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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

May, 2007

THE PPSA held its AnnualGeneral Meeting at the

Pipeline Pigging and IntegrityManagement conference inHouston in February whenBrent Cross, Global N-SPECManager for Brenntag Oil & Gastook over the role of Presidentfor 2007.

“The PPSA has grownconsiderably over the years intoone of the major oil and gasservices’ associationsworldwide”, says Brent Cross.“Brenntag, with its N-SPECbusiness, has been an activemember since the early 1990s,and the PPSA has brought manybusiness opportunities for allAssociation members, includingBrenntag, since then. It is anexcellent communicationchannel for the members to theoutside world as well as toauthorities, and an idealplatform for producers,processors and operators fromthe oil and gas industry to findthe most complete picture oftechnical possibilities currentlyavailable. I am proud to be thenew President of such anorganization, and I am lookingforward to taking thisorganization to the next level”.

We would like to take thisopportunity to thank Brent’spredecessor, John Lambley ofTracerco, UK, for his valuablecontribution to PPSA. Johncontinues as a member of theBoard while Jack Angel of BakerHughes, USA, and Lloyd Pirtleof T D Williamson, USA, wereelected as directors, to replace

Coleman McDonough (retired),and Bryce Brown of Rosen, whohad completed his term of office.They join directors John Healyof Macaw Engineering, UK, DrM K El Chami of Lin Scan, UAE,to make up the Board.

2006 was a good year for PPSA:its membership is now well intoin the 80s and includes leadingpig manufacturers and servicecompanies from throughout theworld. A very successful one-dayseminar was held in Aberdeen inNovember, with ten speakersfrom the Associationdemonstrating how PPSAmembers solve a wide variety ofpipeline problems. It wasparticularly interesting to hearthe operator’s view from AlfTordel of Statoil, Norway, whostarted the day with guidelinesfor best practice in piggingpipelines with high wax content.As always, there was time fordiscussion during the breakswhen delegates and PPSAmembers mixed together in theexhibition area. If you have notattended a PPSA seminar, whynot make a note in your diaryfor 14 November, 2007, when wewill be back in Aberdeen.

Another excellent PPSA eventwas the 2nd Annual GolfTournament held in Houston onthe Sunday before the piggingconference. It was wellsupported by members and agood day was had by all.

The Houston pigging conferencecontinues to grow with evenmore people attending the event

News from the Secretary

Pigging Industry News2

Industrynews

this year. Our congratulations goto the organizers and thecontributors.

We would also like to thank PPSAmembers who displayed ourdirectories and leaflets on theirstands at conferences all over theworld throughout the year: Inpipe,UK, Inline Services, USA, N-Spec,USA, T D Williamson, USA, and

Full

Ajaks, PolandChina Petroleum PipelineInspection Technologies, ChinaLangfang Greentsing PipelineTechnology Co Ltd, China

Clarion TechnicalConferences, to namebut a few.

PPSA members willremember a requestthat came in just beforeChristmas via Chevron,from the Woburn SafariPark, UK. The SafariPark was looking forfoam pigs for theirelephants to play with.Word went out instantlythrough the PPSAtechnical enquiryservice, and a number ofreplies were quicklyreceived. However, wefound that Inpipe hadalready cornered theelephant market bysupplying Woburn’snear neighbour,Whipsnade Zoo (see

left). We hope they managed tomake the Woburn elephants’Christmas a happy one, too. It waslater revealed in Houston thatKnapp Polly Pig has suppliedspheres for gorillas resident in theUS. It is good to know that PPSAmembers are always ready andable to solve any problem. ●

Startrak Pigging Technologies,USA

Tube Tech International, UK

Associate

Electrochem Commercial Power,USA

Statoil, Norway

Individual

Adedayo Olowe, UKMartin Phillips, USAPatrick Porter, USA

Honorary

Coleman McDonough, USA

New members

Major investment indesign and processes

UK-BASED PipelineEngineering (PE) has

undertaken a complete redesign ofits product range to ensure itspigs, closures, and signallerscontinue to be among the leadersin the industry, and to meet theever-increasing variety of pipelineneeds, quality requirements, anddelivery expectations ofcustomers, as well as beingdesigned for manufacturingefficiencies to provide competitiveproducts. This has been done inparallel with a major investmentin new CNC plant and thestreamlining of design andmanufacturing processes to meetthe increasing volume of business,requiring shorter lead times, goingthrough the company’s new UKmanufacturing facility in NorthYorkshire, where in recent yearsproduction has increased fourfold.

