Engineering Standard

SAES-L-388 4 November 2013

Pipelines Cleanliness Requirements for Hydrocarbon Services
Document Responsibility: Materials and Corrosion Control Standards Committee

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Table of Contents

1 Scope………………………………………..…. 2
2 Conflicts and Deviations……………………… 2
3 References…………………………………….. 2
4 General………………………………….……… 3
5 Cleaning Procedure………………………..….. 3
6 Acceptance and Validation
of Pipelines Cleaning……………….…… 3
7 Solids Loading Limits……………………….… 3
8 Evaluating Cleaning Performance…………... 4

Previous Issue: New Next Planned Update: 4 November 2018

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Primary contacts: Al-Musalami, Faiz Hijji on +966-13-8809569 and
Al-Abdulmohsin, Nader Mohammed on +966-13-8809551

Copyright©Saudi Aramco 2013. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Materials and Corrosion Control Standards Committee SAES-L-388
Issue Date: 4 November 2013
Next Planned Update: 4 November 2018 Pipelines Cleanliness Requirements for Hydrocarbon Services

1 Scope

The scope of this standard establishes the minimum cleanliness requirements for
pipelines transporting hydrocarbon services specified in Table 1 to meet, at least, the
acceptance criteria.

It is necessary to clean newly constructed hydrocarbon services pipelines as part of the

commissioning activities and periodically thereafter as determined by Consulting
Services Department (CSD). This is to minimize black powder formation in order to
assure efficient pipelines operations.

Use applicable procedures listed in SAEP-388 to accomplish and maintain the

minimum acceptance requirements of cleanliness specified herein. The minimum
cleanliness requirements for pipelines transporting other hydrocarbon services shall be
evaluated and specified by CSD and PD.

2 Conflicts and Deviations

2.1 Any conflicts between this Standard and other applicable Saudi Aramco
Engineering Standards (SAESs), Materials System Specifications (SAMSSs),
Standard Drawings (SASDs) or industry standards, codes and forms shall be
resolved in writing through the Manager, Consulting Services Department,
Saudi Aramco, Dhahran.

2.2 Direct all requests to deviate from this Standard in writing using the internal
company procedure SAEP-302 and forward such requests to the Manager,
Consulting Services Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran. Pipelines
Department’s Manager should also endorse any deviation request.

3 References

The following documents apply as referenced in this standard.

 Saudi Aramco References

Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedures

SAEP-388 Cleaning of Pipelines
SAEP-302 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver of a Mandatory
Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

Saudi Aramco Engineering Standard

SAES-A-007 Hydrostatic Testing Fluids and Lay-up Procedures

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Document Responsibility: Materials and Corrosion Control Standards Committee SAES-L-388
Issue Date: 4 November 2013
Next Planned Update: 4 November 2018 Pipelines Cleanliness Requirements for Hydrocarbon Services

Saudi Aramco Engineering Report

SAER-2365 Saudi Aramco Mothball Manual

Saudi Aramco Manual

Saudi Aramco Construction Safety Manual

4 General

Pipelines are either precommission cleaned to remove grease and oil, mill scale,
corrosion products, etc., or postcommission cleaned to remove fouling which
accumulates while the line is in service to meet the cleanliness criteria specified in this
standard. Fouling normally includes but may not be limited to black powder, rust, mill
scale, grease, weld spatters, stones, sand, etc.

5 Cleaning Procedure

Cleaning of hydrocarbon services pipelines is performed as per applicable procedures

covered under SAEP-388.

6 Acceptance and Validation of Pipelines Cleaning

The objective of specifying the acceptance criteria of pipelines cleanliness is to verify

the efficiency of the cleaning procedure to meet end-users requirements. Hydrocarbon
services pipelines cleaning validation should follow “test-until-clean” concept, which
involves cleaning, sampling and testing with repetition of this sequence until an
acceptable “solids loading” limit is attained as stated in Section 7.

7 Solids Loading Limits

Solids loading is the ratio of the weight of solids in a cleaning sample divided by the
volume of that sample; typically expressed in mg/Liter.

Solids Loading = Mass of solids (mg) / Volume of sample (Liter)

The approach for setting the solid loading limits is based on the hydrocarbon services
specifications and end-users requirements.

Table 1 shows the solid loading limits for hydrocarbon services. For solid loading
limits of other hydrocarbon services, please contact the Materials and Corrosion Control
Standards Committee.

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Document Responsibility: Materials and Corrosion Control Standards Committee SAES-L-388
Issue Date: 4 November 2013
Next Planned Update: 4 November 2018 Pipelines Cleanliness Requirements for Hydrocarbon Services

Table 1 - Solids Loading Maximum Limits for Hydrocarbon Services

Cleanliness Criteria
Hydrocarbon Services
(solids loading limits)
Kerosene 2 grams/Liter
Jet Fuel 2 grams/Liter
Diesel 5 grams/Liter
Naphtha 5 grams/Liter
Sales Gas 5 grams/Liter
Ethane, Propane, Butane, Natural Gas, C2+ NGL 5 grams/Liter

8 Evaluating Cleaning Performance

PD/Pipelines Technical Support Division (PTSD) shall review the solid loading results
to ascertain that the job has been successfully completed and met the above acceptance
criteria. PTSD shall address any deviation of the solid loading results with CSD.

Revision Summary
4 November 2013 New Saudi Aramco Engineering Standard.

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