TRB Special Report 311: Effects of Diluted Bitumen on Crude Oil Transmission Pipelines (2013) / Chapter Skim
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6 Summary of Results
6 Summary of Results
Pages 99-107
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From page 99... ...
RECAP OF STUDY CHARGE AND APPROACH Section 16 of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 calls for the Secretary of Transportation to "complete a comprehensive review of hazardous liquid pipeline facility regulations to determine whether the regulations are sufficient to regulate pipeline facilities used for the transportation of diluted bitumen. In conducting the review, the Secretary shall conduct an analysis of whether any increase in the risk of a release exists for pipeline facilities transporting diluted bitumen."1 A determination of release risk requires an assessment of both the likelihood and the consequences of a release.
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From page 100... ...
The review provided insight into the general causes of pipeline failures, but the incident records alone could not be used to determine whether pipelines are more likely to fail when they transport diluted bitumen than when they transport other crude oils. Having examined the general causes of failures, the committee focused on the specific sources of pipeline damage that can be influenced by the transported crude oil.
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From page 101... ...
They usually move multiple batches of crude oil, often provided by different shippers and encompassing a range of chemical and physical properties. Crude oil shipments are treated to meet the quality requirements of the pipeline operator as well as the content and quality demands of the refinery customer.
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From page 102... ...
Although the diluents consist of low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, shipments of diluted bitumen do not contain a higher percentage of these light hydrocarbons than do other crude oil shipments. The dilution process yields a stable and fully mixed product for shipment by pipeline with density and viscosity levels in the range of other crude oils transported by pipeline in the United States.
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From page 103... ...
Variation in reporting coverage is problematic because gathering pipelines are fundamentally different from transmission pipelines in design, maintenance, and operations and in the quality and quantity of the liquids they carry. Assessing the Effects of Diluted Bitumen on Pipelines The chemical and physical properties of diluted bitumen were examined in Chapter 5 to determine whether any differ sufficiently from those of other crude oils to increase the likelihood of pipeline failures from sources of damage internally or externally or from mechanical forces.
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From page 104... ...
On the basis of an examination of the factors that influence microbial growth, diluted bitumen does not have a higher likelihood than other crude oils of causing microbiologically influ enced corrosion. Because shipments of diluted bitumen have solids content and flow regimes comparable with those of other crude oil shipments, they do not differ in their propensity to cause erosion of transmission pipelines.
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From page 105... ...
None of the properties or operating parameters of diluted bitumen shipments was found to be sufficiently different from those of other crude oils to suggest a higher potential to cause or exacerbate mechanical damage in pipelines. Effects on Operations and Maintenance Procedures As common carriers, operators of transmission pipelines generally have the ability to transport the wide range of crude oil varieties that are in the com mercial stream.
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From page 106... ...
The organic acids in diluted bitumen are not corrosive to steel at pipeline operating temperatures. Diluted bitumen does not have properties that make it more likely than other crude oils to cause damage to transmission pipelines from external corrosion and cracking or from mechanical forces.
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From page 107... ...
All pipeline releases can be consequential. As explained at the outset of this report, the committee was not asked or constituted to study whether pipeline releases of diluted bitumen and other crude oils differ in their consequences or to determine whether such a study is warranted.
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