1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................

3
1.1. PURPOSE.............................................................................................3
1.2. DEFINITIONS.........................................................................................4
1.3. ABBREVIATIONS.....................................................................................4
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................5
3. SCOPE...........................................................................................5
4. PIGGING REQUIREMENTS.....................................................................6
4.1. PRE-COMMISSIONING AND COMMISSIONING.....................................................6
4.2. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.................................................................7
4.3. INSPECTION..........................................................................................8
4.4. PIGGING FACILITIES...............................................................................10
5. RECOMMENDATION..........................................................................11
APPENDIX 1: PWRI PIGGING ASSESSMENT TABLE...........................................14
APPENDIX 2: VENDOR INFORMATION (MFL/EC TOOLS & PIG VALVE)...................15

Page 2 of 12
1.1. PRE-COMMISSIONING AND COMMISSIONING
Pre-commissioning of the pipeline involves series of activities that include initial cleaning and
gauging to prepare the pipeline for commissioning. The filling, cleaning and gauging operation is
a process to clean the onshore pipeline systems by ensuring the removal of construction debris
and to check that the pipeline systems are free from deformations and/ or obstructions.

The filling and cleaning process normally carried out by sending a pig train which consists of a
number of cleaning pigs. One or more trains would be run depending on the quantities of debris
being produced, and this would be continued until the COMPANY representative is satisfied with
the state of the line.

Brush pigs may be selected if some time has passed between the line being laid and this pre-
commissioning operation, in order to produce a more aggressive cleaning action.

After cleaning is completed, the pipeline shall be gauged. A bi-directional gauging pig with 2 sets
of separate guiding and sealing discs shall be fitted with 1 or 2 aluminium gauging plates to
check for any reductions in the pipeline internal diameter and any pipeline deformations which
might occur due to pipeline buckles, bends, and dents.

Dummy launcher/receiver and pig trap valves shall be used for pre-commissioning activities. All
pigs shall be inspected prior to insertion into the launcher to ensure their fit for use.

Pigging during commissioning will require a pig train consist of multi-lipped conical cups,
whereby the multi-lipped cups have independent sealing lips on each cup which significantly
improves their ability to maintain a seal between the pre-commissioning water and the product.
For the bare carbon pipe using CI, a pig train should be run during commissioning with slugs of
corrosion inhibitor in between the individual pigs to inhibit corrosion of the pipeline.

The recommended pig types for pre-commissioning and commissioning pigging are:

1. Foam Pig

2. Bi-Di Brush Cleaning Pig

3. Bi-Di Pig with Magnet

1.2. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

The operations and maintenance pigging should be performed without interrupting the flow of the
product in the pipeline. The following purposes will be served with regular pigging:

1. Cleaning and improving flow efficiency

Page 3 of 12
 Being part of pipeline integrity management, the operational pigging requirement is to
maintain the pipeline cleanliness and allow the line to operate at its optimum capacity and
minimizing risk of pipeline blockage.

2. Chemical treatment of pipeline

Chemicals used in treating the pipeline such as corrosion inhibitors and biocides should be
coupled with regular operational pigging to enhance their performance and efficiency. By
removing water hold-up and debris, pigging activities will allow chemical inhibitors to
effectively reach the pipeline wall to coat the whole internal surface of the pipe at regular
intervals.

Pig batching or pig train method to be adopted to ensure that the chemical coats the internal
pipe wall by retaining a slug of inhibitors between two batching pigs within a period of
retention of time.

The recommended pig types for operations and maintenance pigging are:

1. Foam Pig

2. Bi-Di Brush Cleaning Pig

Normally pigging frequency for each individual pipeline regardless of its services will be
determine based on risk assessment to ensure pipeline integrity is protected through operational
i.e. cleaning with the optimum cost. In general, typical frequency for operational pigging is
tabulated in APPENDIX 1. This can be determined in the next stage once the specific pipeline
material has been identified/selected and risk assessment is finalized.

