MODULE 5

BASIC PIG TYPES

AND THEIR USES

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.0 of course notes

Pipeline Pigs

Utility Pigs Specialist Pigs

Metal body Foam pigs Spheres Solid cast De-scaling Pigs Intelligent Pigs Others
or mandrel
pigs
pigs

1. Pinwheel pig 1 Corrosion mapping 1.Dual diameter

2. Plough blade pig 2 Geometry mapping 2. Gell slugs
1. Bi-Directional 1. Solid 3. Caliper 3. Plug Pigs
2. Uni-Directional 2. Inflatable 4. Crack detection 4. Hyperbaric
3. Scraper
5. Acoustic 5. Pressure by-pass
4. Magnetic
5. Brush 1. Uncoated
2. Coated

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 MODULE 5 BASIC UTILITY PIGS AND THEIR USES
WATER LIGHT HEAVY
PIG TYPE FILL CONDENSATE WAX DEBRIS DEBRIS SCALE DUST
SWABBING BATCHING REMOVAL REMOVAL REMOVAL REMOVAL REMOVAL REMOVAL REMOVAL

SPHERE

FOAM
WITH
BRUSHES

BI-DID
WITH WITH WITH
BLADES BRUSHES BRUSHES

CUP/CONICAL
WITH WITH
BRUSHES BRUSHES

SOLID CAST
WITH WITH
BLADES BRUSHES

DO NOT USE NOT RECOMMENDED OK TO USE

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 MODULE 5 BASIC UTILITY PIGS AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.1 of course notes

SPHERE PIG USES

• Condensate removal
• Batching
• Water fill/removal
• Multiple automatic launching systems

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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SPHERES
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

• Single body, no bolt on • Limited effectiveness

discs or cups. with debris removal.
• Able to negotiate very • Easily lost in the
tight bend. pipeline.
• Suitable for automatic • Pipeline requires
pigging systems. special sphere Tee’s.
• Can negotiate significant • Has a very short life
reductions in pipe span.
diameter.
• Bi-directional.
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.1 of course notes

SPHERES
Foam-core Inflatable Sphere Pig
Pollyurethane Sphere
Pig

Foam filled polyurethane spheres offer longer life plus

flexibility. Unlike inflatable spheres, these spheres won't
blow-out or deflate in the line.

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 MODULE5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.1 of course notes

SPHERES

A variation on the sphere pig developed by Knapp

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 MODULE5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM PIG USES

• De-watering
• Batching
• Drying/wiping
• Light/Moderate cleaning
• Light Scraping
• Chaser

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM
Foam pigs, or Polly pigs, are manufactured from open cell
polyurethane foam. The foam is of various densities

• Low Density (2 lbs/ft3),

• Medium Density (5-8 lbs/ft3)
• High Density (9-10 lbs/ft3).

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM
Advantages
• They are compressible, expandable, light weight, and flexible.
• They will travel through multiple diameter pipelines.
• They will go around mitered bends, and short radius 90º bends.
• They will make abrupt turns in tees so laterals can be cleaned.
• They will go through valves with as little as 65% opening.
• They are inexpensive
• They are bi-directional
.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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FOAM

Disadvantages

• They are a one time use product

• Only suitable for shorter length of runs
• They often break up and disapear down offtakes.
• They have limited effectiveness for scale and wax
removal

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM

Low density uncoated

foam. Suitable as a
proving pig or when
pressures are very low.
Can be used for
condensate removal but
prone to breaking up in the
pipeline.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM
Wirebrush foam Pig
Designed for scraping.
Brushes are imbeded into the
body of the pig over its entire
surface. Suitable for preparing
the surface of new pipe for
internal coatings.
Should be used only in single-
dimension lines.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM
Heavy Density Criss
Cross wirebrush
foam polyurethane
coating with spiral
configuration wire brush
straps.
Designed for heavy
scraping but not suitable
for hard/heavy scale.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.2 of course notes

FOAM

Low density Criss-cross

polly coated foam
Suitable for swabing,
condensate removal
and batching. Also
useful as a first run on a
proving operation.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.3 of course notes

SOLID CAST POLYURETHANE

Solid-cast disc utility pigs are

primarily used for product
removal, batching, hydrostatic
testing, and paraffin, debris or
other buildup removal. Various
configurations are available and
can accommodate brushes for
cleaning operations.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.3 of course notes

SOLID CAST POLYURETHANE

Solid-cast cup utility pig.

Primarily used for product
removal, batching, hydrostatic
testing. They may also be used
for paraffin, debris or other
buildup removal but are less
effective than the disc cast type
pig.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.3 of course notes

SOLID CAST POLYURETHANE PIGS

Advantages

• Will negotiate tight bends

• Can negotiate dual diameters
• They are relatively cheap
• They are suitable for lined pipe
• They need no special skills
• They are light
• They can be bi-directional
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.3 of course notes

SOLID CAST POLYURETHANE PIGS

Disadsvantages

• They are a throw away product

• They are not suitable for heavy cleaning

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.4 of course notes

MANDREL PIG USES

Mandrel pigs are very versitile and can be configured in a wide
veriety of ways

• De-watering • General debris removal

• Condensate removal • Batching
• Wax removal • Corosion mitigation
• Scraping

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDREL PIGS
Advantages

• They can be tailored to suit most situations

• They can be used time after time
• They can negotiate tight bends
• They incorporate by-pass
• Disc type pigs are bi-directional

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDREL PIGS
Disadvantages

• They are more expensive

• They require more knowledge to use
effectively

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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NC: Nose cone.

