Your ship has loaded 20,000 barrels of crude oil, departing Valdez, Alaska for San Francisco. When loaded the cargo temperature was 96°F. API was 15°. The volume correction factor (VCF) is .0004. If the cargo temperature is expected to be 56°F at the discharge port, how many barrels will be offloaded?
• Volume correction factor (VCF) and how it is applied when temperature changes • Relationship between temperature change (ΔT) and change in volume for liquids like crude oil • How to decide if the corrected volume will be greater or smaller than the original volume when the cargo cools down
• First, calculate the temperature difference between loading and discharge. Is the cargo warming or cooling? • Think about whether crude oil will shrink or expand when temperature drops, and how that affects the number of barrels at discharge. • Use the VCF and the temperature difference to find the percentage change in volume, then apply that to 20,000 barrels.
• Be sure you are using the correct sign for the temperature change (is ΔT positive or negative?) • Confirm that you are multiplying the VCF by the temperature difference, not by the temperature itself. • After calculating the corrected volume, check if your answer is less than 20,000 barrels when the cargo has cooled.
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