Batching sequence, in petroleum pipeline operations, is a measured amount in which crude oil and refined product shipments are sent through a pipeline of product that travels at one time along a pipeline. The batching sequence is the order in which these squirts of petroleum product are sent through a pipeline.
Pipeline operators transport these batches by injecting one product, such as gasoline, for a period of hours before switching to the next product, such as diesel or jet fuel, allowing the liquids to move forward in sequence at the same speed along the pipe. Products with different specifications are kept separate through this batching process, in which they are injected into the pipeline in a specific order to minimize mixing at the interfaces where one batch meets the next. The sequence forms part of the overall pipeline scheduling, which operators arrange based on shipper nominations received in advance, typically over multiday periods known as cycles during which new batches arrive at delivery points at regular intervals. Like products from different shippers that meet identical specifications may be combined in the stream, while the batching sequence itself ensures that dissimilar products follow one another in a planned progression, with any resulting transmix at the interfaces handled by reprocessing if necessary.
This enables efficient use of pipeline capacity for moving varying petroleum liquids from origins to terminals or distribution points while maintaining continuous flow, with the sequence repeated or adjusted as needed according to the products being lifted in each operating cycle.
