Literature Survey of Crude Oil Properties Relevant to Handling and Fire Safety in Transport
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Several fiery rail accidents in 2013-2015 in the U.S. and Canada carrying crude oil produced from the Bakken region of North Dakota have raised questions at many levels on the safety of transporting this, and other types of crude oil, by rail. Sandia National Laboratories was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate the material properties of crude oils, and in particular the so-called "tight oils" like Bakken that comprise the majority of crude oil rail shipments in the U.S. at the current time. The current report is a literature survey of public sources of information on crude oil properties that have some bearing on the likelihood or severity of combustion events that may occur around spills associated with rail transport. The report also contains background information including a review of the notional "tight oil" field operating environment, as well a basic description of crude oils and potential combustion events in rail transport.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Oil & Natural Gas
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1177758
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2015-1823; 579651
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Findings on Subtask 3.1 - Bakken Rich Gas Enhanced Oil Recovery Project
DOE/DOT Crude Oil Characterization Research Study, Task 2 Test Report on Evaluating Crude Oil Sampling and Analysis Methods, Revision 1 - Winter Sampling