Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

338 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. of 3,000 lbs. to the square inch, and are preferably laid a few feet below the surface, and provided with, expansion joints at inter- vals to allow for changes of temperature. Some crude oils, rich in solid hydrocarbons, deposit paraffin wax in the piping during transit. This not only entails the loss of a valuable product, but increases A” the friction resistance of the Ingenious . . . Pipe Cleaner P1?68 anc* diminishes the flow. The wax and any other ob- structions are very ingeniously removed by means of a rotary cutter, which is simulta- neously carried forward and revolved by the oil that is pumped through the pipes. The noise of the moving apparatus can be traced from the surface by an operator, who follows its progress until it falls into a chamber placed for its reception at the end of the main. The first pipe line was laid in 1875 in the Pittsburg district of Pennsylvania. Its suc- cess led to the rapid introduction of this method of transport, and to Extensive gracjuaj transference of Systems imPortant inland refineries to the Great Lakes and Atlantic seaboard. In 1904 it was estimated officially that 3,000 miles of trunk line were in use ; and since then the total has been increased largely by great discoveries of oil in California, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The eastern and western pipe-line systems will be connected by degrees in such a way that it will be possible to pump oil to the Atlantic, Pacific, or Carribean Sea from almost any field, and a perfect system will exist in the country. In 1907 two trunk lines, 8 inches in diameter, were laid from the Oklahoma oil fields to the Gulf of Mexico, with connections at Sour Lake and Humble, 450 miles away. The Gulf Company’s line has six pumping stations, from 78 to 91 miles apart. The pipe lines can pass from 14,000 to 18,000 barrels daily each, and at every station storage has been oils this was dis- arranged for at least 37,500 barrels, which is equivalent to 5,000 tons. Until 1898 Baku oil was conveyed to Batoum, on the Black Sea, in railway tank cars over the Trans-Caucasian Railway, and there was often keen com- petition among refiners to Baku’Batoum , p , Pipe Line. secure the use of the all too few cars available. To remedy this, the Russian Government decided to lay an 8- inch pipe line for the transport of lamp between the two termini. The length of line is approximately 600 miles, and it completed in 1905. For about half the tance it travels steadily uphill from Baku along the Kura valley. At the Suram Pass over the Caucasus the gradient becomes very steep, but by way of compensation the oil flows by gravity to Batoum after surmount- ing the highest point. Some seven and a half million barrels of lamp oil can be pumped through, this pipe annually. Unfortunately, the line traverses in many places wild and lawless country, which renders it almost im- possible to guard it properly, the result being that large quantities of oil are stolen by robbers, who pierce the line at night and draw off supplies for local sale. During the disorders of 1905 the line was often fractured maliciously and the outflowing oil set alight. In several localities a thriving industry has even grown up at spots where it has been ascertained that, by digging shal- low pits near a fracture, refined kerosene could be recovered in considerable quantities. Other notable oil pipe lines are those cross- ing the Isthmus of Panama, and the one which connects the Burmese oil fields with Rangoon. In a similar way natural gas is conveyed from the wells to industrial centres, where it is used for an infinite variety of purposes. The annual value of the gas thus consumed in the United States exceeded £8,000,000 in 1907, and everything is being done to extend