Bursting Pressure Test and Field Application of Spherical Pig in Long Submarine Oil Pipeline

The paper focuses on the study of the trafficability, disruptiveness and bursting pressure characteristics of the spherical pig in the long submarine oil pipe when it runs. Taking the oil pipeline of some oilfield in Bohai Sea as an example, the passing rate of fluids is increased by optimizing the design of spherical pig by-pass orifice, and the safety risk to the upstream production unit caused by the blocking of spherical pig can be effectively reduced. The simulation experiment of the bursting pressure demonstrates that the foam pig has a certain pressure-bearing capacity, good trafficability and reliable disruptiveness. The trial application also shows that the foam pig can self-adjust the passing capacity according to the blockage degree and pressure difference in the pipeline when the foam pig is blocked in the pipeline; when the pressure difference is increased to the rupture pressure, the foam pig is broken.