GD: Guide disc
(normally same dia
as pipe ID).
Mandrill
SP: Separator disc.
NC SD: seal disc
SP SP
(normally 5%-10%
GD GD
SD SD GP greated than pipe ID).
GP: Gauge plate.
BI-DIRECTIONAL PIG
Cross Section

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDREL PIGS
Mandrel pig fitted with cup
seals.Primarily used for
evacuating air and liquid ,
routine batching operations,
and product removal. Not
recommended for debris
removal as the cups tend to
ride over the debris.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDREL PIGS
Mandrel pig fitted with disc seals.
Can be used in this configuration
for batching, separating,
Condensate and wax removal.
Discs form a good seal with the
pipe and will push debris in front
as the pig moves in the line. There
are many combinations possible
with this pig type.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.6 of course notes

MANDREL PIGS

Mandrel pig fitted with conical cup

seals and spring loaded wire
brushes. The brushes are designed
to remove hard debris from the pipe
wall, but this is reletively inefficient
and of no use at all for scale
removal.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.6 of course notes

MANDREL PIGS

Circular Brush pig Primarily

used for pre-commissioning
activities and on-stream
cleaning of crude oil, refined
product, and natural gas
pipelines where rust,
millscale, sand, organic
growth, mud, oxides, and
other foreign matter exist.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.6 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Magnets Wire brushes Seal disc

Guide/support disc

Soft nose cone

Spacer disc
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.7 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Mandrel pig fitted with
polyurethane scraper blades. Can
be used for evacuating air and
liquid, routine batching
operations, and product removal.
The addition of urethane blades
improves its effectiveness for de-
waxing.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.7 of course notes

Polyurethane Scraper
Blades

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.8 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Magnetic pig. Permanent
magnets are bolted to the
mandrel. Ferrous materials such
as welding rods, nuts bolts, steel
shot , brush needles and
metallic dust can be more
effectively removed from the
pipeline by this type of pig. It is
advisable to run this pig before
an Intelligent pig as such debris
can cause problems for the IP.
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES

MANDRILL PIGS
Aluminium gauge plate which
can be bolted onto various utility
pigs. The diameter of the disc is
always less than the minimum
internal diameter of the pipeline.
Most commonly 85-95% of
internal ID. Damage to the plate
indicates ID restrictions, but this
can also be caused by sharp
bends and partially closed valves

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES

MANDRILL PIGS
Construction

• Body
• Bypass
• Seal material
• Seal design
• Attachments

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.1 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Body

• Usually made from steel for strength

• Should be light to reduce seal wear
• It is usually a hollow construction
• Can be used to house instruments (typ pig
transmitter)

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.2 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
By-pass
• By-pass can be adjusted using removable plugs on
mandrill
• Bypass on pig is generally 5% of pipe cross section
• It allows some control over pig speed
• It prevents debris build up in front of pig
• By-pass is not generally used with low flow pipelines
• By-pass can allow pig to be driven by front seals

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDRILL PIGS
By-pass •By-pass enters the pig through
removable plugs at the rear of
pig.
•Bypass exits mandrill though
holes.
•By-pass travels through brushes
to aid cleaning.
•By-pass enables drive by front
cups, preventing nosing in.
•By-pass re-enters mandril and
exits through the front of pig.
•By-pass is adjusted by removing
plugs fitted to the pig.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.3 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Disc Materials

• The most common material for seals is polyurethane

• Polyurethane comes in different grades of hardness
ranging from 60-85 Shore ‘A’
• The higher the hardness the greater the wear resistance
• “Omnithane” has a greater wear resistance to standard
polyurethane and can be used for long dry gas lines

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.4 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS

Disc Properties

• Bi-direrectional.

• More efficient at
removing debris.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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MANDRILL PIGS

Cup Properties
• Uni-directional.
• Tend to ride over
debris.
• Limited ability to
negotiate ID
reductions (5%).

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.4 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS

Conical Cup Properties

• Uni-directional.
• Tend to ride over
debris.
• Can negotiate up
to 20% ID
reductions.

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES

MANDRILL PIGS
Attachments

• Brushes (coil spring, cantilever spring, leaf spring, circular

Used for the removal of scales, sand and light debris.
• Wax scrapers:
Used for the removal of wax from the pipe wall.
• Magnets
Used for the removal of metallic debris (usually on
commissioning.
• Spring loaded wheels:
Used to centralize pig and reduce seal wear.
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.5.9 of course notes

MANDRILL PIGS
Example of Mandrill Pig Versatility Special pig design for
the removal pf black
powder from Dry gas
line.
•Spring loaded wheels
to reduce cup ware.
•Magnetic wire brushes
to attract powder.
•Special design by-pass
to keep dust from
forming a blockage.
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.6 of course notes

How to Select the Correct Pig

The Following Questions Need to be Answered

• What are the objectives to be achieved

• What are the pipeline constraints
• What are the operational constraints

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
Reference 5.6 of course notes

How to Select the Correct Pig

Objectives

• Swabbing • Scale removal

• Light debris removal • Condensate removal
• Batching • Dust removal
• Heavy debris removal • Wax removal
• Water fill/removal • Corrosion mitigation

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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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How to Select the Correct Pig

Pipeline Constraints
• Is the pipeline coated
• What is min/max ID
• How far must the pig travel
• What is the minimum bend radius
• What is the distance between offtakes
• Are Tees barred
• Are sphere Tees fitted
• What type of valves are fitted
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 MODULE 5 BASIC PIG TYPES AND THEIR USES
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How to Select the Correct Pig

Operational Constraints

• Content liquid/gas
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Velocity
• Are there any dangerous substances to be removed
• How much debris is expected

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