KR101806859B1 - Apparatus and method for cleaning of pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning a pipe according to the present invention comprises: a pig main body disposed within a pipe, and moving by being pulled by fluid transferred within the pipe; and a steam injection unit provided in the pig main body, and configured to inject steam from a front side of the pig main body, thereby cleaning the pipe by performing high temperature steam injection.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING OF PIPE [0002]

The present invention relates to a pipe cleaning device and a cleaning method, and more particularly, to a pipe cleaning device and a cleaning method for cleaning a pipe with a pigging system.

In order to transport drilled natural gas, it is necessary to install several hundred km long natural gas pipelines for a short distance.

Since these pipelines are exposed to the outside, hydrocarbons of high carbon rings (C5 ~) contained in natural gas are condensed and deposited in the middle of the pipeline, and foreign substances such as tar and minerals contained in the natural gas And is attached to the inner wall of the line to form a scale in the piping.

This reduces the inner diameter of the pipe through which the gas passes, increasing the resistance to gas movement and increasing the energy consumption of the compressor used in the pipeline.

In order to prevent this phenomenon, pressure is monitored throughout the pipeline and the pipeline is cleaned periodically by injecting a pig, or gas line cleaning device.

In this way, the pig is injected into the pipe and moves from the injection part to the discharge part according to the pressure deviation of the pipeline, closely contacting the inner wall of the pipe, and pushing out the foreign material on the inner wall of the pipe.

However, if the inside of the piping is contaminated or the length of the pipeline is long, the friction occurs continuously at the front end of the pig, and the amount of the foreign substance to be pushed increases, thereby causing a problem of the gas transportation.

Specifically, the foreign substances deposited on the inner wall of the piping of the natural gas pipeline are hydrocarbons that are relatively easily viscous and easily condensed due to their low boiling point.

These hydrocarbons are drilled simultaneously with natural gas when they are drilled in natural gas wells, they are part of natural gas and transported to NGL plant (natural gas liquefaction plant), and most of them are recovered from NGL plant.

However, hydrocarbons whose boiling points are below room temperature among the components contained in the natural gas are condensed during transfer and deposited inside the piping.

Particularly, in the case of natural gas transfer pipe, it is often exposed to the outside, and it is affected by the weather condition. In the case of the pipeline installed in the desert terrain where the average temperature is low in Eastern Europe or in the after- The amount of the foreign matter to be added is increased.

The hydrocarbons deposited in this way have a low viscosity, so that they are not peeled off from the inner wall of the pipe being conveyed at high pressure, but are gradually scaled down to narrow the inside diameter of the pipe, and if not properly treated, the inside of the pipe becomes clogged.

In addition, if a certain amount or more is attached, even if the pig is injected and cleaned in the pipe, the movement of the pig becomes difficult due to a high coefficient of friction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a piping cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning a piping while spraying high-temperature steam.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a piping cleaning apparatus comprising: a piping body disposed in a piping body and pushed by a fluid conveyed in the piping; And a steam jetting unit provided on the pig body and configured to jet steam at a front side of the pig body.

In this case, the pig body is a cylindrical member whose front face is opened, and a scrubber for scraping off foreign matters adhered to the inner surface of the pipe is mounted at the front end, and the steam injection unit is installed inside the pig body, A steam generator for generating steam; And a steam spraying part extending from the steam generating part to the front side of the pig body and spraying steam.

At this time, the steam generating unit may include: a water tube having a heating member mounted therein; And a battery for supplying electric power to the heating member.

The steam jetting unit may further include: a steam passing pipe extending from the water tub to a front side of the pig body; And a spray pipe communicating with the front end of the steam pipe and having an injection port.

Specifically, the injection port may be formed on the front surface of the front end of the injection pipe, and a plurality of the injection ports may be disposed along the outer circumference of the injection pipe.

Furthermore, the present invention may further comprise a inner tube which is disposed inwardly of the main body and extends to the front side of the main body, and whose front surface is open.

