- The Refinery Auckland Pipeline (RAP) was built as part of the
Refinery expansion project and product began flowing down the line
in July 1985
- The pipeline operates under a mandatory Certificate of Fitness
which is issued by an accredited Inspection Body on a five yearly
basis with annual surveillance audits for compliance and
demonstration of its Integrity Management System
- The line ends at an oil terminal at Wiri in Auckland
- Only Regular, Premium, Diesel and Jet - A1 are pumped down the
line
- The automotive products are distributed throughout Auckland and
beyond by road tanker from the terminal
- A small pipeline from Wiri is used to supply Jet -A1 product
directly to Auckland International Airport
- The products are pumped down the line one after the other
- There is some mixing at the interface which can be switched
into special tanks at Wiri for blending later
- The pipeline is 10" (250mm) in diameter and is 169.46
kilometres long
- The volume of the pipeline is approximately 9 million
litres
- The pipeline is buried along the entire route leaving no visual
impact on the environment
- There are two Intermediate Pumping Stations - IPS1 at Wellsford
and IPS2 situated in Kumeu
RAP upgrades to meet demand
The RAP de-bottlenecking project was implemented in three
stages.
The aim was to increase the flow rate through the line.
- Pre Phase 1 - 1985+ 255 m³ per hour
- Phase 1 (1 pump at IPS1) - 1999+ 258-315 m³ per hour
- Phase 1A and 2 (2 pumps at IPS1 and 1 pump at IPS2 - 2005+ 370
m³ per hour
- Phase 2A - Future Project - Use of Drag Reducing Agent in
products other than Jet A1 at Marsden and IPS1 - 415 m³ per
hour
- Phase 3 ( 2 pumps at IPS1 and 2 pumps at IPS 2) - Future
Project 415 m³ per hour