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Pigging Products & Services Association is at:PO Box 2, Stroud, Glos GL6 8YB, UK

tel: (+44) (0) 1285 760597 fax: (+44) (0) 1285 760470e-mail: ppsa@ppsa-online.com

web: http://www.ppsa-online.com

July, 2009

Full

Pure Technologies Ltd,Calgary, Canada

New Members

The Secretary’s Letterby Gill HornbyExecutive Secretary, PPSA

THE WORLD may be infinancial turmoil but PPSA

has something to celebrate in2010 – its 20th anniversary. Itwas in 1988 that Jim Cordellfirst came up with the idea offorming a pigging associationand, after much discussion,PPSA was incorporated in May,1990, with 19 members. Many ofthe founder members are stillpart of PPSA, some in differentguises after take-overs but stillforming the backbone of theorganization. Since 1990, theAssociation has gone fromstrength to strength, and nowhas 90 members representingthe pigging industry throughoutthe world.

The 20-year celebrations beginon 18th November at the 11thAnnual Pigging Seminar andExhibition in Aberdeen. A callfor papers has gone out tomembers. The programme willbe finalized in August and willbe published on the web site,together with information onhow to book a place. Jim Cordell,founder of the PPSA, has beeninvited to join us along withChris Kershaw, first President,and Gary Smith, first VicePresident. Gary, of course, isstill very much involved inpigging with his company InlineServices. Jim and Chris are bothretired but still take a greatinterest in the PPSA, and in the

industry generally. I am sure thatthose who know them will enjoyseeing them again and equally,Jim and Chris will be keen to seehow the industry has progressedand its plans for the future.

In February, PPSA will be inHouston for its Annual GeneralMeeting at the Pipeline Piggingand Integrity ManagementConference (15-18th February)organized by Clarion TechnicalConferences and ScientificSurveys Ltd, both of which werevery early members under theleadership of BJ Lowe and JohnTiratsoo, respectively.

Our golf tournament is scheduledfor Monday, 15th February. Weare looking for sponsors andplayers, so please make a note inyour diary if you would like totake part.

The PPSA web site has beenredesigned and is now publishedat www.ppsa-online.com. A new“Case Studies” page has beenadded which will grow as morestudies are provided by themembers. The web site is a mustfor anyone wanting informationabout pigging or technicaladvice.●

Romstar SDN BHD, KualaLumpur, Malaysia

Pigging Industry News2

IndustrynewsFlexible piping inspection

THE INTRODUCTION of itsNeptune system by AGR

Field Operations is seen asground-breaking, and is intendedto revolutionize the subsea sectorof the oil and gas industry. Overthe last decade, the oil industryhas seen a vast expansion insubsea infrastructure and the useof flexible piping in production.The layered structure of flexiblepiping has posed challenges toinspection industry for years, andAGR Field Operations and itspartners have now developedmethods that vastly improvetechnical safety, meetinternational requirements, andreduce the cost of suchinspections.

The company says that the newapplication, developed over twoyears, has a 100% success rate,and will help prevent the failure offlexible risers and flexibleflowlines, thereby minimizing lostproduction and associatedenvironmental impact of leaks andspillage from offshore FPSO oilproduction facilities. The dailycost of lost production resultingfrom a riser failure has beenestimated at between Euro1m andEuro3m.

Aberdeen-based Flexlife, whichwas established to create solutionsto the most common failures inflexible risers, devised thepatented solution to scan flexiblerisers in situ and detect annulusflooding anywhere along theirlength – the first time in the 40-year history of unbonded flexiblepipe that this has been achieved –while AGR Field Operations hasthe inspection capability to deliver

the technology through itsNeptune ROV-deployable system.

The company says that this is thefirst time that it has been possibleto inspect any flexible pipe in situwithout access to the end fittings.Potential failures can be identifiedand dealt with more quickly thanpreviously. Neptune is claimed tobe fast, reliable, and can go downto 5,000m. The technology isdesigned to go anywhere in anyenvironment, and the potentialcost savings and environmentalbenefits are immense. Theinspection quality is provided byhigh-definition ultrasonicscanning to provide engineeringinformation which will giveimproved accuracy to life-expectancy calculations. Data aretransmitted to the surface via afibre-optic cable or ethernetconnection to match a client’s ROVtooling.

