How many times do we see or hear that we need to cut down on this or that to prevent our arteries from furring up that could lead to a blockage with potential fatal consequences.

 

The same can be said of pipeline systems, although one of the most cost effect remedies may be to fight fire with fire.

 

Oh no PIGS!

In the past pigging tools have sometimes been viewed with suspicions as a basic description for a pig as given in ‘All about Pigging’ is ‘a moving blockage’.

 

The past suspicions of having ‘a moving blockage’ in a pipeline and the potential problems that the blockage could cause i.e. the product stops moving and therefore the money stops too; seems to be on the wane and finally operators are coming around to the value of carrying out pigging programmes.

 

Health benefits for all

The long term benefits of pigging a line far outway the head in the sand syndrome that seems to have been an industry norm for many years.

 

As well as keeping the internal pipeline clean the pigging operation forces the operational use of the ancillary equipment keeping it in good working order.

 

Many times it is the actual logistics of executing a pigging operation such as opening and closing pig traps and valves that cause operational problems and this in turn has caused the unwarranted bad name that some people give to pigging.

 

 

The future

 

So let’s get pigging back on track and get all the pipelines back to into tip top health, and who knows, maybe nano pigging of our own body’s pipelines could be the next big thing?