An Overview on the Recent Techniques for Improving the Flowability of Crude Oil in Pipelines

Abstract

Crude oil is considered as a major source of energy all over the world. Midstream refers to the various methods of transportation. Important issues that oil transportation methods face are spills and inadvertent emissions. Therefore, most of the technology developments in transportation methods are aimed at reducing emissions, increasing efficiency, or preventing spills and leaks. Piping systems are the safest and most efficient and cost-effective way for crude oil transportation. The process suffers from serious problems such as: asphaltene and paraffin structures interactions, pipes pressure drop, and high pumping energy consumption. One of the economical important challenges in oil pipeline transportation is to keep the flowability and reduce the pressure drop along the pipe. The current review highlights the recent and most development techniques which have been used to enhance the fluidity of crude oil in pipelines.