AGR Field Operations, a divisionof the AGR Group, is a provider ofa wide range of services to the oiland gas industry. The businessfocuses on the managementsystems, procedures, and state-of–the–art technologies to attain andmaintain prescribed levels oftechnical integrity of oil and gasindustry assets. ●

Precommissioningoffshore Nigeria

ABERDEEN-BASED BJServices has announced that

its process and pipeline servicesgroup has successfully completeda major precommissioningoperation offshore Nigeria forTechnip France on behalf ofStar Deep Water PetroleumLtd, an affiliate of ChevronCorporation.

The work was associated with thedevelopment of the offshoreAgbami field in the central NigerDelta. The oilfield is the largest

deepwater discovery in Nigeria,and is estimated potentially tohold recoverable reserves of 900million barrels. The field is beingdeveloped using subsea wells tied-back to an FPSO in 1433m ofwater. Treated and stabilizedcrude oil is being periodicallyoffloaded from the FPSO througha number of midwater offloadinglines connected from its stern to asingle-point mooring (SPM)offloading buoy, and multipleoffloading hoses connected fromSPM to a tanker moored to thebuoy.

The scope of the precommissioningservices was two-fold: onededicated to the flowlines andanother for the umbilicals.Working from the FPSO with ROVsupport, BJ’s primary goal was todisplace the raw seawater in theflexible risers and flowlines withfiltered and treated seawater. Thiswas achieved by using cleaningand gauging pig trains in theproduction and gas-injection loops.

AGR’s Neptune systembeing deployed on an ROV.

Pigging Industry News 3

Inline Services Inc. Tel: +1 (281) 401-8142

Fax: +1 (281) 401-8147

Email: hdiehl@inlineplc.com

Manufacturers of

“built-for-purpose”

pigging equipment

www.inlineplc.com

The water-injection risers andmain flowlines were flooded whilebeing laid. BJ providedengineering, procurement,flooding, cleaning, gauging,hydrotesting, and dewateringduring this phase of theprecommissioning programme.

For the umbilicals, BJ monitoredpressure while they were intransit from Europe, andperformed hydraulic and electricaltesting following load-out, as wellas before, during, and afterinstallation.

The contract was awarded byTechnip France in February, 2007.Before mobilizing, BJ’s processand pipeline services groupprovided engineering andplanning services from its globalheadquarters in Aberdeen.Offshore operations, whichcommenced in the spring of 2008,were carried out by staff andequipment from the company’sbase in Port Harcourt, Nigeria,and completed in nine months. ●

Indian precommissioning

BJ Services Co has completeda contract to provide pre-

commissioning services forTechnip on the MA-D6 oilfield inthe Krishna Godavari Basin in theSE Bay of Bengal, offshoreKakinada, India. The scope of theproject required the company toplan and manage several differentphases, including initialengineering and projectmanagement services, designed tocomplete the work within a tighttimeframe. Hydraulic andelectrical testing of both dynamicand infield umbilicals was carriedout during pre-installation,installation, overboarding, andpost-installation phases of theoperation. BJ’s pipelineprecommissioning specialistscarried out cleaning, flooding, andpressure testing of the 8-in

productioninfield flowlines.In addition, the6-in gas-injection riserwas cleaned,flooded,pressure-testedand treated withmono ethyleneglycol (MEG).The fast-trackoperation wascarried outefficiently andcompleted onschedule.

The MA-D6 is part of the largerKG-D6 oil- and gasfield that issituated in water depths of up to1,200m, and the pipeline networkgathers oil and gas from the Basinfor export onshore to India. Thesystem is extensive, involving acomplicated network of gas and oilexport pipelines and flowlines.

The company has also completed amajor pipeline precommissioningand commissioning operation forReliance Gas TransportationInfrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) onthe 80m cum/d East-West gaspipeline (EWPL), which connectsan onshore terminal at Gadimogain Andhra Pradesh on the eastcoast of India with Bhadbhut inGujarat in the west of the country.The Aberdeen-based companyprovided a range of services forthe project, including swabbing,magnetic cleaning, calipersurveying, and vacuum drying, inaddition to a range ofcommissioning gas-in works onthe EWPL and associated facilitiesand spur pipelines. The primarysegments of the pipeline networkconsist of nine 48-in diameter 130-to 162-km long sections, totalling1,369km, and three spur pipelinesegments that are 24in diameterand 30.5km length, 28in diameterand 27.7km length, and 30indiameter and 16.5km length.

