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Valdez Marine Terminal


Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT)

The Valdez Marine Terminal, at the southern end of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, is where crude oil is loaded onto tankers for transport to market. The VMT encompasses over 1,000 acres and has facilities for crude oil metering, storage, transfer, and loading. Incoming crude oil is metered and sent either to one of fourteen 510,000 barrel storage tanks or directly to a tanker. To reduce air emissions, vapor recovery systems collect crude oil vapors from storage tanks and loading arms at two berths. Before transfer to a tanker begins, crews place an oil spill containment boom around the entire berth and the tanker.

  • VMT covers a total area of 1,000 acres with all facilities except berths built on bedrock at elevations ranging between 15 feet and 660 feet.
  • VMT has 18 storage tanks with a capacity of more than 500,000 barrels per tank = 9.18 million barrels of total storage. Three tankers are currently used.
  • VMT has one floating- and three fixed-berths.
  • Two loading berths have vapor recovery systems and conduct all current loading.
  • More than 19,000 tankers have been loaded since startup.
  • All laden tankers are escorted some 70 miles through Prince William Sound into the Gulf of Alaska.

Basic information

    Total area — 1,000 acres

    Cost to build — $1.4 billion

    Elevation — sea level to 660 ft. All facilities except berths 15 ft. or higher

    Holding capacity in crude oil tanks — 9.18 million bbl.

Ballast water treatment

    Average ballast water treated — 270,000 bbl./day

    Capacity of system — 30,000 bbl./hour

    Crude oil recovered from ballast — 800 bbl./day avg.

    Purity standards — 1.0 ppm aromatic hydrocarbons (daily max.)

    Settling tanks —

    • Capacity — 430,000 bbl. each
    • Number — 3
    • Dimensions — height, 53 ft. 6 in./diameter, 250 ft.
    • Piping from berths to tanks — diameter, 42 in.

    Biological Treatment Tanks — concrete, above ground

    • Capacity — 5.8 million gal. each
    • Number — 2

    Diffuser line at discharge into Port Valdez —

    • Depth — 300 ft. (maximum)
    • Distance offshore — 700 ft. to 1,050 ft.

    Time required for treatment — 21 hrs. avg.

Berths

    Basic information —

    • Number — 4
    • Types — 1 floating, 3 fixed platform

    Designation —

    • Fixed platform — Berths 3, 4 and 5
    • Floating — Berth 1

    Flotation, floating berth — 13 buoyancy chambers

    Loading arms, number and size, each berth, by berth type — 

    • Fixed platform — Four, 16 in.
    • Floating — Four, 12 in.

    Loading rate, each berth, by berth type —

    • Fixed platform — 100,000 bbl./hr.
    • Floating — 80,000 bbl./hr.

    Operating platform, size, by berth type —

    • Fixed platform — 122 ft. 6 in. long, 46 ft. wide
    • Floating — 390 ft. long, 96 ft. wide

    Tanker Vapor Recovery — Berths 4 and 5 are fitted with vapor recovery arms to collect vapors released during tanker loading.  Tanker Vapor Control System brought on-line Mar. 19, 1998

    Time required to close loading arm emergency shutoff valves — 6 seconds

    Water depths at berths (mean low water) —

    • Berth 1 — 110 ft.
    • Berths 3 and 4 — 90 ft.
    • Berth 5 — 80 ft.

    Weight, floating berth — 6.5 million lbs.

Fire systems — 

    Portable extinguishing, water and foam systems, halon, CO2.

Fire trucks — 4

Fire boats — 6 (tugs equipped with fire fighting equipment)

Fire training, personnel —

    All Terminal Technicians trained to Incipient Level.

    Advanced training for Exterior and Internet Level Fire Brigade members.

    Annual refresher for all three levels.

Fire training facility — 

    Smoke house, 5 fire extinguisher props, 4 major petroleum fire props, hydrants for structural training, and water drafting area.

Fuel requirements — 

    All Terminal and SERVS operations (fuel oil equivalent) — 900 bbl./day, avg. (see all operations fuel requirements under Pipeline Operations p.24)

Height of stacks

    Boiler — 300 ft.

    Incinerators (3) — 108 ft. approx.

Holding tanks, crude oil

    Capacity — 510,000 bbl. each; or 9.18 million bbl. total

    Number — 18

    Dimensions — height - 63.3 ft., diameter - 250 ft.

    Floor thickness — 1/4 in. steel plate (on concrete ring wall)

    Wall thickness — graduated from 1-1/8 in. steel bottom ring, to 1/2 in. top ring

    Type — Fixed, conical roof

    Roof supports, number and size — 61 columns, diameter - 24 in.

    "Slosh zone" 3'9"

    Space enclosed by — 1.2 acre each, approx.

    Working inventory of, avg. — 85% of max. or 7.8 million bbl. (approx 7.8 days of inventory at .999 mbpd.)

    Containment dikes —

    • Number of tanks in each — 2
    • Capacity — 110% capacity of both tanks, plus 4 ft. for water and snow accumulation
    • Walls of, reinforcing steel in — 52 miles in each, diameter 1/2 in. to 3/8 in.

Power generation

    Primary plant facilities —

    3 steam boilers —

    • output — 175,000 lb/hr. at 600 psig at 750° F, steam, each

    3 condensing steam turbine driven generators —

    • capacity — 12.5 megawatts at 13.8 kv, each

    Standby systems —

    • 2 twelve cylinder diesel generators —
      capacity — 2.8 megawatts, total
    • 4 uninterruptible power supply systems supplied by a 125 volt battery bank for essential control equipment

Vapor recovery

    Number and type of gas compressors — 5, rotary 13,500 scfm each. Two compressors dedicated to recovering vapors from storage tanks, two compressors dedicated to recovering vapors from Marine Tanker Berths and one swing compressor that can provide either function.

Workforce

    Construction, at peak — 4,300

Last updated June 23, 2004

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Alyeska Pipeline Service Company - P.O. Box 196660, Anchorage, AK, 99519-6660
(907) 787-8700; alyeskamail@alyeska-pipeline.com
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