Abstract: Based on the systematic analysis to the topological structure, the operation process and the equipment layout of the pipeline, the optimal schemes for the steady operation of the pipeline are computed and analyzed for a series of given flowrates by means of HOPOPT, a general purpose computer software developed by the authors for the optimal steady operation of hot oil pipelines. The following conclusions are drawn from the computed results; (1) According to the present prices of crude oil and electricity assigned to the pipeline, the optimal inlet temperature of each heating-pumping station is exactly equal to the minimum allowable inlet temperature given by the operation specifications for the flowrates within a flowrate limit, and for the flowrates beyond the limit, the optimal inlet temperatures will rise generally; (2) As viewed from reducing the energy cost for the operation of the pipeline, the inlet temperatures of each intermediate station and the terminal station should not be higher than 33℃ as possible for the flowrates not larger than 900 t/h; (3) For many flowrates, the pipeline can not reach a satisfactory matching between its pump combination and pipe segments due to unreasonable pump layout in five intermediate stations, with significant head loss being resulted from throttling, so it should be considered to change the pump layout of the stations.