Pipeline services fall into four categories.
- Pre-commissioning of new pipeline.
- Commissioning of new pipeline.
- Maintenance of existing pipelines.
- Revalidation of existing pipelines.
In practice, this work can be roughly divided into two groups, namely, work performed on newly constructed pipelines and work to be carried out on existing pipelines.
Newly Constructed Pipelines
Sapesco services can start immediately after the mechanical completion of the pipeline, or pipeline section, and end when the line is commissioned with product. Our services include, but are not limited to, the following:
Gauging
To assure that the line is clear from any obstruction, dent, ovality and to ensure that the weld seems are within the designed limits. This can be achieved by “Smart Pigs”, which provide a full data profile, or by standard gauge plates attached to bi-directional pigs.
Flooding
Sapesco employ the use of low / medium and high volume filling pumps, connected to temporary flow metering facilities, the data from which provides suitable reference points for other services.
Hydrostatic Test
Small to high volume positive displacement pumps, high pressure test pumps, together with a test cabin containing all required pressure and temperature monitoring equipment. “Smart” transmitters and computer based trend analysis and reporting supplement traditional “Budenberg” calibrated and traceable testing equipment.
Cleaning
Cleaning the inner side of the pipeline to remove construction debris, sand, mill scale and weld slag. This can be done with mechanical cleaning aids, such as pipeline pigs, or a combination of mechanical and chemical cleaning, depending on the degree of cleaning required.
Dewatering
This service ensures the removal of hydro-test water, residual seawater, and cleaning fluids from the pipeline, or process section.
Swabbing
Introduction of swab pigs, with or without chemical assistance, to remove free water. Chemically assisted swabbing may include MEG; DEG; TEG; Methylene Chloride, Isopropanol or Methanol. In the main, MEG (Mono-Ethylene Glycol) is used as a low cost product with good agroscopic capabilities and acceptable disposal limits or recycling possibilities.
Drying
To dry the pipeline to the desired dew point so that it is ready for inerting and product introduction. Drying can be by desiccant dried air, nitrogen or vacuum services. Sapesco have the largest fleet of high capacity high-pressure (20 bar gauge nominal) oil free compressors and desiccant driers in Egypt.
Inert Gas Services
To displace and dilute the oxygen content in the system, thus reducing the oxygen content, eliminating explosion risk and provide safe commissioning of the pipeline.
Commissioning Services
Sapesco pipeline services extend to product loading. After an inert atmosphere is declared, hydrocarbon liquid, or gas, can be admitted to the system in a controlled manner. This is usually done via a choke manifold to control rate of pressurisation and displacement pig speeds.
With gas lines, additional facilities are provided such as condensate recovery, temporary vent systems, earthing and metering services.
Base Line Surveys
In addition to providing normal pipeline services, Sapesco alliance partner NGKS provides a range of “Intelligent Pipeline Pigs” to carry out Geometry; MFL; TFI; SCC Detection, UT, and Reverse Field Magnetic surveys.
When the base-line data is analysed a full report is produced for the client, thereby creating a historical record to which further surveys can be compared.
System reports: - Dents, Buckles; Ovality; Weld penetration; Line profile; Distance markers, Anomalies and Line features, SCC and metal loss data etc.
Tracking
To aid location fixing of specific features, dents or weld ingress etc which can stop a pig, Sapesco offer pulse transponders, which can be tracked on land or sub-sea, with ROV equipment.
Existing Pipelines
When a pipeline is in operation, the inner surface of the line may be subject to scale formation, wax / paraffin formation, surface corrosion due to the type of product in the line, and the operating conditions. In addition, there may be situations where repairs or modifications have been carried out and it becomes necessary to revalidate the line for service in a safe and effective manner.
Cleaning Services
At some stage in the life of a pipeline, it may be necessary to remove scale, or a deposition of contaminants such as wax, to return the pipeline to effective flow conditions. There may also be situations where paraffin’s have been deposited or it may be a situation where circumstances call for a change of product service. A sample of the contaminant scale or wax is taken for analysis in our research laboratory. This analysis leads to the design of appropriate solvents and the production of detailed engineering procedures to be applied for correct removal of unwanted depositions.
Solutions are many and varied. Sapesco have the necessary solutions to provide a complete service, which includes, but is not limited to: -
- Gel Pigs
- Scraping, Brushing and Cleaning Pigs
- Chemical Cleaning Pigs
- Plough & Trough, Go-Devil and Special Pigs
- Umbilical Moles and Multi-Diameter Pigs
- Mechanical Intervention
- Smart Pigs with Wax Zone Identification Capability and Anomaly Identification.