During the project, which beganon-site in March last year, gas wastransported via a temporary 4-indiameter, 100m jumper, line fromGAIL’s Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline atAnkot gas station, and introducedthrough the temporarycommissioning skid into theEWPL pipeline at CS-10 by aneight-man commissioning teamfrom BJ Services. To ensure thatprocedures were carried out safelyand efficiently, the companyacquired two new 9,000cuft/mindry-air spreads, each consisting ofthree 3,000cuft/min air dryers andnine 1150cuft/min air compressorsthat were custom-designed andinstalled in protective 20-ftcontainers. ●

High-pressure hottap on NSea gas line

TD Williamson SA (TDW) hasperformed a successful hot tap

operation for Acergy on a gaspipeline in the North Sea. Thework was undertaken to facilitatethe tie-in of the Ettrick field gas-export pipeline operated byNexen Petroleum UK Ltd, inorder that gas can be exported tothe onshore gas plant north ofAberdeen.

BJ’s spread used onthe RGTIL project.

Pigging Industry News4

PIPELINE PIGGING, TESTING, ISOLATION & ANCILLARY EQUIPMENTPIPELINE PIGGING, TESTING, ISOLATION & ANCILLARY EQUIPMENTINPIPE PRODUCTS, registered as ‘International Pipeline Products Ltd.’,has become one of the leading European suppliers of pigging and pipelinetesting equipment. This has been achieved by a combination of quality,realistic prices, quick deliveries and innovative engineering that offers aflexible approach to a client’s requirement. We serve the internationalcompanies working in the Onshore and Offshore Hydrocarbons, Oil & Gaspipeline industries.For further information, please contact us via email: general@inpipeproducts.co.ukor by telephoning: +44 (0)1748 834577 www.inpipeproducts.com

E N G L A N D , U K

What makes this hot tap projectparticularly impressive is thatthroughout the operation aprevailing pipeline operatingpressure of 117bar wasmaintained, and that it wasundertaken at approximately 94msea depth. While the operationwas completed in very little time,the planning and preparation wasextensive.

As primary contractor for theproject, Acergy was responsible forproviding engineering,procurement, installation, andprecommissioning of the hot tapassembly, and the temporary andpermanent subsea structures.TDW was retained to engineerand supply all bespoke hot tapequipment. The custom-builtequipment was subjected torigorous endurance testing as partof the factory-based trials phase.●

Pipeline repairfor StatoilHydro

TDW Offshore Services AShas designed and delivered a

customized pipeline repairsolution for StatoilHydro’sKvitebjorn NSea oil- and gasfield,which resumed exporting liquids

and gas on 27 January, 2009.Production from the field was shutdown in August, 2008, when a gasleak was discoveredapproximately 10km from theplatform. Operator StatoilHydrocontacted TDW Offshore Servicesto develop one of severalalternative solutions to repair thegas pipeline between the platformand the Kollsnes processing plantnear Bergen: the pipeline hadbeen dragged out of position anddamaged by a passing ship’sanchor.

TDW Offshore Services wasawarded a contract byStatoilHydro to assess thesituation, and develop a solutionto repair the subsea pipeline.Extensive testing – including anonshore installation of a specialsubsea clamp system onto a mock-up of the affected portion of theKvitebjorn pipeline – was carriedout at TDW’s base in Stavanger.The purpose of the clamp would beto secure the pipe connector thatwas to be used in the event that itwas not possible for it to obtainadequate holding power.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrinaand the damage inflicted on

pipeline systems in the Gulf ofMexico, there is a growing trendin the industry to thoroughlyprepare for the possibility ofnatural disasters and potentialpipeline disruption, especiallysubsea. “During recent years, theoffshore industry has experiencedseveral pipeline shutdowns causedby anchor drags or similar,” saidRune Haddeland, ManagingDirector of TDW OffshoreServices. “In such situations, ourengineered solutions have provento be highly beneficial for ourclients.”

