Our Services & Area of Expertise
Pipeline Pre-commissioning & Commissioning Services
Pre-commissioning
Engineering and Procurement
Pipelines Pigging and Testing
Cleaning - Pre-Inspection
Cleaning - General
Pipeline Water Flooding
Hydro-testing (Strength & Tightness Testing)
Pipeline Water Dewatering
Air & Nitrogen Drying and Inertisation
Electronically Geometrical Calliper Survey
ILI Inspections
Chemical Cleaning
Mechanical Cleaning
Nitrogen Services
Assistance to Commissioning & Commissioning
Decommissioning of Pipelines
Mothballing
Pipeline Maintenance Services
Tie-ins & Hot-Tapping
Process Pre-commissioning & Commissioning Services
Air Blowing
Oil Flushing
Nitrogen Services
Chemical Cleaning
Steam Blowing
Hydro-testing
Leak Testing
Flange Management Services
Bolt Torqueing Services
Bolt Tensioning Services
Manifolds Maintenance
Valves Testing
Shell Integrity Testing
Seat-Body Testing
(DBB) Double Bleed & Block Valves Testing
(SPE & DPE) Single & Double Piston Effect Testing
Preservation Services
Maintenance and Replacements
Pre-Comm - Pipelines Pigging
Pigging is completed to increase efficiency and avoid potential problems on existing pipelines, as well as to remove new construction debris and assist during hydrostatic testing.
Upon completion of pipeline construction, the line is required to be tested to prove its integrity. This testing can be completed with pneumatically with air or Nitrogen, or it can be completed with fluids such as water or glycol.
PPTS is not only capable of completing all forms of testing, but also has the global experience to complete testing effectively. For every test to be completed, we ensure procurement of best in industry scraping-pigging products, and we also provide an engineered procedure to be executed, as well as engineering support throughout.
Applications within the Energy Industry
Pipeline pre-commissioning
Pipelines maintenance
Line dewatering
Line drying
Product batching
Pre-Comm - Pipelines Water Filling
One of the most important areas in hydrostatic testing is the water fill and air removal step.
PPTS adheres to a standard industry pipeline filling procedure, utilizing a specialty tool called a “fill scraper tool,” which is propelled by the column of test water, eliminating any air that could cause a failed test.
Once filling is complete, the line will be pressured slightly (depends on hydrostatic head generated by change in pipeline elevations) and left for a number of hours until the pressure and temperature have equalized, prior to commencing the hydrostatic test.
Hydrostatic Testing
Pre-Comm - Pipelines Testing
Pipeline hydrostatic testing is one of the most popular procedures that can be performed on a pipeline to establish it’s operational fitness. Due to the normally high pressures required for these tests, safety and attention to detail when following industry procedures is of the utmost importance. Hydrostatic testing is necessary to both ensure a pipeline's integrity and to establish it’s MOAP (Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure).
Pipeline hydrostatic testing can sometimes be just as much art as science. Understanding the multitude of variables that can affect a test is important. Temperature, elevation, water source, air pockets and inadequate stabilization can all affect pressure and test outcome.
Hydrostatic testing begins after the pipeline has been filled with one of PPTS’s high flow pumps and is then brought to test pressure with a high pressure pump equipped with a stroke counter or accurate flow meter depending on the required SMYS (Specified Minimum Yield Strength).
PPTS’s Technicians then utilize certified/calibrated deadweights, recorders and digital/analog gauges to monitor and record pipeline pressure over the course of the test. Once the test is complete and the client is satisfied, PPTS Technicians carefully de-pressurize the line in accordance with industry code and standards.
Pre-Comm - Pipelines Dewatering
Once a hydrotest has been completed, the same scraper/pig tool as was used to fill the line will be run back to the launch site utilizing compressed air.
Pipeline dewatering can be one of the most dangerous procedures in the pre-commissioning process. This is due to the fact that air is compressible and water is not; large air pockets develop in front of the dewatering pig creating violent releases of air/water at the terminus.
