid hydrocarbons
entering tank.
6. Diameter of tank.
7. How liquids enter the tank.
8. How long liquid hydrocarbons stay in
tank before going to pipeline.
 10. Handling Produced Water
The method of disposal of the produced
waters depends on many factors such
as volume of water, type of water,
location of oil or gas field, type of
reservoir from which water is produced,
government regulations, etc.
The most acceptable methods of
disposing of produced waters are :
1) injection into underground salt water
bearing formations
2) injection into oil bearing underground
reservoirs from which the oil and
water is produced
3) disposal of carefully treated water
into the ocean from offshore
production platforms.
Treating Oil Field
Emulsions
A. Theory of Emulsion

A stable emulsion is an emulsion that will

not break down without some form of
treating.
Three conditions are necessary for the
formation of a stable emulsion.
(1) The liquids must be immiscible.
(2) There must be sufficient agitation to
disperse one liquid as droplets in the
other.
(3) There must be an emulsifying agent,
or emulsifier, present.
Emulsifying agents commonly found in
petroleum emulsions include asphalt; re
sinous substances; oil soluble organic a
cids; and other finely divided materials t
hat are more soluble, wettable, or disper
sible in oil than in water.
Some finely divided solids are iron, zinc
and aluminum sulfates, calcium
carbonate, silica, and iron sulfide.
Each of these emulsifiers usually occurs as
a film on the surface of the dispersed
droplets.
In an emulsion, the liquid that is broken
up into droplets is known as the
discontinuous, dispersed, or internal,
phase. The liquid that surrounds the
droplets is known as the continuous, or
external phase.
An emulsion of oil and water may have
either oil or water as the dispersed
phase, depending on the characteristics
of the emulsifying agent, but in most
cases it is the water that is dispersed as
droplets in the oil.
An oil-water emulsion may contain from
a trace to 90 percent or more water.
Also, an emulsion may be tight (difficult
to break) or loose (easy to break).
Occasionally emulsions produced from
some fields are the reverse type in
which the oil is the internal phase and is
dispersed as droplets in water.
Sometimes, but very rarely, oil is
produced in a dual emulsion in which
the dispersed phase is droplets of oil-in-
water emulsion and the external phase
is oil.
In water-in-oil emulsion, there are two forces in
direct opposition.
One is the film of emulsifying agent that
surrounds the water droplets. It tends to prevent
the droplets from merging together to form larger
drops, even when the droplets collide.
The other is the opposite tendency of water
droplets to join together to form larger drops. The
larger drops yield to the force of gravity and
settle out.
Therefore, to break down a petroleum
emulsion, the properties of the
emulsifying agent must be neutralized
or destroyed so that the droplets of
water may unite. Many procedures for
the neutralization and destruction of the
emulsifying agent have been
developed.
a. Application of Chemicals

One theory suggests that chemical is used stri

ctly to neutralize the emulsifying agent. Thus,
to break a water-in-oil emulsion, another emul
sifying agent should be added that would nor
mally produce an oil-in-water, or reverse, emu
lsion.
By attempting to reverse the phases, complet
e separation is obtained.
 Another theory suggests that the
chemical makes the film of emulsifying
agent around the water droplet in a
water-in-oil very rigid. Thus, when the
enclosed water expanded by heating,
the film is torn, the water droplets can
merge, and the emulsion is broken.
In order for the emulsion to be broken
without applying heat, the chemical
must make the film not only be rigid but
contract slightly to cause it to tear.
b. Application of Heat

In a water-in-oil emulsion, Brownian movemen

t causes both the oil and the water molecules
to hit each other.
Heat increases this movement and makes the
droplets strike each other with greater force a
nd frequency.
Heat also reduces the viscosity of the oil and
thereby allows the water droplets to collide
with even greater force.
Further, the combined coalesced water
droplets are larger (and thus heavier) and can
settle out of the heated oil more rapidly. Both
these effects of heat probably encourage the
breaking of an emulsion.
c. Effects of Electric Current

