Apache Pipeline Products is a leading manufacturer of pipeline cleaning and maintenance equipment, and is proudly supplied in Australasia by Anode Engineering.

A pache manufactures pigs and pigging equipment in Canada, with its products trusted globally. 

It is generally agreed that a pipeline should be pigged, but the reasons for doing so are not always fully appreciated. This may result in improper pigging programs and/or the use of the wrong type of pig and this could have an adverse effect on the pipeline’s operating and maintenance costs. It is therefore important to clearly define the reasons at the very beginning and the following will provide some guidance in this respect.

Safeguarding assets & optimizing efficiency

Pigs play a major role in both obtaining and maintaining two fundamentals.

They help to maintain continuous operation by:

They help to obtain and maintain maximum efficiency by:

In short, pipeline pigs help to ensure that the pipeline is constructed properly – and that it stays that way.

However, it must be remembered that the level of the contribution made to both the efficiency of the pipeline and to its protection will depend upon the pigging program and the effectiveness of the pigs which are used. Under any given set of circumstances there will be significant variations in the performance of different types of pig and even between different makes of the same type. However, the use of virtually any pig will be better than none at all.

The earliest pigs were used simply to remove any large deposits of wax or dirt in order to maintain a flow through the pipeline. Today, pigging is required during each phase in the life of a pipeline for many different reasons, typically:

When considering any of these applications, it should be remembered that each pipeline is different. They have different diameters, lengths, contents, geometry, operating pressures and temperatures, materials, wall thickness, locations, etc. 

Cleaning a pipeline is an integral part of pipeline construction. Apart from removing sand, stones, welding rods, rags, and other debris which will invariably be left inside the pipe, this procedure has been known to remove lunch buckets, construction skids, wild animals and other items which might be around the construction site.

Guaging Pigs, used during the construction process, can be one of the most important inspection tools available to verify the pipeline is laid as specified. Since a pipeline is designed to deliver a certain throughput based on a minimum diameter, it is therefore necessary to be sure that the minimum diameter is not lost during the laying process.

Hydrostatic Testing becomes necessary to pressure test for leaks and to ensure a pipeline can be safely operated at the design pressure. The pressure test is almost universally a hydrostatic test with water and the pig again becomes an essential tool. A pig is inserted in the pipe and the water fill is used to pump the pig forward and expel the air from the line. 

Pre-commissioning is required after the acceptance testing is complete, as there are usually a number of other things which must be done before the pipeline can be “commissioned”. 

Dewatering is carried out once the hydrostatic test is completed. The water inside the pipe is removed by a series of dewatering pigs, normally pushed through the pipeline by compressed air. 

Drying of drying a pipeline include methods such as blowing dry air through the line, usually in conjunction with foam pigs, the use of nitrogen, or to employ a technique known as “vacuum drying”. The dry air and foam pig method is used mainly for onshore pipelines. 

Commissioning is the stage when the completed pipeline is filled with the product and brought to the point where it is ready for operation. Because of the complexity, it is almost always entrusted to a qualified pigging service company. 

The Anode Engineering and Apache teams are dedicated to providing customers with ethical, high quality, pipeline cleaning and maintenance systems. For more information about pigs, pig passage indicators or any other pigging related products of processes, please contact the Anode Engineering sales team on 1800 446 40.  

Visit the Anode Engineering website for more information.

This article featured in the July edition of The Australian Pipeliner. 

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+61 3 9690 8766 info@primecreative.com.au Visit on LinkedIn Editorial Editor Molly Hancock Molly.hancock@primecreative.com.au Journalist Jenna May Advertising nick.lovering@primecreative.com.au 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Australia