The adjoining batches mix where they come into contact. This mixed stream may be sent to refinery for re-refining, sold as a lower valued product such as a mixture of premium unleaded gasoline with regular unleaded gasoline, or sold as mixture. Major interstate pipelines may transport many varieties of crude and products. The operators want these mixtures to be as small as possible to reduce waste and reprocessing costs. At receiving points along the pipeline, technicians sample each incoming batch of products to verify the arrival of a shipment and its properties.
Many product pipelines have standard product specifications.
This allows one company to ship gasoline over the line and get not be concerned whether he receives gasoline from that same batch. Its all the same quality. Individual additive packages are added at the distribution terminals. A natural gas pipeline uses pressure from compressors to move the gas through the pipeline. There were 185,744 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines in the US in 1997 Most natural gas pipelines operate using a complex have become so automated that they are capable of operating under command of a computer system that coordinates the operation of valves, prime movers, and conditioning equipment.