Here, the inner cylinder may have a structure in which the inner diameter becomes relatively small from the front end portion to the end portion side, and becomes larger in the form of a hopper.

In addition, the inner tube may have a structure in which the side walls are formed in two layers, and dry ice is filled between two layers of the side walls.

The scrubber is made of a silicon material and can be made thinner toward the end.

In addition, the pig body may have a plurality of wheels mounted along the outer periphery thereof.

In addition, the wheel is elastic and may be connected to the main body by an elastic member.

Furthermore, the position sensor transmitter may be mounted on the main body so that the position of the main body is detected in the pipe.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a piping system comprising: a device disposing step of disposing a piping cleaning apparatus described above in a piping to move the piping cleaning apparatus to a transfer pressure of a fluid conveyed in the piping; A foreign matter removing step of scraping the foreign material on the inner surface of the pipe with the scrubber while the steam is sprayed to the steam spraying unit of the pipe cleaning device in the process of moving the pipe cleaning device in the device arrangement step; And a device removing step of removing the pipe cleaning device from the pipe.

Furthermore, the present invention may further include a foreign matter collecting step of collecting foreign matter removed by the pipe cleaning apparatus in an internal space of the pipe cleaning apparatus during the movement of the pipe cleaning apparatus in the apparatus disposal step.

In the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, since the steam injection unit is configured to spray hot steam at the front side of the pig body, foreign matter including hydrocarbons can be easily scraped off by the scrubber as the viscosity of the sticky hydrocarbons is lowered It has an effect.

Further, in the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the hydrocarbon contained in the foreign substance can be heated and evaporated by the high-temperature steam, and the vaporized hydrocarbon can be accommodated separately in the inner cylinder disposed in the main body of the pig, Is cooled again by the dry ice filled in the inner wall of the two-ply structure of the inner tube, and thus a larger amount of liquid can be safely stored.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a pipe cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pipe cleaning apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig.
3 is an enlarged view showing a front portion of the pipe cleaning apparatus of Fig.
Fig. 4 is a view showing that the pipe cleaning apparatus of Fig. 2 removes foreign matter in the pipe.
5 is a view showing a launching part or a receiving part for emitting or receiving a pipe cleaning device in a pipe.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a piping cleaning method by the piping cleaning apparatus of Fig. 1;

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout the drawings, even if they are shown on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pipe cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the pipe cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a front portion of the pipe cleaning apparatus of FIG. And Fig. 4 is a view showing that the pipe cleaning apparatus of Fig. 2 removes foreign matters in the pipe.

Referring to the drawings, a pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a pig body 100 and a steam injection unit 200.

Here, the pig body 100 is disposed in the pipe 1 and configured to be pushed by the fluid conveyed in the pipe 1.

Specifically, the pig body 100 is a cylindrical member whose front surface is opened, and a scrubber 110, which scrapes and removes foreign matter adhered to the inner surface of the pipe 1, is mounted at a front end thereof.

At this time, the outer diameter of the pig body 100 is formed to be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe 1, and the pipe body 100 can be arranged and moved in the pipe 1.

The scrubber 110 has an outer diameter which is smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe 1 but has substantially the same outer diameter so that the scrubber 110 scrapes the foreign matter adhering to the inner surface of the pipe 1 while moving in the pipe 1, Drop.

The scrubber 110 has a structure that becomes thinner toward the end (front end) side. In the process of moving the pipe scrubber in the advancing direction, a scrubber 110, which is the first portion that comes into contact with foreign matter adhered to the inner surface of the pipe 1, The end of the pipe 110 has a blade shape like a sharp knife, so that the foreign matter can be easily and efficiently scraped off from the inner surface of the pipe 1.

Further, since the scrubber 110 is made of a silicon material, it is possible to minimize the frictional damage to the inner surface of the pipe 1.

The foreign matter separated from the inner surface of the pipe 1 by the scrubber 110 is drawn into the internal space of the main body 100 through the front opening of the main body 100 and accommodated and stored .

