Economical Turbine Fuel Production At Remote Locations
Authors: Burrows M. , Oliphant E. 
Published: March 2010

Turbine or diesel fuel can now be economically produced for pump drivers at remote locations on crude pipelines, The required equipment is shop fabricated and skid mounted for easy transportation to remote sites and erection on a fixedfoundation, Such a unit has successfully operated for more than one year in the Algerian desert, Savings from reduced turbine maintenance and downtime more than justifies the investment when compared with operation on crude oil.

The process design is customized to each application to meet the requirements of the crude to be processed, Flexibility can be built into the unit to handle variations in crude composition, Primary consideration in the design is to provide a unit capable of operating unattended along a crudeoil pipeline at any remote point to provide turbine or diesel fuel for the stationary drivers on crude pumping stations, Instrumentation on the unit controls the operation to make a fuel of constant boiling range, Feed rate is regulated automatically with variations in crude composition and to maintain a constant level of fuel in the supply tank serving the driver.

The fuel produced has the essential properties of JP-4 and is produced without operators, cooling or process water, or other support facilities not supplied by the pump driver.

Utilization of the new fuel unit permits location of pumping stations wherever needed for greatest pumping efficiency and pipeline capacity, increasing the capacity of existing crude pipelines by installation of intermediate pumping stations at previously impractical locati.ons is also possible,

Introduction

The use of jet engines and large diesels at remote locations on crude oil pipelines is increasing. In those areas where natural gas is not available, the problem of supplying the engines with satisfactory fuel has been acute. The use of whole crude in jet engines causes substantial maintenance problems because of erosion of the turbine blades caused by vanadium compounds. The cost of importing fuel is often prohibitive. The first Pritchard packaged fuel unit was shipped to the Algerian desert in late 1965 and was operating in February, 19660 Pictures of the Fractionation Skid, the Crude Heater and the Gas Turbine and Crude illustrate the remoteness of the installation. This unit was located 35 miles from the nearest source of refined fuel and was used to fuel a gas turbine driver for pipeline booster pumps. It has operated satisfactorily since that time.

DESCRIPTION OF PACKAGED FUEL UNIT

Packaged fuel units are available for charge rates ranging from 200 barrels per day to 2000 barrels per day. Depending upon the crude oil properties, the produced fuel ranges from 40 to 60 percent of crude charge.

Each unit is designed for a specific crude oil. Flexibility can be designed into The unit to handle variations in crude composition with little change in fuel properties. The mechanical design of the unit is quite conservative to reduce maintenance frequency and co insure that the unit will safely operate unattended.

The fuel produced has the essential properties of a JP-4 jet fuel.