Pipeline transport

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Image:Pipeline-small image, seen from below.jpeg

Pipeline transport is a 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 important are those transporting oil and natural gas. Often these pipelines are inspected and cleaned using pipeline inspection gauges ("pigs").

1 Oil and natural gas pipelines
2 Pipelines for other liquids and gases
- 2.1 Water pipelines
- 2.2 Beverage pipelines
  - 2.2.1 Beer pipelines
3 See also
4 External links

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Oil and natural gas pipelines

Image:Pipeline device.jpg Pipeline transport, pioneered by Vladimir Shukhov and the Branobel company in the late 19th century, is the only economic way to transport large quantities of oil or natural gas over land. Compared to railroad, it has lower cost per unit and also higher capacity. Although pipelines can be built even under the sea, that process is both economically and technically very 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 from 30 to 120 cm (about 12 to 47 inches). Where possible, they are built above the surface. However, in more developed, urban or environmentally sensitive areas they are buried underground at a typical depth of about 1 metre (about 3 feet). The oil is kept in motion by a system of pump stations built 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. This interface is removed from the pipeline at receiving facilities and segregated to prevent contamination.

For natural gas, smaller feeder lines are used to distribute the fuel to homes and businesses. Government regulations in Canada and the United States require that buried fuel pipelines must be protected from corrosion. Often, the most economical method of corrosion control is by use of pipeline coating in conjunction with cathodic protection.

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Accidents

Pipelines conveying flammable or explosive material such as natural gas or oil pose special safety concerns.

For a complete list see Pipeline accidents

June 4, 1989 - sparks from two passing trains detonated gas leaking from an LPG pipeline near Ufa, Russia. Up to 645 people were reported killed.
October 17, 1998 - at Jesse in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline exploded killing about 1200 villagers, some of whom were scavenging gasoline - the worst of several similar incidents in this country.
June 10, 1999 - a pipeline in a Bellingham, Washington park leaked gasoline, vapor from leak exploded and killed 2 children
July 30, 2004 - a major natural gas pipeline exploded in Ghislenghien, Belgium near Ath (thirty kilometres southwest of Brussels), killing at least 23 people and leaving 122 wounded, some critically. (CNN) (Expatica)

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Some oil/gas pipelines

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Some oil/gas pipeline companies

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company
Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited
Koch Pipeline Company (a subsidiary of Koch Industries)
Schuck Company Germany - Equipment for Gas and Oil Transportation

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Pipelines for other liquids and gases

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Water pipelines

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.

Example significant water pipelines in South Australia are the Morgan-Whyalla (completed 1944) and Mannum-Adelaide [1] (completed 1955) pipelines.

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Beverage pipelines

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Beer pipelines

Bars in the Veltins-Arena, a major football ground in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, are interconnected by a 5 km long beer pipeline. It is the favourite 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.

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