Pipeline Transport Research Articles

Integration of geographic information technologies and digital image processing for responding to emergency situations at oil pipeline transportation facilities

In this article, we consider an approach to integrating geoinformation technologies and digital image processing methods aimed at increasing the efficiency of computer technologies in controlling complex distributed systems (CDS) in emergency situations. The analysis is conducted using an example of the activity of oil pipeline transport enterprises, including pipelines, oil pumping stations, administrative, repair and emergency response units. The novelty of the proposed version of integration of geoinformation technologies and digital image processing consists in the application of a set-theoretic approach to a uniform formal description of various types of spatial data, digital images and their interrelationships necessary for constructing three-dimensional models of production facilities of CDS. This has allowed criteria, composition and structure of these 3D models to be defined using different levels of detail of the object models in order to reduce the computational load and speed up the 3D visualization of objects of CDS. These are necessary to support the decision-making when responding to certain types of emergency situations. The advantage of the proposed approach is that it increases the efficiency of decision-making support in countering some emergencies, which, among others, is achieved through the use of three-dimensional visualization of technological and operational (obtained in the event of an accident) information about the production facilities of the CDS, whereas the quality and fullness of the optimized 3D model directly affect the decisions made in response to the emergencies. The developed methods and algorithms have been practically implemented when building 3D geoinformation models.

The problem of optimizing pumping units for oil transportation

During pipeline transportation of oil through main oil pipelines, the greater part of the energy consumed is spent on the operation of main and booster pumping units at oil pumping stations. In this regard, the determination of the optimal operating modes of pumping units is an urgent problem for energy saving. The article is devoted to the optimization of the operation of pumping units for energy saving of oil pipeline transport. The operation of pumping units is regulated using removable rotors with different diameters of impellers or a frequency-controlled drive. An optimization criterion has been formulated to minimize the operating costs of pumping units. A technique for determining the energy consumption of pumping units with different diameters of impellers and a frequency-controlled drive is presented. An algorithm for finding the optimal operating mode of pumping units is presented, which was built using the definitions of graph theory and dynamic programming.

Decision support system to evaluate a vandalized and deteriorated oil pipeline transportation system using artificial intelligence techniques. Part 1: modeling

Abstract The oil and gas industry worldwide is experiencing problems of vandalism and mechanical deterioration due to corrosion in its various pipeline transport systems, a drop in the price of hydrocarbons due to the COVID-19, limitation of maintenance processes. This article provides a contribution original to the knowledge and management of a pipeline transportation system (PTS), without an immediate high impact that would help reduce property loss due to corrosion, through the development of intelligent evaluation models that combine field data, laboratory, and cognitive knowledge in a case study in Mexico. The research is divided into Part 1: modeling, a Fuzzy expert system (FES) unified the knowledge of corrosion specialists and mechanical integrity studies (MIS) and identified evolutionary corrosion patterns with reliability of 0.9029. An artificial neural network (ANN) supported by statistics and metallography establishes test reliability of 0.9556 and determines the corrosion inhibition capacity (C) of Mexican hydrocarbon mixtures based on their properties compared to carbon steel. Part 2: analysis of the operational and economic risk of the PTS under corrosive effects, using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) estimates various financial scenarios considering corrosive profiles of soils, supply, demand, and inflation.

ENVİRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PIPELINES

During the design and construction of pipelines, the protection of pipeline equipment, as well as the foundations of pipelines, from possible environmental impacts is one of the most important issues to be addressed. The level of environmental pollution is determined by how human health affects plants, as well as animals, as well as equipment. Another issue is the need to develop scientifically sound forecasts for environmental protection, and many countries are paying more attention to forecasting. As we know, oil, oil products, as well as diesel fuel, gasoline and other products are transported on land mainly through pipelines. Pipeline transport is the safest mode of transporting liquids on land to a specific area. The length of pipelines in modern times reaches hundreds of kilometers, so the volume of spills of hazardous material can be very large. In order to limit the impact area of spills, secondary protection measures are taken only in critical areas (for example, at the intersection of roads or rivers). Keywords: pipelines, environment, vegetation, land reclamation.

