Transportation: Special report: Multiproduct operations I - Discrete-event simulation guides pipeline logistics

V. CAFARO; D. CAFARO; C.A. MÉNDEZ; J. CERDÁ

OIL & GAS JOURNAL

PENNWELL PUBL CO ENERGY GROUP

Lugar: Houston; Año: 2011 vol. 109 p. 98 - 104

0030-1388

Refined products pipelines transport different oil derivatives end-to-end in successive batches. Multiproduct pipelines operate in either segregated or fungible mode. A discrete-event simulation technique, combined with optimization tools, allows easy management of real-world pipelines operations with low computational effort. Modeling to develop the technique used a nontraditional multi-server queuing system with a number of synchronized servers at every pipe-end and priority rules to decide which server should dispatch the entity waiting for service to the associated depot. A novel discrete event simulation system developed on "Arena" for the detailed scheduling of a multiproduct pipeline consisting of a sequence of pipes connecting a single input station to several receiving terminals is presented