OIL-WATER LINE MOVES HIGHLY VISCOUS CRUDE

Oil-water core flow, which involves transporting a stream of oil inside a jacket of water to reduce frictional drag, is being used by Shell Oil Co. in an unheated 24 mi, 6 in. dia line transporting an 11 API gravity crude, produced by steam injection, from its Midway-Sunset producing area to its Ten Section dehydration plant. The flow is 70% oil and 30% water. The line has a liquid design capacity of about 27,000 bbl/day. The nozzle design causes the oil and water to enter the pipeline at approximately the same velocity and in the desired configuration. The oil core remains stable as long as the flow rate in the line is more than 3 ft/sec. After injection into the line, the oil and water are pumped to the dehydration plant, where heavy crude is combined with a lighter crude and passed to a 40,000 bbl oil-water separation tank. There are four positive displacement pumps at the station, one 200 hp unit for water, two 150 hp unit for either service. After dehydration, the oil is blended and goes through an 8 in. dia line to Bakersfield, Calif., and then to Shell's Martinez refinery near Oakland, Calif.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00301388
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also published in Chemical Engineering News, V50 N6, Feb. 1972; Pipe Line Industry, V36 N2, Feb. 1972; and Chemical Engineering (U.S.), V79 N5; March 1972.
• Corporate Authors:

  Petroleum Publishing Company

  211 South Cheyenne, P.O. Box 1260
  Tulsa, OK  United States  75221
• Publication Date: 1972-2-7

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 37
• Serial:
  • Oil and Gas Journal
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: PennWell Publishing Company
  • ISSN: 0030-1388

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Materials management; Operations; Pipe flow; Pipeline transportation; Slurry
• Old TRIS Terms: Pipeline operating problems; Slurries; Slurry handling techniques
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Freight Transportation; Marine Transportation; Pipelines; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00056158
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Petroleum Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 15 1974 12:00AM