Exactly. But more questions for earth1!
Thanks for chiming in, moore.
I am indeed still unclear where this leaves us on the crucial question: can an incomplete deployment—whether 1 AOT in the middle of a line, 2 AOTs in the middle, or a situation where even just one AOT is situated sufficiently far from the next pump station that the effect wears off and full viscosity returns before the oil hits the next AOT—result in a flow increase?
I imagined that the effect of the AOT is very much like putting the pipeline on a 45 degree downward slant—as though that part of the pipe was running down a hill. It has the same impact in that it reduces the head loss (I don't know what degree of gradient would mimic the effect of an AOT depending on oil type etc. etc. ) 1) if that's roughly so, then 2) how can it be that a pipeline which had some middle sections running down a hill not see more flow per day or hour than a pipeline that was flat all the way. Similarly, how could a pipeline that had to pump uphill have the same flow as a pipeline running down hill? (It's the same issue taken to its logical end point). It doesn't make sense to me. Or is the effect of adding an AOT somehow different to a downward gradient? How? In that case it's basically just adding another force pulling the oil forward (gravity), whereas in our case the AOT is eliminating some of the forces holding it back (friction and turbulence)—but wouldn't that end up being a similar thing?
Maybe there are different questions at play.
*can a liquid traveling in one part of a pipeline travel at a different velocity to liquid in other parts of the pipeline? Why or why not? I can't imagine this situation properly. I would have thought that if there are three sections of pipe, the first and third of which is flat, the second of which goes down a hill, then oil would either flow through every section of that pipe at an average faster speed than an entirely flat pipe, or it would travel normally through the first and third sections, and faster through the second. It must be one of those two scenarios. Which one? And how does that not mirror the situation of a partial AOT installation?
*to what extent is the entire pipeline one integrated pressure system, and to what extent is it a series of separate systems whose boundaries are the pump stations?
Enlightenment welcome! As Myrka says, we on this board have for a long time wondered about this question, and at least as far as I'm concerned haven't come to a satisfactory conclusion.
