The Zigzag Curves and the Arrangement of Heating Pump Stations on a Crude Oil Pipeline

In the case of a pipeline carrying heated oil, its operating cost (here it refers to the sum of power cost C_E and oil cost C_o) and the input oil temperature T_d and output oil temperature T_s are related to one another in a zigzag distribution curve. Following this distribution law, the arraugement of pump stations can beproved by application of optimization method, thus avoiding the roughness and bulk work at calculation as it is by using the hydrodynamic gradience for arragncment of pump stations. The article explains in detail the introduction of the zigzag curve and its practical significance, the way to use it for arrangement of pump stations and the diagram of computering programmes. Meanwhile analysis is made of the effects of pipe diameter, throughput, pipe length, oil viscosity, operating pressure, oil cost and power cost upon the distrbution law of the zigzag curve, which is of some practical significance for rational selection of the proper carried oil temperature and economical operation of oil pipelines.