Purging the 633-mile capline crude oil pipeline: a case of engineered to Order (ETO) pigging solution

Purging the 633-mile capline crude oil pipeline: a case of engineered to Order (ETO) pigging solution

Crude oil

Petroleum industry

Risk management

Petroleum pipelines

Nitrogen

Petroleum transportation

The most important objective that pipeline operators/owners strive to meet daily is transporting oil and gas products safely, while protecting people, environment and integrity of their assets. How this is accomplished requires extensive planning, risk management, coordination and strategic partnering with trusted suppliers for needed engineering support, products and services. When the 1,019-kilometer (633-mile) 40-inch diameter CAPLINE Pipeline was built in 1967 it was the largest crude oil pipeline in the United States. In 2018 the CAPLINE owners decided to purge the system, and as the operator, this project fell to Marathon Pipe Line (MPL) to implement. The project required extensive planning and risk management to determine whether it was feasible to complete a traditional nitrogen purge of the system. A key factor of the purge strategy was the partnering with strategic providers of engineering, construction, products and services to support this challenging undertaking. The initial hurdle to overcome was how to purge approximately 5 million barrels (MMBBL) of crude oil from the single segment pipeline safely and with minimum impact to the communities along ROW (right of way). The overall project plan required an Engineered to Order (ETO) pigging solution for a purging pig capable to safely traverse the entire pipeline and piping configurations of all pump stations, while maintaining seal to keep the purging media of nitrogen (N2) from bypassing and creating an "airlock" condition during the operation. This paper describes the pigging solution development, pig design process, and purging execution of the CAPLINE Purge Project. The sharing of this experience with other pipeline operators/owners will support their efforts to implement similar strategies to safely transport petroleum products in the years to come. Copyright 2021 by Clarion Technical Conferences, Great Southern Press and the author(s).

33rd Pipeline Pigging and Integrity Management Conference, PPIM 2021, February 24, 2021 - February 25, 2021

2021

Gatlin, Raymond

Sparks, Evan

OConnor, Greg

Morrow, John

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