Sequential Transportation of Different Oil Batches through the Industrial Pipeline

Abstract

In sequential pumping, several liquids with different physical and chemical properties are pumped through one pipeline. The advantages of this method include: using one pipeline to transport different liquids; more complete pipeline loading; and reduced cost of pumping. The paper considers the sequential pumping of two batches of oil blends with different physicochemical properties through an industrial oil pipeline. This is because a batch of high-paraffin oil blend is simultaneously pumped to an oil refinery, and a batch of high-viscosity oil blend is transported further along a pipeline. The difference between the thermal-physical and rheological properties of oil batches imposes a condition on the thermal mode of operation of an industrial pipeline. A mathematical model and algorithm have been created for calculating the sequential transportation of high-paraffin and high-viscosity oil blends. Thermohydraulic calculations of the model show the distribution of hydraulic head, pressure, and temperature of the batches under the operating conditions of pumping units and heating furnaces. The verification and validation of the theoretical analysis was carried out with experimental data measured by the SCADA along the industrial pipeline length. By the thermal mode of sequential pumping, optimal heating temperatures of oil blends were found at the industrial pipeline stations.