Pig Launcher Oil Removal 1

[AlaskanME]

Hello,

I am currently tasked with improving our pig launcher oil removal methods and wanted to see how other pipeline operators do it.

We currently have a 12" crude line with a 16" diameter launcher that collects about 115 gallons of crude after a pig launch. The current procedure is to hook up a vac-truck (expensive) to the low point drain and suck the oil out and dispose of it off-site. Pigs are launched once a week.

One idea is to install a manually operated pump to the low point drain (open launcher HPV while the pump is on) of the launcher barrel and inject the crude back into the line at pipeline pressure. The other idea is to install a sump and contain the multiple launches worth of oil and have the vac-truck come by and suck it out (the oil would free drain to the sump).

Let me know what your company does please.

 

[georgeverghese]

Use high pressure gas or high pressure N2 to pressurise the barrel; then drain out / recycle the residual oil back into process ?

 

[LittleInch]

well for pigging once a week it opens up many more possibilities that are reasonable to spend some money on.

The pump out idea sounds good to me - I wasn't sure what you meant by "manually operated". If you're doing this once a week a portable PD pump, possibly air powered would do the job.

Most times it just goes to a sump or you whistle up a vac truck because pigging is relatively infrequent - every 3-6 months is common on lots of systems, but anything like every to weeks or more frequent, you want a more practical arrangement with lower OPEX costs

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[AlaskanME]

Thanks guys, I like the idea of the portable air powered pump. The injection pump is looking more favorable than the sump design the more I think about it (Less piping, no risk of sump leaking to soil, no level alarms).