The steam injection unit 200 is provided in the main body 100 and is configured to inject steam at a front side of the main body 100.

By the high-temperature steam injected into the steam injection unit 200, the foreign substances adhered to the pipe 1 can be removed more easily and cleanly.

Specifically, the foreign substances deposited on the inner surface of the pipe 1 of the natural gas pipeline are mostly relatively high-viscosity hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons deposited on the inner surface of the pipe 1 initially form a film on the inner surface of the pipe, Since it plays a role of promoting the condensation of hydrocarbons, it is very difficult to remove foreign substances such as hydrocarbons having such high viscosity by simply scraping foreign matters by the pigs according to the prior art.

Accordingly, the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention can reduce the viscosity of the sticky hydrocarbons by spraying steam, so that foreign materials including hydrocarbons can be scraped off easily by the scrubber 110.

Further, the foreign substances deposited on the inner surface of the piping 1 of the natural gas pipeline are mostly condensed hydrocarbons which are low in boiling point and can be evaporated and removed as they are heated by the high temperature steam.

The steam injecting unit 200 may include a steam generating unit 210 and a steam injecting unit 220.

At this time, the steam generator 210 is installed inside the pig body 100 to generate steam.

The steam generating unit 210 may include a receptacle 211 in which a heating member is mounted and a battery 212 for supplying electric power to the heating member.

Specifically, the water tube 211 is a space in which water for supplying steam is received. The heating member mounted on the water tube 211 applies heat to the water tube 211 to allow the water to be phase-changed into steam.

In addition, the battery 212 provides the power necessary for the operation of the heating element, and acts as an independent power source to provide constant power to the heating element even while the pipe cleaning device is moving within the pipe 1 .

The steam injecting unit 220 extends from the steam generating unit 210 to the front of the main body 100 and discharges steam.

The steam injector 220 may include a steam pipe 221 for transferring the steam from the water can 211 and an injection pipe 222 for injecting steam from the steam pipe 221 .

In addition, the injection pipe 222 has a structure in which it is communicated with the front end portion of the steam pipe 221, and an injection port 222a is formed.

Here, the steam delivery pipe 221 extends from the water bottle 211 to the front side of the main body 100, the injection pipe 222 has a structure communicating with the front end of the steam delivery pipe 221, The steam can be injected to the front side of the pipe cleaning apparatus eventually by transferring the steam of the water tub 211 to the front side of the main body 100 in the direction of movement of the pipe 1 .

At this time, it is preferable that the injection port 222a is formed on the front surface of the front end of the injection pipe 222, and a plurality of the injection ports 222a are arranged at a predetermined interval along the outer circumference. As a result, steam can be effectively sprayed onto the foreign matters located on the front side and the inside side of the pipe cleaning apparatus being moved in the piping 1.

Meanwhile, the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention may further include an inner cylinder 300 disposed inside the pig body 100.

After the pipe 1 is cleaned, the foreign substance is removed from the pipe cleaning device removed from the pipe 1 and used again. At this time, the foreign substance is hardened by the hydrocarbon contained in the foreign substance and is fixed in the pipe cleaning device.

In order to prevent this, the inner cylinder 300 serves to separately store and store the hydrocarbon vaporized in the foreign body in the pig body 100.

Specifically, the inner cylinder 300 is spaced to the inside of the main body 100 and extends to the front side of the main body 100, and the front is opened.

Among the foreign materials attached to the piping 1, the hydrocarbon is heated and evaporated by the high-temperature steam injected into the steam injection unit 200. The hydrocarbon thus evaporated flows into the inner cylinder 300 disposed inside the pig body 100, And is received and stored in the inner cylinder 300 through the front opening portion of the inner cylinder 300. The foreign material removed by the scrubber 110 is drawn in and stored in the internal space of the pig body 100 according to the distance between the inner cylinder 300 and the pig body 100.

