Pipeline gel plug
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorsVitold R. Kruka, Joe O. Esparza
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gel plug of vegetable oil, fatty acid, a particulate filler such as calcium carbonate, and an optional base and/or polymer is employed during construction of an offshore pipeline to separate a gas-filled portion of the pipeline from a water-flooded portion, and to facilitate control and movement of a gas/gel plug/water interface as desired to assist in construction operations.
Claims6
A method for liquid fill weighting a completed segment of an offshore pipeline to within a predetermined distance from a vessel from which the pipeline is being laid comprising inserting a movable gel plug into the pipeline to separate an air-filled segment of the pipeline adjacent to the vessel from a liquid-filled segment of the pipeline, the gel plug comprising from about 5 to about 30 weight percent of a vegetable oil selected from the group consisting of soya oil, tall oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, cottonseed oil and corn oil, from about 1 to about 10 weight percent of a fatty acid and from about 50 to about 80 weight percent of a particulate filler, and moving the gel plug as additional pipeline is laid to maintain the predetermined distance of the gel plug from the vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.