iNPIPE PRODUCTS™ was approached to carry out a gauging pig run on an ageing 42” pipeline system whose condition was completely unknown to the operator. Following a comprehensive design review, a foam pig was deemed the safest option to ensure minimal risk transit.
The pipeline was designed for sphere pigging and features a ~25m long launcher extending beyond the first topside bend meaning conventional pig loading was not possible. The pig had to be inserted into the launcher by hand adding additional complication and ruling out the possibility of a traditional dual diameter pig design.
The pig design was approved by the client and put into production at our North Yorkshire manufacturing facility. The foam pig comprised of both a low density and a medium density foam structure, with sealing discs front and rear to seal inside the 48” launcher and ensure navigation of a 36” tee. A gauge plate was installed on the rear, along with a transmitter and data logger to provide key information about the pig run and internal pipeline condition.
The pig was delivered to LA and quality inspected. A discussion was then opened by the client as to whether it was possible to incorporate the Phoenix vision HD camera technology on the pig, with a turnaround of under 1 week and retrofittable to the existing equipment. Our Engineering team promptly designed a bracket for the camera equipment using CAD software. The bracket had to hold the camera firmly to the back of the pig, hold the battery in place, fit to existing mounting points, clear the data logger and transmitter, and require no fabrication out with profiling and bending. The design was sent to the client who had the bracket manufactured locally the next day.
Our personnel then mobilised to site to install and set up the HD camera system and prepare the pig for delivery to the platform. The camera was activated and the pig loaded into the launcher using an iNPIPE PRODUCTS™ manual pig loader.
The pig was launched shortly afterwards and subsequently received, proving that the pipeline could be pigged, allowing the operator to produce a cleaning plan to allow a full inline inspection survey to be performed.
