Pipeline Engineering

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline carries crude oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast to the ice-free port of Valdez on Prince William Sound, where it is loaded onto tankers for shipment.

About 420 of the pipeline's 800 miles are elevated on supports to prevent the warm oil (flowing at about 140 degrees F) from melting the permafrost beneath, which would destabilize both the pipeline and the ground.

The Keystone Pipeline System transports crude oil from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the United States, including facilities in Illinois, Oklahoma, and the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Pipeline 'pigs' are devices pushed through pipelines by product flow to clean the interior, inspect for corrosion or damage, and separate different products. Pig launchers insert them and pig receivers retrieve them at the other end.

The Nord Stream pipelines run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Nord Stream 1 began operations in 2011, while Nord Stream 2 was completed in 2021 but became politically controversial due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Cathodic protection is an electrochemical technique used to prevent corrosion of metal pipelines buried underground or submerged underwater. It works by making the pipeline the cathode of an electrochemical cell, protecting it from rusting.

The Druzhba Pipeline originates in Russia and transports oil to refineries in multiple European countries including Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. At over 5,500 km, it is the world's longest oil pipeline network.

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is a trenchless method for installing pipelines underground, particularly useful for crossing rivers, roads, and environmentally sensitive areas without surface disruption.

Pump stations (for liquids) and compressor stations (for gas) are spaced along pipelines to maintain adequate pressure and flow rate. Friction and elevation changes cause pressure loss over distance, so these stations re-pressurize the product.

The Big Inch (24-inch crude oil) and Little Big Inch (20-inch refined products) pipelines were built during World War II to transport petroleum from Texas to the East Coast, replacing tanker ships that were being sunk by German U-boats.

Most long-distance oil and gas pipelines are made from carbon steel, which provides the necessary strength to withstand high internal pressures and external loads. The steel is coated externally to prevent corrosion.

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a computerized system that monitors and controls pipeline operations remotely, including flow rates, pressures, temperatures, and pump station operations across the entire pipeline network.

The BTC pipeline runs 1,768 km from Baku, Azerbaijan, through Tbilisi, Georgia, to Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Opened in 2006, it was designed to transport Caspian oil to Western markets without passing through Russia.

Batching involves sending different petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel) sequentially through the same pipeline. Mechanical or liquid separators, or simply the sharp interface between products, keeps them mostly distinct.

Subsea pipelines pose risks including disruption to marine ecosystems during construction, potential for underwater leaks or spills, and interference with fishing and marine life. Environmental impact assessments are required before construction.