Let’s discuss: as the temperature rises and tube expansion occurs, what are the possible solutions?
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In actual production, depending on the manufacturing requirements, many crude oil pipelines often end up with both ends closed. For example, in the pipelines that carry crude oil from storage tanks to production units, if the temperature rises, thermal expansion and contraction occur. Given the large volume of crude oil stored in these pipelines, the resulting expansion cannot be ignored; this can cause damage to valves and other piping components, and may even lead to oil leaks and other accidents. Let’s discuss what solutions are available to address the issue of tube expansion As far as I know, a pipe is used to create a branch on the pipeline at the section where it becomes enclosed, which is connected to the semi-finished product tank, along with a manual valve. When higher temperatures occur, open the manual valve to prevent pressure buildup. This method is cumbersome to use; please come up with better solutions.
The method you mentioned is good, but it should be made automatic, just like a safety valve – all that’s needed is to connect an oil tank to the outlet of the safety valve. There are quite a few specific ways to do this!
Generally, a fluid expansion line is added during design to allow the fluid to be returned to the oil tank (by connecting it to the top of the tank), or a cleaning device is installed to clean the oil in the pipeline after each use (this is commonly used in pipelines at docks)
This post was last edited by Xiao Luotou on 2011-10-6 08:21. 1. Can’t we use expansion joints? 2. Install a micro-opening safety valve on the main pipeline and connect the outlet of the safety valve to the semi-finished product tank?
Reply to 5# sssshack: Is there anything more automated? If a manual valve is used, it requires constant attention to turn the valve on and off.
Reply to 6# 20040274: I haven’t tried using expansion joints; I guess their effectiveness wouldn’t be good. Expansion joints are meant to handle equipment expansion, while expansion sleeves are used to deal with the expansion of the fluid. The longer the pipeline and the more fluid there is, the more noticeable the expansion effect will be. Expansion joints cannot increase storage capacity by much. Safety valves might be quite effective.
Many of our pipelines are equipped with safety valves and then connected to another recovery pipeline.
If we consider only the temperature, I think the thermal expansion caused by temperature isn’t that serious; what’s really concerning is when the fluid inside the pipes vaporizes due to temperature changes, resulting in an increase in pressure – that’s when it becomes problematic. Regarding this issue, I once read an article written by an engineer from the Luoyang Branch in a publication; it was about a project in Africa. He conducted a qualitative analysis of the situation based on the local climate conditions, such as sunlight duration and maximum temperatures. It seems that a safety valve was the solution adopted in that case. If you’re interested, you can look it up and use his formulas to calculate for your own pipelines.
Reply to 11# zero229: Thank you for the information you provided. Could you tell me the title of that paper?