Abstract
This paper explores the potential of utilizing large diameter steel pipelines, that are no longer in use, to simultaneously transport small batches of different products. These pipelines were originally created in the United States to transport gas from the south to the north. As Canada emerged as a gas supplier to the northern states, these pipelines were no longer needed for their original purpose. Many of these pipelines were completely abandoned because an alternate usage was not identified for transporting large quantities of a single product. With these pipelines obsolete, building new smaller diameter pipelines was the only solution considered to accommodate the present need.
To accomplish the necessity of economically transporting small batches of product, multiple pipes are inserted into these large diameter steel pipelines. Polyethylene (PE) was selected as the piping material for this application because of the flexibility and tensile strength required during the insertion process. A method was developed to insert 10-mile sections of the PE pipes into the steel pipeline. Once these PE pipes are installed, a method of controlling and monitoring the flow is required. The control system allows the outputs to be maximized without causing failures such as bursting or leaking. Furthermore, to assure economical feasibility, performance benchmarks were proposed by industrial partners.
The model produced from this study analyzes steady state operation as well as transient effects such as opening/closing a valve or starting/stopping the pipeline. New formulas are derived to calculate frictional pressure drop for fluid flow in pipes containing internal pipes. National Instruments Lab-View, a graphical programming language, was used to transform the mathematical model into a real-time operational tool that can be directly connected to the pipeline system.
