Biofuels Industry Takes A Searching Look At Using Pipelines

How best will the growing volumes of ethanol being produced to comply with federal laws be safely transported from producing plants in regions where there are few fuel transportation assets to consumers?

That is a question Pipeline & Gas Journal posed to a panel of expert biofuels observers including Russell D. Kane, consultant with iCorrosion LLC; four specialists who comprise a panel from CC Technologies, a DNV Company (Pat Vieth, Tom Bubenik and John Beavers, with technical review by Narasi Sridhar); and John M. Urbanchuk, an expert adviser associated with the LECG firm.

One big political hurdle identified by the roundtable is that the market for biofuels - unlike that for fossil fuels - is buffeted by uncertainty because it is being stimulated from the top rather than by actions taken in response to demand from the bottom, or consumer part of the supply chain. Biofuel producers are meeting new laws and regulations mandating production and looking for solutions from a fuels transportation industry that has to sort out how to safely move the increasing volumes to a market that does not yet seem prepared to absorb the output. Suffice it to say, there are some technical unknowns as the fuel transportation industry searches for the safest and best ways to move biofuels. Some observers believe the government may step in where the market is uncomfortable just to keep America’s shift to politically attractive biofuels moving forward.

P&GJ: What is the status of biofuel (ethanol) transport in the U.S.?

Kane: Going from small batches to bigger batches via pipelines.

In 2005, I was asked to survey the refining industry experience with stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in fuel grade ethanol (FGE) transportation and storage as it related to blending it as an additive to gasoline. From this examination, ethanol distribution is best described as a batch process. Manufacturers have produced bio-ethanol and transported it to customers for blending into conventional grades of gasoline (E10) using a series of tank trucks, rail cars and/or barges.

From my examination, the time in the distribution process could take from a few days to two to four weeks, or sometimes longer depending on the distance and number of stops between the manufacturer site and the point of blending. The present situation for E85 blends (85% ethanol 15% gasoline) is different. This product is not transported over great distances. It is usually blended as it goes into a tanker truck and is delivered directly to the point of the consumer purchase (filling station).

The issue today is that with the federal mandates for use of FGE as a gasoline extender and oxygenate additive in the future, it will greatly increase the volume of FGE that will need to be transported over that used today (several websites provide current information and future trends). This will make the existing distribution system inadequate to handle the added capacity and it will require batch shipments over long distances using liquids pipelines. The problem is compounded by the fact that many existing pipelines are not in the right locations or flowing in the right directions to link the ethanol producer and user. Therefore, new pipelines will also be needed as capacity increases.