Statistical analysis of incidents on onshore CO2 pipelines based on PHMSA database

The development of an integrated network for the management of carbon dioxide requires knowledge and optimization of all Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) aspects, including pipeline transport. Safety is one of the aspects that should be addressed prior CCUS facilities come in operation; the risk for people should be assessed to ensure it is below an acceptable level. In some cases, a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) is required by the approval authority. Normally the risk assessment is based on the use of statistical/historical data. However, for CO2 handling systems the operating experience is limited compared to hydrocarbon transporting systems and, for this reason, hydrocarbon pipeline statistics are normally used as a proxy. The only database that contains records on CO2 pipelines is the PHMSA since in the U.S. several CO2 pipelines have been constructed since the 1970's, essentially for Enhanced Oil Recovery operations. There is limited statistical data available compared to the hydrocarbon pipelines experience and therefore care should be taken when undertaking the frequency analysis. In this work an analysis of incidents data related to the onshore CO2 pipelines in the U.S. between 1985 and 2021 reported by the Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation is presented. The aim of the study is to analyze the records contained in the PHMSA database to provide an estimate of a specific CO2 pipeline failure rate to be used in quantitative risk assessments. Concerns and limitations of the data have been also discussed.

Resistance Loss in Cemented Paste Backfill Pipelines: Effect of Inlet Velocity, Particle Mass Concentration, and Particle Size.

Cemented paste backfill (CPB), a technology placing the solid waste into mined-out stopes in the mine through pipeline transportation, has been widespread all over the world. The resistance loss is an important parameter for pipeline transport, which is significantly affected by the slurry characteristics. However, the coupling effect of inlet velocity (IV), particle mass concentration (PMC), and particle size (PS) has not been well evaluated and diagnosed. Hence, the CFD-based three-dimensional network simulation of CPB slurry flow in an L-shaped pipe at different combinations of the three parameters was developed using COMSOL Multiphysics software, and the findings were validated through a loop experiment. The results show that increasing IV and reducing PS will contribute to the homogeneity of the slurry in the pipeline, while the PMC presents little effect. The pipe resistance loss is positively correlated with IV and PMC and negatively correlated with PS. The sensitivity to the three parameters is IV > PS > PMC. In particular, the resistance loss is minimal at IV of 1.5 m/s, PMC of 72%, and PS of 1000 um. The calculation model of resistance loss regressed from simulation presented a high accuracy with an error of 8.1% compared with the test results. The findings would be important for the design of the CPB pipeline transportation and provide guidance in the selection of transfer slurry pumps, prepreparation of backfill slurry, and pipe blockage, which will improve the safety and economic level of a mine.

Does Infrastructure Development Contribute to EU Countries’ Economic Growth?

Traditionally, infrastructure has been considered an essential component of a country’s development. Therefore, European Union (EU) Member States (MS) invest heavily in this area. A lot of support for infrastructure development is also directed from the EU Structural Funds (SF). However, the results of previous studies do not fully reveal whether the development of infrastructure contributes to EU MS’ economic growth and what factors mediate this effect. Considering the limitations of previous studies, this article aims to examine whether the development of different types of infrastructure (transport, information and communication technologies (ICT), energy, and water and sanitation) contribute to economic growth and to assess whether government quality affects the growth outcomes of infrastructure. Empirical estimations are based on neoclassical specifications and cover 28 EU countries from 2000 to 2019. Estimates revealed that all types of infrastructure positively correlate with growth but not all correlations are significant. Only mobile cellular, which proxies ICT infrastructure, electricity production, which proxies energy infrastructure, and pipeline transport infrastructure significantly affect economic growth. Water and sanitation infrastructure development do not significantly contribute to EU MS’ economic growth. The institutional environment, i.e., less corruption, has a considerable positive effect on the growth outcomes of electricity production and pipeline transport infrastructure.

Torque-based evaluation of mixing optimization and shear sensitivity during transport of flocculated tailings

A modified Couette rheometer is used to simulate mixing of polymer into clayey tailings, and to study the effects of shearing due to pipeline transport. It is found that a normalized torque correlates very strongly with performance indicators measured at the end of mixing and /or shearing, such as CST, oscillatory rheometry, and floc size distribution as inferred from optical microscopy, whether to evaluate a particular mixing strategy, or after simulated pipeline shear. With respect to polymer injection, the torque increases until reaching a peak value after which the torque sharply reduces. This point was found to correspond to the optimal dose, as characterized by the afore-mentioned performance indicators. For clayey tailings, it appears that this technique, as opposed to alternative torque-based techniques used in other industries such as wastewater floc conditioning, produces samples with superior performance indicators at the method-specific optimal dose.