The Kvitebjorn field begandelivering natural gas in October,2004. Rich gas and condensate(light oil) are piped to Kollsnes,near Bergen, and Mongstad,further north, respectively.Following processing at Kollsnes,the dry gas is exported tocontinental Europe. The separatedNGL is transported by pipeline tothe Vestprosess plant at Mongstadfor fractionation into propane,butanes, and naphtha. Based oncurrent plans, StatoilHydroexpects to recover roughly 55bncum of gas and 22m cum ofcondensate. ●

TDW’s Kvitebjorn clamp suspended in the yard Stavanger.The Ettrick field facility duringfabrication, later the subjectof a hot-tap operation by TDW.

Pigging Industry News 5

Inspection of Keystonepipeline section

GE Oil & Gas’ PII PipelineSolutions group has

completed its largest pipelineinspection project by helpingTransCanada evaluate thecondition of an 864-km section of agas pipeline in Canada. Thepipeline required inspection priorto being converted to carry crudeoil as part of the Keystone oilpipeline.

TransCanada is converting its 34-in diameter Mainline gas pipelinebetween Burstall, Saskatchewan,and Carman, Manitoba, as part ofits and ConocoPhillips’ jointKeystone oil pipeline project. Theproject will allow crude oil to betransported to US Midwestmarkets at Wood River andPatoka, Illinois, and to Cushing,Oklahoma. The converted pipelinewill transport liquids at anoperating pressure of 6,067kPa,and to ensure optimal availabilityof the converted pipeline,TransCanada first had to make

sure it was free of stress-corrosioncracking.

The PII Pipeline Solutions divisionoperates one of the industry’smost advanced ultrasonic pipelineinspection tools used for crackdetection. Between October, 2008,and March this year, thecompany’s field team performedcrack-detection inspection runs inthree segments of the natural gaspipeline of 294, 315, and 255km inlength. The tools were run inbatches of fluid and prior todeployment, TransCanada had todevelop a special pipelinemanifold to accommodate all thetools and ensure that no air was

left in the line. TransCanada’smost serious challenge was theneed to control the 3-km batchesof fluid to ensure the ILI toolsmoved at the consistent speedneeded for accurate datacollection. ●

Pipeline Engineering’s40th birthday

UK-BASED PipelineEngineering, a well-known

supplier of engineered solutions tothe pipeline pigging and flow-assurance market, is celebratingits 40th year of service to theglobal oil and gas pipelineindustry. Started in 1969 by Ken

The Kvitebjorn clamp positioned on apipeline identical to Kvitebjorn

pipeline.

GE’s tool arriving and (inset) being prerpared for launch,on the Keystone pipeline inspection project.

Pigging Industry News6

Hemingway, the company wasacquired by the Bullough Group in1984. In 1997, the company wasbought by Willy Watson, thecurrent managing director, andKit Maunsell, who is a non-executive director. The acquisitionwas supported by QuesterVenture Capital who wassubsequently bought-out in 2001by the management and a numberof small private investors. Sincethen, PE has grown on average25% year-on-year, reaching aturnover this year of £20m, andhas become a leading supplier ofutility pigging equipment to theglobal market outside the USA.

In 2004, PE started its EngineeredSolutions business unit whichfocuses on providing solutions tounique pigging problems, whetherthey are the design of specialsubsea pigging systems fordeepwater flowlines or thecleaning of difficult pipelines. Oneof the unit’s major advantages isthat it has the facilities to design,prototype, carry out proving trials,and manufacture all on one site,supported by a qualified team ofoffshore service engineers, readyto deploy tools in the field. Run byDave Bacon, who had previouslyworked for Halliburton on NorthSea pipelines, this side of theoperation has proved a greatsuccess, and been involved insome very challenging andexciting subsea projects for majoroperators around the world.

In 2006, the company opened apurpose-built new manufacturingfacility and headquarters withstate-of-the-art productionequipment, with the aim ofimproving efficiency, quality, anddelivery. Since then, PE hasachieved the ISO29001 qualitystandard, ASME U and U2Certificates and a number of othersimilar quality accreditations.

