Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by J L Cordell
On-Stream Systems
Contents of this Paper:
Introduction
Conclusion
Introduction
Unlike many aspects of modern life such as electricity and the telephone, the pipeline pig was not the result of
some sudden inspiration. It began as a result of the, then new, oil pipeline industry's needs to clean the wax and
dirt from it's lines and so maintain a reasonable through-put.
The very earliest pigs are believed to have been made from balls of straw wrapped with barbed wire. It is
therefore no surprise that there is no known record of anyone claiming the responsibility of having made the first
pipeline pig! For much the same reasons there is no record of where the first pipeline pig was used, and even the
question of how the pig got it's name is still hotly debated.
There are, however, a number of reasonable assumptions which can be made; firstly there seems to be little doubt
that 'pigs' were born in the oilfields of either Texas or Oklahoma, so it is most appropriate that this, the first
conference on pipeline pigging technology in the United States, should be here in Houston which, in relative
terms, cannot be very far from where the first-ever pig made it's first run.
Secondly, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be quite a small pig, perhaps something in the region of
4-6in diameter. It is doubtful whether it was called a pig in those early days, for the 'pig' as we now know it was
preceded by the 'go-devil'. In fact, one of the most plausible explanations for the use of the term pig was that
when the go-devil travelled through the line, equipped as it was with leather driving discs, spring-loaded star
wheels and steel scraper blades, it made a screeching noise similar to that made by farmyard pigs. The other
explanation was that when a go-devil was pulled from the pipeline covered in wax and dirt it looked something
like a farmyard pig which had been rolling in the mud.
The very fact that it was called a pig - a somewhat derogatory, or at best amusing, term - points to the fact that it
was not taken very seriously as a piece of engineering. Since those early days, though, things have changed
dramatically. Today's intelligent pigs utilize state-of-the-art technology and even this in some cases, is failing to
fulfil the needs .......
So how did we get to where we are today, and what might we expect tomorrow?
The 1960's
These were the 'golden years' of pigging - when innovation was the name of the game. This was a time when the
oil and gas industries in particular began to accelerate, especially in Europe and the Middle East, and pipelines
were designed without much thought being given to the need for pigging.
The pig manufacturers, who always seem to enjoy a challenge, rose to the occasion, and designed and built some
of the most exotic pigs that have ever been seen. There were pigs designed to go around zero-radius elbows which they usually did. There were pigs designed to traverse rectangular-port plug valves - which they sometimes
did. And there were pigs designed to clean out heavily-contaminated pipelines in one pass - which they rarely
did.....
It was a period of research and development in the pigging industry, for as pipelines got even longer and larger,
operated at ever higher pressures and became strategically more and more important, so the need for effective and
more efficient pigs became paramount.
When AMF Tuboscope ran the first commercially-successful intelligent pig in 1965 it heralded a new era for the
pigging industry. It was now necessary to differentiate between the conventional pig used for cleaning and
performing a service, and the intelligent pig which was to be used for gathering information.
AMF's Linalog pig is used to detect corrosion, and shortly afterwards T D Williamson announced its Kaliper pig
which detects buckles, dents and other reductions in diameter. Both Linalog and the Kaliper pig went through an
extensive development period prior to their introduction. Now with some 20 years further development and
experience behind them, they are still in use, but with greatly enhanced performance.
Metal Loss
Geometry
Cracking
EPS
British Gas
British Gas
IPEL Kopp
IPEL Kopp
IPEL Kopp
RTD
H.Rosen
NKK
H.Rosen
RTD
TDW
H.Rosen
Vetco (Vetcolog)
Photographic/Video
Curvature/Bends
Leaks
Magnaflux
EPS
IPEL Kopp
NKK
IPEL Kopp
H.Maihak
H.Rosen
H.Rosen
H.Rosen
Wax/Deposition
Sampling
H.Rosen
IPEL Kopp
The cost of developing these tools is staggering. British Gas alone has invested somewhere in the region of $200
million. No actual figures are available, but it is reasonable to assume that at least one billion dollars has been
invested in the development of intelligent pigs to date.
