# What does the colonial pipeline actually carry....fuel, yes..but how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873 "2021-05-11T23:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/1 "2021-05-11T23:27:42Z")
I know it carries ‘fuel,’ but all the sources I’ve found say fuel, like gasoline, jetfuel, etc. I’m guessing they don’t separate out the fuel into slugs so that it is delivering gasoline today and diesel tomorrow. Do they crack the crude in Houston into a great mixture that includes all of the fuel types, then ship the whole mass through the pipeline to New Jersey; and then in New Jersey distill and separate the fractions off into the constituent fuel components? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/2 "2021-05-11T23:34:27Z")
meant this to be in GQ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/3 "2021-05-11T23:39:29Z")
[Moderating] Moving. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/4 "2021-05-11T23:55:25Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I know it carries ‘fuel,’ but all the sources I’ve found say fuel, like gasoline, jetfuel, etc. I’m guessing they don’t separate out the fuel into slugs so that it is delivering gasoline today and diesel tomorrow. That’s pretty much exactly what they do. They do try to send ‘similar’ things one after the other so if a little bit of one mixes with a little bit of the other it’s not a big deal. Plus, from what I understand gasoline is essentially a commodity with all the various brands being almost identical (could be wrong, heard it a long long time ago). So BP can put 1000 barrels in at one end and take out 1000 barrels at the other end, even if that gas is technically what Shell put in a few hours earlier. Also, if they absolutely have to keep one product completely separate from another, they can put a pig (meant for cleaning/inspecting the lines) between the two products. > **[How Batching Works and Why It’s Important for Pipeline Operators | Submar](https://submar.com/how-batching-works-and-why-its-important-for-pipeline-operators/)** > > Pipeline operators have to make the most out of a small amount of space. That’s where batching comes in. Batching means that liquids in pipelines can transp ... > **[Bespoke Sealing Solutions | FTL Centre of Excellence](https://ftl.technology)** > > We specialise in bespoke sealing solutions for critical applications. We have over 250 years combined sealing design and industry specification experience. Contact us today. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/5 "2021-05-11T23:58:06Z")
From the FAQ, incidentally: > **[FAQs](https://www.colpipe.com/about-us/faqs)** > Specifically, Colonial transports various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, and fuels for the U.S. military through a pipeline system. The system is connected refineries in the Gulf Coast and in the Northeast. The majority of the system is underground, with tankage and other facilities at key receipt, storage and delivery points. Wouldn’t make sense to ship different grades of gasoline unless they were separated in time, as **Joey\_P** ’s links show. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/6 "2021-05-12T00:00:00Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Wouldn’t make sense to ship different grades of gasoline unless they were separated in time, as **Joey\_P** ’s links show. And, IIRC, Home Heating Oil and Diesel are the same, other than dye added to home heating oil. Jet A and Kerosene are very similar, so things like those could be shipped one after another and any mixing in the middle shouldn’t be a big issue. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/7 "2021-05-12T00:01:19Z")
What **Joey\_P** said plus bear in mind that in the end it’s all hydrocarbons and a tiny amount of cross contamination doesn’t matter. A massive amount of gasoline contaminated by a (relatively) tiny amount of diesel from the previous slug doesn’t make any difference that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/8 "2021-05-12T03:47:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Home Heating Oil and Diesel are the same, other than dye added to home heating oil. And sulfur contamination. Dunno what it’s like in your jurisdiction, but there have always been different contaminate specifications for different uses. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/9 "2021-05-12T04:26:39Z")
Here in the US heating oil and off-road diesel may both be high sulfur, are dyed red, and untaxed. Low sulfur diesel must be used in on-road cars, is dyed green, and will be taxed as well. But most of the diesel/heating oil here is very low sulfur anyway and largely interchangeable for use except for the tax liability. There also may be some additional additives in heating oil to minimize clogging and other potential problems with burners… ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/10 "2021-05-12T04:34:32Z")
My understanding was that when a different product was put into the pipeline, they’d separate it using a [pig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging), which would seal the pipe off between them. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/11 "2021-05-12T11:00:23Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Plus, from what I understand gasoline is essentially a commodity with all the various brands being almost identical (could be wrong, heard it a long long time ago). So BP can put 1000 barrels in at one end and take out 1000 barrels at the other end, even if that gas is technically what Shell put in a few hours earlier. I understand this is true. The difference between different brands is the additives. Those are added by the fuel truck driver after it’s put into his truck. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/12 "2021-05-12T13:12:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Here in the US heating oil and off-road diesel may both be high sulfur, are dyed red, and untaxed. Low sulfur diesel must be used in on-road cars, is dyed green, and will be taxed as well. But most of the diesel/heating oil here is very low sulfur anyway and largely interchangeable for use except for the tax liability. There also may be some additional additives in heating oil to minimize clogging and other potential problems with burners… Friend of mine grew up years ago on the Canadian prairies, and mentioned that the police checking young men’s automobile fuel tanks for dyed (untaxed) farm-use gasoline was common thing. As was the young punks who would drive up to some farm in the middle of the night and fill up from the farmer’s supply of dyed gasoline. I assume though, adding the dye is something done at the last possible stage of processing/wholesale? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/14 "2021-05-12T14:14:20Z")