Over the years PE has invested in

R&D: innovative products it hasdeveloped include a multi-diameter ‘paddle’ pig, anautomatic multiple pig launchingsystem, a system for locatingblockages and leaks in pipelines(Acoustek), a welding pig forsubsea tie-ins, and a pig for slowflowing lines. ●

InPipe’s 25 years

INPIPE Products iscelebrating the fact that it’s

been a leader in the supply ofpipeline maintenance equipmentfor 25 years. The company wasestablished in 1984 as a result of alifelong devotion to the industryby its founder Ken Hemingway,and it now has grown to have thelatest in-house design andmanufacturing capabilities.

Over the last 25 years, thecompany has developed a well-founded reputation within anumber of markets.Predominantly working in the oiland gas industries, it is alsosuccessfully operating in thewater, petrochemical,pharmaceutical, and foodindustries. Developing markets forthe company include SouthAmerica, Algeria, Yemen, Libya,and Germany. ●

Pig signallers for Petronas

ONLINE Electronics’Singapore subsidiary Online

Electronics Asia Pacific PteLtd has been awarded a contractto supply Petronas, Malaysia’snational oil company, with non-intrusive pig signallers. Thecompany, from its headquarters inAberdeen, designs, manufactures,and operates pig-monitoringequipment, data communications,and logging systems for the globaloil and gas industry, including acomprehensive range of ATEXcertified equipment for use inhazardous areas.

The Petronas award follows arecent Petrochina contract for thecompany’s pig signallers, and wassecured through Punj Lloyd, theproject’s main contractor. Theequipment will be installed on theSabah-Sarawak pipeline. ThePetrochina signallers are for theWest-East pipeline project thatruns from the NW Xinjiang UygurAutonomous Region toGuangzhou. ●

GE awards customers

GE Oil & Gas’ PII PipelineSolutions business has

presented awards to two of itscustomers following theirpioneering use of its MagneScanMFL pipeline inspectiontechnology. Sarpom, ExxonMobil’s affiliate refinery andpipeline company in Italy, andAmerican operator JayhawkPipeline, were recognized forprojects successfully completed inthe first quarter of 2009.Representatives of Sarpomreceived the GE award inCramlington, UK, while Jayhawkwas presented with the award atGE’s biannual N Americanpipeline conference in Austin.

The Sarpom inspection in Italywas from Trecate to MalpensaIntercontinental Airport (in theNW region) on a 6-in diameter, 33-km long, jet-fuel pipeline, lastinspected in 2003. The inspectionwas successfully completed inunder five hours, and was carriedout with field support fromTecma Pipeline Services, GE’spartner in Italy. Sarpom operatesa network of 1150km of liquidpipelines in Italy. GiorgioTencaioli, pipeline integritysupervisor for Sarpom Italia, said:“To inspect this seamless steelpipeline, partially built in theearly 1960s, we had threepriorities: we needed thecombination of three tools in one,to reduce disruption to our

Pigging Industry News 7

EMPOWERED BY TECHNOLOGY

www.roseninspection.netINNOVATION.

operation; we also needed a veryshort arrangement of the systemdue to space restriction at theairport, and we wanted bettercorrosion assessment than wasoffered by previously availabletechnology. We also had beenwaiting for a credible 6-inmapping capability.’’

The first new MagneScaninspection project in NorthAmerica was performed for theNational Co-operativeRefinery Association (NCRA) inthe state of Kansas and consisted

of four sections of 6-in productspipeline, spanning a total lengthof 364km. A US company formedin 1943, NCRA operates an85,000brl/d refinery, located inMcPherson, Kansas, as well therefined-products pipeline thatruns from the refinery to CouncilBluffs, Iowa. Jayhawk Pipelinewhich is 100% owned by NCRA,transports 125,000brl/d of crudeoil through 1280km of pipeline.KAW Pipeline Co, 67% owned byNCRA, transports approximately30,000brl/d of crude oil through400km of pipeline.

