Ehylene transer

[liberoSimulation]

I need to know from you if it is possible to send ethylene liquid at -100C with a 22 km pipeline.
What are the difficulties and design requirements to be implemented to do this transfer.

Thank you

Best regards
Libero

 

[sshep]

Libero,
This does not seem typical or practical over such a distance. More usual is vapor or supercritical ethylene. Once your liquid is pumped up to pressure and warmed to ambient, you can still recover alot of refrigeration value when you cool and let it back down (if that is the reason you wish to transport at -100C).
best wishes, sshep

 

[liberoSimulation]

sshep
It seems you have experience on this
Can you give further explanation of your reply

It is intended to send liquid ethylene from an atmospheric tank at -100C to a jetty at a port. The distance between the tank and the port is about 22km.

What do suggest
Thank you

 

[sshep]

Hey Libero,

My experience is with higher pressure USA gulf coast ethylene distribution, ethylene manufacture, and safe handling of ethylene in general. I am hopeful you will get some more useful replies now that the destination and purpose are better understood.

My comment about impractical is related to pipeline insulation, metallurgy, pipeline start-up/shutdown, vapor recovery, and other items which are generally non-issues with long pipeline ambient temperature transfers. I will make speculative further comments if you don't get some other replies.

in the meantime, best wishes as always, sshep

 

[DickRussell]

I wouldn't think you could keep it that cold over such a long distance, despite insulation on the pipeline. If you pump it in at, say, 900-1000 psi (63-70 kg/cm2g), then as it warms up it won't "boil" in the usual sense, but just expand uniformly, being above the critical pressure (less pressure drop). It would arrive at the port as high pressure gas, but still rather cold. What happens to the ethylene at the end of the pipe?