Pipeline Project

Math 1210, Spring 2017

Kate Gardner

To Whom It May Concern,

This report is a proposal that was compiled in response to the recent approval by the U.S. Interior
Secretary for the drilling of natural gas wells in Vernal, Utah. Five different routes which a
potential natural gas pipeline that will carry oil from the well to the refinery have been included
in this report, with one being the most cost efficient route. All calculations have been included
with the intent to inform executives of how each conclusion was reached.

Before reading, it is essential to know the basic cost for construction of pipeline is $300,000 per
mile, and when crossing private land it is $390,000 per mile.

Route 1: Crossing BLM Land

In order for the pipeline to cross only land owned by the BLM, the pipeline would run 8 miles
west, 15 miles south and 32 miles east, for a total of 55 miles see outline below in red.

8 mi
BLM Land

Private Land
15 mi

32 mi
BLM Land

Cost = 55(300,000) = $16,500,000

Route 2: Mountain Pass
There are many expenses included in this route:
- $4,200,000 to drill through mountain
- $150,000 for environmental study
- $75,000 per month pipeline is delayed a 5 month delay is expected
This route will have the pipeline run 24 miles east through the mountain, and 15 miles south to
the refinery.

8 mi
BLM Land

Private Land
15 mi

32 mi
BLM Land

Cost = 39(300,000) + 4,200,000 + 150,000 + 5(75,000) = $16,425,000

Route 3: Private Land
This route is the minimum distance across private land to the refinery. Note that an additional
$90,000 per mile fee is added for building upon private land.
The projected pipeline would directly across private land for a total of 28.3 miles.
Estimated cost: $11,037,000

8 mi 24 mi
15 mi
BLM Land

Private Land
15 mi

32 mi
BLM Land

This distance was found by utilizing the Pythagorean Theorem:

First side: 32 8 = 24 mi
Second side: 15 mi
Third side: 152 + 242 = 2
= 801, therefore, = 28.3

Cost: 28.3(300,000 + 90,000) = $11,037,000

Route 4: Private Land & BLM Land

This route has the pipeline being built on both private and BLM land. It would run 15 miles
south across private land, then 24 miles east through BLM land.
Estimated cost: $13,050,000

8 mi
BLM Land

Private Land
15 mi

32 mi
BLM Land

Cost = 15(300,000 + 90,000) +24(300,000) = $13,050,000

Route 5: Optimization: This route is the most cost-efficient. The projected pipeline would
cross through 20.65 miles private land and 3.35 miles BLM land. Total cost is expected to be

8 mi

BLM Land
Private Land
15 mi

32 mi
BLM Land
$10,937,980.74.
In order to find this optimization, calculus was utilized. The following steps outline how this
was found:
1. Define the Function

8 mi
BLM Land
15 mi

24

The function was defined by using the Pythagorean Theorem once more- using the distance x
and 15 miles as the sides, resulting in the hypotenuse 2 + 152 .

Y, the value for the pipeline distance crossing private land is equal to 2 + 152 . X, the value
for distance pipeline crossing BLM land is equal to(24 ).
With these values the function for cost was able to be created:

() = 390,000( 2 + 152 ) + 300,000(24 )

2. Find the Critical Numbers

Finding critical numbers was vital in finding the maximum cost value. This was done by first
finding the derivative of the cost function:
390,000
() = 300,000
( 2 + 225)
Then by setting the derivative to zero and solving for x:
390,000
300,000 = 0
( 2 + 225)
390,000
= 300,000
( 2 + 225)

390,000 = 300,000( 2 + 225)

390,000
= 2 + 225
300,000
13 2
( ) = 2 + 225
10
169 2 = 100 2 + 22,500
69 2 = 22,500
22,500
2 =
69

22,500
=
69

= 18.05787796
3. Solve for Distances.
With the x-value defined, it was then possible to solve for y-value, which as mentioned above, is
the value representing the distanced crossing private land:

= ((18.05787796)2 + 225)) = 23.47524135

Next, the distance crossing BLM land:
24 18.05787796 = 5.94212204
With these values, it is also possible to solve for the angle at which the oil would flow from the
well to the refinery. This is done by applying trigonometry to solve for theta:

15
18.05787796

18.05787796
tan() =
15
= tan1 (1.203858531)
= 50.28486277
4. Solve for Cost
With both distances found solving for cost was the last remaining step:
() = 23.47524135(390,000) + 5.94212204(300,000) = 10,937,980.738293

Therefore, the total cost of this route is $10,937,980.74

A graph depicting the cost function has been inserted below:

Pipline Route Optimization

13500000

13000000

12500000

12000000

11500000

11000000
(18,
10,937,980.74)
10500000
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Reflection:
Calculus has been a far more rewarding course than I had expected. While Ive gained useful
mathematical skills from my previous math courses, such as College Algebra and Trigonometry,
calculus has been exceptionally useful. Ive found the weekly discussion questions that require
us to give ideas for solutions and our reasoning has trained me to think more critically when
approaching math problems at work.
In addition to being given the opportunity to exercise critical thinking skills, Ive also learned
several mathematical principles I expect to be incredibly useful in my future career as a botanist.
One being rates of change- which is almost certainly going to be required when studying
population growth and decline, or measuring any change in data.
This course has also given me an increased understanding of graphs and basic math, which in
addition to being useful in my future profession, is also fascinating. While taking previous math
courses it was not always clear the reasoning of why things are done a certain way, but in this
course many concepts in College Algebra and Trigonometry have become clear to me. One
example of this are asymptotes, which were not completely defined until this course.
While Calculus has been a huge time commitment and challenging at times, I would recommend
everybody to take this level of math. Ive learned to approach problems a different way, as well
as have been given a clearer perspective of certain mathematics.