PPTS Technicians monitor the pig as it dewaters so that valves and piping at the release point maintain a constant back-flow pressure to minimize danger to both personnel and equipment. Once pipeline dewatering is complete the drying process can commence.
Pipelines Pigging & Drying
The first step in the pre-commissioning process is to run cleaning pigs through the line to remove construction debris.
PPTS utilizes various types of cleaning pigs equipped with transmitters to clean not only construction debris but also mud, scale, and standing water.
After the de-watering phase is complete the process of pipeline drying can begin. Another series of cleaning pigs and soft foam swabs are sent through the line until all standing water and scale is removed. The line is then dried to the required dew point utilizing oil free compressors and desiccant dryers or nitrogen.
Pipeline drying normally specifies a -40° dew point, which is an indication of how much moisture the pipeline will contribute to the flow of gas.
Pipelines In-Line Inspection (ILI)
PPTS provides in-line inspection (ILI) services through it’s service-provider partners for pipelines in oil, gas and petrochemical industry using high resolution MFL (Magnetic Flux Leakage), Caliper Inspection (Electronically Geometrical Survey), Transverse Field Inspection (TFI), Ultra Crack Detection Inspection (UTCD), Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer Inspection (EMAT) and Ultrasonic Inspection (UT).
Pipeline Chemical Cleaning
PPTS services include mechanical and chemical-mechanical cleaning of pipelines. Chemical-Mechanical Cleaning covers a wide range of services from new construction to ongoing maintenance activities.
New construction facilities are often subjected to a cleaning process prior to start-up.
For the implementation of these works we use different types of purpose-built pigs. Our equipment is completed by the use of oil separators, silencers and closed tank systems.
During the mechanical cleaning we use pigs which are specially adapted to the contaminated pipeline. Propelled by compressed air, water or the product the pigs clean the pipelines by rubbing or scraping. Moreover, they can be equipped with different tools. This allows an efficient removal of deposit.
The process of several consecutive cleaning pigs with chemical cleaners between the pigs is called chemical-mechanical cleaning batch.
The individual pigs and chemical cleaners are used to dissolve and remove the disposal. For this process only small quantities of debris respectively chemical cleaners must be disposed. Clean water is used between the last two cleaning pigs, so that finally an analysis can be made.
In chemical-mechanical cleaning we use e.g. biodegradable cleaning agents. This allows an environmentally friendly and safe working.
Nitrogen Services
Safety is at a premium in any environment where hydrocarbons are present.
Purging and Drying using N2 offer a number of advantages for drying operations. Nitrogen provides an inert atmosphere for long-term preservation once the drying process is completed.
PPTS provides N2 services for the following applications:
Purging - displacement / pressure cycle
Leak testing
Pigging
Drying
Pressure testing
Batching
Decruding and Dewatering
Mothballing
Variety of pipelines pre-commissioning & decommissioning operations
Decommissioning Services
PPTS offers a range of abandonment services, onsite management, and re-certification services.
Pipelines can be flushed and cleaned via chemical and/or mechanical methods for in-situ abandonment or where required, mothballed for future use. Pipelines and processing facilities can be made safe via cleaning, flushing and inerting for rapid removal via cutting or bolting services.
PPTS team has the experience and proven technics to help clients to cost-effectively decommission pipelines and process systems in ways which are both safe and environmentally responsible.
Valves Testing Services
Shell Integrity Testing
Seat-Body Testing
(DBB) Double Bleed & Block Valves Testing
(SPE & DPE) Single & Double Piston Effect Testing
Preservation Services
Maintenance and Replacements
Engineering
PPTS provides expertise in numerous areas of engineering and procedure writing-preperation, including but not limit to:
Pipelines and Process:
Pre-commissioning
Assistance to Commissioning & Commissioning
Decommissioning
Mothballing
Pipeline Maintenance Services
Tie-ins & Hot-Tapping