From the history of the problem of oil transportation and storage. Contribution of Shukhov V.G.

Abstract

A significant part of the oil consumed in the world is transported from production and processing sites to consumers via tankers and pipelines. According to experts' forecasts, the demand for oil and petroleum products in the coming years will be significantly higher than in 2020. In Russia, the oil transportation market is developing in several directions. The main directions are investing in pipeline transport and improving the design of tanks for storing oil and petroleum products. The article considers the contribution of the great Russian engineer V.G. Shukhov to the solution of the problem of oil transportation and storage and in general to the development of the oil industry. In the article "Oil Pipelines" (1884) and in the book "Pipelines and their application in the oil industry" (1894), V.G. Shukhov gave precise mathematical formulae for describing the processes of oil and fuel oil flowing through pipelines, creating a classical theory of oil pipelines. He is the author of the projects of the first Russian main pipelines: Baku-Batumi with a length of 883 km (1907) and Grozny-Tuapse with a length of 618 km (1928). Shukhov V.G. designed and then supervised the construction of oil pipelines of the companies "Branobel", "G.M. Lianozova and sons" and the world's first heated fuel oil pipeline. Working in the oil fields in Baku, Shukhov V.G. developed the basics of lifting and pumping oil products, proposed a method of lifting oil using compressed air — airlift, developed a calculation method and technology for the construction of cylindrical steel tanks for oil storage facilities.