Crude Oil Transportation and Integrity Management

National Academy of Sciences Project Meeting: Pipeline Transportation of Diluted Bitumen July 23, 2012
Jenny Been, PhD, P.Eng, PMP Corrosion Specialist, Pipe Integrity Bruce Dupuis, P.Eng. Program Manager, Liquid Pipeline Integrity

Outline
Canadian petroleum imports into the USA What is Diluted Bitumen and its origin Crude oil properties

Where corrosion may occur

Regulatory measures Operational measures for quality preservation of transmitted crude

Internal corrosion management

Prevention Mitigation Assessment

Industry Collaboration

US Imports by Country of Origin

Petroleum Imports into the USA
(Million Barrels per Day)

3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

t C an ad Sa a ud iA ra bi a q az il Br o om bi Ira zu e ex w er N ig R us Ku si a la ic ai ia a

ne Ve

~75% is crude oil

3

ol

Worlds Largest Oil Reserves

Oil Sands Deposits in Alberta

The Alberta Oil Sands represents 95% of Canadas proven oil reserves Alberta area: 255,540 sq. mile

Oil Sands deposits area: 55,000 sq. mile

Size of New York or Iowa

Mineable oil sands area: 1,850 sq. mile (only 3% of total oil sands land area - located mainly north of Fort McMurray) Active oil sands mining area: 230 sq. mile (with 26 sq. mile under active reclamation)

How are Oil Sands Produced and Processed Bitumen + Diluent = Diluted Bitumen (dilbit)

Surface Mining & Extraction

Upgrading Conversion to Synthetic Crude (Alberta or US)

In-situ Production (sub-surface)

Refining (Canada, US or International)

Petro-chemical Products

Typical Mining/Extraction Process

OIL SANDS CRUSHED OIL SANDS CSS SAGD CHOPS THAI VAPEX

OIL SANDS MINING

CRUSHER
TRUCK TRANSPORT

HYDROTRANSPORT
HOT WATER + CAUSTIC SODA

IN-SITU

SLURRY AIR HOT WATER BITUMEN FROTH MIDDLINGS DEAERATED BITUMEN FROTH

BITUMEN

Dilbit
UPGRADING SITE
OR

DEAERATOR
BITUMEN FROTH

BITUMEN

REFINERY
OR

AIR

ASPHALT FROTH TREATMENT PLANT

STEAM NAPHTHA RESIDUE WATER, SOLIDS + NAPHTHA

PRIMARY SEPARATION VESSEL

SECONDARY SEPARATION
TAILINGS (SAND + WATER)

MIDDLINGS RESIDUE

RESIDUE WATER + SOLIDS

NAPHTHA RECOVERY UNIT

BITUMEN RECOVERY PROCESS

TAILING PONDS
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Crude Oil Properties

Crude oils are characterized and assessed to determine their value and processability by refineries by:

API gravity (related to density and correlated to viscosity)

Percent of Sulfur
TAN number Different organic fractions

 International Crude Oils

5
TAN (mg KOH/g) 4.5 Sulphur (wt%) 40 35

45

TAN (mg KOH/g), Sulphur (wt%)

4 3.5 3

30
25

2.5
20 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 15 10 5 0

API Gravity
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 Cdn Dilbit and Dilsynbit in green

5
TAN (mg KOH/g) 4.5 Sulphur (wt%) 40 35

45

TAN (mg KOH/g), Sulphur (wt%)

4 3.5 3

30
25

2.5
20 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 15 10 5 0

API Gravity
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Where Corrosion May Occur

The characteristics of dilbit are not unique and are comparable to conventional crude oils Crude oils entering transmission pipelines contain <0.5% Basic Sediments & Water (BS&W)

These crude oils (conventional and diluted bitumen) are generally noncorrosive

Internal corrosion can occur at locations where sediment and water can precipitate Underneath deposited sediments, a corrosive water film can form on the pipe wall Not unique to dilbit; has been observed on lines transporting conventional crude Fully turbulent flow will promote the suspension of sediment and water

Localized deposition could occur in low pressure areas if the degree of turbulence drops to lower levels

No corrosion observed in the absence of sediment when exposed to the crude only

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Crude Oil Properties

Crude oil properties that are important for pipeline operation as related to water and sediment drop-out:

Basic Sediment and Water content (BS&W)

Density of Oil
Viscosity

Petroleum quality requirements of crude are specified in NEB and FERC Tariffs

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NEB and FERC Tariffs, Federal Regulations

