5 ms·

This is interesting, especially for me as one of the intrastate pipelines on the map crosses through my property. However, the article doesn't say what the "PI

This is interesting, especially for me as one of the intrastate pipelines on the map crosses through my property. However, the article doesn't say what the "PIG" is (but talks at length about how the "PIG" is "launched" or "received"). Wikipedia says it's basically a passive device that gets inserted into the pipeline and pushed along by the pressure to clean or inspect the inside of the pipe.

pfdietz 2y ago
I believe pig is a word, not an acronym, although maybe it's a bacronym now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging > Some early cleaning "pigs" were made from straw bales wrapped in barbed wire[4] while others used leather.[5] Both made a squealing noise while traveling through the pipe, sounding to some like a pig squealing,[6] which gave pigs their name.[7][8]
- philk10 2y ago
  I worked on a PIG app several years ago, fun project - https://atomicobject.com/portfolio/microline-embedded-software-development https://atomicobject.com/portfolio/microline-embedded-softwa...
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - Mistletoe 2y ago
    That’s really slick and looks easy to use, good job!
- cdibona 2y ago
  The smart pigs honestly look like a pigs snout flying down the pipe.
engineer_22 2y ago
I dont know about gas industry, but perhaps this will shed some light. In the drinking water industry the pig is a large foam block that is shoved in the pipe, and the weight of the fluid behind it drives it along. It is used to physically loosen the accumulated debris on the inside of the pipe. This debris concentrates behind the pig, and when the pig arrives at it's destination you remove the pig and allow the fluid (and debris) to discharge to waste for a period of time until the fluid runs clear. Some advancements include "ice pigs" which is just crushed ice. The advantage of an ice pig is you can hook up to a fire hydrant and pump the ice in, no need to access the mainline pipe itself. An ice pig will also disintegrate on its own, no need to remove it, just allow it to flow out of a downstream hydrant, any ice left behind isn't a problem.
- prometheus76 2y ago
  It's very similar in the natural gas industry. The "dumb" pigs are a piece of foam that is shoved into the pipe at the "pig launcher" and they use air pressure to push the pig through the pipe, where it is then caught in the "pig catcher". All the debris from fabrication of the pipeline is scrubbed out by the pig and removed at the pig catcher. Nowadays, they also have "smart pigs" that have sensors to detect gouges, dents, pipe wall that is too thin, etc. as the pig moves through the pipe, so that repairs can be made before the pipeline is filled with gas.
  - Scoundreller 2y ago
    Pigs are also used to separate products. Lots of pipelines can switch between different products and different grades of products (e.g. gasoline of different specs required for different areas, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel). I’m guessing those are usually “dumber” ones.
    - fuzzfactor 2y ago
      In the very long fuel pipelines a foam pig can not make the whole journey to the cargo's delivery point, so the different grades of gasoline, diesel, and blendstock are pumped sequentially back-to-back with no physical separation, resulting in many barrels of intermediate off-spec fuel that is designated transmix and segregated upon arrival. Inside the tank terminals I had to witness and certify the pigging after each parcel loaded, when one chemical was done and the line needed to be cleared and volumes accounted for before filling with a different chemical. Among many other more or less toxic things. Measurement training was not easy in the full-scale industrial environment but you can't really lead as well in the micro-scale activities without it.
nobodyknowin 2y ago
Exactly. The old ones were basically passive cleaners. The modern ones are full on inspection tools with cameras, magnometers, etc. We have a natural gas line running through one of our agency properties, and it was recently repaired due to the pig's findings. Basically the engineers running the pig mark sections of the pipe that need physical inspection. The crews come out, dig it up, and repair or replace a section depending on how bad it is. Or do nothing if the engineers see that it's nowhere near as bad as they thought.

pfdietz 2y ago

I believe pig is a word, not an acronym, although maybe it's a bacronym now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging > Some early cleaning "pigs" were made from straw bales wrapped in barbed wire[4] while others used leather.[5] Both made a squealing noise while traveling through the pipe, sounding to some like a pig squealing,[6] which gave pigs their name.[7][8]

philk10 2y ago
I worked on a PIG app several years ago, fun project - https://atomicobject.com/portfolio/microline-embedded-software-development https://atomicobject.com/portfolio/microline-embedded-softwa...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Mistletoe 2y ago
  That’s really slick and looks easy to use, good job!
cdibona 2y ago
The smart pigs honestly look like a pigs snout flying down the pipe.

engineer_22 2y ago

I dont know about gas industry, but perhaps this will shed some light. In the drinking water industry the pig is a large foam block that is shoved in the pipe, and the weight of the fluid behind it drives it along. It is used to physically loosen the accumulated debris on the inside of the pipe. This debris concentrates behind the pig, and when the pig arrives at it's destination you remove the pig and allow the fluid (and debris) to discharge to waste for a period of time until the fluid runs clear. Some advancements include "ice pigs" which is just crushed ice. The advantage of an ice pig is you can hook up to a fire hydrant and pump the ice in, no need to access the mainline pipe itself. An ice pig will also disintegrate on its own, no need to remove it, just allow it to flow out of a downstream hydrant, any ice left behind isn't a problem.

prometheus76 2y ago
It's very similar in the natural gas industry. The "dumb" pigs are a piece of foam that is shoved into the pipe at the "pig launcher" and they use air pressure to push the pig through the pipe, where it is then caught in the "pig catcher". All the debris from fabrication of the pipeline is scrubbed out by the pig and removed at the pig catcher. Nowadays, they also have "smart pigs" that have sensors to detect gouges, dents, pipe wall that is too thin, etc. as the pig moves through the pipe, so that repairs can be made before the pipeline is filled with gas.
- Scoundreller 2y ago
  Pigs are also used to separate products. Lots of pipelines can switch between different products and different grades of products (e.g. gasoline of different specs required for different areas, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel). I’m guessing those are usually “dumber” ones.
  - fuzzfactor 2y ago
    In the very long fuel pipelines a foam pig can not make the whole journey to the cargo's delivery point, so the different grades of gasoline, diesel, and blendstock are pumped sequentially back-to-back with no physical separation, resulting in many barrels of intermediate off-spec fuel that is designated transmix and segregated upon arrival. Inside the tank terminals I had to witness and certify the pigging after each parcel loaded, when one chemical was done and the line needed to be cleared and volumes accounted for before filling with a different chemical. Among many other more or less toxic things. Measurement training was not easy in the full-scale industrial environment but you can't really lead as well in the micro-scale activities without it.

nobodyknowin 2y ago

Exactly. The old ones were basically passive cleaners. The modern ones are full on inspection tools with cameras, magnometers, etc. We have a natural gas line running through one of our agency properties, and it was recently repaired due to the pig's findings. Basically the engineers running the pig mark sections of the pipe that need physical inspection. The crews come out, dig it up, and repair or replace a section depending on how bad it is. Or do nothing if the engineers see that it's nowhere near as bad as they thought.