Offtaking Scheduling Software for Multi-Product Pipeline

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to exhibit the functions of a software program that prepares offtaking schedules for multi-product pipelines. The software program is currently being used on two multi-product pipelines in China. In the paper, the pipeline system modeled in the software involves several offtaking stations, pump stations, and one multi-product pipeline connected to several depots that distribute large amounts of oil products to customer markets. The background for developing this software is presented and the mathematical model utilized in the software will be given. The software can track the interface positions on the basis that the liquid is incompressible and transported adiabatically in the pipeline — the density doesn’t vary with pressure and temperature. In the model, the author adopts the advantages of variable paces to speed the calculation in the Master-Clock Method and adds interfaces’ reaching stations to the set of control points, while honoring handling contamination only at terminal station and keeping turbulence flow all time. Finally, a real-world application on the Lan-Cheng-Yu Multi-product Pipeline (LCYPP) is introduced. This is the first real test on a multi-product pipeline in China. Through the application, the characteristics and functions of the software is reported. The software provides users with a diagram for batch movement, the interface timetable, the scheduling table, the interface size, and so on. The application shows that the software is successful.