INTRODUCTION
Pipelineis a method of transportation in which liquid, gaseous,or solid products are moved over long distances throughpipelines. It is used mainly for conveyingnatural gas, petroleum,and solid materials.Pipelines are classifiedin terms of their purpose and territoriallayout as trunk, or main and industrialpipelines. Trunk linesinclude natural-gas and petroleum pipelines,which usually carrythe product fromthe place of itsextraction to the sites of processing andconsumption, to industrial plants, or to seaports for transshipment to tankers and continued transportation.Trunk lines alsocarry finished petroleumproducts from refineriesto areas of consumption. Pipeline transportation is also used withinindustrial plants, where other productssuitable for thismode of conveyance are transported in orderto continue the productionprocess. Pipelines in tank farms, industrialpipelines for petroleum,natural gas, andmixed products on oil fields, and municipal pipeline networksfor natural-gas distribution,water supply, andsewerage are alsopart of pipeline transportation.
Pipeline transportationis a progressive and economically advantageous mode of transportation. It is characterized by flexibility, the absence of freightlosses in transit, complete mechanization andautomation of labour-intensive loading and unloadingoperations, and recoveryof packaging. As a consequence, transportation costs arelowered for liquid goods, for example,the costs of pipelinetransportation are one-third of those forrailroad transport. Further development of trunkpipelines is linked to an increase in pipe diameterand the pressureof natural gas or petroleum conveyed throughthe pipeline andto the provision of compressor units forhigher pressures. The transport of liquefiednatural gas is anotherpossible way of reducingtransportation costs.
HISTORY OF PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION
Pipelines in antiquity took several different forms. The Chinese used bamboo to fabricate water pipelines 7,000 years ago. Ancient Biblical cultures employed terra-cotta pipes for water supply and discharge of waste water. The Romans are noted in history for constructing huge aqueducts covering long distances over difficult terrain. These water supply projects were the engineering masterpieces of their time. In the late 15th century, a pipeline for brine was constructed in Germany, and the material of choice was hollow tree trunks.
The modern development of pipeline use and technology is directly related to the birth of the oil industry. In 1859 the successful drilling of an oil well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, started an oil boom in the area. The first refinery to process the oil was built in Oil City, just 11 miles from Titusville. The problem of how to move the oil from the fields to the refineries was first solved by waterborne transport, but it eventually became too expensive and hazardous, which led to a search for alternatives. Construction of railroads near the oil fields proceeded rapidly. However, the collection of oil at the wells and movement to rail and water shipping points were inefficient and expensive. Teamsters, who moved the oil via horse-drawn wagon, could carry only five to seven barrels of oil per wagon, which translated into as many as 2,000 daily trips into Titusville's rail terminal. The teamsters were paid from $1.00 to $5.00 per barrel, depending on distance and road conditions. The subsequent hazards, congestion and high cost of moving oil was the impetus to develop a more economical and safer form of transportation, namely pipeline
The earliest attempt at establishing pipelines was in the 1860s. Some wooden and cast-iron projects were begun, but they suffered material defects as well as physical damage inflicted by teamsters who saw pipelines as a threat to their livelihood. The first successful Crude Oil pipeline was completed in 1865 near Oil City, consisting of 32,000 feet of 2" wrought-iron pipe (which solved the leakage problem of cast-iron pipe) in 15 foot sections that were welded and tested to a pressure of 900 psi. The line, partially above and below ground, boasted a transport capacity of 81 barrels per hour. A telegraph line relayed data on oil shipments.
By the end of the Civil War, pipelines were constructed throughout the western Pennsylvania oil region, and pipeline companies were providing storage in large capacity (15,000 gallons), welded wrought-iron vessels. Railroads soon entered the picture as major developers of pipelines, buying and constructing pipelines of their own and eventually forming an oil transportation monopoly. Railroads dictated prices to producers and shippers and refused any privately owned pipeline permission to cross the railroad track. Public sentiment turned against the railroad monopoly, and state legislatures passed laws granting common carrier pipelines the privilege of eminent domain in their acquisition of rights-of-way. In 1878 a 108- mile, 6" pipeline was completed from Pennsylvania to Bayonne, New Jersey. The success of this pipeline led the railroads to reverse their monopolistic strategy in favour of rate reductions and more sensible, competitive practices.
Between 1901 and 1905 oil was discovered in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and California. Eastern refineries were forced to seek additional crude oil supplies to supplement declining production from eastern fields. Pipelines were constructed from the mid-continent region to connect with eastern lines. As the U.S. population shifted to the West, new refineries were constructed along the navigable waterways of the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and the Texas gulf and California coasts. Crude oil trunk pipelines were constructed from the new oil-producing regions to these new refineries and to marine terminal.
By 1930 the growth of large population centers in the Midwest had created new marketing areas for refined products. Pipelines emerged as the least expensive method of transporting many grades of refined products to the market. During the early 1930s, 3,000 miles of products pipelines were placed in operation. In certain cases, older crude lines were cleaned and the direction of flow reversed to move products from the East to the Mid-west.
World War II saw another surge of pipeline development. The U.S. oil tanker fleet was seriously damaged by enemy submarine activity along the East and Gulf Coasts, and pipelines were again seen as the answer. To allow for planning and construction of new pipelines, the oil and railroad industries cooperated to reorganize the oil industry's fleet of over 100,000 tank cars. Fuel trains were run on a faster schedule with minimum down for loading and unloading.
At the peak of this operation more than 1 million barrels of crude oil and refined products were transported daily to the East Coast. Also, a total of 35 separate pipeline projects were planned and developed at a cost of $334 million, more than half of which was financed by the oil industry. Congress passed legislation empowering the president to issue a proclamation granting any wartime petroleum pipeline the right of eminent domain in matters of acquiring land and rights-of-way, which expedited rapid completion of the necessary pipelines. This joint government-industry cooperative effort resulted in a total of nearly 560 million barrels transported to the East Coast during the war. Wartime pipeline projects included the first long- distance 16" crude line from Texas to Oklahoma, and two massive projects: a 24", 1,245-mile crude line and a 20", 1,475-mile refined products line from Texas to the ports of New York and Philadelphia.
After the war, demand for petroleum products declined rapidly. Tanker ships became available again for intercostal movement and a realignment of the U.S. pipeline systems took place. The government stopped operating the two massive systems built during the war and sold them to natural gas transmission companies. Other pipelines were returned to normal operation and many other connecting lines built in wartime were taken out of service
Wartime experience was to have profound effect on the economics of pipelines. The large-diameter trunk lines had proved to have operating flexibility previously considered available only in small-diameter lines. More importantly, the large line could transport large volumes of petroleum at considerably less cost per barrel -- much as today's super tankers have brought new economies of scale in transporting large volumes of crude oil internationally. Numerous large-diameter trunk lines were constructed, sometimes serving the same areas previously handled by multiple small-diameter trunk lines. Small lines were either removed or reversed and converted to product pipelines.
The large-diameter pipeline approach allowed complex projects to be designed and completed, such as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. This pipeline introduced planners and builders to a new series of problems not unlike those encountered in the early days at Oil City, Pennsylvania. Environmentalists and other groups presented numerous legal challenges and delayed construction for several years.
