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Operation Pigging Philosophy
Operation Pigging Philosophy
MANUAL
PTS 30.40.10.30
OCTOBER 2011
2011 PETROLIAM NASIONAL BERHAD (PETRONAS)
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the permission of the copyright owner.
PTS 30.40.10.30
October 2011
Page 2
PREFACE
PETRONAS Technical Standards (PTS) publications reflect the views, at the time of publication, of
PETRONAS OPUs/Divisions.
They are based on the experience acquired during the involvement with the design, construction,
operation and maintenance of processing units and facilities. Where appropriate they are based on, or
reference is made to, national and international standards and codes of practice.
The objective is to set the recommended standard for good technical practice to be applied by
PETRONAS' OPUs in oil and gas production facilities, refineries, gas processing plants, chemical
plants, marketing facilities or any other such facility, and thereby to achieve maximum technical and
economic benefit from standardisation.
The information set forth in these publications is provided to users for their consideration and decision
to implement. This is of particular importance where PTS may not cover every requirement or diversity
of condition at each locality. The system of PTS is expected to be sufficiently flexible to allow individual
operating units to adapt the information set forth in PTS to their own environment and requirements.
When Contractors or Manufacturers/Suppliers use PTS they shall be solely responsible for the quality
of work and the attainment of the required design and engineering standards. In particular, for those
requirements not specifically covered, the Company will expect them to follow those design and
engineering practices which will achieve the same level of integrity as reflected in the PTS. If in doubt,
the Contractor or Manufacturer/Supplier shall, without detracting from his own responsibility, consult the
Company or its technical advisor.
Subject to any particular terms and conditions as may be set forth in specific agreements with users,
PETRONAS disclaims any liability of whatsoever nature for any damage (including injury or death)
suffered by any company or person whomsoever as a result of or in connection with the
use, application or implementation of any PTS, combination of PTS or any part thereof. The benefit of
this disclaimer shall inure in all respects to PETRONAS and/or any company affiliated
to PETRONAS that may issue PTS or require the use of PTS.
Without prejudice to any specific terms in respect of confidentiality under relevant contractual
arrangements, PTS shall not, without the prior written consent of PETRONAS, be disclosed by users to
any company or person whomsoever and the PTS shall be used exclusively for the purpose they have
been provided to the user. They shall be returned after use, including any copies which shall only be
made by users with the express prior written consent of PETRONAS. The copyright of PTS vests in
PETRONAS. Users shall arrange for PTS to be held in safe custody and PETRONAS may at any time
require information satisfactory to PETRONAS in order
to ascertain how users implement this requirement.
PTS 30.40.10.30
October 2011
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 4
1.1 DISTRIBUTION, INTENDED USE AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS ........... 4
2 SCOPE ........................................................................................................................ 4
3 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................. 5
3.1 GENERAL DEFINITIONS............................................................................................ 5
3.2 SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................ 6
3.3 CROSS-REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 6
4 PURPOSE OF PIGGING ............................................................................................ 7
4.1 CLEANING AND IMPROVING FLOW EFFICIENCY .................................................. 7
4.2 CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF PIPELINES ................................................................. 7
5 PHILOSOPHY OF PIGGING ...................................................................................... 8
5.1 NEW PIPELINES......................................................................................................... 8
5.2 PIPELINE NETWORK PIGGING................................................................................. 8
6 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 9
APPENDICES
This PTS specifies minimum requirements and gives guideline and recommendations
in conducting Operational Pigging as part of managing the integrity of pipelines system
in onshore and offshore installations.
The company pigging philosophy is reviewed from time to time as part of the
continuous development of pipeline integrity management concepts. This revision takes
into account recent experience of operating pipelines within PETRONAS and additional
requirements on inspecting pipelines.
This PTS is intended for use in oil refineries, gas plants, chemical plants, oil and gas
production facilities, supply/marketing installations, and pipelines system installations
within PETRONAS Group.
If national and/or local regulations exist in which some of the requirements may be
more stringent than in this PTS, the Contractor shall determine by careful scrutiny
which of the requirements are more stringent and which combination of requirements
will be acceptable as regards safety, environmental, economic, and legal aspects. In all
cases, the Contractor shall inform the Company of any deviation from the requirements
of this PTS which is considered to be necessary in order to comply with national and/or
local regulations. The Company may then negotiate with the Authorities concerned with
the object of obtaining agreement to follow this PTS as closely as possible.
