ALL ABOUT PIGGING

1.0 BACKGROUND
"Pig" is now the most widely accepted term for any device which is inserted into a pipeline and which travels freely through it, driven by the product flow. A pig is in effect a free moving piston. Occasionally other words are used, such as rabbit or mole and in some countries, they may be referred to by their fiinctioii e.g. scraper, swab, tool, etc. The term "pig" originated in the United States, but why the word was chosen has never been satisfactorily explained. There are various theories, but tlie most widely accepted explanation is that the screeching soiuid made as the early pigs traveled through the pipeline, together with their brushes and their appearance when they emerged covered in crude oil, in maiiy ways resembled tlie farmyard pig. The suggestion that PIG was an acronyn for Pipeline Inspection Gauge is highly unlikely as the tern1 was used long before inspection became a sigiificant factor. Pigs were originally used exclusively for cleaning a pipeline. There is no documented but evidence of when tlie first pig was I-LI~, it was probably during the early days of crude oil pipelining in America, although it is possible that tlie water industry could claim to have been first. These early pigs are believed to have been made on site from straw wrapped with barbed wire. Other stories tell of tlie earliest 'pigs' being simply bundles of rags. These it is said were replaced by bundles of leather because this was not only stronger, but would swell when it was wetted and so gave a good seal in tlie pipe. Further details of the history g of p i ~ n will be found in Section 14. Early purpose built mechanical pigs were made without any consideration of possible damage

Background

to tlie pipeline and comprised Iiardened steel scraper blades, steel spur wheels and leather driving cups. They earned the name of "GoDevil" and such pigs are still occasionally used today to clean short pipes which are carryliig a high percentage of sot? solids in suspension, as may be the case for example in china clay quarries. Even here however, there are more modem pigs which could generally perform the tasks significantly better. Today there are over 350 pigs of all types, a large number of specialist services and several thousand related products. Selection of the correct ones and the design of an optimum pigging system will depend upon a great many, often seeniingly unimportant factors. There are at present no recognized national or international standards for the design, construction or operation of pigs or pigging systems. But there are industry ''norms1'wliich have resulted from long experience and which, if they are understood and followed, will contribute to troublefree operation. These norms and some of the experiences have been the subject of various papers but these dociuments are not always readily accessible and are far from comprehensive. This manual is intended to resolve many o f these problems. The terms and phrases used in this manual are those nomially used in the pipeline piggng industry. For those who are not entirely familiar with this, it is strongly recommended that reference be made to the definitions included in the Appendices before referring to the main sections.