I had always thought that the pipelines simply carried plain crude oil, and that why the places in NJ were called “refineries”, because that’s where it was refined into gasoline or diesel or whatever. I never realized that happens at the _beginning_ of the pipeline nowadays. So what goes on at the refineries now? Are they simply distribution points? Or maybe the stuff gets _further_ refined? adTHANKSvance ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/15 "2021-05-12T15:01:52Z")
From the [Phillips 66](https://www.phillips66.com/refining/bayway-refinery) website: > The Bayway Refinery, located on the New York Harbor in Linden, New Jersey, processes mainly light, low-sulfur crude oil. Crude oil is supplied to the refinery by tanker from Canada and West Africa, and U.S.-advantaged crude is supplied through a combination of rail and marine transport. I would guess that other refineries in the east have similar means of crude oil supplies. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/16 "2021-05-12T15:15:04Z")
The east coast has pretty tiny refining capacity- more than half of the country’s capacity is along the Gulf Coast (25% in Texas alone), and the balance is mostly in the Midwest and West Coast. So there’s a huge need to transport refined products from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, not just crude oil. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/17 "2021-05-12T15:46:07Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I assume though, adding the dye is something done at the last possible stage of processing/wholesale? Interesting question, I don’t when it’s added. I just did a couple of quick searches and came up empty. Since the dying is highly tied to taxation it probably has fairly tight controls. I knew a guy who lost his fuel supply business for selling the wrong subsidized heating oil to construction companies, not exactly the same as highway taxes, but still illegal. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/18 "2021-05-12T17:23:45Z")
I learned a few things from the Planet Money series where they buy 100 barrels of oil and follow it to its destination. > **[Planet Money Buys Oil](https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/26/491342091/planet-money-buys-oil)** > > We bought 100 barrels of oil from a Kansas preacher. We followed it out of the ground, through a refinery, and into someone's gas tank. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/19 "2021-05-13T00:01:09Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > My understanding was that when a different product was put into the pipeline, they’d separate it using a [pig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging), which would seal the pipe off between them. I believe that is no long the case. The transition oil products between ‘slugs’ is now just diverted into a holding tank and sold to places that can accept such multi-fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/20 "2021-05-13T01:27:59Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > Plus, from what I understand gasoline is essentially a commodity with all the various brands being almost identical (could be wrong, heard it a long long time ago). So BP can put 1000 barrels in at one end and take out 1000 barrels at the other end, even if that gas is technically what Shell put in a few hours earlier. > > I understand this is true. The difference between different brands is the additives. Those are added by the fuel truck driver after it’s put into his truck. Assuming the driver actually does this, and isn’t skipping this to do deliveries faster (around here, they are not on an hourly wage, but are paid piecework for each delivery). I have a friend who was such a delivery driver, and he said some drivers were rumored to regularly skip this. He also said it was not unusual to be re-routed from an intended delivery at brand-X gas stations to a rush delivery at a brand-Y station – with the load already doped with the brand-X additives. Kinda different from what the advertisements say about the unique qualities of their brand of gasoline! ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873/21 "2021-05-13T02:03:26Z")
Reaching back to the older memory banks when the army tried to teach me a little bit about running a pipeline… Each fuel is defined by a specific density which can be measured by floating a hydrometer in the fluid. So if I am going to send, say, jet fuel, auto gasoline, and diesel to a location downstream, I will start by sending the lightest fuel, in this case the Gasoline, then the Jet A, and then the Diesel #2. At the receiving end, the pump station knows how much of each fuel is coming and as the flow of fuels get to the terminal, the system is counting not just the gallons incoming, but also sensing the density. The gasoline is sent first and the receiving terminal sends it into its tank. The fuel stream is monitored and as the density leaves the range of gasoline and enters the range of Jet A, you throw the valves and when the density is right send the next batch through to the Jet A tank. After that, watch the density to move into the Diesel #2 range and when it does, throw the valves again and send that batch of fuel to the third tank. Petroleum products aren’t that different so a little intermingling of products is not an issue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-colonial-pipeline-actually-carry-fuel-yes-but-how/941873.md?page=2)