The emulsifying agents in a water-in-oil

emulsion forming a film around the
water droplets. This film is composed of
polar molecules (molecules that have
both a positive and a negative end).
The electric field also causes a mutual
attraction of emulsion particles, making
them rearrange themselves along an
electrostatic line of force, thus breaking
the tight wall of molecules.
Electricity is also employed in treating
emulsions, usually in conjunction with
heat and chemicals.
B. Application of Heat in Treating

Heat alone does not cause an emulsion to

break down, except in rare instances. Usually
the application of heat is an auxiliary process
to speed up separation.
If possible, heat is eliminated entirely from
the treating process.
All emulsion heaters fall into one of two
general types:
direct heaters
indirect heaters
a. Direct Heaters

In a direct heater, the emulsion comes i

n direct contact with the firebox, or heati
ng element.
They are used to heat non-corrosive e
mulsions that are under comparatively l
ow pressure and the most efficient type
of heater.
Four basic types of direct heaters are us
ed in the field:
① tubular heaters
②fluid jacket heaters
③ internal firebox heaters
④volume or jug-type heaters
 b. Indirect Heaters
An indirect heater consists of three main
parts: (1) the body
(2) the firebox
(3) the flow-tube bundle.
C. Principles of Chemical Treating

Chemicals used to break water-in-oil

emulsions must be soluble in oil and
surface active （ dissolve in the oil and
work on the surfaces of the water
droplets to cause them to break ） .
Also, emulsion-breaking chemicals are polar
materials. This means that they are attracted
to the emulsifying agents, which are also
polar materials. When the freely moving water
droplets in the oil collide, the droplets can
easily merge together to form larger drops
that will settle out.
Chemicals used to treat oil-in-water emulsions
are water soluble. They must break the
emulsifier surrounding the oil droplets upon
contact and cause the oil droplets to cling
together, or coagulate, into large globules.
Then this coagulated oil is removed from the
top of the water, and the water is disposed of.
 a. Point of Application of Chemicals

The point at which the emulsion-breaking

chemical should be added is an important
consideration when designing a treating
facility.
There must be sufficient agitation in the
flow stream to allow the chemical to mix
thoroughly with the emulsion.
In oil-in-water emulsions, sufficient
agitation is very important for the
chemical to be effective.
However, if the chemical were added to
the flow stream at the wellhead. The ch
emical would break into free oil and wat
er flowing to the separator. In the separ
ator, violent agitation could occur, which
would cause the oil and water to reemul
sify and remain emulsified if the chemic
al had been used up.
Such a situation is not likely to occur unless
the emulsifying agent is iron sulfide--as, for
example, in a sour crude well in which the
sulfide in the crude combines with the iron in
the flow line. In such cases, slightly more
chemical than is needed to break the
emulsion at the wellhead can be added to
prevent problems at the separator.
Careful investigation and experimentation sho
uld be made before a chemical injection pum
p is finally set. The chemical pump is often pl
aced either at the header or separator, someti
mes even at downhole or ahead of a choke, b
ut this depends on the particular well and the
treating methods being used.
In cases where one well makes cut oil
and others in the battery make clean oil,
chemical injection equipment is often
placed on the flow line of the emulsion
producing well.
 b. Methods of Applying Chemical
It is usually not good practice to dump chemical
into tanks in 1 or 2 gallon batches because th
e chemical is often heavier than the emulsion
and is likely to sink to the bottom in one large
mass and not be able to perform. It is possibl
e to add too much chemical to the batch so th
at over treatment occurs. Overtreatment som
etimes results in the formation of an emulsion
that is very difficult to break.
c. Relation of chemicals to temperature

Less chemical is required to treat a

warm emulsion than a cold one. But at
higher temperatures the saving in the
amount of chemicals used to break the
emulsion may be more than offset by
the loss of income caused by gravity
and volume losses in the oil. Also, more
fuel is consumed by the heating system.
d. Relation of amount of chemicals
to settling time

