COPTEM: A Model to Investigate the Factors Driving Crude Oil Pipeline Transportation Emissions.

Previous transportation fuel life cycle assessment studies have not fully accounted for the full variability in the crude oil transport stage, for example, transporting a light crude through a high-diameter pipeline, vs transporting a heavy crude through a small-diameter pipeline. We develop a first-principles, fluid mechanics-based crude oil pipeline transportation emissions model (COPTEM) that calculates the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with pipeline transport as a function of crude oil parameters, pipeline dimensions, and external factors. Additionally, we estimate the emissions associated with the full life cycle of pipeline construction, maintenance, and disposal. This model is applied to an inventory of 62 major Canadian and U.S. pipelines (capacity greater than 100 000 barrels/day) to estimate the variability of GHG emissions associated with pipeline transportation. We demonstrate that pipeline GHG emissions intensities range from 0.23 to 20.3 g CO(2)e/(bbl.km), exhibiting considerably greater variability than data reported in other studies. A sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the linear velocity of crude transport and pipeline diameter are the most impactful parameters driving this variability. To illustrate one example of how COPTEM can be used, we develop an energy efficiency gap analysis to investigate the possibilities for more efficient pipeline transport of crude oil.