Lowering uncertainty in crude-oil measurement by selecting optimized envelope color of a pipe-line

Abstract

Lowering uncertainty in crude-oil volume measurement has been widely considered as one of main purposes in an oil export terminal. It is found that crude-oil temperature at metering station has big effects on measured volume and may cause big uncertainty at the metering point. As crude-oil flows through an above-ground pipe-line, pick up the solar radiation and heats up. This causes the oil temperature at the metering point to rise and higher uncertainty to be created. The amount of temperature rise is depended on exterior surface paint color. In the Kharg Island, there is about 3 km distance between the oil storage tanks and the metering point. The oil flows through the pipe-line due to gravity effects as storage tanks are located 60 m higher than the metering point. In this study, an analytical model has been conducted for predicting oil tempera ture at the pipe-line exit (the metering point) based on climate and geographical conditions of the Kharg Island. The temperature at the metering point has been calculated and the effects of envelope color have been investigated. Further, the uncertainty in the measurement system due to temperature rise has been studied.