Customer challenges
- Our customer had pipelines which had been severely plugged with heavy scale and debris
- The customer had been using a conventional cleaning method resulting in a baseline pipeline clearance time of at least two months
- This method involved running standard cleaning pigs in succession until a large enough bore could be created, thus enabling a large diameter pig with sealing properties to be run for additional acid/chemical cleaning
- Expro proposed a fit-for-purpose acid/chemical cleaning program solution aiming to cut remediation time in half, achieve cost savings and contribute to a reduced carbon footprint
Expro Excellence
- Our approach combined the deployment of gel pigs whilst batching acid/chemical cleaning products, allowing for immediate scale clean-up as opposed to the conventional method used previously
- The clean-up process was further accelerated through the application of a custom multiple double-inhibited acid product mix which was chased by chemical pills
- The enhanced sealing from the gel pigs increased the acid treatment run efficiency leading to a reduced number of required pig runs prior to the mechanical/ chemical cleaning runs
- As the customer did not place the line in service with hydrocarbons in between runs, the pipeline cleanliness was maintained and further reductions in batching chemicals with pigs were realized
Value to client
- Our tailored solution exceeded the customer’s expectations, leading to their expressed interest in using the same approach for future projects. Additionally, the gel pig technology introduced by Expro is being developed to enhance efficiency in other processes
- Expro completed the project in half the time of the standard cleaning approach, resulting in a 35% reduction in the customer’s overall costs
- The decrease in operational duration led to reduced run times for ancillary support equipment, which directly contributed to a lower overall carbon footprint for the project
