A 24 inch multiproduct pipeline is now in multiproduct mode and currently holds ULP 93, ULP 95, Diesel 50 and Diesel 500. The terminal at Jameson Park, Heidelberg, is ready to go onstream.
Transnet Multi Product Pipeline (NMPP) is one of South Africa’s most ambitious engineering and construction projects to date, and is one of the biggest and most complex multi-product pipelines in Africa.
The pipeline runs underground over 555km from its start point in the south of Durban to the Jameson Park Inland Terminal in Heidelberg. The project also includes 160km of 16inch diameter steel inland pipelines, three inland pumping stations and two accumulator terminals (with over 3 000 000 litres of storage capacity). Just one tank at the terminal in Jameson Park can hold 20 million litres.
The logistics were challenging as the pipeline runs through towns and cities, under highways and open countryside. The construction involved 49 main river crossings, 95 kms of major wetland crossings and 169 trenchless crossings.
It also involved new drilling technology, Horizontal Drilling Technology, the longest HDD drill used in South Africa. A distance of approximately 1,5km was drilled under one of Gauteng’s busy highways, Uncle Charlie’s at a depth of approximately 18m.
The achievement
The NMPP is managed jointly by Transnet Capital Projects and Transnet Pipelines.
Top facts:
The MPP can transport 1 million litres of fuel per hour and with future investments this can increase to 3 million litres per hour.
It has sophisticated security monitoring and security access control systems.
The Coastal Terminal at Island View in Durban and the Inland Terminal at Heidelberg have a combined capacity of over 3 000 000 litres and give the pipeline full multi product pipeline handling capability and the ability to operate at optimal flow-rates.
The MPP ransports four different types of fuel simultaneously. The high pressure within the MPP ensures the products do not mix except at the point where they touch, this intermixture is then refined.
The NMPP will enable the economic growth of South Africa while reducing road congestion and lowering carbon emissions associated with transporting petroleum products. Without the MPP, there would be 1 000 additional road tankers on the roads every single day.
About Transnet Pipelines
Since 1965 Transnet Pipelines has owned, operated and maintained a 3 800km network of high pressure underground pipelines which transport crude oil, diesel, petrol, jet fuel and methane gas.
Clients include all the major multinationals and a number of South African independent petroleum distributors for the pipeline transportation of crude and refined products (Shell, BP, Chevron, Engen, Total SA, Sasol, PetroSA, AfricOil, Vuyo Petroleum).
The pipelines currently supply 71% of all refined products required for the inland market and 100% of the jet fuel for OR Tambo as well as all the crude for the Natref refinery in Sasolburg.
Transnet Pipelines,
www.transnetpipelines.net
