Horse head pumps

[ericsp]

Not much crude oil moves by tankcar, but some does. The most famous example is the Oil Cans train. However, I will also occasionally see other tankcars placarded for crude oil.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/refinery_capacity_data/current/table11.pdf 

[tatans]

These wellhead pumps usually flow  by pipe to another larger pipeline as part of a gathering system, then to a treatment plant(where water, etc is removed) then by pipe again to a large processing plant for treatment and storage(in very large tanks), then by larger pipeline to refineries. (remember, this is very crude oil)  Smaller tanks beside the pump are for facilities too far from a pipeline and it's usually trucked. Working in the patch, I never once saw a rail tank car used to haul crude, usually rail cars are used for finished oil products, oil, gasoline, asphalt, sulphur, various grades of oil.  A gravel road to the site and a small tank beside the pump unit  and a small above or below ground pipe to the tank  from the pump should look authentic(put a small fence around the pump site.

[steamage]

Newer wells on the flat lands are found in more of a line because the drilling derrick was just pulled ahead a 50 feet or so for the next well, third, fourth and so on.



I used a Walthers pump I just changed the cables on horse head and sucker rod to look more realistic by heating a piece styrene sprue material and pulling so to make a small diameter length of styrene.

[wedudler]

Here's mine:

It's build on a FREMO module, with nearly 7' radius and less than 1' long. The module is 20'' wide. At my video site ( scroll down) you will find this working pump too.

Wolfgang

[tomikawaTT]

Depending on exactly what was coming out of the well, there could be several tanks and a small fractionating tower just a few yards from the pump.  The tower would break the raw pump output into water, heavy oil and light oil.  The gas that collected at the top would be piped down to the burner at the base.

Saw full-size cutaways of this at the Petroleum Museum next to I-20 at Midland, Texas.  They have a fascinating collection of full-size drilling and pumping equipment, ranging from an early wooden derrick to a modern portable rig and including such odd ends as a plane that used to patrol pipelines and a nitroglycerine truck.  A very interesting place to visit.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September,1964)

 

[jrbernier]

  The pumps I have seen in North Dakota usually have a storage tank nearby.  A truck stops by on a regular basis to empty them.  If there is no storage tanks near the ones you are describing, I would assume there is a pipeline to some central storage facility.  I suspect that the central storage facility is connected to a pipeline network.  There may be rail service for transporting 'crude' to the refinery, but I suspect pipeline is used most often.

  Production capacity of the pump/pumps will determine how many of those 20,000 gallon tank cars are needed if rail served.

Jim Bernier

[BATMAN]

I would like to put one or two horse head pumps on my vast 12' long prairie. I remember seeing these as a kid when driving across the Canadian prairies and wondered how far from the pump would the oil go before going into storage tanks? Was there a pipe underground or on the surface? Would it then be moved by rail or truck to a bigger pipeline? Or just be tied in to the bigger pipeline? If put in a tank car how many cars a day would be filled on average by one pump? Thanks

Brent