It is not surprising therefore that mergers such as those between IPEL and Pipetronix have taken place, and it
would not be surprising to see others in the near future. Certainly it would seem to make sense, for although the
environmental and legislative pressures are constantly increasing the market for intelligent pigs, the intense
competition and the tight economic climate are making the business increasingly difficult. The question must
therefore be asked, whether all of those presently serving the market can indeed survive.
b) Conventional pigs
If competition among intelligent pig manufacturers is considered to be 'strong', then competition among
conventional pig manufacturers must be considered 'fierce'.
Because of conventional pigs' basic simplicity, there are a large number of manufacturers vying with one another
to supply the needs of the pipeline industry. There are over 25 manufacturers (Fig.2) supplying a standard range
of off-the-shelf pigs, quite apart from the many contractors and other organizations who make up their own pigs
utilizing standard components. Such competition results in very small profit margins, and therefore an inability to
invest in the fundamental research which would be so valuable in developing more efficient pigs.
Some operators are known to be carrying out ad hoc studies of certain aspects of pig efficiency and this is helpful.
However, it would be a great deal more beneficial to both the operators and the manufacturers if they could pool
their resources and develop an industry-wide research programme.
One of the difficulties until now has been the fragmented nature of the pig manufacturers, caused by the highlycompetitive nature of the business. However, towards the end of last year moves were made by On-Stream
Systems Ltd (who provides an independent source of information and advice on pigs and pigging) to find out if
the pig manufacturers were interested in forming a Pipeline Pigging Equipment Manufacturers' Association.
The initial response was very encouraging indeed. Apart from the more obvious advantages of such an
Association, it could provide the channel through which all the manufacturers could be represented and speak as
one, in the creation of an international research and development programme into either conventional or
intelligent pigging and its related equipment.
Competition
Under the circumstances already described it is not hard to see that competition is likely to become even stronger.
This is hard to imagine as things stand at the present, so we might expect to see a good many more mergers and
joint ventures. The survivors will be those that plan most effectively. Any good business plan must include a
thorough competitor, and self analysis. From this the respective strengths and weaknesses become apparent, and
we can therefore expect to see some 'marriages of convenience'.
Technology
Technology is where both the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity undoubtedly lie.
Pipelines, particularly those offshore, are becoming smaller and the challenge to the intelligent pig manufacturers
to pack highly-sophisticated electronic equipment into a very small diameter pig is obvious.
Add to this the need for perhaps bi-directional capability for the inspection of flow lines, plus a requirement to
perform in full well-stream fluids with all the attendant problems of temperature, multi-phase conditions and dirt,
and we have some idea what the industry will face in the very near future.
Fortunately, the technology on which the intelligent pig manufacturer relies is also progressing at a dramatic pace.
One manufacturer was able to increase the memory storage capacity of his intelligent pig by four times over a
period of only nine months due to micro-chip development work.
So, although the activity, particularly in the area of subsea exploration and production, is gaining pace, the
technology available to the pig manufacturers, given sufficient time and money, is likely to be able to keep up.
But it's not just the intelligent pigs which face a technological revolution. Some of the developments which are
'just around the corner' include:
pigs capable of cleaning a small line then travelling on through a trunk line perhaps 10 sizes larger.
Undoubtedly, conventional pigs will undergo a renaissance - a return to the 'golden age' - but with a lot more
professionalism than in the past.
Conclusion
It is clear that pipeline operators and pig manufacturers are facing some major new challenges. In the past they
have met these challenges, and no doubt they will do so in the future. But we can expect to see them do so in a
very different way.
It is perhaps coincidental that the six major factors mentioned, which the industry must face:
Speed/Environment/Legislation/Economics/Competition/Technology
form the acronym SELECT
The pipeline industry will become more critical when it SELECTS its pigs, SELECTS its procedures and
SELECTS its suppliers.
The pig manufacturers will be more discriminating when they SELECT their designs, SELECT their markets and
SELECT their partners.
In short, in a period of just about 100 years pipeline pigging has evolved from a "good 'ole boy" wrapping barbed
wire around a bunch of straw, to a highly sophisticated - one might even say, a very SELECT - industry.