Pipeline Pigging
& Maintenace
As the pipeline infrastructure grows and ages across the
World, abandonment and/or discontinuation of pipeline
needs to be properly handled and executed in order to
minimize or eliminate any potential related issue.
Communities’ stakeholders have raised concerns
about the safety of the pipeline abandonment
process and about the related long term effects,
especially in agricultural areas. For pipeline
abandoned and blockages, the issue of
cleanliness is a crucial one and of major
concern from environmental and economic
standpoints. An abandoned pipeline will
inevitably corrode and could lose structural
integrity posing the risk of releasing any
residual contaminants into the sorrounding
soil and groundwater. Therefore,
assessing the effectiveness of cleaning
technologies for pipeline and investigating
residual contaminants and methods
to detect them are crucial topics that
need to be properly addressed.
For an active pipeline, cleaning is an
essential and critical process to
ensure safe operation and pipeline
integrity. Cleanliness will ensure flow
efficiency and the effectiveness of
chemical inhibition programs. similarly,
it is critical to ensure that the
pipeline is clean from all deposits
and potential contaminants to
prevent any future leakage and contamination
to the soil for an
abandoned pipeline. Over time, deposits
may buildup in pipelines
depending on the commodity being
transported, the material of the pipeline
and the operating conditions and
configuration of the pipeline (process
parameters, pipeline geometries, etc)
Focus
The pigging products and services Association (PPSA)
Batching Pig: A utility pig that forms a moving seal in a pipeline to separate liquid from gas media,
or to separate two different products being transported in the pipeline. The most-common configurations
of batching pigs are cup pigs and sphere pigs.
Filming Pig: Applies any type of coating or film on the interior of a pipeline. The pig is design
with a bypass disc.
Displacement Pig: Used for filling and de-watering during hydrostatic testing, routine batching
operations, product removal, and any operations that requires bidirectional use.
Camera Pig: A configuration pig that carries a video or film camera and light sources for photographing
the inside surface of a pipe on an intermittent or continuous basis.
Cleaning Pig: A utility pig that uses cups, scrapers, or brushes to remove dirt, rust , mill
scale or other foreign matter from the pipeline. Cleaning pigs are run to increase the operating
efficiency of a pipeline or to facilitate inspection of the pipeline.
Configuration Pig: An instrumented pig that collects data relating to the inner contour of
a pipe wall or of the pipeline. Geometry pigs, camera pigs, and mapping pigs are types
of configuration pigs.
Guaging Pig: A utility pig that is permanently deformable by obstructions in the pipeline
and thus, upon retrieval from the line, provides evidence of the worst-case
obstruction in a given pipeline segment.
Gel Pig: A utility that is composed of a highly-viscous gelled liquid. These pig
are often used for pipeline cleaning and are sometimes called gelly pig.
Domhorse Pipeline Pigging & Maintenance
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