Mark Graves, pipeline engineer atJayhawk Pipeline, said: “The four6-in pipeline segments were 78,96, 93, and 97km respectively, andeach run was completed in lessthan 24 hours in standardconfiguration. One of ourrequirements was related to theproduct speed inside the line,making the run time at the upperspecification of the battery life ofthe tool. This was, therefore, anexcellent testing ground for thisnew technology.” ●

PIPELINES HAVE been laidworldwide for many years

and, more often than not, onceoperational, are left without anyplanned maintenance, and theinternal condition of thesepipelines remains unknown. Thenormal management approach hasbeen to prioritize on a failure-consequence basis, selectingmaintenance and inspectionoptions on a failure mode-and-effect analysis.

Intelligent-pig inspection systemsare important tools to manage theintegrity of pipelines. Anintelligent-pig survey enables theoperator responsible for theintegrity of the pipeline to assessthe failure risk due to metal-losscorrosion using the findings of theinspection survey. However, notall pipelines can be inspectedusing intelligent-pig technology,due to the pipeline’s origin. Inaddition the inspection results arenot directly available during theinspection process and thereforeimportant decisions cannot be

Inspection of non-piggablepipelines - Part 1by L J (“Hans”) Gruitroij, A Hak Industrial Services BV, Geldermalsen, Netherlands

made until the inspection reporthas been issued in a later stage.This paper discusses specificapplications for offshore pipelines.

Non-piggable pipelines

At the time many pipelines werelaid, pigging and inspectionservices were not thought of. Pipeswere laid to transport the product,and how the pipeline wasconstructed was of minorimportance. This meant that themajority of older pipelines werebuilt without launching/receivingfacilities, and consisting of varyingdiameters, mitred bends, etc.,making normal pigging techniquesimpossible. Modern-day pipelinesare constructed using specialdesign codes which include theselaunching/receiving facilitieswhich allow ultrasonic and otherinspection techniques to beutilized.

These codes are not commonlyused for relatively-short‘connection’ lines, such as

pipelines to storage tanks, whichmeans that these lines, being ofstandard design were not-piggable. We have observed thatmany problems occur in theserelatively-short pipelines, due tolack of protection. In addition theownership of these pipelines is notclearly defined, and a lack ofresponsibility is apparent: thisimplies that the integrityprogramme for these pipelines isof less importance than the larger/longer transfer pipelines.

These connection lines are, inmost cases, non-piggable because:

• pipeline dimensions (length,diameter and wall thickness,dual diameter)

• pipe material (SS, ductile,exotic materials, GRE, coatings,linings)

• bend restrictions (forged bends<1.5 D, one-cut mitre bends,mitre bends, field bends, back-to-back bends)

• offtakes (un-barred tees, barredtees, sphere, laterals)

Pigging Industry News8

Pigging SolutionsTDW provides the world’s pipeline industry with a comprehensive selection of innovative pigging products and technologies ranging from durable, cost-effective cleaning tools to leading edge corrosion management applications. For more information, call:

® Registered trademarks of T.D. Williamson, Inc. in the United States and in foreign countries. ©2009 T.D. Williamson, Inc

offset junctions (convergenceangle, bores), diverters

valves (in-line block valves, checkvalves)

relative position of features (pig-signalling)

• operation conditions ( product,pressure, temperature, fluidvelocity)

• no entrance point or singleentry (availability of launchersand receivers)

Examples of such pipelines are:

• loading lines• offshore pipelines• off-plot pipelines• on-plot piping/pipelines• tankfarm connection lines• connection piping in refineries• furnace piping (180o 1-D bends)

In-line inspection tools

Intelligent-pig inspection systemsare important tools to manage theintegrity of pipelines. Anintelligent-pig survey enables theoperator responsible for theintegrity of the pipeline to assessthe failure risk due to metal-losscorrosion using the findings of thesurvey. However, as we have seen,not all pipelines can be inspectedusing standard intelligent-pigtechnology, and this is particularlythe case offshore.

The PigLet tool and thefull-service package

The PigLet consists of variousmodules, including: ultrasonicmeasuring head, electronics,

Part 2 of this article, in thenext issue, looks at the

components of the systemand how they are employed

in practice.

odometer, and battery packs.These modules can either be arebuilt-in to a bi-directional pig (forlarger diameters), or can be usedas single modules with discs forthe inspection of smallerdiameters.

The various modules are inter-connected by flexible connectors,and are described in more detailbelow. The PigLet is pumpedthrough the pipeline with product,just as an ordinary pig. ●