1.3. INSPECTION
During operations, pipeline inspection from the interior of the pipeline is required for integrity
monitoring. A variety of in-line inspection tool may be employed for pipeline inspection purposes,
including detection of dents and buckles, corrosion pitting, cracks, spanning and burial, and
measurement of pipe wall thickness.

In-line inspection is intrusive, involving the insertion of the tool into the pipeline. Depending on
the operational criticality of the line, in-line inspection may cause some interruption to normal
pipeline operation. However, the advantage of ILI is that metal loss information is obtained for the
entire length of the pipeline.

Techniques available for the in ILI of metal loss based on pigging technology include:

1. Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL)

Page 4 of 12
 Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) pigs are the most common technology for pipeline metal loss
inspection. The technology is based on magnetising the pipe wall and sensing the leakage of
magnetic flux as a result of the presence of metal loss defects and/or other flaws. From the
MFL signal patterns it is also possible to identify other defect features such as girth welds,
seam welds, valves, fittings, adjacent metal objects, gouges, dents, mill defects, girth weld
cracks and large non-metallic inclusions.

Current technology has been made available to combined tools i.e. MFL with IEC (Eddy
Current Inspection) as attached in APPENDIX 2.

2. Ultrasonic Testing (UT)

Ultrasonic pigs utilise ultrasonic transducers that have a standoff distance to the pipe wall.
The transducers emit sound pulses, which are reflected at both the inner and outer surface of
the pipe wall. The time elapse detected from these two echoes gives a direct measurement
of the remaining wall thickness of the pipe. A typical UT pig has accuracy to within ±1mm of
wall thickness and 3-8 mm of defect size.

3. Remote Field Testing (RFT) for HDPE Lining

RFT inspection tools provide an improved probability of detection (P.O.D.) and exceptional
accuracy for sizing of corrosion pits and internal and external damage for pipelines lined with
cement, epoxy or polyethylene. This RFT method is to replace conventional tools that use
Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) that require intimate contact with the pipe wall in order to
achieve acceptable flaw sizing.

RFT technology works by detecting changes in an AC electromagnetic field generated by the

tool. As the field passes through the pipe wall it is attenuated and delayed (it becomes
stronger in areas of metal loss and the time delay is less). The field interactions are
measured by on board detectors, and subsequently processed on the tool itself using A/D
converters and DSPs. Once all the data is acquired, sophisticated analysis software is
applied to generate accurate information on the wall thickness of the line. Figure 1 (below)
schematically shows the magnetic coupling path between the exciter section of the tool and
the detector array

Page 5 of 12
 Figure 1: Magnetic Coupling Path between Excitor and Detector

4. Eddy Current for CRA

Eddy current testing is almost like RFT method. The main differences between RFT and
conventional eddy-current testing (ECT) is in the coil-to-coil spacing. The RFT probe has
widely spaced coils to pick up the through-transmission field. The typical ECT probe has coils
or coil sets that create a field and measure the response within a small area, close to the
object being tested.

1.4. PIGGING FACILITIES

For the water pipeline, temporary pigging facilities is recommended instead having a permanent
pigging facility as the frequency for the pipeline pigging is lesser compared to oil or gas pipeline.
The pigging facilities will depend on the pressure rating for each pipeline, as this will affect on the
major barrel and minor barrel thickness, valve and flange size.

For the normal operational pigging i.e. cleaning, temporary pigging facility can be accommodated
by providing enough space inside the plant boundary where pigging operator will assemble
portable pigging launcher/receiver to perform the activities as and when required.

