Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-07-02
RIFLED OIL PIPE LINE
Device to RevoIutionize Carriage
of Heavy Crude Petroleum.
WATER USED AS A LUBRICANT
e. n. Hartman Spending Huge Sum
to Benefit by the Novel Invention.
Transportation Now Rendered Easy.
Production of Oil Affected.


to Benefit by the Novel Invention.
Transportation Now Rendered Easy.
Production of Oil Affected.
Without any "fuss or feathers" and
without taking any public credit to
himself J. d. Isaacs, consulting en-
gineer for the Hartman railway lines,
has perfected and put into operation
an invention that will revolutionize the
transportation of heavy crude oil. The
demonstration which he has made of
his new appliance, known as "rifed
pipe line" has convinced Edward II.
Hartman that it is one of the most
wonderful inventions of the age. Be
lieving this, the Napoleon" of the
railway world is spending between $4,-
100000 and S5,000,000 in the construc-
ton of an entirely new and unique
pipe line from Oil City, Cal, to Porta
Costa, distance of 2s5 miles, says a
San Francisco special dispatch to the
Chicago Record Herald When the
new line is completed Hartman will
be able to supply his locomotives with
oil at a transportation cost which will
be almost infinitesimal when compared
with the old way of carrying it in cars.
The proved fact that the heavier
oils can now be transported through
pipe line successfully will also have an
important bearing upon the production
and transportation Of crude oils and
upon the products which are manufac-
tured therefrom. Up to the time that
Mr.. Isaacs made his new discovery the
railroads west of the Rocky mountains
were facing a threatened oil famine.
In fact, many of the engines which
had been converted into oil burners
had been reconverted, owing to the cost
of transporting the oil to the points
where it would be available.
The oil which is being transported
by means of the new device comes
from the Kern oil fields, near Bakers
field, Cal, and has density of II de-
grees Baume. Owing to the cost of
freightage, various attempts were
made to send it through pipe lines.
1t was found that the pumping pres
sure demanded was too great.
Then the company tried various ex-
periments to get the oil to the points
of consumption. The first eXpedient
was heating the oils, which facilitated
its conveyance for short distances. 1t
was found, however, that the degree
of heat necessary for the transporta-
ton of the oil for a long distance was
so great as to cause disintegration of
the oil, which resulted in a deposit
Of asphaltine, clogging the pipe line.
The Hartman engineers then tried
the injection of water into the pipe
lines, but it was found that the guam
tity of water necessary was so great
that the expense of ultimately sepa-
rating the oil and the water was pro-
hibitive. Loath to abandon the use of
the Bakersfield product, the company
then tried the mixing of lighter oils
with the heavier oil, This was found
. to make its transportation through
pipe lines feasible, but the expense Of
transporting the lighter oils to the
Bakersfield district and the expense
of mixing it again brought the cost
up to prohibitive point
Dir. Hartman was about to order the
abandonment of the project when En-
gineer Isaacs asked him to wait for Il
time and give him an opportunity to
study the matter carefully with view
to seeing If he could not find some way
out of the difficulty Mr. Isaacs is
something of hunter, and while en-
joyinG this sport he CHANGED to look
through the barrel of his gun. He
noted the rided bore, and the reason
for its being rifed flashed through his
mind. Why not make the rifle bore
do for the pipe line what it does for
the gun?
The next step was easy. He knew
intuitively that when the water was
pumped into such a bore it would pro-
duce Il whirling motion which would
cause the water TO be thrown against
the outside of the pipe line and would
keep it there. This accomplished the
effect would be constantly to maintain
a thin film of water between the pipe
and the oil, enveloping the latter. This
use of water as a lubricant would
make it impossible for the crude oil to
stick to the pipe and impede its prog
reSS.
When the plant was shown to Mr.
Hartman its simplicity appealed to
him, and he ordered an appropriation
sufficient TO carry on a series of eX-
periments. \ lead pipe was used to
determine the amount of friction
caused by the passage of the oil. Then
the same pipe was twisted 10y hand,
and 1t was found that the water had
whirlinG motion when forced into it.
This proved the soundneSS of the prlu-
ciple and led TO larger experiments. y
standard pipe line one and one-half
miles long was then built at Oakland,
and the bore was rited by the inser-
ton of helical wires. The first expert
mcnts through this pipe showed that
it was possible to transport many
times the amount that could be sent
through the plain tube. Other expert
ments showed that the best results
were obtained when 10 per cent of wa
ter was injected.
Finally a rifed pipe line was con
structed between Delano and Volcano.
a distance of thirty-one miles The pipe
is eight inches in diameter, weighs
22S pounds to the foot and is tested
Cor pressure of 1000 pounds to the