United States
Environmental Protection
Agency "
Research and Development
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
EPA/600/S2-91/057 Jan 1992
EPA Project Summary
The Liquid and Gaseous Fuel
Distribution System
J. David Winkler, Bruce Henning, and Philindo Marsosudiro
the report describes the national liq-
uid and gaseous fuel distribution sys-
tem. The study was performed as part
of an effort to better understand emis-
sions of volatile organic compounds
from the fuel distribution system. The
primary, secondary, and tertiary seg-
ments of the liquid fuels (crude oil and
refined liquid petroleum products) dis-
tribution system are discussed Individu-
ally, the quantities of liquid fuels are
estimated, and the transportation
modes for each system segment are
described. The report includes a flow
chart of fuel distribution system and
its end users. The discussion of the
U.S. natural gas distribution system in-
cludes estimates of state-specific and
total gas production, a flow chart de-
scribing the system and its end users,
and flow charts describing the natural
gas marketing system.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
Ings of the research project that Is fully
documented In a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
Information at back).
Introduction
As part of EPA's program dealing with
the control of atmospheric ozone and car-
bon monoxide (CO), state and local air
.pollution agencies responsible for areas
which do not meet EPA standards for
ozone and CO pollution levels must esti-
mate volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
oxides of nitrogen (NO), and CO emis-
sions from point, area, and mobile sources
to serve as a basis for State Implementa-
tion Plans (SIPs). EPA provides these
agencies with guidance for estimating
emissions of these pollutants from these
three source categories.
Petroleum distribution activities are a
source of evaporative VOC emissions.
Gasoline marketing activities accounted
for 4.5% of the U.S. VOC emissions as
represented in the 1985 NAPAP Emis-
sions Inventory. Current EPA guidance
bases emissions estimates on county-level
fuel consumption estimates, which are
based on a state-to-county allocation
scheme rather than on county-specific
data. Future improvements in estimating
emissions from fuel distribution sources
depend on better county-level fuel con-
sumption estimates: The research de-
scribed here was performed to establish a
framework for future emissions study and
for future improvements in estimating fuel
consumption at the county level. As a first
step toward developing improved guidance
for estimating emissions from petroleum
marketing activities, the liquid and gas-
eous fuels system distribution system was
studied. This report presents the results
of that study.
Crude Oil And Refined Liquid
Products
The crude oil and refined product distri-
bution system consists of an extensive
network of terminals, refineries, dedicated
storage facilities, pipelines, tankers,
barges, rail ears, and tank trucks. This
network initially transports crude oil from
wellheads to refineries, where it is pro-
Printed on Recycled Paper
-------
cessed into finished products such as
gasoline, jet fuel, and fuel oil. The distri-
bution system then delivers finished prod-
ucts from refineries to large storage and
distribution centers, then on to the end
users. Table 1 summarizes the inventory
and storage capacity of the entire petro-
leum distribution system.
The liquid fuels distribution system con-
sists of primary, secondary, and tertiary
segments. Rgure 1 is a schematic dia-
gram of the liquid fuels distribution sys-
tem. The primary segment includes distri-
bution of crude oil and refined products
from wellhead to refineries, from the refin-
Table 1. Estimated 1987 Inventoiy and Storage Capacity in the Petroleum Distribution System'
Primary Secondary Tertiary Total
Inv. Cap. Inv. Cap. Inv. Cap. Inv. Cap.
Motor Gasoline
Kero-JetFuel
Distillate Fuel Oil
Residual Fuel Oil
Totals"
Crude Oil""
231
40
89
44
404
343
451
82
261
117
911
508
48
—
15
2
65
—
92
—
37
4
133
—
63
11
113
60
247
—
109
22
255
185
571
' —
342
51
217
106
716
343
652
104
553
306
1615
508
* Units are In millions o1barrels as olMarch 31, 1988.(1bbl= 1S9L)
" Totals Include surveyed petroleum products only.
'" Crude oil numbers exclude Strategic Petroleum Reserve and 10.6 million barrels of lease stocks.
Domestic Wellhead •
Flow Treatment
aH |-,=1--(3
Legend
Crude and Product Transport Vehicles:
Pipeline
Tanker
Barge
Tank Car
Tank Truck
Cruda and Product End Users:
^^ Passenger Transport
3 Residential/Commercial
UHJ Agriculture
iD. Marine Vessel
[El
5*3 Commercial Road Transport
Industry
Petrochemical Industry
Air Transport
Utilities
Rail Transport
Military
Crude from Other Wellheads
Hub
Crude Imports
Crude Intermediate Tankage
Crude Refinery Tankage
[
Product Refinery Tankage
Lease Tankage
Crude from Other Wellheads
Crude Manne Tankage -r^;
I
f
Product Marine Tankage
Product Intermediate Tankage
Product Bulk Terminal
rf
Product Bulk Plant —pH
i—c-c^-^n
Q'"_> 1
i r-U
Product
Retail
I if
§
Figure 1. U.S. liquid fuels distribution system. Reproduced, with permission, from Petroleum Storage and Transportation, Volume I, ©1989, by the
National Petroleum Council.
