en.Wedoany.com Reported - Weidu News, July 13 – The National Pipeline Network Group announced on July 13 that China's first on-site test of batch transportation of fuel methanol via a long-distance product oil pipeline was successfully completed in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, marking a key transition from theoretical exploration to engineering verification for the technology of batch transporting methanol through product oil pipelines.
The test was conducted in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. After systematically completing pipeline adaptability assessments and safety modifications at two stations, a total of 1,000 cubic meters of fuel methanol was safely transported in two batches from Gansu Province to an oil depot in Shaanxi Province via an in-service product oil pipeline, achieving fully enclosed and controllable operation throughout the process.
Wang Yubin, a first-level engineer at the Research Institute of the National Pipeline Network Group, stated that the test adopted a batch transportation method for methanol and gasoline, with the total length of the methanol-gasoline mixing section not exceeding one kilometer, meeting the conditions for large-scale methanol transportation. After separating the two media and storing them in tanks at the oil depot, the industrial test verification loop was completed. During the test, two sets of tests under different operating conditions were conducted, covering typical scenarios such as high and low flow rates, as well as start-up and shutdown operations, systematically verifying the process adaptability of batch transporting fuel methanol through product oil pipelines under complex terrain conditions.
Zhang Duihong, President of the Research Institute of the National Pipeline Network Group, stated that the completion of theoretical research, laboratory tests, loop pilot tests, and on-site engineering demonstrations has effectively verified the technical feasibility of batch transporting methanol through product oil pipelines in terms of processes, pipe materials, and safety control. This provides engineering practice evidence for the routine and large-scale transportation of methanol via product oil pipelines in the future, and also lays a solid technical foundation for building a large-scale "West-to-East Methanol Transportation" corridor.
