Dealing With Challenges In Crude Oil Transportation

By Eugenia Dickerson


With the current industrial growth, many economies of the world have come to rely on petroleum products as the main power source in their industries. Because mankind has always been trying to understand nature, modern technologies have made it possible for oil to be mined in far flung mines and supplied to global markets. Most of the available crude oil transportation methods have been devised because markets and supply centres are not located at one point.

From the oil field, the product is delivered via pipelines to the loading terminal for tankers or trains. These bulk movers then deliver it to the pipelines that serve the demand side of the market. Due to the sensitive nature of some end products, it is safer to refine the oil on the consumer side than to ferry them over the open seas.

Most crude transporters view pipelines as the safest means of ferrying the product because they are concealed from prospective vandals. From the drilling rigs, the oil is moved to a measuring and storage point ready fro collection by secondary movers. If pipelines are to be employed, booster pumps must be installed at strategic points to pressurize the fluid to its destination. It must be noted that a single pipe can ferry more than one product depending on the operation schedule.

Popular sources of crude such as the Latin Americas and the middle east are heavily dependent on sea transport to market their products around the world. The international trade makes use of Very Large Crude Carriers to move crude across continents. There are big pollution risks associated with tankers whenever an oil spill occurs at sea.

A serious investor will also facilitate the tracking and guiding of his shipping vessels through advanced satellite systems when transporting this sensitive cargo. Innovative merchant also invest in vessels such as replenishment ships that replenish moving ships without disrupting their work. There are many marine operations regulatory authorities that engage in the formulation of laws governing the industry.

most oil exploiters charter renowned shipping companies to move their commodity to demand centers. The agreement may either be voyage, bareboat, time or affreightment drafted. In the former, the hiring firm leases the equipment for usage between the source and destination for his product. He may also opt to hire the vessels for a stipulated period of time during which he purports to have transferred all his cargo.

The cargo manifold is a point through which the taker is loaded with fresh crude for shipping to faraway destinations. If the reservoirs are not properly vented to the atmosphere during loading, changes in fluid volume as the ambient temperature varies may cause accidental spillage. At the destination, evacuation pumps will transfer the fluid to offshore tanks. If a different fluid is to be introduced in the cargo holders, the tanks must fist be cleaned.

If the crude oil transportation vessel held a less viscous liquid, water may suffice as a cleaning fluid. Sometimes, the water is heated and introduced by a high pressure spraying system all over the inner tank surface. Purging is them done by pumping volumes of an inert gas to remove remaining traces of hydrocarbons. All these processes are performed by the oil washing system onboard.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire