An aging oil export pipeline with extremely low flow rates and a wye piece – located in the North Sea – began causing concerns for its piggability.
CIRCOR PE was contracted to develop a pig capable of these diminished flow rates and carry out low flow trials to assess pig performance.
By designing and manufacturing three test pigs using combinations of conical type cups, seal discs and support discs as well as housing for the PE data, a pig was developed capable of pigging the test rig at a flow rate of 0.015 m/s with minimal bypass.
Low flow trials were used to determine piggability with the three pig designs, including high seal, medium seal and low sealing pigs with data recordings for drive differential pressure (DP) and bypass rates of varying DP’s.
CIRCOR PE says the basic design principle of the pig is well proven and has performed well in the pipeline since commissioning.
For more information visit the CIRCOR PE website.
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