Conceptual Design of the Nuclear System for Checking Pigability at Pipeline Branches

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Radiation Application Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

10.22078/pr.2024.5361.3386

Abstract

Pigging is one of the conventional processes in the oil and gas industries, which is done in order to remove sediments from pipelines and also perform some non-destructive tests. On the other hand, due to various branches in the main pipeline, there is a possibility of stopping the pig. The right solution is to use mesh caps that not only prevent the pig from getting stuck, but also guarantee the passage of flow through all the main and secondary lines. According to the opinions of technical inspectors, there is no comprehensive information about the presence/absence of these caps in a large number of branches. The industrial radiography lacks the ability to detect the presence and absence of the cap in a fully filled pipe due to the average energy of the emitted beam and its geometrical structure. It is focused on the conceptual design of the nuclear system for investigating the possibility of pigging in the location of pipeline branches in the Monte Carlo environment. Ultimately, the results show the fact that in the situation where the source and the detector are perpendicular to the axis of the main and secondary branches and facing each other, the maximum counting sensitivity and discrimination can be achieved. Moreover, the relative difference of two states with and without the presence of metal grid for two states of filling the pipe with air and oil is equal to 53.8% and 57.1%, respectively.

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