Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) has started commercial transportation of blended 2% biodiesel (B2) through its 115-mile Oregon Pipeline that runs from Portland to Eugene OR.
The company recently completed a successful test batch by moving B2 through the pipeline. Upon receipt of B2 at both its Portland and Eugene facilities, extensive tests were performed on the biodiesel blend to ensure that the samples met specifications. Kinder Morgan’s Oregon line is one of only a few pipelines in the United States able to regularly transport blended biodiesel, as this pipeline does not transport jet fuel, thereby eliminating the potential for “trailback” of product into subsequent jet fuel batches.
The first commercial batch of about 100,000 barrels of B2 was created using a newly installed blending system to inject B99 into ultra low sulfur diesel at the company’s Willbridge terminal in Portland. Other area terminals are expected to be able to deliver B2 to the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Kinder Morgan has undertaken additional renewable fuels projects at several of its Pacific Northwest facilities, including improvements to allow for the blending of biodiesel at the truck-loading rack at the Willbridge terminal and into barges at the Linnton terminal in Portland, which handled the first regional barge-load of B2 for upriver movement to Umatilla OR. In the company’s Southeast operations, Plantation Pipe Line Company (operated by Kinder Morgan), became the first pipeline in the country to transport biodiesel for commercial purposes in June.