Pipeline Cleaning Services
Bringing innovation and evolution together
We have decades of experience servicing pipeline asset owners. This means our pipeline cleaning solutions are the result of understanding and overcoming customer challenges. Our service delivery is refined and improved with every pipeline cleaning service delivered, while we constantly devise innovative, specialist solutions to new challenges.
With product design, build and testing carried out in-house, our cleaning solutions, pipeline pigs and data gathering sensors will keep your pipelines clean and compliant. With our extensive in-house testing services capability, we test our cleaning solutions in the field for real-life verification. This ensures we meet any additional and unexpected challenges that arise during your pipeline cleaning program.
Your benefits of our cleaning services
Identifying and eliminating hidden threats for extended asset lifespan
Internal diameter maintained with no additional pumping costs
Executing cleaning runs without impacting productivity
Clean internal surfaces maximize system performance
Data logging and analysis provides traceability and service optimization guidance
Guarantee highest quality inspection data
Even during normal operations, deposits can accumulate in your pipeline, resulting in product contamination, accelerated corrosion and potential asset damage. Our cleaning tools and processes are proven and provide reliable solutions that should form the foundation of your pipeline healthcare strategy.
- Clean internals optimize corrosion inhibitor application and in-line inspection success
- Maintaining the internal diameter reduces operational costs
- Asset uptime and lifecycle is maximized
- Routine cleaning to remove accumulations in your pipelines prevents the need for more intensive procedures, like heavy duty cleaning.
Cleaning up pipeline issues before they develop
- Our operational cleaning tools can be used with the pipeline in service. The specialized design allows for a thorough descaling of the pipe walls, debris transportation and removal without impacting throughput.
- In-line inspections (ILI) enable you to monitor and record the condition of your pipeline. Executing a cleaning cycle prior to the inspection guarantees that the sensors in our inspection tools gather the highest quality data. This will provide the most accurate picture of pipeline condition.
- Our bypass cleaning pigs are designed to let flow pass through them so they clean the pipeline without it being taken out of service.
- Periodic cleaning eliminates harmful chemical reactions under deposits that lead to corrosion and metal loss, cracking and loss of asset integrity.
Gathering complete and accurate inspection data is vital to the successful maintenance of pipeline assets. A pre-inspection cleaning run should be considered a prerequisite to every scheduled in-line inspection (ILI).
- With our EcoSpeed and Passive and Active Speed Control technologies, the tool travel along the pipe slowly enough to clean thoroughly, even at high gas flow rates. The cleaning is completed without impact to throughput and with no loss of production revenue.
- Cleaning before an ILI means the data gathered during the ILI run is more likely to be complete and accurate. Decisions about future maintenance and requirements are made on high-quality data, extending the asset lifetime.
A data-driven service
Mapping, inspecting and condition monitoring of your pipeline network is a regulatory requirement. Our range of robust inspection tools can work with virtually any pipeline. To ensure this data is gathered without issue, it is important the pipeline is maintained in a clean condition.
We are trusted across multiple industries with the task of gathering, processing and storing data to ensure compliance. Our decades of experience means you can depend on us to put together a package that keeps your pipework in good condition and allows you to prove it, should this be required.
Remove stubborn pipeline debris
Difficult-to-remove pipeline deposits that have accumulated over time require a powerful solution. Our Heavy Duty Cleaning Service and range of Ultimate Cleaning Pigs, restore your heavily contaminated pipes to their original condition and optimal performance level.
- Removes the most stubborn pipeline deposits
- Proven to remove paraffin waxes, scales and asphaltenes
- Ideal precursor to intelligent pipeline inspection runs
Unblocking threats to your business
- Heavy duty cleaning protects against hidden threats such as corrosion under deposits. This can cause thinning of the pipe walls, potentially leading to a loss of containment that takes your pipeline out of service.
- Corrosion inhibitors work best when applied to a clean internal surface. Choosing an appropriate and effective cleaning approach provides another strategy to reduce corrosion threats.
- Our pigs utilize polyurethane sealing and guiding disc components. This material not only makes the tools wear-resistant but also protects the pipeline, allowing for a thorough but holistic approach to pipeline cleaning and debris removal.
Thorough cleaning with complete data
An operator’s duty of care extends to maintaining comprehensive records for each pipeline asset. This is where you can leverage our expertise to your advantage. Data acquisition, monitoring and reporting is an integral part of each of our services. Providing traceable records is an additional burden that we can relieve.