Digital shadow as a tool for industry exploring

Digitalisation contributes both to fundamental changes in production processes and to the web of relationships between business units. According to contemporary views, it will result in the common widespread using of the real objects’ digital models (digital twins). Their quality will define the competitiveness of a certain economic pattern. Thus, all the digital twin data automatically becomes a trade secret. In this context, external investigators are able to analyse only visible representation of digital twins – digital footprints, imprints and shadows. The aim of the article is to formalise the “digital shadow” notion and to investigate the perspectives of its implementation in economic sectoral analysis. The subject of the research is freight transport. The article claims that the digital twin includes three components: physical transportation (first-type information), coordination of economic interests (second-type information) and long-term management of consignors and consignees technologies (third-type information). Therefore, the digital shadow is the inversion of the digital twin for each component. The author proposes the digital twin model and the corresponding digital shadow. This model is applied to road, railway and pipeline transport modes in Russia. The digital shadow, in turn, is given in the lowest possible resolution – in the binary assessment of the each information type components. The researcher assumes that the resulting digital shadow allows to conduct a generalised analysis and also forms the basis for identifying cause-effect relationships and forecasting.

Decarbonization of cement production in a hydrogen economy

The transition to net-zero emission energy systems creates synergistic opportunities across sectors. For example, fuel hydrogen production from water electrolysis generates by-product oxygen that could be used to reduce the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS) essential in the decarbonization of clinker production in cement making. To assess this opportunity, a techno-economic assessment was carried out for the production of clinker using oxy-combustion in a natural gas-fueled plant coupled to CCS. Material and energy flows were assessed in a reference case for clinker production (oxygen from air, no CCS), and compared to oxy-combustion clinker production from either an air separation unit (ASU, 95% O2), or water electrolysis (100% O2), both coupled to CCS. Compared to the reference, air-combusted clinker plant, oxy-combustion increases thermal energy demand by 7% and electricity demand by 137% for ASU and 67% for electrolytic oxygen. The levelized cost of oxygen supply ranges from $49/tO2 for an on-site ASU to pipelined electrolytic O2 at $35/tO2 (200 km) or $13/t O2 (20 km). The cost of clinker for the reference plant without CCS increases linearly from $84/t clinker to $193/t clinker at a carbon price of $0/tCO2 to $150/tCO2, respectively. With oxy-combustion and CCS, the clinker production cost ranges from $119 to $122/t clinker, reflecting a breakeven carbon price of $39 to $53/tCO2 compared to the reference case. The lower cost for the electrolytic supply of by-product oxygen compared to ASU oxygen must be balanced against the reliability of supply, the pipeline transport distance and the charges that may be added by the hydrogen producer.

Evaluation of CO2 Transport Design Via Pipeline in the CCS System with Various Distance Combinations

Carbon dioxide transportation plays an important role in the CCS system. The pipeline is the most economically viable for CO2 transport medium. In this paper, the design of the CO2 pipeline is systematically evaluated from a technical and economic aspect. Four transport process conditions include gaseous transport, liquid transport, dense phase transport, and supercritical transport will be assessed to obtain the most feasible transport design. A supercritical phase has an advantage when to be applied for long-distance and large-scale CO2 transportation. In the CCS network, the distance between source and sink points may vary. The variation in the distance and transport capacity make a supercritical phase not an effective pipeline transport condition. The proposed methods to determine the optimal design of onshore pipelines with a projected CO2 flow rate are presented in this paper. The methods are based on the simple correlations developed from a wide range of generic cases of CO2 transport. The optimum design is identified from the minimum total annual cost. The result shows that the pipeline design in the CCS network can be performed in the liquid phase when the distance is lower than 100 km.

Systematic and efficient optimisation-based design of a process for CO2 removal from natural gas

Natural gas is an important resource for bridging technology on the way to mostly renewable power. A significant number of natural gas sources with high CO2 contents have not been exploited yet due to high cost of CO2 separation. Growth in global natural gas demand, however, has lead to re-evaluation of unconventional natural gas reserves. In this contribution, different hybrid processes for CO2 removal from natural gas are optimised with regard to minimum process energy requirements. Considered separation operations are cryogenic distillation, membrane separation, and physical absorption with methanol. The influence of a wide range of CO2 contents in the natural gas feed (40mol-% to 80mol-%) on different process alternatives is investigated. This is combined with limits for CO2 contents in the natural gas product varying from pipeline transport (2–3 mol-%) to LNG specification (50ppm). As a result, we provide an overview over which process topology is optimal for which combination of natural gas feed and natural gas product specifications. Process optimisation is performed using a framework for systematic optimisation-based process design which includes robust and computationally efficient reduced models for unit operations and hence enables automated performance of a large number of optimisation calculations.