The inner cylinder 300 may have a relatively small inner diameter from the front end to the end of the inner cylinder 300, and may have a larger inner diameter than the inner cylinder 300. Specifically, the inner diameter of the inner cylinder 300 is relatively small from the front end to the end, A blocking jaw 310 is formed in the inside by the structure, and a collecting duct portion 320 is formed as a hopper-shaped portion.

This allows the vaporized hydrocarbon to be easily collected to the inner cylinder 300 side by the collection duct portion 320 and the hydrocarbon contained therein is discharged to the outside of the inner cylinder 300 again by the blocking jaw 310 Can be prevented.

Further, the inner cylinder 300 may have a double-sided side wall 330 and may have a cooling and insulating structure in which dry ice is filled between two layers of the side wall 330. The inner cylinder 300 is evaporated by the high- 300 can be safely stored in larger quantities by re-liquefaction by cooling the received hydrocarbons according to this configuration.

The plurality of wheels 120 may be mounted along the outer periphery of the main body 100. As shown in the drawing, four longitudinally spaced apart wheels may be mounted on the front and rear sides, respectively, , Although not shown in the drawing, three can be equally spaced along the circumference.

Such a wheel 120 minimizes the frictional force when the pig body 100 moves within the pipe 1 to enable smooth and easy movement and also prevents damage to the pipe 1 and the pipe cleaning device .

Further, the wheel 120 may be made of an elastic material, and may be connected to the main body 100 through an elastic member, thereby enhancing the damage prevention effect of the pipe 1 and the pipe cleaning apparatus.

The scrubber 110 of the pipe cleaning apparatus takes a positional structure that is not separated from the inner surface of the pipe 1 and the wheel 120 is also disposed on the inner surface of the pipeline 1, And has a corresponding appropriate size.

A position sensor transmitter (not shown) may be mounted on the body 100 to detect the position of the pipe body 100 in the pipe 1.

The position sensor transmission unit senses the position of the pipe cleaning apparatus from the outside of the pipe 1 and continuously monitors and manages the pipe. For example, the position sensor transmitting unit may be configured to transmit a magnetic pulse, and a receiving unit located outside the pipe 1 may receive the magnetic pulse to determine the position of the pipe washing apparatus.

A method of cleaning the pipe 1 with the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

First, in the piping cleaning method, a piping cleaning device is disposed in the piping 1, and a device arrangement step (S10) for moving the piping cleaning device with the transfer pressure of the fluid transferred in the piping 1 is performed.

Generally, the pigging system comprises a pig launcher L connected to one end of a pipe 1 and configured to fire pigs, a pig receiver connected to the other end of the pipe 1 and configured to receive pigs In the apparatus arrangement step S10, the pipe cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is also inserted into the pig launch part L and fired.

At this time, the movement of the pipe cleaning apparatus is carried out by the force of the fluid conveyed through the pipe 1, for example, by the natural gas transfer pressure in the natural gas pipeline.

After the device arranging step S10, the foreign substance removing step S20 is performed.

Specifically, the foreign substance removing step S20 is performed by moving the scrubber 110 to the inside of the pipe 1 while spraying steam to the steam spraying unit 200 of the pipe washing apparatus in the process of moving the pipe washing apparatus in the apparatus placing step S10 And scrape off the foreign substance of the foreign substance to remove the foreign substance.

That is, the foreign substances on the inner surface of the pipe 1 are removed in the process of moving the pipe cleaning device toward the pig receiving portion side along the pipe 1. [

In addition, the pipe cleaning method may further include a foreign matter collecting step (S30). In the foreign matter collecting step (S30), the pipe cleaning apparatus removes foreign matter while simultaneously removing foreign matters removed by the pipe cleaning apparatus To the internal space of the apparatus.

Specifically, in the foreign substance collecting step S30, hydrocarbons evaporated by the high-temperature steam injected by the steam injecting unit 200 among the foreign substances are accommodated and stored in the inner cylinder 300, and foreign substances, Is accommodated and stored in the space between the inner cylinder (300) and the pig body (100) by the scrubber (110).