A typical example of theseimprovements is the company’spig range which, although

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

designed around a range ofstandard component parts, cannow be constructed in such a waythat every pig is engineered tomeet the specific requirement of apipeline not simply to be thenearest fit. The economies of usingstandard parts with the flexibilityto construct a unique pig meansthat a better cleaning operation isdone by the ‘tailor-made’ pig asopposed to an ‘off-the-shelf’ pig,but at the same price.

Over the years PE has grown tobecome a major global supplier ofutility pigging equipment, withover 90% of its productionexported. The company hasrecently developed a ‘solutions’business, providing a specialistpigging consultancy design,prototyping, testing, anddeployment services to some of theleading pipeline operators. Thispart of its business now representsa major part of the company’sturnover. ●

Output restoredafter condensercleaned

UK-BASED power generatorInterGen was experiencing

a steady decline in output from its860-MW combined-cycle, gas-fired,power station at Spalding, in theUK. The problem was traced toreduced efficiency of the plant’s

air-cooled condenser (ACC), whosefin-fan units had progressivelybecome clogged with pollen andother dust from surroundingagricultural land. The built-incleaning system could not cleanthe ACC fast enough, so TubeTech was called in. Following aweek of intensive night workingby Tube Tech, the ACC wascompletely cleaned and the powerstation was restored from a 500-MW low to its design output.

The Spalding Energy facility’sextremely efficient, low-noise,environmentally-sound air-cooledcondenser technology allows it touse 90% less water than typicalwater-cooled plants. The plantalso achieves very high levels ofefficiency by directing the exhaustheat from the combustion turbinesto heat-recovery steam generators(or boilers) that then produceadditional power from a steamturbine. The steam condensesrapidly as it is passed through anair-cooled condenser (ACC) tocreate a vacuum that increasespressure and efficiency in theturbine. The ACC is comprised of35 fin-fan units arranged in seven‘streets’, with five ‘plenums’ perstreet. The plant’s efficiencymeans that Spalding is among thecleanest fossil-fuel power plants inthe UK.

During 2006, the plantmanagement became aware that

on hot days it was difficult tomaintain the necessary vacuum.On investigation, extensiveaccumulations were discovered onthe cooling fins of the ACC. Thepower station is located in an areaof quite intensive agriculture,which gives rise to high levels ofairborne pollen in the spring and,to a lesser extent, dust at harvesttime. These airborne particles hadbeen steadily clogging-up thecooling fins of the condenser,resulting in a significant loss ofefficiency – the power station’soutput had fallen to around 60% ofits design rating – around 500MW.Although the ACC is inspectedregularly and cleaned wherenecessary, it tends to clog-upagain fairly quickly. There is abuilt-in semi-automatic cleaningsystem, which has to bemanoeuvred into place manuallyfor each fan unit. This was triedfirst for four days and was provingsuccessful, but it was taking toolong, with significant loss ofproduction each day. Themanufacturer of the built-incleaning system was unable tohelp in the time available, butfortunately a member of staff atthe plant had had dealings withTube Tech before and passed thecontact details to the appropriatemanager.

The client takes up the story:“Tube Tech responded very well toour enquiries - from initial contact

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

to coming on site and beginningwork was only a week, which wasvery helpful. The job done wasexcellent; I have no complaints atall. Tube Tech happilyaccommodated working nightshifts for us, which enabled us toshut down some fin-fan units toimprove the working environmentfor them. It also helped usmaintain output during peakdemand. We didn’t really need toget involved at all – the Tube Techteam just did their stuff and wehardly knew they were here –apart from the obvious results.”The client says that theimprovement in performance wasalmost immediate: “It took a weekto clean the whole ACC, by whichtime it was back to designperformance.” For the cleaningoperation, Tube Tech used atelescopic lance system, whichenabled the team to work fromwalkways inside the apexes of thefin-fan units – where the depositswere worst – eliminating the needfor costly scaffolding. ●

Multi-diameterpipeline inspections

INTEGRTY assessment based onILI technology is now

frequently mandatory, since it canguarantee safe and efficientoperation. However, manypipelines were constructed beforein-line inspections became arequirement. Defying inspectionwith off-the-shelf tools,approximately 40% of the world’sgas, oil and product pipelines areclassified as ‘unpiggable’. A largeproportion of these are multi-diameter lines: apart fromdifferent internal diameters, forexample 18-24in, 28-42-in, or 40-48-in, these older pipelines

typically have special fittings,such as unbarred Ts or heavy-wall1.5D bends.

