I was recently asked by a petroleum logistics company if PFP could assist in a pipeline pigging project. They requested for us to provide an alternative solution to the use of traditional hydraulic fracturing tanks.
While devising the specifications for the system, we considered application details such as flow rate, pressure, and connection size. In order to adequately filter the diesel fuel that was going to be sent downstream by the pigging tools, I suggested that they use a filter pressure vessel model with ANSI 300 flanges and twenty-two (22) filter elements. Since I didn’t know initially how much contamination to expect, I opted to include filter elements that were designed to hold the maximum amounts of particulate. This was an effort to minimize filter change-outs. In addition, in order to guarantee continuous flow during the entire pig run, I recommended that they utilize a duplex configuration (dual lines in parallel). This ensured that the process flow could be diverted to a second filter vessel when the filter elements in the first vessel needed to be changed.
When all was said and done, we had directly assisted them with implementing their entire oil pigging operation and helped them achieve acceptable diesel fuel quality, all without the use of frac tanks. We’re proud to say that the system we designed (along with our technical support) enabled the continuous flow of four (4) complete pigging runs! The executives at the petroleum handling company were all very happy with such an effective solution to using frac tanks… and especially with the amount of time and money that they saved in the process. Onward to the next project!
Do you have a question about pipeline filters or filtration? Feel free to contact us anytime. Our friendly team of experts will be happy to help you out with your particular issue.