A universal strategy to prepare hot liquid super-repellent surfaces for anti-scalding and anti-scaling

Durably and fully repel hot liquid (representative by water and oil) is difficult to achieve because of the high-flux evaporation–condensation behavior, which caused a lot of trouble in life and production, such as scalding and scaling. In this work, we report a universal strategy to realize hot liquid super-repellency (HLSR) on various solid surfaces by structuring fluorine-modified micro-nano binary topography (F-MNBT). Cassie-Baxter model is still applying to the F-MNBT surfaces even it contacting to 95℃ water, that because nanostructures (with size below 50 nm) design provides hot liquid repellency and microcavities (with size of over 10 μm) design remains in their non-wetting state. Through this strategy, we demonstrate the unique advantage of the HLSR on various cloths for anti-scalding. In addition, we also develop a F-MNBT composite coating that can durably sustain HLSR after enduring various representative mechanical, thermal and chemical stresses, that can continuously perform self-cleaning and anti-scaling at high temperatures. This work promises new solutions for surface applications related to hot liquid, expecting to serve in heat insulation protection, thermal management system, pipeline transport, marine petroleum exploitation, and so on.

Chemical accidents in freshwater: Development of forecasting system for drinking water resources

Chemical accidents have threatened drinking water safety and aquatic systems when hazardous chemicals flow into inland waterbodies through pipelines in industrial complexes. In this study, a forecasting system was developed for the prevention of drinking water resource pollution by considering chemical transport/fate through both pipelines and river channels. To this end, we coupled a pipe network model (Storm Water Management Model) with a calibrated hydrodynamic model (Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code). In addition, we investigated whether chemical transport through pipelines would make a difference in chemical concentration predictions. For both pipelines and river channels, the results showed lower peak concentrations than those without pipelines, whereas the time of peak concentration did not change significantly. When chemicals were transported with both pipelines and river channels, the peak concentrations were 25.81% and 41.91% lower than those of chemicals carried directly into the Han and Geum Rivers without the pipeline transport. Further, our system is automated from scenario generation to analysis and usage is straightforward, with a simple input of accident information. The results of this study can be utilized to establish a safe water supply system and preliminary countermeasures against accidental water pollution in the future.

Diagnostics of stress and strained state of leaf springs of special purpose off-road vehicles

1. Bondar VN, Ashikhmina LA, Berezin IY, Khalturin VK. Directions of applied research in the field of improving the structures of road-building equipment. Actual problems of automobile, railway and pipeline transport in the Ural region 2005; 127(12): 243-249. Russian. Google Scholar

Computational fluid dynamic modeling of methane-hydrogen mixture transportation in pipelines: estimating energy costs

Computational fluid dynamic modeling of methane-hydrogen mixture transportation in pipelines: estimating energy costs

Pipesharing: economic-environmental benefits from transporting biofuels through multiproduct pipelines

As the most potential renewable energy, biofuel energy has become the fourth largest energy source after coal, oil and natural gas. Promoting the extensive application of biofuels is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. Pipeline is one of the most efficient ways to transport large-volume fuels over long distances. Transporting biofuels through the existing multiproduct pipelines is in line with the requirements of environmental protection, energy saving and low-carbon economy. To determine the surplus capacity of pipelines in a certain period is the premise of adopting this mode to transfer biofuels. This study develops a method for estimating the capacity of pipelines for biofuel transport, accounting for clients’ demand for petroleum products, the capacity limitations of existing pipeline equipment and transport cycle of biofuels in the pipeline. Using the data from practical pipelines, their monthly surplus capacity is within the range of 15 × 104 to 80 × 104 m3. It is turned out that pipeline length, transportation capacity of power equipment and market demand of refined products are the dominating factors for surplus capacity. Assuming varying demand on refined products, sensitivity analysis is conducted to compare the economic-environmental benefits from sharing pipeline’s surplus capacity with biofuel shipment. The simulation results show that pipeline sharing brings about win–win effects for both petroleum and pipeline companies. The petroleum company has a reduction of 1.2%–34.9% in carbon emissions and 0.3%–14.7% in logistics cost, while the pipeline operator increases revenue by 0.4%–33.7%.