To optimize the development ofmulti-diameter tools, Rosen hasintroduced a simple method forclassifying the different types ofmulti-diameter pipelines: theMuDiCompass (multi-diametercomplexity assessment). To assessthe complexity of pipelines, threeparameters are used:

• passage ratio: minimuminternal diameter divided bymaximum outside diameter;

• bend ratio: the maximumlength of a rod equivalentwhich can still pass the ID of abend is determined to assessbend complexity;

• absolute pipeline sizesincluding cross-sections toensure passage of all requiredparts even through the smallestpipeline ID.

On the basis of these calculationsand values, the inspectioncompany can then determine theappropriate complexity level of therequired multi-diameter toolswhich are, in analogy to pipelines,also divided into five classes ofdifferent complexity (classified asA – D, and R (for roboticinspection alone)).

26-30in multi-diametercorrosion-detection tool

Statoil requested a 26-30in multi-diameter MFL ILI tool for theinspection of one a 150-kmoffshore gas pipeline in the NorthSea. Rosen’s assessment methodshowed that a complexity group Btool was required for the task. The

minimum bend passage capabilityof this tool is 3D: since offshorepipelines usually have a higherwall thickness, the tool had to bedesigned in such a way that itcould magnetically saturate a wallthickness of at least 23mm in the30-in section of the pipeline.Nevertheless, the main challengeof this project was thecombination of a multi-diametertool with a speed-control unitwhich was required due to thehigh gas flow rate in the line.

The function of a speed-controlunit integrated into a corrosion-detection tool is to achieve aprogrammable target speedbetween 0.5-5m/s by controllingthe flow of the medium throughthe unit. The constant speed leadsto a significant increase in thequality of the data collected;additionally, speed control alsoallows the operator to maintainhigh gas flow rates without anythroughput loss during the entireinspection process resulting insignificant cost savings. A projectaimed to overcome the challengesposed by the Statoil pipeline wasstarted in April, 2006; in Octoberof that year, a multi-diameter ILItool combined with a speed controlunit with a total length of only3.244m was ready for operation,and the pipeline was successfullyinspected by this tool.

18-24in multi-diametercorrosion-detection tool

In January, 2006, Rosen wascontracted to develop, build andtest an 18-24in multi-diametercorrosion inspection tool, intendedfor a 48-km long 24-in diameterpipeline which decreases to 18infor 7.2km before expanding to24in again. Although the

Pigging Industry News 5

numerous 1.5-D bends located inthe 18-in section posed somedifficulty, the most complicatedaspect of this project was thethickness of the pipeline wall.Since it reached up to 21mm insome of the bends, the effectiveinternal diameter was reduced to16.2in (411mm).

Standard 18-24in multi-diametertools cannot pass 1.5-D bends withthis wall thickness, and it wastherefore determined that a multi-diameter tool of complexity groupD, i.e. the most-complex toolclassification, was required for thetask. For the purpose ofdeveloping and testing the tool, an18-24in test loop was built atRosen’s plant in Germany, makingit possible to simulate all thechallenges of the pipeline,including the heavy-wall 18-in,1.5-D bend, section. Consisting ofthree units and with a total lengthof 3.2m, the finished tool could beeasily launched and was capableof continuous inspection ofinternal diameters between 16inand 24in.

Since simulations conducted in thepurpose-built loop in September,2006, showed that the tool couldpass the 18-in, 1.5-D bends,despite a wall thickness of 21mm,the tool was released in lateOctober. The actual inspectionwas successfully completed inearly November. The line had 27challenging 24-in 1.5-D bends of90o and several 45o bends in the18-in heavy-wall section. Despitethese difficult conditions, the toolpassed through the line withoutany damage. Moreover, theinspection data confirmed smoothrun conditions and a suitablerotation rate. The specified levelsof tool performance and defect

detection were achieved in allareas. ●

Pipeline groupintroduces newsoftware

GE’s PII Pipeline Solutionsdivision has launched a new

version of PipeView SheetGen, itssoftware tool designed to generatepipeline alignment sheets directlyfrom maintained data sources.The software applicationautomatically generatesalignment sheets directly fromrelational databases and GIS, andprovides up-to-date, construction-quality drawings of a pipelinesystem for field use as well asanalysis and decision-makingpurposes.