Finally, a device detaching step (S40) for removing the pipe cleaning device from the pipe 1 is performed. After the pipe cleaning device reaches the pig receiving part in a state in which the removed foreign matters are removed as described above, ) Through the pig receiving unit.

For reference, when the piping cleaning device is inserted into the pig launch part L or when the pigtail receiver R is detached, the front and rear valves V are closed and only the valve V of the bypass piping is opened, The transfer should be maintained.

As a result, according to the present invention configured as described above, the steam injection unit 200 is configured to spray hot steam at the front side of the pig main body 100, thereby reducing the viscosity of the sticky hydrocarbons, It can be easily scraped off and removed.

Further, according to the present invention, the hydrocarbon contained in the foreign substance can be heated and evaporated by the high-temperature steam, and the vaporized hydrocarbon can be separately accommodated in the inner cylinder 300 disposed in the main body 100 of the pig body, Can be cooled again by the dry ice charged in the two-ply structure side wall (330) of the inner cylinder (300) so that a larger amount of the liquid can be safely stored.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

1: Piping 100: Pig body
110: scrubber 120: wheel
200: Steam injecting unit 210: Steam generating part
211: Cans 212: Battery
220: steam spraying part 221: steam delivery pipe
222: injection pipe 222a: injection nozzle
300: inner tube 310: blocking jaw
320: collection duct part 330: side wall

Claims (14)

A piping body disposed in the piping and moved by being pushed by the fluid conveyed in the piping; And a steam jetting unit provided on the pig body and configured to jet steam on the front side of the pig body,
Wherein the pig body is a cylindrical member whose front face is open and a scrubber for scraping off foreign matters adhered to the inner surface of the pipe is mounted at a front end portion of the pipe body, the steam injection unit is installed inside the pig body, A steam generator; And a steam spraying unit extending from the steam generating unit to the front side of the pig body and spraying steam.
delete The method according to claim 1,
The steam generator includes:
A canister in which a heating member is mounted; And
A battery for supplying electric power to the heating member;
Wherein the pipe cleaning apparatus comprises:
The method of claim 3,
The steam injector includes:
A steam delivery pipe extending from the water tub to a front side of the pig body; And
A spray pipe communicating with the front end of the steam pipe and having an injection port;
Wherein the pipe cleaning apparatus comprises:
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the injection port is formed on a front surface of a front end portion of the injection pipe, and a plurality of the injection ports are arranged at regular intervals along the outer circumference of the injection pipe.
The method according to claim 1,
An inner tube spaced inwardly of the main body and extended to the front side of the main body, the main body having a front opening;
Further comprising: a pipeline cleaning device for cleaning the pipeline cleaning device.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the inner tube has a relatively small inner diameter and a large hopper shape from the front end to the end side.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the inner wall is formed in two layers of side walls, and dry ice is filled between two layers of the side walls.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the scrubber is made of a silicon material and becomes thinner toward an end side.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of wheels are mounted along the outer periphery of the main body.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the wheel is an elastic material and is connected to the pig body by an elastic member.
The method according to claim 1,
And a position sensor transmitter is mounted on the main body so that the position of the main body is detected in the pipe.
12. A piping system comprising: a device arrangement step of arranging a piping cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 12 in a piping to move the piping cleaning device to a transferring pressure of a fluid to be transferred in the piping;
A foreign matter removing step of scraping the foreign material on the inner surface of the pipe with the scrubber while the steam is sprayed to the steam spraying unit of the pipe cleaning device in the process of moving the pipe cleaning device in the device arrangement step; And
A device removing step of removing the pipe cleaning device from the pipe;
And a pipe cleaning method.
14. The method of claim 13,
A foreign matter collecting step of collecting foreign matter removed by the pipe washing apparatus in an internal space of the pipe washing apparatus in a process of moving the pipe washing apparatus in the apparatus disposal step;
Further comprising the steps of:

Images