As for the inspection and monitoring pigging activities, it will be based on the Risk Assessment
i.e. Risk Based Inspection (RBI), that will dictate what type of pigging facilities required. Typically,
when inspection and monitoring activities are required, larger space may be needed to
accommodate combined ILI inspection tools i.e.;

- Metal-loss / corrosion detection;

- Photographic inspection;

- Crack detection;

- Wax or scale deposition measurement;

Page 6 of 12
- Leak detection;

- Product sampling, and;

- Mapping

Compare to operational pigging requirement, only smaller space is required for the temporary
pigging facilities. Pig Valve can be considered to save space with optimum cost should only
operation pigging for cleaning is required. Pig Valve information is attached in APPENDIX 2.

Page 7 of 12
2. RECOMMENDATION
Summary of the recommended pigging requirement for varies of pipeline material option are tabulated as below. Details including
typical pigging requirement for industry is attached in APPENDIX 1

Carbon Steel Carbon Steel Carbon Steel

Non-Metallic
Criteria with CA / Carbon with Internal with Internal PE CS + CRA Clad Full CRA
Pipe (GRE/TCP)
Steel with CA + CI Coating (1) Lining
Cleaning & Cleaning &
Cleaning & Cleaning & Cleaning &
Pre-Commissioning Function Gauging (if Gauging (if Cleaning
Gauging Gauging Gauging
required) required)

Function Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning Cleaning

Foam Pig, Low Foam Pig, Low

Friction - brush Friction - brush
Foam Pig, Low Foam Pig, Low pig using Nylon, pig using Nylon,
Foam Pig, Bi-Di
Maintenance Pig Type Friction - pig Friction - pig urethane blade urethane blade Spheres
Brush Pig
brush using Nylon brush using Nylon or other or other
equivalent non- equivalent non-
ferrous material ferrous material

Periodic 3 to 6 months Once a Year Once a Year Once a Year Once a Year Once a Year
Maintenance (Cleaning) (Cleaning) (Cleaning) (Cleaning) (Cleaning) (Cleaning)

MFL / UT - May
require depends
Remote Field
the failure rate of
Type MFL / UT Testing (RFT) if MFL / IEC UT Not Required
internal coating
required
for/within 25year
Internal Inspection Design Life

1. Baseline survey To be based on To be based on 1. Baseline survey 1. Baseline survey

Periodic Survey after risk assessment risk assessment after after Not Required
commissioning i.e. Failure Rate i.e. Failure of the commissioning commissioning
Page 8 of 12
 Carbon Steel Carbon Steel Carbon Steel
Non-Metallic
Criteria with CA / Carbon with Internal with Internal PE CS + CRA Clad Full CRA
Pipe (GRE/TCP)
Steel with CA + CI Coating (1) Lining
2. Periodic
2. Periodic 2. Periodic
survey: every 5
of the Internal survey: To be survey: To be
years or to be Internal Liner
Coating based on risk based on risk
based on risk
assessment assessment
assessment
Temporary / Temporary / Temporary / Temporary / Temporary /
Pigging Facilities Pig Valve
Offline Offline Offline Offline Offline
Note:
1. Two types of internal coating considered:
 FBE
 Liquid Coating (i.e. Durapol UHT or Belzona 1381)

It is proposed to have 2 sets of temporary pig traps to be commonly used for the water transfer and water injection pipelines. The major
barrel to be 20-inch, following by 18-inch and 16-inch removable spool for minor barrel respectively. Spool adapter can be used to
interchange between #300 & #1500 flange rating during pigging.

Areas for temporary pigging facilities shall be identified at the vicinity of each pipelines once the pipeline material is finalized. A flanged
removable spool shall be included in the design of the pipeline upstream or downstream of the isolation valve to accommodate the
temporary pigging facilities. Typical pigging facilities arrangement is presented in Figure 2 below.

Page 9 of 12
Figure 2: Typical Pigging Facilities Arrangement

Page 10 of 12
APPENDIX 1: PWRI PIGGING ASSESSMENT TABLE

Page 11 of 12
APPENDIX 2: VENDOR INFORMATION (MFL/EC TOOLS & PIG VALVE)

Page 12 of 12