With this release of the software,users can directly access theability to format sheets, placesheets and generate sheets fromwithin ArcGIS – a GIS fromESRI. The alignment sheets canbe generated from data stored inArcGIS as well as rendered inArcGIS layout space for plottingand storage purposes. UsingSheetGen, users can customizealignment sheets using alignmentsheet templates. Individual sheetswith associated templates arethen placed automatically orinteractively along the pipelineusing a module called SheetPlacer. From there, generation ofalignment sheets can beperformed for all or some of thosesheets directly from the most up-to-date data.

The company has also launched amajor new version of PipeViewIntegrity, a suite of softwaresolutions to help transmission

pipeline operators and localdistribution companies assess andmanage the integrity of theirpipelines. The software combinesseveral important integrity tools –including a data-alignmentmanager, feature assessment, riskassessment, and integrityplanning – into a single,integrated environment.

Users can select their area ofinterest using either a Google Mapinterface or a schematic view oftheir pipeline system. The newinterface then provides workflowsbased on the specific tasks that auser is completing: loading andaligning data, performingengineering-critical assessmentsof inspections, calculating risk towhich the pipeline is subjected, orgenerating integrity-managementplans. ●

Nether-Drive takesthe strain

PIG launching and receivingnormally involves the

operation of many valves, most ofwhich are small and do not take alot of time to operate. However,the main and kicker line valvesare large, and can make theoperational switch-over procedurelonger than necessary. In order toremedy this problem, valve-control specialist Netherlockshas developed a device to facilitatethe manual operation ofproblematic valves, whether theyare high-torque, difficult-to-reach,or require many handwheelrotations to activate. Thecompany’s Nether-Drive is aportable pneumatic handheldactuator that has been designed toallow valves, according to thecompany, “to be operated at least

Pigging Industry News6

40 times faster than byconventional means”.

Opening or closing large manualvalves can also place a physicalstrain on an operator’s body, andit is in an employer’s interest tocombat this source of stress, bothfor the well-being of its workforceand to comply with relevantlegislation.

The Nether-Drive is said to besuitable for all handwheel-operated valves when used inconjunction with its universaldrive plate. Instead of anexpensive actuator, each valve isfitted with a plate, allowing everyvalve in a plant to be activated bya single drive unit. Since it is air-driven, the drive is also safe foruse in potentially-explosiveatmospheres. The portableactuator is supplied in lengths of480mm or 1182mm; an optionalaluminium storage box isavailable, including a 20-m reeledair hose, an integrated air filter/lubricator, and an air-reductionvalve.●

Criticalprecommissioning inKazakhstan…

ABERDEEN-based BJProcess and Pipeline

Services has been awarded acontract by Saipem Kazakhstanto provide precommissioningservices on pipelines for theKashagan Field developmentexperimental programme projectlocated in the North Caspian Seain Kazakhstan. During the nexttwo years, BJ is contracted toprovide swabbing, air-drying,nitrogen purging and packing, andcaliper survey services on the 28-in diameter, 95-km long main oiland gas pipelines, the 18-in, 95-km long fuel-gas trunk lines, andassociated 18-in and 6-in infieldlines.

According to Lindsay Link,general manager of BJ PPS, theoperation has been designed tominimize consumption of liquidnitrogen, reduce costs, and limitpotential logistics challenges. Thecompany will draw from its largeKazakh resource base to executethis work, and will support theoperation from its bases in Aksaiand Atyrau. ●

…and safety testingfor Shell Philippines

BJ PPS has completed acontract for Shell

Philippines Exploration toprovide a range of process andpipeline services for theMalampaya gas-to-power project,located in the Malampaya Fieldoffshore Philippines. The companyhas carried out safety testing andmaintenance services, includingnitrogen leak detection, nitrogen

purging and flushing, and a fullprogramme of joint integrity-management procedures.Following completion of themaintenance programme, the BJPPS team performed a series ofnitrogen leak detection tests toensure a safe, leak-free start-up.

