Flow safety evaluation for China section of China-North Korea Crude Oil Pipeline

The China-North Korea Crude Oil Pipeline is a low throughput pipeline for a long period and crosses over several big rivers. Therefore the pipeline adopts intermittent transportation technology and has a substantial temperature drop. Because of the intermittent transportation, the number of pipeline restart is significant which has a potential side effect on the flow safety. So it is necessary to do a comprehensive evaluation on this pipeline. The operation data of recent three years, such as throughput, outlet temperature, environment temperature (these are crucial parameters for the flow safety), are collected and their distribution laws are analyzed. The developed automation software is applied in order to do static analysis for these parameters. The safety throughput for the selected month is given by using initial gelling probability as a standard. Further the maximum allowable shutdown time is validated and new results are given. The research results can be regarded as a useful reference for the safety operation of the pipeline.