LIN SCAN’s pressure reduction system was recently applied when high-pressure water injection pipelines had to be cleaned and inspected. The pipelines run from offshore distribution platforms to injection platforms. These platforms have minimal space and are unmanned. Hence, a traditional arrangement with high-pressure valves with pressure reduction capacity was not possible both in terms of space as well as weight.

So, our engineering department investigated alternative methods that would apply to overcome these space and weight limitations. We came up with a solution by installing simply an extended (longer) orifice plate in combination with a carefully designed piping configuration to minimise vibration.

The engineering solution was able to allow a predetermined flow (to pig the pipeline at 1 meter per second) at reduced pressure from 3200PSIG to 135PSIG. It could be done within the constraints of the local conditions; it is light, it is safe to operate, it is easy to install, it did not require any adjustments as it is sized for purpose. It is essential to highlight that water during the cleaning of the pipeline was not injected into the wells to prevent contamination.