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Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

cbc.ca

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Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#31

Post by jacquesm »

tiku wrote: post #13
Boothroid wrote: post #5

Anything that facilitates increased use of tar sands hydrocarbons is terrible news for the environment. We should ban this miserable trade.

I guess it's reusable after the oil is extracted, so it can be send back?

Oil comes in many 'fractions', the heavier fractions are the ones like what this article is about (bitumen), the lighter ones are crude, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and gas forms.

Crackers (in oil refineries) take as input a heavier fraction and then break apart and sort the molecules by length giving various different outputs which can then be used in different applications.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#33

Post by dotancohen »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
sharpercoder wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is bitumen a liquid or a solid? Technically, you can argue for either, but practically it seems to be very much a solid.

Is water a liquid or a solid? It's a pretty simple question to answer if you know all of the parameters of the environment.

Not given "all the parameters of the environment" it is common to assume STP: Standard Temperature and Pressure. I think that's 20 degrees Celsius, 105 kPa of air pressure.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#34

Post by jacquesm »

dotancohen wrote: post #33
jacquesm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is water a liquid or a solid? It's a pretty simple question to answer if you know all of the parameters of the environment.

Not given "all the parameters of the environment" it is common to assume STP: Standard Temperature and Pressure. I think that's 20 degrees Celsius, 105 kPa of air pressure.

Well, under those conditions I would call bitumen a 'semi solid'. It is not hard in the sense of an actual solid, you can deform it but it definitely does not flow like a liquid.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#35

Post by dotancohen »

jacquesm wrote: post #34
dotancohen wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not given "all the parameters of the environment" it is common to assume STP: Standard Temperature and Pressure. I think that's 20 degrees Celsius, 105 kPa of air pressure.

Well, under those conditions I would call bitumen a 'semi solid'. It is not hard in the sense of an actual solid, you can deform it but it definitely does not flow like a liquid.

That's a viscoplastic. Banana, chocolate, and dog droppings are some common examples.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#36

Post by jacquesm »

dotancohen wrote: post #35
jacquesm wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, under those conditions I would call bitumen a 'semi solid'. It is not hard in the sense of an actual solid, you can deform it but it definitely does not flow like a liquid.

That's a viscoplastic. Banana, chocolate, and dog droppings are some common examples.

Thank you for that term, I didn't realize there was an appropriate word to describe that state.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#37

Post by Boothroid »

Joe-Z wrote: post #4
cperciva wrote: post #2

This is weird. Pipelines are the cheapest, most efficient, and safest way to move large amounts of oil. How is something which renders oil impossible to transport via pipeline a step forward?

The article mentions that it's more environmentally friendly. The balls float on water and apparently can't be poaked easily. That's a plus in my book.

I think we are in lipstick on a pig territory here. Tar sands are horrific in environmental terms, one of the most carbon intensive fossil fuels in their production and the cause of devastation of huge areas of wilderness. By the time the stuff is made into balls or whatever the vast majority of possible damage has already been done.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#38

Post by Boothroid »

codecamper wrote: post #26
Boothroid wrote: post #5

Anything that facilitates increased use of tar sands hydrocarbons is terrible news for the environment. We should ban this miserable trade.

How is this post the lowest on the ranking? "technological" programmers are some of the most non-science understanding people around. A real shame! Read some science beyond your programming documentation please.

If this is aimed at me I have two degrees in Geography and have worked in the oil industry.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#39

Post by vkou »

cperciva wrote: post #2

This is weird. Pipelines are the cheapest, most efficient, and safest way to move large amounts of oil. How is something which renders oil impossible to transport via pipeline a step forward?

One problem with pipelines is that once you've sunk billions of dollars into building them, you have an enormous vested interest in continuing to use them.

Re: Bitumen balls could be a pipeline-free way to transport Alberta oil

#40

Post by barrkel »

thereisnospork wrote: post #10

As a rule, it is far easier* to transport/handle liquids in large quantity than solids. Even ignoring the effort to convert/deconvert the oil at each end, I'm not seeing this as a step forward that will improve the bulk of crude-oil transport -- baring a more detailed analysis than what reads to me as 'pipelines bad.' *Cheaper, safer, more efficient, requiring less maintenance, etc...

The raw material isn't a liquid that can be pumped. This approach is converting the raw material into pellets instead of diluting it into a liquid, which is the current approach.
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