Page 227 - Petroleum and Gas Field Processing

Figure 6 Change of volume with gravity decrease.

Finally, it should be pointed out that the loss of vapors from oil
during storage results in the following:
A decrease in the API gravity of the oil, which degrades its quality
A reduction in the volume of oil to be sold
The loss in volume of oil per degree of API gravity reduction varies
depending on the original gravity of the oil. On average, a 2% volume loss
is experienced per one degree reduction in the API gravity of the oil, as
exemplified in Figure 6.

8.3 PIPING AND THE OIL FIELDS

8.3.1 Introduction
Today, there is great diversity in size of pipes used to carry crude oil and
refined products, ranging from 2 in. to as much as 36 in. and in some cases,
even 48-in. piping is used. In general, there are four types of pipeline:
1. Oil field gathering pipelines; their function in an oil field is of
great impact on production operations.
2. Pipelines which run from the oil field to loading ports and are
complementary to ocean transport.

Copyright 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.