FERC and NEB quality specifications of petroleum Basic Sediment and Water (BS&W) <0.5 volume percent Density at the receipt point shall not exceed 940 kg/m3 (58.7 lb/ft3)

The kinematic viscosity shall not exceed 350 mm2/s (0.00377 ft2/s) at the carrier's reference temperature
Federal Regulations, Paragraph 195.579 The corrosive effect of the hazardous liquid on the pipeline must be investigated and adequate steps must be taken to mitigate internal corrosion considering inhibition and monitoring PHMSA Special Conditions Limit BS&W to 0.5 percent by volume and report results to PHMSA in annual report

Run cleaning pigs twice in the first year and as necessary in succeeding years
Liquids / solids collected during cleaning pig runs must be sampled, analyzed, and assessed with regard to internal corrosion mitigation
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Keystone Pipeline Overview

Keystone Pipeline Current System Hardisty, Alberta to Wood River, Illinois Patoka, Illinois Cushing, Oklahoma Nominal velocity of 5.6 mph (2.5mps) Batched operation

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Operational Measures for Quality Preservation

Batch Sizes and Batch Trains

Minimum Batch Size of 100,000 bbls

Larger Batch Sizes Minimize the Interface/Batch Volume

Batch Trains of Similar Product Types are Scheduled in Sequence to Minimize Adjacent Contamination.

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System Properties that Preserve Batch Quality

Bullet Line Design

No Breakout Tankage for Mixing of Tank Bottoms Less Batch Cuts from Swing Points High Flowrates = High Reynolds Numbers = Tight Interfaces

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Internal Corrosion Management Prevention

Tariff enforcement

Tariff Excursion Procedure

in the event of product quality excursions

staged escalation of warnings leading to prerequisite testing

enables Keystone to act without bias to any Shipper or interconnected facility

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Internal Corrosion Management Prevention

Tariff enforcement Minimizing presence of dead legs

Flow through barrels

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Internal Corrosion Management Prevention

Tariff enforcement Minimizing presence of dead legs

Turbulent flow

Operating at flow conditions well in excess of those required for water entrainment as indicated by flow models

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Internal Corrosion Management Prevention

Tariff enforcement Minimizing presence of dead legs

Turbulent flow
Cleaning pigging

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Internal Corrosion Management Assessment

Thickness monitoring of potential deposition sites in facilities

Ultrasonic monitoring of the wall thickness at unavoidable dead legs associated with by-pass line at barrel assemblies

Should provide worst case conditions for sediment accumulation

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Internal Corrosion Management Assessment

Thickness monitoring of potential deposition sites in facilities

In-Line Inspection

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In-line Inspection

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Internal Corrosion Management Assessment

Thickness monitoring of potential deposition sites in facilities

In-Line Inspection
Analysis of Deposit Samples

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Analysis of Deposit Samples

Corrosion testing and chemical analysis of pipeline deposits obtained from cleaning pig runs The pipeline deposit is an average sample obtained over the length of the pig run and over the time between pig runs No trend in underdeposit corrosion was observed along the line

Corrosion Rate (mpy)

Underdeposit

Crude Oil Only

Error bars from max to min values

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Internal Corrosion Management Assessment

Thickness monitoring of potential deposition sites in facilities

In-Line Inspection
Analysis of Deposit Samples PinPoint Continuous Monitoring

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Internal Corrosion Management Mitigation

Increase Flow

Commercial objective of maximizing throughput, also minimizes sediment deposition Ran twice in first year in consideration of non-turbulent flow during line fill Continuing to run twice per in sections where flow alternates

Increased Cleaning Pigging

Frequency will be reviewed in terms of both ILI and deposit analysis

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Internal Corrosion Management Mitigation

Increase Flow

Commercial objective of maximizing throughput, also minimizes sediment deposition

Increased Cleaning Pigging Chemical treatment

Necessity will be assessed in terms of both ILI and deposit analysis

Through an abundance of caution a chemical program is being architected to facilitate a timely response should it be required
Efficiency/frequency would be accessed on lab results, pin point data and ILI run to run analysis

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Industry Collaboration

The Pipeline Integrity and Corrosion Management (PICoM) program at Alberta Innovates technology Futures is directed by an Industry Working Group addressing issues of pipeline corrosion and integrity management

Current focus on internal corrosion monitoring and mitigation of crude oil pipelines

Corrosion underneath pipeline deposits Base-lining and optimization of mitigation tools

Laboratory experiments and pilot scale flow loop evaluating monitoring technologies and mitigation effectiveness (cleaning pigs, chemical treatment)

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PICoM

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Questions

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