The amount and type of chemical has a

definite effect on how well the emulsion
breaks down but has no effect on the
speed of the breakdown .
If the temperature of the emulsion can
be raised without causing gravity and
volume losses, the emulsion may break
down faster and speedier settling times
may be obtained due to the decrease in
viscosity.
Dehydration of Natural Gas
 A. Hydrates
Most natural gas contains substantial amounts of
water vapor at the time it is produced from a well
or separated from an associated crude oil stream.
The solid hydrates may pack solidly in gas-
gathering systems, resulting in partial or
complete blocking of flow lines.
 a. Formation of hydrates
Hydrates are solid compounds that form as
crystals and resemble snow in appearance.
Hydrates have a specific gravity of about
0.98 and will usually float in water and sink
in hydrocarbon liquids.
The chart shows the water content in po
unds of water per MMscf of saturated g
as at any pressure or temperature. The
dotted line crossing the family of curves
shows the temperature at which hydrate
s will probably form at any given pressur
e.
In most fields, fortunately, the
temperature of the gas at the wellhead
is 100°F or more; therefore, the
hydrate problem does not usually begin
until the gas passes through the
Christmas tree or some choke valve.
 b. Hydrate Inhibitors
Low-volume injectors or pumps are used to
feed the inhibitor fluid into the gas flow
system. Methanol and glycol are the
inhibitors most widely used; however, they
are expensive.
Usually methanol and glycol are used
when hydrate problems arise so rarely
that the installation of a heater or
dehydration equipment is not
economically feasible.
 B. Dehydration of Natural Gas
There are two major types of dehydration
equipment in use at this time, namely the
liquid-desiccant dehydrator and the solid-
desiccant dehydrator.
a. Dew-point depression

At any specified pressure, hot gas takes

more water vapor to reach the saturation
point than does cool gas.
Suppose the gas is processed in a
dehydration unit and the dew point is
depressed 50°F.
b. Liquid-desiccant dehydrators

The desiccant used in the liquid-type dehydrator

is usually a solution of one of the glycols, diethy
lene glycol or trlethylene glycol( DEC, or TEG).
TEG is a more recent development in the field t
han DEG.
TEG is a superior material. It is more easily reg
enerated to 98 to 99 percent concentration, has
a higher (about +40°F) decomposition temper
ature and lower vaporization losses.
 c. Solid-desiccant dehydrators
The essential components of a solid-desiccant
dehydrator installation are:
(l) an inlet-gas stream separator, usually a filte
r separator;
(2) two or more adsorption towers (adsorbers
or contactors) filled with a granular gas dryin
g material;
(3) a high-temperature heater to provide hot
regeneration gas for drying the desiccant in
the towers
(4) a regeneration-gas cooler for condensing
water from the hot regeneration gas;
(5) a regeneration-gas separator to remove
water from the regeneration-gas stream; and
(6) piping, manifolds, switching valves, and
controls to direct and control the flow of gases
according to process requirements.
 Hydrocarbon recovery
and condensate stabilization
 A. Hydrocarbon recovery processes
The early method of recovering liquid hydroc
arbons from natural gas was by means of co
mpression and cooling.
In some cases, there were problems with wa
x and paraffin formationia in the chiller that h
ad to be resolved.
The most recent development in low-temperatur
e, high-recovery plants is the cryogenic plant th
at uses the turboexpander.
Gas is expanded through a turbine compressor
from which it exhausts at extremely low temper
atures in the ranges -160 to-180°F.
At these low temperatures, most of the gas exc
ept methane is condensed.
 B. Absorber and stripper units
Absorbers and strippers are built much
alike. The object of the stripper is to remove
something from the liquid stream with gas;
in the absorber, liquids are removed from
the gas. These may be packed type or tray-
type towers. The tray type may have
bubble-cap trays, float-valve trays, or sieve-
trays depending upon the process under
consideration.
Oil Pipeline in China
 How to transport waxy crude oil

Most of Chinese crude oils are

￭ waxy crude oil

￭ heavy crude oil

They are difficult to produce and transport.

