This paper examines product interface size and the mixture of one product into another on a batched crude oil pipeline located in North America. The data will compare envelope volumes based on historical data of batch size, batch order, product gravity, and the presence of drag reducing agents. This paper will present valuable information for shippers and producers who focus on purity of batched products using minimally invasive monitoring.
While batching fluid through a pipeline, a mixture will develop between two batches. The goal is to identify the mixed product and account for it accordingly. The delivery stream will be isolated when the fluid density is at the average of the two abutting products. When two products "A" and "B" are moved in series through a pipeline, it would be helpful to determine how much of product "A" ends up in product "B", and vice versa.
The physical process by which pipelines transport batches, and the process by which those batches mix in-situ with one another, has been tied to multiple chemical and physical properties. Information is available pertaining to the use of viscosity and Reynolds Number correlations1, but due to a lack of available instrumentation these correlations could not be investigated further. For the sake of clarity, available instrumentations, and to produce a concise study, this analysis will focus on the mixture of crude oils as measured by Specific Gravity. The results will be discussed in relation to the Transition Envelope which contains the transition from one batch's tail section to the next batch's head section.
