Remote Pipeline Pump Operation

A Control Center Perspective

Michael Dickau P.Eng.
Enbridge Pipelines Inc.

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

2013

Presenters
Michael Dickau

Michael Dickau is a Senior Engineer at Enbridge

Pipelines Inc.. He has been working in the Edmonton
Control Center for the past 4 years planning work
outages, supporting the Control Center operators, and
conducting incident investigations. From the Edmonton
Control Center, Enbridge directs the transport of over
two million barrel of oil a day through a pipeline
network stretching from Ft McMurray, Alberta to
Cushing, Oklahoma, and Montreal, Quebec. Michael has
instructed courses on pipeline operations for company
internal training. He also has experience with transient
and steady state pipeline and terminal hydraulic
modeling. Michael previously worked for Sulzer Turbo
Services on turbine and compressor repair projects.
Michael graduated in 2008 with a BSc in Mechanical
Engineering from the University of Alberta.

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

2013

Enbridge Basics
We deliver an average of 2.2 million barrels of crude
oil and liquids every day, with a 99.9994% safe delivery
record over the past decade while moving more than
15 billion barrels of crude.
We transport 53 per cent of U.S.-bound Canadian
production, a figure that accounts for 15 per cent of
total U.S. crude oil imports.
On any single day, Enbridge is the largest single conduit
of oil into the U.S. We move close to 100 separate
commodities, including more than 10 types of refined
products.

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

2013

Enbridge Basics

Approximately 26,000 km of pipelines

225+ pump stations / 1000+ pumping units
Mainline Line Fill 5.9 million m (37 million bbl)
Power consumption 391 GWhr per month or
4700 GWhr Per year which is enough to power
half of the city Toronto for a year (1.1 Million
Homes)
Power cost is about $39 million/month or about
$470 million per year

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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Enbridge Basics

Waupisoo Pipeline
Olympic Pipeline

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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Pipeline Hydraulics 101

Flow is caused by a pressure differential
As the fluid moves it experiences frictional
losses. This converts pressure energy to heat
Frictional losses change based on product type
and fluid velocity (and a few other factors)

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

2013

Pipeline Hydraulics 101

Pressure

Flow

Station A

Station B
Distance

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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Control Center Video

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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What does Enbridge pump?

Heavy Crude Oil (904 940 kg/m) (25-340 cSt @10C)
High Tan Dil Bit/Syn Bit
Cracked

Medium Crude Oil (876 903 kg/m) (18-26 cSt @10C)

Light Crude Oil (800 875 kg/m) (4-21 cSt @10C)
Light Synthetic
Sweet
Sour

Condensate / Refined Products (600 799 kg/m) (0.5-1 cSt @10C)

Gas
Diesel, Jet Fuel

Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) (up to 599 kg/m) (0.4 cSt @10C)
Oil and natural gas are often found together in the same reservoir
Most extracted natural gas contain varying degrees of hydrocarbon compounds

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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Batching

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Batch Cuts
A nice S shaped
interface between
two batches
Neither batch gains
or losses in volume

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Product Effect on Pumps

Pump head
Pump units need to be started or stopped to
maintain line rate
Change in motor
load

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Line Profile

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Column Separation

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Pipe Diameters
Line 1

Line 11
Line 17

Line 1

Line 1

Line 2

Line 2

Line 5

Line 10

Line 3

Loops

Line 4

Line 21
Line 7
Line 8
Line 13

Line 14

Line 6b
Line 9

Line 6a

Line 19

Larger pipe has higher capital cost but lower

operating cost.
Turbulent flow is desired for batched lines
Pressure loss is the square of velocity
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Operating Priorities
Safety:

Adhere to government regulations

Protect the environment (mass balance)
Follow Enbridge procedures
Coordinate communication with field staff

Reliability:
Quality (minimize degradation)
On-time delivery (track batches and follow pump orders)
Maintain communications with the customers in operations

Efficiency:
Minimize costs primarily power (reduce throttle/balanced
line)

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Pumps in Real Life

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What the Operator Sees

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Types of Maneuvers on a Pipeline

Injections - product being injected from Tankage
to a Pipeline
Receipt - product being received from a customer
directly into the pipeline
Delivery - product being taken off the mainline to
a customer for delivery
Landing - product being landed off a mainline into
tankage within a terminal facility
Even - batch is being pushed even or by a station,
none of the above are occurring

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Types of Maneuvers on a Pipeline

Simultaneous
Delivery/Injection

Full Stream Delivery

Station
Valve

SO
Pipeline Flow

Station
Valve

SYN

CRW
SW

Pipeline
Shutdown

Full Stream
Injection
Station
Valve

Delivery

Pipeline
Shutdown

SO

SW

SO

SW

Delivery

SO

SW

CRW

CRW
SW

Pipeline Flow

Side Stream Delivery

Side Stream Injection

Injection

Pipeline Flow

SO

SW

CRW

SW

SW

Pipeline Flow

SO

SW

CRW

SW

Delivery

Injection

SW

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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SW

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Pressure Limits
Operators keep pipeline pressures under a
maximum pressure provided by Engineering.
The Maximum Operating Pressure (MOP) is
based on several factors
Hydrotest records
High consequence areas
Transient Analysis
Integrity features

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Operational Considerations
Operating Limits
Low Pressure Limits
High Pressure Limits

Line Pressure Protection

Energy Constraints
Power Allowable: Peak/Off-Peak Hours

Minimum/Maximum Flow Rates

Keep above laminar flow rate
Operation concerns with equipment

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Natural Flow Rates

Efficient pipeline operation considers many
factors.
Pump efficiency
Pressure control - PCV or VFD
Pressure limits
Power contracts
Operability / Ability to recover from upsets

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Natural Flow Rates

Pressure
from one
pump

Flow

Maximum
Operating
Pressure

Pressure

Power
Wasted

Station A

Station B
Distance

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Pump Orders
The pipeline rates and batch line ups are
calculated and provided to the operator.
Rates are determined based on volumes
nominated that month and natural flow rates.
Each day the operators receive new pump
orders for the next day.
Emergencies/scheduling conflict can impair
the operators ability to follow pump orders.
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Pump Orders

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Operators Display

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How to Start or Stop Pumps

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How to Stop or Start a Pipeline

It depends
Generally
Ensure a clear flow path (open sectionalizing block
valves)
Start units to get the line running at a minimum
rate
Add additional units to achieve scheduled rates

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Bottlenecks
On a pipeline one station to station segment will
be a bottleneck. This is the segment where the
upstream discharge pressure is at its maximum
and the downstream suction pressure is at its
minimum
Drag Reducing Agent can be used to open the
bottleneck
Additional pumps can be added
Line MOP can be increased

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Terminals
Terminal - A facility along the pipeline route that
allows the movement of oil to occur in or out of
the Pipeline system.
Many of these Terminals have crude storage
tanks that allow the facility to hold these volumes
for a two day turn around period.
These facilities are designed to receive receipt
volumes from shippers and store these volumes
until a mainline injection is scheduled.

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Terminals

30 Receipt lines
56 Receipt Meters
37 tanks (7 in production
for 2015 in service date)
31 booster pumps
5 outgoing lines
5 pump stations
4.3MM barrels
20 Mainline pumps
totaling 36,000HP

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Terminals

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Alarms that cause pump shutdowns

Temperature
Vibration
Seal fail
ESD

Fire detection
Gas detection
Pressure allowables
Sump tank level

Calgary Pump Symposium 2015

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Power Fail
VFD issue
Lube oil issue
Valve position/
flow path

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Questions

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