Research progress on the mixed oil models for the batch transportation in products pipeline

A number of mixed oil segments are formed in the process of batch transportation of oil products, so the accuratecalculation of the mixed oil volume is of great significance for batch tracking and cutting point determination. In this paper, current mixed oil calculation models for the batch transportation in products pipelines were reviewed and divided into threetypes, i.e., empirical models, semi-empirical semi-theoretical models and the models established based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) theory. Then, their research status and limitation were analyzed. Finally, it was pointed out that the important research directions for the prediction of mixed oil in products pipelines in the future are establishing a mathematical model that considers mixed oil tailing mechanism and developing a rapid coupling algorithm that is suitable for solving the high-dimensional mixed oil model under turbulent conditions.