The Trans Mountain Pipeline transports crude oil, semi-refined and refined products in a series in the same pipeline. This process is known as “batching”. Think of it as a “batch train,” with one product following another product through the pipeline during a specific time period. It’s like a series of rail cars carrying different products moving in a sequence along the 1,150-kilometre pipeline.
Trans Mountain is the only pipeline in North America that carries both refined product and crude oil in batches.
On any given day, the pipeline is used to move different grades or varieties of petroleum. Products moving next to each other in the pipeline can mix. This mixing – or product interface – is minimized by putting the products in a specific sequence.
