×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Contact US

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

BBL

BBL

(OP)
The term BBL or bbl is frequently used as the unit of volume for crude oil and products. It refers to 42 U.S. gallons at standard conditions. But why bbl why not just bl? Where did that second b come from? I have been in the business 40 years and I just found out yesterday. Am I the last person to find out?

HAZOP at www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

RE: BBL

I think so.


if you look at any unit system or any software to change unit from british to us unit, you will find bbl.

did you hare about PPM ????


RE: BBL

(OP)
BBL is short for Standard Oil Blue Barrel. In the early days of the oil industry they used all kinds of barrels like whisky barrels, and wine barrels, so people did not know how much oil they would get when they bought a hundred barrels of oil. So John D Rockefeller set the standard of 42 us gallons for Standard Oil Company barrels. He painted them blue, hence Blue BarreLs, hence BBL.

HAZOP at www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

RE: BBL

WELL...Rockefeller may have "indirectly" set the standard as 42 gal.s, BUT only because the standard large container of the time was a pickle barrel! AND coincidently it had a volume of 42 gal.s ...Not sure WHY I know this! *L*   ...Mark

RE: BBL

For those interested in metric equivalents, as shown in Perry VI,

1 Bbl = 42 USG = 158.9873 L
1 USG = 3.785412 L

RE: BBL

The "bbl" did originate with Rockerfeller.  Because of fraud and the different size of available barrels, he painted his barrels blue and certified that his blue barrels always had 42 gallons of oil in them.

Because he ruled the transportation part of the oil business in the early days, bbl became the standard measurement.

I reviewed sources of this information in my monthly column at Hydrocarbon Processing magazine, the July 2002 issue.

Bill Crowley
Contributing Editor
HPInternet

RE: BBL

(OP)
WRC, thanks for that HP article. I was really amazed that I had not come across that fact along the way.

HAZOP at www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members! Already a Member? Login


Resources

Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds
Learn methods and guidelines for using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printed molds in the injection molding process to lower costs and lead time. Discover how this hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small batches of thermoplastic parts. Download Now
Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)
Examine how the principles of DfAM upend many of the long-standing rules around manufacturability - allowing engineers and designers to place a part’s function at the center of their design considerations. Download Now
Taking Control of Engineering Documents
This ebook covers tips for creating and managing workflows, security best practices and protection of intellectual property, Cloud vs. on-premise software solutions, CAD file management, compliance, and more. Download Now

Close Box

Join Eng-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Eng-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close