Heavy Duty Cleaning Service options
The Heavy Duty Cleaning Service is available with additional features. Pipeline data logging provides traceable results on the effectiveness of the cleaning, while ATEX-compliant options are available for hazardous areas.
- ATEX/Ex compliant tools
- Pipeline Data Logger
- Pig tracking instrumentation
Cleaning solutions for pipelines with complex geometries
No two pipelines are identical. Your asset faces unique challenges, such as complex geometry or sections where the internal diameter changes. Combining modules from our trusted range to create a bespoke tool is the optimal solution.
- A single pigging run using combined modules and tools for efficiency
- Complex geometries safely navigated
- Each custom solution uses proven, robust components
Your specification is our challenge
- Some equipment is not designed with maintenance in mind. When you take ownership of a new pipeline asset, there may not be an off-the-shelf solution for cleaning and inspection. We can design, assemble, test and dispatch a product in a timeframe that keeps you compliant.
- Where your maintenance plan calls for dewatering and your pipeline geometry has sections with intricate bends, a dual module tool can be used. Case studies have shown that even in complex pipe sections, a complete seal is achieved, and dewatering is confirmed by data analysis to have been carried out successfully.
- Our worldwide network of service centers and support teams provides comprehensive technical support. Your custom solution will be proven in our test field before it is dispatched to your site.
Solutions designed and performance analyzed
Challenging job specifications demand careful monitoring to ensure mission-critical goals are achieved. We can integrate a wide range of data logging and monitoring equipment into the cleaning tool so there is a traceable record of the work being completed successfully. As well as data gathering, processing and reporting, we store all logged data. This data will fulfill any regulatory requirements you may have.
Dual Module/Diameter Service options
As with all services in our fleet of cleaning pigs, dual module tools can be configured with multiple options so there is always an option available for your asset.
- Collapsible Umbrella Pull Units
- Diameter range from 6” to 48”
- Varying coupling mechanisms for safe passage through complex geometries
- Complete range of cleaning components such as brushes, magnets and bypass units
Safely maintain conflicting velocity differences
Cleaning high-throughput pipelines poses an intrinsic challenge. Productivity depends on maintaining a high flow product rate, even during cleaning, while cleaning is most effective when tools travel along the pipeline at slower velocities. Our Passive and Active Speed Control Systems effectively manage conflicting velocity differences, ensuring safe and efficient cleaning without compromising production revenues and delivering high-quality cleaning suitable for pre-ILI while minimizing abrasion between the tool and pipeline, particularly at lower speeds.
Active Speed Control Cleaning for challenging operations
Cleaning effectiveness can be compromised when a pipeline cleaning tool is propelled by high-rate flow. Our tools can be equipped with speed reduction technology, which allows a variable proportion of product flow to pass through the tool's core. Effective cleaning can be carried out at lower speeds in a single run without needing a costly, disruptive repeat run.
If your pipework requires a cleaning service that must be carried out at a constant speed, our Active Speed Control manipulates a bypass valve to achieve closed-loop control, independent of fluctuations in your flow rate. This makes a broader choice of tool configuration possible, so that we can provide you with a tailored cleaning service package.
Passive Speed Control Cleaning for high-velocity gas pipelines
The average operational flow in natural gas pipelines is around 8-10 m/s, but optimal cleaning performance is achieved around 3-5 m/s. Running cleaning tools at higher velocities can lead to inferior cleaning performance, in part due to the high abrasion on discs and cups on the cleaning pig.
Consequently, for cleaning programs to be most effective, high-velocity gas pipelines often require significant cutbacks to achieve safe and optimal cleaning operation parameters. Of course, lowering any asset's production speed also dramatically affects operations and financial performance.
Our Passive Speed Control Cleaning Technology, EcoSpeed, utilizes an integral mechanical bypass valve to provide this control. Using an EcoSpeed tool allows for a controlled reduction of velocities, typically by up to 7 m/s, ensuring high-quality cleaning results. With the help of the valve, part of the medium flows through the tool. Following, the differential pressure and, thus, the speed can be reduced. Good cleaning results are usually expected at velocities between 2 m/s and 7 m/s.
Gain deeper insights into our expertise
Watch our videos to learn more about how our pipeline cleaning services can enhance the integrity of your asset.