2 SCOPE
This document presents the philosophy for the frequency at which these tools should
be used in order to maintain the integrity of pipelines.
Specific requirement for ILI and Pre-commissioning pigging is covered by the following:
The minimum technical requirements for Pigs for Use in Operational Pigging are
provided in PTS 30.40.60.32.
This PTS supersedes PTS 20.165 – Pigging Philosophy dated April 1990 which has
been withdrawn.
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October 2011
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3 DEFINITIONS
Authorities are governing bodies that regulate the operation and maintenance of liquid
hydrocarbon pipeline systems.
Company is the party which owns part or all of the pipeline systems. The Company will
generally specify the technical requirements. The Company may also include an agent
or consultant authorised to act for, and on behalf of, the Company.
Contractor is the party which engaged by the Company to carry out integrity
management and/or maintenance and/or operation activities for the pipeline systems.
The Company may undertake all or part of the duties of the Contractor.
Consultant is the party which provides technical consultancy services and expertise to
perform duties specified by the Company.
Operator is the party that owns or operate the pipeline system jointly with the
Company or otherwise.
Operational Pigging refers to the practice of using ‘pigs’ to enable routine pipeline
cleaning, flow assurance, and corrosion mitigation without interrupting the flow of the
product in the pipeline.
Pipeline System is all parts of physical facilities through which hydrocarbon moves in
transportation, including pipe, valves, fittings, flanges (including bolting and gaskets),
regulators, pressure vessels, pulsation dampeners, relief valves, and other
appurtenances attached to pipe, compressor units, metering stations, regulator
stations, and fabricated assemblies. Included within this definition are hydrocarbon
transmission and gathering lines, including appurtenances, that are installed offshore
for transporting hydrocarbon from production facilities to onshore locations and
hydrocarbon storage equipment of the closed pipe type, that is fabricated or forged
from pipe or fabricated from pipe and fittings.
Vendor is the party which supplies equipment and/or services to perform the duties
specified by the Company.
Gas lift lines Pipelines which carry gas for lifting/ injection from (Also
injection) production or gas lift compression platform to a
satellite platform.
Vent lines Pipelines used for venting the platform gas inventory.
3.3 CROSS-REFERENCES
Where cross-references to other parts of this PTS are made, the referenced section
number is shown in brackets. Other documents referenced in this PTS are listed in
Section 6.
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October 2011
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4 PURPOSE OF PIGGING
The main reason for requirement of pigging is to maintain the pipeline at its optimum
throughput capacity and also minimizing risk of pipeline failure due to internal
corrosion. The cleaning programme for the pipeline should be formulated so as to
minimise the buildup of wax and sand deposits, accumulation of debris and settlement
of liquids. If any of these conditions are expected during the lifetime of the pipeline,
then facilities for launching and receiving cleaning pigs should be installed.
The current PETRONAS philosophy is to assume that any of the above conditions
could occur and therefore to provide facilities for cleaning pigs, except for vent lines.
Chemicals used in treating oil and gas pipelines, such as pour-point depressants, flow
improvers, hydrate inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors, and biocides should be coupled with
regular operational pigging to enhance their performance and efficiency. By removing
water hold-up, debris and other possible deposits, 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 ensures that the chemical coats the internal pipe wall
by retaining a slug of inhibitor between two batching pigs.
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5 PHILOSOPHY OF PIGGING
The frequency of cleaning new pipelines shall be decided during FEED corrosion study.
The pigging programme for each pipeline should be risk-based and the risk shall be
evaluated periodically for any changes to the system such as:
Generally pigging of pipeline shall start at the furthest upstream leg of the network and
progress down towards the downstream section of the pipeline network. This is to
ensure effective removal of debris from the entire system.
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6 REFERENCES
PETRONAS STANDARDS
AMERICAN STANDARD
NORWEGIAN STANDARD
Offshore Standards
DNV-OS-F101 /RP116
Submarine Pipeline Systems
October 2007
Issued by:
Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
Veritasveien 1,
NO-1322 Høvik,
Norway.
Recommended Practice
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October 2011
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DNV-RP-F116
Integrity Management Of Submarine Pipeline Systems
October 2009
Issued by:
Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
Veritasveien 1,
NO-1322 Høvik,
Norway.
PTS 30.40.10.30
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APPENDIX 1 DIAGRAMATIC REPRESENTATION OF PIPELINE SCOPE BOUNDARIES