 Table 1 Physical Properties of Main Waxy Crudes in China

Crude Daqing Shengli Liaohe Xinjiang

Density 20℃，g/cm 3 0.8554 0.9005 0.9042 0.8538

Congealing point*，℃ 30 28 21 12

Physical Viscosity 50℃，mPa.s 20.2 83.4 37.3 18.8

Properties Wax，m% 26.2 14.6 9.9 7.2

Resin，m% 8.9 19.0 13.7 10.6

Carbon residue，m% 2.9 6.4 4.8 2.6

C, m% 85.87 86.26 86.35 86.13

Elemental H, m% 13.73 12.20 12.90 13.30

Analysis S, m% 0.10 0.80 0.18 0.05

Ni, ppm 3.1 26.0 32.5 5.6

Distillate up to 300℃，% 24 18 22.1 34.5

Typical dynamic viscosity at 20℃ [m Pa·s]:
Petrol 0.65 Coffee cream ≈10
Water 1.0 Honey ≈104
Mercury 1.5 Polymer melts ≈103-106
Grape juice 2-5 Bitumen ≈108
Blood 4-15 Glass ≈1023
(at 37℃)
Wax presence in crude oil may cause :
(1) High viscosity

(2) Non-Newtonian fluid Property

(3) High yield stress for restarting the flow

(4) Deposition of wax crystallites on surfaces

 About Rheology
   Rheology describes the deformation of a body under the i
nfluence of stresses.
“Bodies” can be either solids, liquids, or gases.
 
Rheology —→ Stress and Strain ( dimensionless)
or Shear Stress and Shear Rate
 


where G  
G  modulus.
is Young’s
 
 S o m e R h e o lo g ic a l T e r m s
1) S h e a r S tre ss  : fo r c e /a r e a N /m 2

dy
2) S h e a r R a te  = (S tr a in /tim e ) 1 /s
dt

I s a a c N e w to n w a s th e fir s t to e x p r e s s th e r e la tio n s h ip
b e t w e e n s h e a r s tr e s s a n d s h e a r r a t e o f id e a l v is c o u s e liq u id .
T h a t is :
     (N e w to n e q u a tio n )
w h e r e , η is d y n a m ic v is c o s ity . Pa· s
   Newtonian fluid
If the relationship between shear stress and shear rate
of fluid meets Newton equation, it is Newtonian fluid.

For Newtonian fluid, the viscosity η is independent of

. It only depends on what the liquid is and which tempe
rature it is at.
Non-Newtonian fluid
If the relationship between shear stress and shear rat
e of fluid does not meet Newton equation, it is non-N
ewtonian fluid.
  Fluids which become thinner as the shear rate increa
ses are called “pseudoplastic”.
Many substances such as emulsions, suspensions, pol
ymer melts and waxy crude oil at some temperature
range belong to pseudoplastic fluid. 
P s e u d o p la s t i c ( P o w e r - l a w ) f lu i d
T h e r e l a t io n s h i p b e t w e e n s h e a r s t r e s s a n d s h e a r r a t e
o f f l u i d m e e t s p o w e r - la w e q u a t i o n :
    n

w h ere K is c a l le d v is c o u s c o e f f ic ie n t . mPa  s n

n is c a l le d in d e x o f f lu i d b e h a v io r.
A p p a r e n t V i s c o s it y

 ap   k  n  1

Y ie ld - p s e u d o p la s tic flu id

I ts r h e o lo g ic a l c h a r a c te r is tic s c a n b e
d e s c r ib e d b y
   y  k  n
Rheological properties of waxy crude

When temperature is low enough, the waxy cr

ude oil will be gelled.

