Re: Study Confirms Oilsands Bitumen Not Corrosive On Pipelin

[Anonymous]

Spreading false information about Western Canadian oil and gas industry is popular here in Ontario too. I was reading that it is one of the most technologically advance industries of it's kind in the world. It produces tremendous wealth and opportunities for people across Canada. There are lots of people in my province that dependent upon it for their livelihoods. Yet many people in Canada and the USA would rather not have Canadian heavy oill displace similar grades from hellholes like Nigeria. It's a national shame we have politicians in Canada from the NDP, Greens and PQ that trash Canadian industry.

[Anonymous]

^^Hamilton's steel plants would not have been built. The many small and medium sized foundries that have come and gone would never have happened. Ontario's auto industry would disappear. Northern Ontario mining, let's shut that down too. The chemical plant near where I live? Shut it down.



Most of these industries pollute more than the oil and gas industry, but they are not subject to the same persecution. They are also closer to or even right in major centres of population.

[Romero]

Penspen Integrity's study looked at 40 studies over 40 years comparing the behaviour of diluted bitumen (dilbit) and conventional crude.

Wow, I'm shocked that a company which works for the oil and gas industry would come to such a conclusion.

Dilbit has been carried in pipelines for 20 years without problems, Eyre found.

Sure, other than the hundreds of spills!

[Odinson]

Have there been many spills in Canada?



We have occasional spills from russian tankers. I believe the russian tankers have only one layer plating.

Mostly.

[Anonymous]

I can see an idiot like EU believing pipelines and oilsands are not good for Canada, but I am surprised at Romero falling for it. I would prefer to see chemicals, crude oil, refined fuels all move by pipeline than by truck or rail travelling through major cities. Heck, I wish we could send cars by pipeline instead of truck and rail. Ever driven behind one of those trucks and see those minivans bouncing around?

[Romero]

They just confirmed what federal scientists already knew. Face it your TIDES funded friends at that anti-oilsands propaganda machine TYEE lied YET AGAIN.

Do you really believe there have been no problems with dilbit pipelines in twenty years? There haven't been any spills?

[Romero]

The article is lying about there being no problems with pipelines. There's no reason to believe it's being truthful about the corrosiveness of dilbit. And that's besides the fact that Penspen works for the oil and gas industry.



If dilbit isn't corrosive then why have there been hundreds of leaks, ruptures and spills over the years?

[Anonymous]

I found this study by corrosion engineering experts Jenny Been and Harry Tasprailis that concluded:

•In the context of pipeline transportation, characteristics of dilbit are not unique and are comparable to conventional crude oils

•Comparison of equivalent crude oil transportation systems shows no evidence that dilbit causes more failures or internal corrosion than conventional crudes



I accept that pipelines are the safest way for Canadians to get oil to new markets. I also accept the science that dilbit is no more corrosive than any other crudes.

[Romero]

Then why has there been hundreds of leaks, ruptures and spills?

[Romero]

Assuming a pipe leak is caused by corrosion is what plumbers call "duh".

[Romero]

On Sunday, July 25, 2010, at about 5:58 p.m., a 30 inch-diameter pipeline (Line 6B) owned and operated by Enbridge Incorporated ruptured and spilled crude oil into an ecologically sensitive area near the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, Mich., for 17 hours until a local utility worker discovered the oil and contacted Enbridge to report the rupture.



The NTSB found that the material failure of the pipeline was the result of multiple small corrosion-fatigue cracks that over time grew in size and linked together, creating a gaping breach in the pipe measuring over 80 inches long.



http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2012/120710.html">//http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2012/120710.html

[Anonymous]

Assuming a pipe leak is caused by corrosion is what plumbers call "duh".

Leaking at a flange, valve or rupturing at a pipeline weld are the usual ways. I accept The evidence the aoverwhelming evidence that dilbit is no more corrosive than any other type of conventional oil.



Think about it for a second, why would any company take such an expensive risk? It makes no sense from a business point of view.





Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has confirmed that diluted bitumen does not present additional corrosion risks in transport pipelines in a study set to be posted to their website next week.



If you've followed the pipeline debate in Canada, you've likely heard pipeline and oil sands opponents say that dilbit is highly corrosive and causes pipelines to rupture more frequently than conventional crude oil. Industry has, of course, disputed these nonsensical claims publicly—it's illogical that companies would risk their massive investments in pipeline infrastructure transporting products with significant corrosion risk to pipeline steel. But you don't need to take our word for it...



Government researchers have been testing oil corrosiveness for almost two decades. The latest study, conducted in 2012 for NRCan, concluded that diluted bitumen is not corrosive—it was rated 3 on a scale of 20, where anything 4 and below on the scale is considered non corrosive to pipeline steel.



If you're inclined to believe dilbit is more corrosive than conventional crude oil given what you've been told by oil sands and pipeline opponents, you might be even more surprised to learn that NRCan's study could not establish any difference between dilbit and other oil types]

"We did not see any difference whatsoever. We could not differentiate" [it from other types of oil] Sankara Papavinasam, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada, told the Globe and Mail.  



As for the claims that heat could cause diluted bitumen to be corrosive, the Canada Research Chair in Pipeline Engineering at the University of Calgary stated, "it's not an issue."



Pipelines are better than thousands of trucks or hundreds of train cars.

[Romero]

Natural Resources Canada



Many factors can cause pipeline failures, including overpressure, weld resistance, joint issues and construction damage. Yet, in the last 15 years, almost 60% of oil and gas production pipeline incidents in Canada have been caused by internal corrosion.



Oil and gas pipelines are vulnerable to corrosion in part because of the use of carbon and low-alloy steels.



http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science/story/6606">//http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/science/story/6606

[Romero]

No more corrosive. As in it's corrosive.

Pipeline failures can occur for a variety of reasons, including corrosion...



http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/sources/natural-gas/pipeline-faq/2248#h-3-7">//http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/sources/natural-gas/pipeline-faq/2248#h-3-7

The fact is both oil sands crude and conventional crude are corrosive.



I believe oil sands crude is more so. It has to be heavily diluted to become less corrosive, right?



"Oilsands Bitumen Not Corrosive On Pipelines" is a joke and an outright lie. Nah. It's a delusion.



Even water is corrosive. Diluted bitumen is going to be for sure. The hundreds of oil spills weren't caused by some guys working on some water main.