Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering University of Calgary , 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto , 35 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1A4.
Environ Sci Technol. 2018 Jan 2;52(1):337-345. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.7b03398. Epub 2017 Dec 13.
Previous transportation fuel life cycle assessment studies have not fully accounted for the full variability in the crude oil transport stage, for example, transporting a light crude through a high-diameter pipeline, vs transporting a heavy crude through a small-diameter pipeline. We develop a first-principles, fluid mechanics-based crude oil pipeline transportation emissions model (COPTEM) that calculates the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with pipeline transport as a function of crude oil parameters, pipeline dimensions, and external factors. Additionally, we estimate the emissions associated with the full life cycle of pipeline construction, maintenance, and disposal. This model is applied to an inventory of 62 major Canadian and U.S. pipelines (capacity greater than 100 000 barrels/day) to estimate the variability of GHG emissions associated with pipeline transportation. We demonstrate that pipeline GHG emissions intensities range from 0.23 to 20.3 g COe/(bbl·km), exhibiting considerably greater variability than data reported in other studies. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the linear velocity of crude transport and pipeline diameter are the most impactful parameters driving this variability. To illustrate one example of how COPTEM can be used, we develop an energy efficiency gap analysis to investigate the possibilities for more efficient pipeline transport of crude oil.
以前的运输燃料生命周期评估研究并未充分考虑原油运输阶段的全部可变性，例如，通过大直径管道运输轻质原油，与通过小直径管道运输重质原油相比。我们开发了一种基于第一性原理和流体力学的原油管道运输排放模型（COPTEM），该模型可以根据原油参数、管道尺寸和外部因素计算与管道运输相关的温室气体（GHG）排放。此外，我们还估算了管道建设、维护和处置的全生命周期的排放。该模型应用于 62 条主要的加拿大和美国管道的清单（容量大于 100,000 桶/天），以估算与管道运输相关的 GHG 排放的可变性。我们表明，管道 GHG 排放强度范围从 0.23 到 20.3 g COe/（bbl·km），与其他研究报告的数据相比，可变性更大。敏感性分析表明，原油运输的线性速度和管道直径是驱动这种可变性的最具影响力的参数。为了说明 COPTEM 如何使用的一个示例，我们开发了能源效率差距分析，以研究更有效地运输原油的可能性。