-------
eries to their customers, and from bulk
and marine fuel terminals to their custom-
ers. Bulk fuel plants and retail outlets make
up the secondary segment, while the ter-
tiary storage system consists of storage
by the end user (in automobiles, homes,
factories, etc.). Petroleum liquids are trans-
ported by a variety of land and marine
systems, including pipelines, rail tank cars,
tank trucks, barges, and oceangoing tank-
ers. Pipelines and tankers transport the
greatest quantities of fuel, but trucks and
rail cars are also integral parts of the sys-
tem. Figures 2 and 3 describe the liquid
fuels transportation system.
Natural Gas Distribution
System
The U.S. consumed 18.0 trillion ft3* of
natural gas in 1988. The natural gas dis-
tribution system is a three-part system
made up by the gathering system, the
transmission system, and the market dis-
tribution system. Figures 4 and 5 are sche-
matic diagrams of the natural gas distribu-
tion and marketing systems.
500
^
"al^ 4CO
"§ .§>
O oo
"55 300
ll
l~!i 200
•2 |
§o
«1
"S *- 100
(B^- IUU
0
-
~
.
~
I
%
i
^
i
^
-
»
i
&
ft
'
_.'
%
-
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Year
Pipelines
Figure 2. Crude oil transportation.
Water Carriers
Trucks
Railroads
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Year
BBI Pipelines lilil Water Carriers
Figure 3. Petroleum products transportation.
Trucks
Railroads
The gathering segment of the natural
gas distribution system includes a net-
work of pipelines that collect gas from
production fields, processing plants, and
producer-owned pipelines. The gas is con-
ditioned (e.g., dehydrated, sweetened)
prior to entering the gathering system. The
gathering lines transport natural gas to
the main line transmission segment of the
system.
The transmission system, consisting of
a system of parallel transmission lines,
with compressor stations every 40-130 mi
(64-208 km), transports gas from the gas
production fields, underground storage
fields, and liquid natural gas (LNG) import
terminals to the market distribution sys-
tem. Pipelines in the transmission system,
unlike the weblike structure of the gather-
ing and market distribution systems, fol-
low a relatively straight line.
The market distribution system distrib-
utes gas to gas distribution companies,
local utilities, or industrial customers. While
residential and other end users purchase
gas from the distribution companies, utili-.
ties and industrial customers often take
delivery from spur lines directly from the
main transmission lines.
Conclusions
The report contains a detailed descrip-
tion of the national liquid and gaseous
fuel distribution system, and may be used
as a framework for future emissions guid-
ance development. Further work in this
area, including surveys of state agencies
and state governments, is necessary to
develop a better predictive model of
county-level gasoline consumption.
While quantifying the amount of fuel in
each leg of the fuel distribution system
(see Figures 1 and 4) was a goal of this
project, the data required to develop these
estimates are difficult to obtain. Statistics
on the production and transportation of
crude oil are readily available, and some
data on fuel consumption by economic
sector are available. Fuel consumption by
manufacturing industry subsector and by
modes of transportation is also estimated
in various government publications. Trac-
ing petroleum products through the distri-
bution system is more difficult. In addition
to this study, efforts have been made to
develop these estimates by governmental
departments including the Internal Rev-
enue Service. These efforts have had lim-
ited success.
H 1 ff>= 28.3 L.
-------
/7^\
Production
Fields ren
lrSL__
Gas Conditioning
and Processing
Compressor
\=
Compressor
Other
Production
Reids
O <>
Underground
Storage
Fields
Additional
Compressors
as Necessary
LNG
Imports
Residential/'
Commercial
Industries
Utilities
Figure 4. Natural gas distribution system. Reproduced, with permission, from Petroleum
Storage and Transportation, Volume I, © 1989, by the National Petroleum
Council.
-------
TRADITIONAL GAS MARKETING
Gas
Producers
Gas Pipeline
Companies
Local Distribution
Companies
TODAY'S GAS MARKET
Gas Pipeline
Companies
Local Distribution
Companies
Residential Gas
Consumers
Figure 5. Natural gas marketing system. Reproduced, with permission, from Petroleum
Storage and Transportation, Volume III, © 1989, by the National Petroleum
Council.
•&U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1992 -648-080/40132
-------
-------
-------
D. Winkler, B. Henning, and P. Marsosudiro are with Alliance Technologies
Corp., Chapel Hill, NC27514
Carl T. Rlpberger is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "The Liquid and Gaseous Fuel Distribution
System," (Order No. PB92-115203/AS; Cost: $17.00, subject to change)
will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
BULK RATE,
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT NO. 6^35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/600/S2-91/057
------- |