I was looking for some information on reversible multi-purpose pipelines. Well, first off, I was looking to see if there are such creatures or it was just my imagination that they exist.
Didn't actually find any because, first, I got sidetracked by an article promising a computer program that would address a number of known issues. According to the abstract:
As the construction of twin pipelines transporting products in opposite directions demands large capital investments, reversible-flow pipelines arise as a promising alternative. This paper introduces a novel continuous-time formulation for the short-term operational planning of reversible multiproduct pipelines. The proposed model allows to change the flow direction as many times as needed to meet terminal demands, determining precise time instants for flow reversals. It provides the input and output schedules in a single step, and the most convenient product used as filler to push current batches out of the line. Three examples are successfully solved with much less computational effort than previous approaches.As the sentence structure suggests, the authors are not native speakers of English. However, little other information can be garnered since, as is increasingly common on the internet, when it comes to real information, getting it requires payment. My curiosity is not strong enough to relieve me of 35 bucks.
Besides, going back to Google brought me to Oiltanking and this totally delightful banner.
