PRCI

Recent Results

Determine Effect of Ethanol on Pump Station Facilities

Ethanol is widely used as both an oxygenate additive and as a fuel substitute for gasoline. Legislation mandates a significant increase in ethanol usage as fuel over the next twenty years. The widespread use of ethanol will require efficient and reliable transportation from widely dispersed ethanol producers to distribution terminals. Pipelines are by far the most cost-effective means of transporting large quantities of liquid hydrocarbons over long distances. For transporting ethanol, both existing pipeline infrastructure and new pipeline construction are being contemplated.

In companion PRCI projects, the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of pipeline steels and the performance of elastomer seals/gaskets are being studied. The SCC study not only includes piping grade steel, but also a cast steel that could be used in pumps. Many of the issues related to corrosion are being resolved in these projects. However, to completely address the effect of ethanol and ethanol-gasoline blends in pipeline systems, investigation of the effects of ethanol on other components, such as pumps, valves, screens, springs, and metering devices need further investigation. These components may have different materials (e.g., non-ferrous alloys), different types of loading, and different exposure conditions.

Key Results

This effort focused on investigating materials compatibility issues with ethanol for components involved in pump station facilities. A number of different materials were found to be present in the components in pump stations. Metals included carbon and low alloy steels, stainless steels, pure nickel, bronzes, and aluminum alloys. There was a variety of stainless steels in pump station components including 300 series (austenitic, high nickel), 400 series (ferritic/martensitic, low nickel), and precipitation hardened alloys. Zinc and titanium were included in the literature search results; although they were not identified in pump station equipment. Nonmetallic materials in pump station components include ceramics, fiberglass, Buna N and butadiene rubbers, polyurethane, Teflon, PEEK, Viton®, and nylon. The materials compatibility data were divided into four different categorizations: not compatible, probably not compatible, probably compatible, and compatible.

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