Aqueous crosslinked gelled pigs for cleaning pipelines
AssigneeThe Dow Chemical Company
InventorRobert J. Purinton, Jr.
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Abstract
Pipeline interiors are cleaned by passing a gelled pig containing an aqueous, cross-linked gelled galactomannan gum, or derivative thereof, through the pipeline. Additives can be included in the gelled pig to enhance stability, cleaning ability, etc. The gelled pigs are particularly effective when used in pig trains containing one or more chemical pig segments in the train.
Claims18
A method of cleaning the interior of a pipeline comprising passing an aqueous gel pig containing an aqueous crosslinked gelled galactomannan gum, or derivative thereof, through said pipeline in amounts and at a rate sufficient to remove contaminants from the interior of said pipeline.
A method of cleaning the interior of a pipeline comprising passing an aqueous gelled pig containing an aqueous, crosslinked guar gum or hydroxypropyl guar gum through said pipeline at a driving force of up to about 1500 psig at a rate of up to about 5 feet per second and at a temperature of up to about 140.degree. F. for said pipeline and its contents in amounts and at a rate sufficient to remove contaminants from the interior of said pipeline.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.