Procedure for:-

Diesel pipeline Dia 12” x 400M length, Cleaning with water

Prerequisite:

All the leaks are rectified and the pipeline is filled with water and hydrotested..

Procedure:

Cleaning of piping by circulation of water: Line flushing uses water from the
normal or firewater systems, whatever is available at site. Incase water is not
available at site, then alternative arrangement shall be made to deliver water
in road tankers.

This type of flushing normally involves taking a section of piping and flushing
it from a "startpoint" to an open end. A high velocity flow, in the order of 10-
13 ft/s should be achieved in order to be effective. In some circumstances
additional pumping capacity will be required. This method of cleaning is
effective in removing loose debris from pipework but not particularly effective
in removing loose rust and millscale from piping (or vessel) walls.

Fill and dump water flushing: Fill and dump flushing is often used for cleaning
vessels. The method being quite simple, the adequately vented vessel is filled
to the desired level with flush water and then dumped to grade, the flush
water dislodges loose debris and rust and carries it out of the equipment.
Note that some lines connected to the vessel can be flushed by dumping the
water through them. One major problem with this method is the disposal of
the large quantities of water involved.

The flushing limit shall be at least two times the capacity of the section being
cleaned, as per EI-1585 cl 6.1.11 guidelines

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Safety and Environment protection: -

The contaminated water shall be disposed as per Municipality guidelines.

Safety measures as required for Oil & Gas industry environment shall be
followed.

Soil contamination will not be allowed and Environment protection shall be

followed.

Equipment required: -.

1. Road tankers for water delivery

2. Air compressor with drier
3. Filling pumps
4. Flushing pumps
5. Receiving tanks
6. Draining tanks
7. Non/Hazardous waste Disposal trucks
8. Nitrogen (gas or tank) delivery

Cleaning and Drying of diesel pipeline with compressed dry air:

Two main methods can be used:

 Continuous blowing of air: Air is continuously blown from a source

(directly from Air Compressor or via a large capacity vessel) at a high
velocity through the lines (and vessels) to carry away the loose material.
Due to the high velocity of the air, a light erosion of the walls generally
occurs during the air blowing, which is beneficial with regards to
cleaning.
 Quick decompression: The pipeline will be filled with compressed air up
to the setting pressure of a rupture disk. When the rupture disk blows
out, the source of air is stopped and the pressure inside the network
decreases quickly. This operation will preferably be done using a "quick
opening valve" after having pressurized the network to the desired level

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 of pressure. The existing valves of the network should not be used for
this purpose, but additional valves should be provided specially for
these operations. The quick decompression causes a high velocity of air
in the pipes, thus removing loose material and performing a light
erosion on the walls which eliminate rust and scale.

During the cleaning operation, the air velocity shall be as follows:

In the liquid/fuel process lines, the velocity should be the lowest figure 30 m/s
and the velocity obtained at 1.3 time the maximum process flow rate. The
minimum velocity should be 150 m/s.Quick decompression method.
Compressed dry air will be continuously blown through one of the vent
nozzles and released through the nozzle at the other end, at intervals.

Pigging:

Pigging is practically the best method to be utilized for clearing the pipeline.

If the pigging facility is available at site, the line will be pigged to remove any
further water logged within the pipe line. Note:- Pigging equipment are not
included in present scope of works.

Nitrogen purging:

Upon completion of drying operation, all the valves will be closed and only the
inlet valve will be connected to the Nitrogen inlet line. The valve at other end
is break-open to release air, while nitrogen is filling. Once the pipeline is filled
with N2 to a pressure above one bar, all the valves will be closed and nitrogen
inlet connections will be disconnected. The pipeline is handed over back to
the client, with 1 bar Nitrogen pressure.

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