Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquid and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air have also been used.
As for gases and liquids, any chemically stable substance can be sent through a pipeline. Therefore sewage, slurry, water, or even beer pipelines exist; but arguably the most valuable are those transporting fuels: oil (oleoduct), natural gas (gas grid) and biofuels
Dmitri Mendeleev first suggested using a pipe for transporting petroleum in 1863.
Types by transported substance
For oil or natural gas
See also: List of oil pipelinesThere is some argument as to when the first oil pipeline was constructed. However, some say pipeline transport was pioneered by Vladimir Shukhov and the Branobel company in the late 19th century. Others say oil pipelines originated when the Oil Transport Association first constructed a 2-inch (51 mm) wrought iron pipeline over a 6-mile (9.7 km) track from an oil field in Pennsylvania to a railroad station in Oil Creek, in the 1860s. Regardless of this, pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil or natural gas over land. Compared to railroad, they have lower cost per unit and higher capacity. Although pipelines can be built under the sea, that process is economically and technically demanding, so the majority of oil at sea is transported by tanker ships.
Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes with inner diameter typically from 10 to 120 cm (about 4 to 48 inches). Most pipelines are buried at a typical depth of about 1 - 2 metres (about 3 to 6 feet). The oil is kept in motion by pump stations along the pipeline, and usually flows at speed of about 1 to 6 m/s. Multi-product pipelines are used to transport two or more different products in sequence in the same pipeline. Usually in multi-product pipelines there is no physical separation between the different products. Some mixing of adjacent products occurs, producing interface. At the receiving facilities this interface is usually absorbed in one of the product based on pre-calculated absorption rates.
Crude oil contains varying amounts of wax, or paraffin, and in colder climates wax buildup may occur within a pipeline. Often these pipelines are inspected and cleaned using pipeline inspection gauges pigs , also known as scrapers or Go-devils . Smart pigs are used to detect anomalies in the pipe such as dents and holes in the coating These devices are launched from pig-launcher stations and travel through the pipeline to be received at any other station down-stream, cleaning wax deposits and material that may have accumulated inside the line.
For natural gas, pipelines are constructed of carbon steel and varying in size from 2 inches (51 mm) to over 60 inches (1,500 mm) in diameter, depending on the type of pipeline. The gas is pressurized by compressor stations and is odorless unless mixed with a mercaptan odorant where required by a regulating authority.
For biofuels (ethanol and biobutanol)
See also: BiobutanolPipelines have been used for transportation of ethanol in Brazil, and there are several ethanol pipeline projects in Brazil and the United States. Main problems related to the shipment of ethanol by pipeline are its high oxygen content, which makes it corrosive, and absorption of water and impurities in pipelines, which is not a problem with oil and natural gas. Insufficient volumes and cost-effectiveness are other considerations limiting construction of ethanol pipelines.
For hydrogen
Main article: Hydrogen pipeline transportHydrogen pipeline transport is a transportation of hydrogen through a pipe as part of the hydrogen infrastructure. Hydrogen pipeline transport is used to connect the point of hydrogen production or delivery of hydrogen with the point of demand, with transport costs similar to CNG, the technology is proven,. Most hydrogen is produced at the place of demand with every 50 to 100 miles (160 km) an industrial production facility.. The 1938 - Rhine-Ruhr 240 km hydrogen pipeline is still in operation. As of 2004 there are 900 miles (1450 km) of low pressure hydrogen pipelines in the USA and 930 miles (1,500 km) in Europe.
For water
Main article: AqueductTwo millennia ago the ancient Romans made use of large aqueducts to transport water from higher altitudes by building the aqueducts in graduated segments that allowed gravity to push the water along until it reached its destination. Hundreds of these were built throughout Europe and elsewhere, and along with flour mills were considered the lifeline of the Roman Empire. The ancient Chinese also made use of channels and pipe systems for public works. The infamous Han Dynasty court eunuch Zhang Rang (d. 189 AD) once ordered the engineer Bi Lan to construct a series of square-pallet chain pumps outside the capital city of Luoyang. These chain pumps serviced the imperial palaces and living quarters of the capital city as the water lifted by the chain pumps were brought in by a stoneware pipe system.
Pipelines are useful for transporting water for drinking or irrigation over long distances when it needs to move over hills, or where canals or channels are poor choices due to considerations of evaporation, pollution, or environmental impact.
The 530 km (360 mile) Goldfields Water Supply Scheme in Western Australia using 760 mm (30 inch) pipe and completed in 1903 was the largest water supply scheme of its time.
Examples of significant water pipelines in South Australia are the Morgan-Whyalla (completed 1944) and Mannum-Adelaide (completed 1955) pipelines.
There are two Los Angeles, California aqueducts, the First Los Angeles Aqueduct (completed 1913) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct (completed 1970) which also include extensive use of pipelines.
For beverages
For beer
Bars in the Veltins-Arena, a major football ground in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, are interconnected by a 5 km long beer pipeline. It is the favorite method for distributing beer in such large stadiums, because the bars have to overcome big differences between demands during various stages of a match; this allows them to be supplied by a central tank.
For other uses
The town of Hallstatt in Austria claims to contain "the oldest industrial pipeline in the world", dating back to 1595. It was constructed from 13,000 trunks to transport saline solution for 40 kilometers from Hallstatt to Ebensee.
Types by transport function
In general, pipelines can be classified in three categories depending on purpose:
Operation
When a pipeline is built, the construction project not only covers the civil work to lay the pipeline and build the pump/compressor stations, it also has to cover all the work related to the installation of the field devices that will support remote operation.
Field devices are instrumentation, data gathering units and communication systems. The field Instrumentation includes flow, pressure and temperature gauges/transmitters, and other devices to measure the relevant data required. These instruments are installed along the pipeline on some specific locations, such as injection or delivery stations, pump stations (liquid pipelines) or compressor stations (gas pipelines), and block valve stations.
The information measured by these field instruments is then gathered in local Remote Terminal Units (RTU) that transfer the field data to a central location in real time using communication systems, such as satellite channels, microwave links, or cellular phone connections.
Pipelines are controlled and operated remotely, from what is usually known as The Main Control Room . In this center, all the data related to field measurement is consolidated in one central database. The data is received from multiple RTUs along the pipeline. It is common to find RTUs installed at every station along the pipeline.
The SCADA system at the Main Control Room receives all the field data and presents it to the pipeline operator through a set of screens or Human Machine Interface, showing the operational conditions of the pipeline. The operator can monitor the hydraulic conditions of the line, as well as send operational commands (open/close valves, turn on/off compressors or pumps, change setpoints, etc.) through the SCADA system to the field.
To optimize and secure the operation of these assets, some pipeline companies are using what is called Advanced Pipeline Applications , which are software tools installed on top of the SCADA system, that provide extended functionality to perform leak detection, leak location, batch tracking (liquid lines), pig tracking, composition tracking, pre
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