SCADA-based multiobjective calibration of hydraulic models for multi-fluid petroleum pipelines

Cross-country, multi-fluid pipeline networks are critical for petroleum transport, yet their operation remains challenging because of dynamic hydraulic conditions, fluid transitions, and limited diagnostic capability between periodic inspections. This study presents a SCADA-based calibration framework that transforms routine operational data into a well-calibrated, system-wide hydraulic model for multi-fluid petroleum pipelines. The framework is designed to support large-scale deployment and to provide a practical basis for improved operational analysis, predictive maintenance planning, and energy-efficient management of petroleum transportation infrastructure. Conventional calibration approaches are typically component-wise and rely on a single calibration criterion. Such approaches may fit local hydraulic behavior well but fail to ensure system-level consistency. In contrast, we develop a network-wide multiobjective optimization framework to estimate the hydraulic parameters of pipelines, pumps, and valves across different fluids directly from SCADA data. The key innovation is the simultaneous calibration of two distinct and non-intuitively conflicting performance metrics: nodal head accuracy, which governs operational safety and delivery reliability, and head loss accuracy, which governs the fidelity of local hydraulic behavior. Rather than collapsing the objectives into a single arbitrary objective, the proposed Pareto-front formulation systematically exposes the trade-off and supports principled selection of balanced calibration solutions according to operational priorities. Results from a real multi-fluid pipeline system show that traditional component-by-component calibration yields inferior solutions compared with the proposed Pareto-optimal, system-wide approach. At matched head loss accuracy, the proposed method reduces nodal head prediction error by 7.3–21.4% across the three fluids studied. These findings demonstrate that single-objective calibration can miss practically important system-level improvements and that the proposed framework offers a more informative and operationally relevant basis for hydraulic model calibration.