The Transportation of Coal Through Pipeline
Coal mining has been a sector of industry in Alberta for over a century. Throughout the years, one of the industrys key challenges has been to
overcome the cost of transportationbecause coal is solid, it costs more
to transport than liquid products like oil, which can be moved through
pipelines. Coal needs to be shipped by trains or in trucks, an operation
that tends to be more expensive.
Researchers in Alberta have been working on the transportation of solids
by pipeline for decadesit had been conceived that goods such as coal, sulphur, mineral ores and even grains could be moved by pipeline using oil
or water.
In the early 1960s, the Alberta Research Council (ARC), in cooperation
with energy companies interested in low-cost transportation, decided to
investigate the concept further. These efforts resulted in several
patents being filed. Among these was a process in which the solid was
mixed with a liquid to form a slurry, such as coal in oil. Once the slurry
was formed, it would be sent down the pipeline to its destination, where
the components would be separated. The advantage sought in this case was
to use a liquid medium (oil) that could be used as a commodity, rather
than simply wasted, like water.
Another method placed the solid material into a capsule, and then sent the
capsule down the pipeline. On March 18, 1965, the Edmonton Journal
reported testing on this pipelining of solids by the ARC, in conjunction
with Interprovincial Pile Line Company Limited. Researchers sent a
514-pound steel capsule a distance of 109 miles through a 20-inch crude oil
pipeline. The steel capsule contained a radioactive isotope, and its
progress was tracked at 54 checkpoints between Edmonton and Hardisty. The
trip took 56 hours, moving over hills and through valleys, arriving at its
destination in good condition. The experiment was deemed a complete
success.
In 1967, the ARC conducted a further solids pipeline test on the outskirts
of southern Edmonton. It consisted of a 3500-foot loop of four-inch
pipeline. The project included an 800-foot section elevated by scaffolding
to a height of 37 feet. The incline and decline created was to provide
data on up and downward grades on capsules going through the pipeline. The
progress of the capsules was traced again, this time using photoelectric
cells in the pipe. The project was funded by a combination of government
and private financing.
Among the many researchers who had contributed over the years to the
challenge of moving solids through pipeline was prominent Alberta research
scientist, Norbert Berkowitz. Berkowitz and the ARC received numerous
related patents, including three that focused on bypass systems for
transporting pipelined solid bodies around pumps. They addressed the fact
that solids could not pass through conventional pumps that were built
along pipelines to keep the liquid flowing.
Research on transporting solids by pipeline at the ARC tapered off in the
1970s, and the method of transportation for coal has yet to become
widespread in the industry, as it has not overcome logistical and
financial issues. In the case of the coal/oil slurry, for instance, it was
found that up to five percent of the oil was lost in the coal after
separation at the end of the pipeline. The biggest obstacle overall,
however, has been large start-up costs. These challenges endure, and
research by several organizations to make this method of transportation
feasible continues.
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