The highest temperature to form gel is called

gel point temperature or solidfication point te

mperature Ts.
When waxy crude oil temperature
T>Ts+(10~15oC), the crude is expected to
behave as a Newtonian fluid.

The viscosity is relative low.

When waxy crude oil temperature

Ts +(10~15oC) > T>Ts, the crude oil behaves a

s a pseudoplastic fluid.

The viscosity is relative high.

When waxy crude oil temperature T ＜ Ts, the

crude oil becomes yield- pseudoplastic fluid.

The viscosity is very high. And the yield streng

th must be overcome before waxy crude can fl
ow.
To describe the behavior of a transported wax
y crude oil, it is very important to identify its
rheological properties at different range of te
mperature. There are valuable researches of t
he rheological properties of crude oils done b
y petroleum engineers and rheologists.
For waxy crude oil
◆ The more the wax in oil, the higher PP of
it and the more difficult and expensive
to transport it with pipeline.
◆ The nearer to the PP of waxy crude, the more
complex and difficult to know shut-down and
restart process of waxy crude pipeline.
How to transport waxy crude oil
 Heating

 Pour point depressant(PPD)

 Dilution with light oil

 Catalytic cracking

 Thermal cracking

The later three methods show a little effect on the pour point,
though it could reduce viscosity drastically.
Heating
Some transportation of waxy crude pipelines are
carried out by means of heating the crude.
To the pipeline enterprises, reducing the pipelini
ng costs is a major task in its management.
Pipelining waxy crudes via oil-heating has the fo
llowing disadvantages:
1 Heating stations have to be constructed along a
pipeline several dozens of kilometers apart from
each other. This increases the capital cost and
complicates operation and management of a
pipe-line.
2 High energy consumption. For a 28 in. diameter
pipeline, the fuel consumption of transporting
crude through 1,000 km is about 0.4% of the
transported crude, and the total energy
consumption per ton of oil and per kilo-meter is
about 410 kJ(annual average).
3 Between heating stations, the maximum heat-up
temperature is restricted by heat-resistance of the
insulating layer for corrosion protection, and also by the
thermal stress of the pipeline. The allowable lowest
inlet temperature at heating stations is restricted by the
pour point.
The temperature drop along a pipeline increases with
decreasing throughput. The throughput flexibility is
quite limited.
4 Once pipeline shutdown occurs, the pipe-line mu
st be restarted within a short time to prevent its b
lockage as a result of oil gelation. The pressure
required for restarting a pipeline is restricted by t
he capacity of the pump and the strength of the p
ipe. The lower the inlet temperature in normal o
peration, the shorter the allowable shutdown dur
ation.
PPD
Injecting the PPD at a relatively high temperatur
e at which all wax crystals dissolve, and cooling
the crude under controlled conditions. Then the
PPD play the role of surrounding waxy crystallit
es to reduce the interlock strength of them.The l
ow temperature flowability could thus be impro
ved.
Crudes with different composition have their ow
n suitable PPDs, as well as the best treatment te
mperature and adding dosage at which the PPD-t
reatment is most effective.
Application

The Lu-Ning Pipeline in the eastern China, 6

55.37 km long and 720 mm O.D., transports
viscous Shengli waxy crude with a wax cont
ent of 15.24%(wt), a gel point of 24℃, and a
viscosity of 3210 mPa·s at 25℃
 The technology of pour-point-depressant (P
PD) beneficiation was adopted. Great success
was achieved.With a PPD dosage of 50 ppm an
d a beneficiating temperature of 60℃ at the
initial pumping station, the gel point of th
e crude was reduced by 16℃, and the visco
sity at 25℃ was reduced by 87%.
As a result, the crude temperature at the inlet of
the intermediate heating stations was lowered
from 34℃ to 27±1℃. This resulted in annual
17200 tons of fuel oil saving. Running heating
stations were reduced from twelve before using
the PPD to only one(the initial station) in
summer, seven in winter, and two to five in
spring and autumn.
The PPD-beneficiation
The PPD-beneficiation technology is very
effective to improve operation of hot waxy crude
pipelines by reducing the gel point/pour point
and viscosity. Particularly, it shows excellent
benefit both economically and technically for
pipelines operated at low throughput rate.
 Chinese Pipelines

Total oil and gas pipelines 39,000 km.