Carbon Dioxide Transport Pipeline Systems: Overview of Technical Characteristics, Safety, Integrity and Cost, and Potential Application of Digital Twin

Abstract Carbon dioxide transport from capture to utilization or storage locations plays key functions in carbon capture and storage systems. In this study, a comprehensive overview and technical guidelines are provided for CO2 pipeline transport systems. Design specifications, construction procedures, cost, safety regulations, environmental and risk aspects are presented and discussed. Furthermore, challenges and future research directions associated with CO2 transport are sorted out including the large capital and operational costs, integrity, flow assurance, and safety issues. A holistic assessment of the impurities’ impacts on corrosion rate and phase change of the transported stream is required to improve pipeline integrity. The influence of impurities and the changes in elevation on the pressure drop along the pipeline need to be further investigated to ensure continuous flow via accurate positioning of pumping stations. Although the long-experience in oil and gas pipeline industry forms powerful reference, it is necessary to develop particular standards and techno-economic frameworks to mitigate the barriers facing CO2 transport systems. Digital twins (DT) have potential to transform CO2 transport sector to achieve high reliability, availability, and maintainability at lower cost. Herein, an integrated five-component robust DT framework is proposed for CO2 pipeline transport systems and the future directions for DT development are insinuated. Data-driven algorithms capable of predicting system's dynamic behavior still need to be developed. The data-driven approach alone is not sufficient and low-order physics-based models should operate in tandem with the updated system parameters to allow interpretation and result's enhancing. Discrepancies between dynamic system models, anomaly detection, and deep learning (ADL) require in-depth localized off-line simulations.

Preparation of high concentration coal water slurry with good fluidity based on only modified fine particles under bimodal distribution using the second fluid and the second particle

Coal water slurry (CWS) is the clean and efficient liquid coal-based fuel. CWS with the high solid content, low viscosity and good fluidity is conducive to efficient gasification and pipeline transport. Surface modification of particle has been demonstrated to contribute to improving the rheology of slurry. In this study, the slurry preparation method of selective particle modification was proposed, which focuses on the effect of modified particle size. Three different methods of surface modification with the kerosene suspension containing ultrafine particles were studied and compared. In method Ⅰ, the suspension was direct added to the mixture of coarse and fine particles. In method Ⅱ and method III, the suspension only modified the coarse and fine particles respectively, then mixing the composite particles with another particle. The apparent viscosity, fluidity and the hydrophobicity of the particle surface were researched. Method III was found to be optimum for reducing apparent viscosity and improving fluidity. The thin hydrophobic oil membrane that coats the surface of the fine particles like an “air cushion”, which can effectively reduce the friction between the particles. The concentration of CWS prepared by method III can increase from 62.7 wt% to 67.0 wt%, and the slurry still has a good fluidity.

Rheological properties and wall-slip behavior of cemented tailing-waste rock backfill (CTWB) paste

Cemented tailing-waste rock backfill (CTWB) can effectively improve the ecological environment of the mine. CTWB paste exhibits unique rheological and wall slip characteristics during pipeline transport, which has a significant impact on reducing transport resistance and extending transport distance. A numerical model that integrates material ratio and wall-slip was established by analyzing the rheological test results. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to numerically simulate the paste flow process and output the flow parameters distribution. The results show that CTWB is a yield-plastic fluid, and the shear-thickening phenomenon occurs at 67% and 69% solids content, respectively, and the critical shear rate value gradually increases with the SC. Increasing the coarse aggregate content significantly improves the paste fluidity, and the rheological parameters (plastic viscosity and yield stress) decrease linearly with coarse aggregate content. CTWB paste flow structure has an “equilibrium distance” at which slip velocity starts to stabilize. Tailing-waste rock (T/W) ratio, inlet velocity (IV), and solid content (SC) have a significant effect on the CTWB paste slip behavior. Slip contribution ratio (SR) tends to increase and then decrease with IV, and the process can be described by a quadratic function. Although the SR decreases gradually with the T/W ratio, it can be inferred that the optimal transportation effect is achieved at the T/W ratio is 5:5.