Objective
To develop a pipeline pigging device which will be capable of negotiating step changes of up to 50% in pipeline diameter in order to provide single operation pigging of a pipeline system. This will allow a greater number of small diameter pipelines to be tied into existing large diameter pipeline systems, thus aiding the economics of marginal fields. The innovative nature of the project is the design of a sealing mechanism that can accommodate step changes of up to 50%. The current industry design of dual diameter pigs can accommodate changes in bore upto 20%.
The preliminary results of the programme were presented at the Pigging Technology Forum held in Aberdeen on 9th July 1996 and attended by many oil and gas operators. Considerable interest in the pig design was expressed by Oil and Gas operators. A detailed technical report covering the test programme was completed in December 1996.
A licence agreement has been negotiated with Pipeline Engineering for the manufacture of the pig and it is hoped that the sale of our first dual diameter pig will be announced in 1997.
The cost of the pig is expected to be comparable with other specialist pigs, typically UKL 2,000 to UKL 10,000 depending on size.
The cost savings to the industry resulting from the availability of a proven dual diameter pig depend on field layout, but typically would be of the order of UKL 20,000 per km of 12-inch pipeline replaced with 8-inch pipeline.
The project commenced in April 1995 with a design phase during which detailed analyses of the dust diameter pig design was carried out. Discussions were held with pig manufacturers and tendering for manufacturing and testing of the dual diameter pig took place in September 1995. During November 1995 Pipeline Engineering was selected to manufacture and test the dual diameter pig.
The specially designed test facilities for the bench testing of the pig's components and loop testing of the dual diameter pig were constructed in December 1995. Bench testing of a number of pig designs took place in January 1996. On the basis of the bench tests a pig design was selected and a full scale test of a prototype pig design was carried out in the pigging loop in February 1996.
Modifications were made to the pig design and a further testing was carried out in March 1996. Following this testing it was concluded that even though the design was capable of negotiating both diameters and could be usedfor some cleaning applications, the sealing ability of the overlapping fan design specially in the larger diameter required a substantial improvement to make the design applicable for wider use, including batching operations.
To improve the sealing in the small diameter pipeline standard sealing discs were included in front of the fans. To improve the sealing in the large diameter pipeline sealing membranes were designed to be included behind the fans. A successful final test programme was performed in June 1996 and despite the sealing membranes being slightly oversized, the by-pass in the large diameter was reduced and the tests demonstrated that adequate sealing can be achieved in the larger diameter section of the loop. This improvement of the sealing ability of the Thermie dual diameter pig, has produced a design suitable for wider range of applications, resulting in a more marketable product.
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Coordinator
TW18 3DT Staines
United Kingdom
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