Pipeline stuff

[PaulB]

Can anyone direct me to a site please that explains how PIG Detectors work in the pipline industry? Thanks in advance!

[IggyB]

here is what www.pipelineengineering.co.uk has to say; Pipeline pigging was developed in the fifties in the USA to clear debris from crude oil pipelines. They have now become widely used around the world in pipelines carrying anything from chocolate to shampoo but are most commonly used in the oil gas and petrochemical industries. A pig acts like a free moving piston inside the pipeline, sealing against the inside wall with a number of sealing elements. Pigs can perform a number of tasks including cleaning debris from the line, the removal of residual product in, and gauging the internal bore of, the pipeline. Pigs generally need specially designed launching and receiving vessels to introduce them into the pipeline. These vessels consist of a quick opening closure for access, an oversized barrel, a reducer and a neck pipe for connection to the pipeline. Pigs can be located using fixed signallers along the pipe or electronic tracking systems mounted inside the pig. The pigging of any pipeline will increase the lifetime, guarantee maximum throughput and minimum downtime due to blockages.

[PaulB]

Fantastic answer IggyB thanks a lot for that :o)

[Maudlettice]

More on pigging is available from The Pipeline Industries Guild - phone [phone] (www.pipeguild.co.uk).

[PaulB]

Thank you Maude :o)

[Maudlettice]

Not at all. See also www.westernfilterco.com where, under pigging products, there is much interesting information and many photographs of different types of pigs.

[slimfandango]

They are called 'pig' detectors because originally real pigs were used (pigs feed on the debris commonly found in pipelines) but it became too expensive when it was realised that the pigs would commonly fall asleep after a large debris meal, thus blocking the pipeline.