“We used a process called ‘flawlessstart-up’ during the preparationphase of the shutdown. Thisallows us to identify any potentialflaws that can hamper a trouble-free start-up after all of themaintenance work has beencompleted. BJ’s joint integrity-management and nitrogen/heliumleak testing ensured that we had aleak free start-up,” said GerryLinklater, shutdown manager forShell Philippines Exploration. ●

Weatherfordexpands into Brazil

HOUSTON companyWeatherford’s Pipeline &

Specialty Services group (P&SS)has opened a new base at Macae,Brazil. Jason Reynaud hasassumed the position of regionalmanager, and will be responsiblefor Mexico, Trinidad, and all ofSouth America; AndrewMcFarlane has recently joined thecompany as Brazil countrymanager.

Having been contracted for workstarting Q1, 2007, the company iscommitted to providing qualitypipeline and process service workthroughout South America,bringing its deepwater expertiseto Brazil in particular. It offers arange of services used throughoutthe lifecycle of pipelines, includingcleaning, filling, testing,dewatering, drying, purging,

The Nether-Drive is designed to besuitable for all handwheel-operated valves

Pigging Industry News 7

nitrogen (membrane andcryogenic), inspection, andrehabilitation. ●

Pipeline-inspection/integrity link

IS today’s inspection technologycapable of delivering

information that enables effectiveintegrity management? Theanswer is ambiguous. In the 1990sand early 2000s, the quality ofhigh-resolution started to bearfruit, and in-line inspection wasupgraded to a preventive service.Today, it has become evident thateven preventing leaks is notenough; we have to demonstratethe lack of risk of having a leak,and this calls for an holisticapproach

We have to consider all aspectsthat may risk a leak, so looking atwall thickness loss andconsidering operational stressesonly may no longer be deemedenough. Metal loss and pipe-walldeformation (sometimes incombination with forces otherthan pressure) cause a rise in localstress levels. This increase instress can dramatically increasethe risk of a leak; finding, sizing,and keeping track of theseanomalies is a difficult task,considering that a pipelineconsists of a great number ofcomponents, often runs over along distance, is buried or is onthe sea bed, and third parties havealmost unlimited access to it. Thecapabilities of modern inspectiontechnology are limited: tracking ofall anomalies reported by multipleinspections is therefore requiredin order to improve confidencelevel and accuracy of data, andthis can now be done.

Dubai-based Lin Scan hasdeveloped a software tool it callsPIL (pipeline inspection/integrityl), which is designed to correlateand enhance all inspectioninformation to provide more-accurate sizing and higherconfidence levels. PIL is alsodesigned to carry-out diagnosticintegrity-management activitiessuch as identifying differentcorrosion processes, determiningcorrosion growth rates, andpredicting a failure date. It can beextended to provide advice forboth corrective maintenanceactivities and remedialtechnologies. ●

Brenntag joinssupplier database

BRENNTAG Oil & GasEurope, one of the largest

chemical distributors worldwideand a provider of innovativepipeline-cleaning solutions, hasbeen officially registered as asupplier in the FPA (First-PointAssessment) database. The FPAdatabase is the oil and gas supplychain database for the UK and theNetherlands, and is a division ofAchilles Information, a leadingprovider of supplier-managementinformation. The database israpidly evolving into a key toolused by purchasers in the oil andgas industry to identify and selectcurrent and potential supplierswhen awarding supply contracts.

All suppliers listed in the databasehave gone through an extensiveaudited process to create acomplete company profile,including specific company data,information about products andservices, project references etc.The database currently matches

the needs of over 70 purchasingorganizations with the capabilitiesof over 2400 suppliers, and it isused by major operators andpipeline owners in the North Seaarea. Time and cost savingbenefits are achieved (on both thepurchaser’s and the supplier’ssides) through minimizing – and,in many cases, eliminating –duplication work in theadministrative processes relatedto sourcing of products andservices. ●

Electrochem hasrecord year

PPSA member ElectrochemCommercial Power, a

leading manufacturer of lithiumbattery packs and cells used inextreme environments, and adivision of Greatbatch Ltd,recently announced a 32%increase in cumulative salesrevenue during the year to 29December, 2006, compared to theprior year. Electrochem’s salesjumped to $43.7 million against$33.2 million in 2005.

The robust growth was primarilydriven by increased marketpenetration, new productintroductions, and greater value-added assembly sales, and thecompany’s expansion was seenacross multiple markets, includingoil and gas, oceanographic, andseismic surveying applications.For over 25 years, the companyhas provided high-performancelithium batteries for demandingapplications including pipelineinspection. ●

Pigging Industry News8

ROSEN – Leading in Inspection Technologies – provides high performance and smart inspection tools.

www.RosenInspection.net

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