Friday, May 6, 2016

Best Means Of Crude Oil Transportation

By Eric Phillips


Crude oil is a valuable commodity. Owing to the many uses of petroleum products, it is always on the move to and from refining industries. However, this product is very delicate and thus requires a very sensitive method of handling it. On how delicate it is a clear list of factors of consideration needs to be scrutinized before opting on crude oil transportation.

One of the factors of consideration is the safety of these methods. It is highly flammable and should be kept away from any fire sources. More so, putting out fires is always a hard task compared to how quick it spreads. Massive property distraction and loss of lives turn out to be a reality when such events come to pass.

A safe method of transportation should be reliable enough in delivering the mineral at the desired place on time and in the best of its state. Its means of transport has developed into one profitable enterprise as most people have turned it into a business. Therefore, if a method ends up being unreliable can cause losses to the company.

The cost and reliability of the process to be also used have turned out to be a paramount aspect of consideration. A good method to be used should be as affordable as possible. This method should be such that it can reach many geographical areas possible. This ensures that at no time will there be delays in delivery.

A critical analysis of these different factors of consideration drives us into various methods of transporting this mineral. The standard method used pipelines, rail barges, and oil trucks. All these methods have their strengths and shortcomings at some point. These factors also complement each other in most cases.

The most common method that is used is that of pipelines. It has a simple structure of laid pipes that run from one point to another. They are mainly originated from oil mining sites or sea ports where oil is delivered. They have a low maintenance cost and less prone to accidents. However, they are less reliable, and seeping of oil due to leaks is difficult to note.

Another method is the use of oil trucks. They are very reliable as they ensure the delivery of oil at any possible place with a road network. They usually are becoming less loved because they directly influence the congestion on the roads. They mostly are also at the risk of fires. This is because along the road they are many possible fire sources causing; loss of lives and property destruction.

There was a need to ease the use of pipeline and trucks as the only methods of its transportation. This led to the development of the railway trucks that could also be used for its transportation. They have their railways running along the passenger and cargo rails. They are reliable as they face minimum disturbances along the rails though they are slow.

Tank barges are restricted on transporting it along water bodies. They are not common. However, they usually are cheaper compared to the pipeline. Before being used as for crude oil purposes they were used for petrochemical products. They can still be used to transport the petroleum products from the refining company to the market.




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