Oil pipelines 10,700 km.
Gas pipelines 20,000 km.
Products pipelines 5,300 km.
Subsea pipelines 1,800 km.
Pipelines of CNPC

CNPC possesses advanced technology and rich

experience in every link of the transportation,
storage, and distribution of crude oil and natural
gas. At the end of 2006:
24,136 km oil pipeline
24,090 km natural gas pipeline
Crude oil Pipeline
Station operation varies not only with the size
and type of equipment, but also in the method of
moving the oil or products through the line.
The most common types of operation can be
classified as:
Put and Take Operation
Float Tank Operation
Tight Line Operation
A. Put and Take Operation
With put and take operation, each station draws f
rom tankage and pumps into tankage at the next
station; thus, each station works with tank head
on the suction side and pumps independently of t
he stations either upstream or downstream.
Advantages of this method are:
1 A slow-moving or heavy oil does not slow actual delivery until it
enters the last section of the line, provided that sufficient oil is av
ailable in tankage at stations downstream from the initial station.
2 It is not necessary to keep all stations in exact step.
3 There is less chance of moderate to high pressure on the line on t
he suction side of the station. No pressure control is necessary on
the suction side of the station.
B. Float Tank Operation
Some systems pump directly from one station into the suction
manifold of the next small tank, called a float tank, is open to
the suction line at each station. This is very similar to the put
and take operation: The real difference is that the capacity of
the float tank is usually small Unless oil is available in other
tanks, each station floating on the line must maintain a
pumping rate approximately the same as the station
immediately upstream.
C. Tight Line Operation
When one station pumps directly into the suction
side of the pumps at the next station and no tank
age is open to the suction manifold at the interm
ediate station, it is called tight line operation.
The advantages of this method are:
1 Highly volatile crudes or products are conserved
because they are pumped with a positive pressu
re at all times.
2 Increased flow rate of heavy crudes may be obta
ined by blending with light ends to reduce visco
sity with less loss of the lighter materials.
3 Evaporation losses which occur when pumping into
or out of tankage are eliminated.
4 Investment in tanks at intermediate stations is elimi
nated.
5 Commingling between tenders or batches is reduce
d to a minimum by holding the fluid in the line and
under pressure until it is delivered at its destination.
How to transport waxy crude oil
 Heating

 Pour point depressant(PPD)

 Dilution with light oil

 Catalytic cracking

 Thermal cracking

The later three methods show a little effect on the pour point,
though it could reduce viscosity drastically.
Heating
Some transportation of waxy crude pipelines are
carried out by means of heating the crude.
To the pipeline enterprises, reducing the pipelini
ng costs is a major task in its management.
Pipelining waxy crudes via oil-heating has the fo
llowing disadvantages:
1 Heating stations have to be constructed along a
pipeline several dozens of kilometers apart from
each other. This increases the capital cost and
complicates operation and management of a
pipe-line.
2 High energy consumption. For a 28 in. diameter
pipeline, the fuel consumption of transporting
crude through 1,000 km is about 0.4% of the
transported crude, and the total energy
consumption per ton of oil and per kilo-meter is
about 410 kJ(annual average).
3 Between heating stations, the maximum heat-up
temperature is restricted by heat-resistance of the
insulating layer for corrosion protection, and also
by the thermal stress of the pipeline. The allowable
lowest inlet temperature at heating stations is
restricted by the pour point.
The temperature drop along a pipeline increases
with decreasing throughput. The throughput
flexibility is quite limited.
4 Once pipeline shutdown occurs, the pipe-line mu
st be restarted within a short time to prevent its b
lockage as a result of oil gelation. The pressure
required for restarting a pipeline is restricted by t
he capacity of the pump and the strength of the p
ipe. The lower the inlet temperature in normal o
peration, the shorter the allowable shutdown dur
ation.
PPD
Injecting the PPD at a relatively high temperatur
e at which all wax crystals dissolve, and cooling
the crude under controlled conditions. Then the
PPD play the role of surrounding waxy crystallit
es to reduce the interlock strength of them.The l
ow temperature flowability could thus be impro
ved.
Crudes with different composition have their ow
n suitable PPDs, as well as the best treatment te
mperature and adding dosage at which the PPD-t
reatment is most effective.
Application

The Lu-Ning Pipeline in the eastern China, 6

55.37 km long and 720 mm O.D., transports
viscous Shengli waxy crude with a wax cont
ent of 15.24%(wt), a gel point of 24℃, and a
viscosity of 3210 mPa·s at 25℃
 The technology of pour-point-depressant (P
PD) beneficiation was adopted. Great success
was achieved.With a PPD dosage of 50 ppm an
d a beneficiating temperature of 60℃ at the
initial pumping station, the gel point of th
e crude was reduced by 16℃, and the visco
sity at 25℃ was reduced by 87%.
As a result, the crude temperature at the inlet of
the intermediate heating stations was lowered
from 34℃ to 27±1℃. This resulted in annual
17200 tons of fuel oil saving. Running heating
stations were reduced from twelve before using
the PPD to only one(the initial station) in
summer, seven in winter, and two to five in
spring and autumn.
The PPD-beneficiation
The PPD-beneficiation technology is very
effective to improve operation of hot waxy crude
pipelines by reducing the gel point/pour point
and viscosity. Particularly, it shows excellent
benefit both economically and technically for
pipelines operated at low throughput rate.
Products Pipelines
Products pipelines can often carry several differe
nt products in the same pipeline. There is a short
length of the pipeline in which two such "batche
d" products may be mixed.
A sphere can be inserted in the pipeline to form a
physical barrier between batches of different pro
ducts to maintain separation.
The position of batch and the extent of
mixing can be monitored at points along
the line by measuring the density of the
fluid in the line.
Movement of more than one product in a single
pipeline obviously calls for even more so- phisti
cated monitoring and control than is required for
continuous movement of a single production.
Gas Pipelines

From field processing facilities, dry, clean

natural gas enters the gas transmission
pipeline system for movement to cities
where it is distributed to individual
businesses, factories, and residences.
Because the needs of customers change more
frequently and more rapidly, control of natural gas
pipeline deliveries can be even more complex than
the operation of a crude trunk line. The effects of
a lack of natural gas, because gas provides home
heating and fuel for business and industry, can be
felt more immediately in some cases than a
disruption in the delivery of crude to a refinery.
Famous Project
West-East Natural Gas Pipeline (WEP) start
s from Lunan in Xinjiang and ends at Baihe,
Shanghai Municipality, with a length over 40
00 kilometers, pipe diameter of 1016mm, an
d an initial planed gas throughput capacity o
f 12 billion cubic meters.
 AMOP 10.0 MPa

 PIPE X70

 O.D. φ1016 mm

 ROUGHNESS 10 μm

 CAPACITY 120×108 m3/a

 STATION 35 sets
Maintenance

Cathodic protection, widely used for corrosion c

ontrol in pipelines, is a key part of the design of
many system. It helps ensure the pipeline will be
serviceable throughout its intended life.
SCADA System

SCADA →Supervisor 　 Control and

Data Acquisition
Future
In 10 years CNPC will construct two cross-country natural g
as trunk lines and six regional natural gas pipeline networks:
Hunan-Hubei
Southwest China
Northwest China
North China
East China
Northeast China
THANK
YOU