Removing Buildup in Oil & Gas Pipes

Apr 2021

When OMV needed to clear a historic buildup of iron sulphide and bacterial growth from their distribution pipes they enlisted SUEZ’ assistance. Significant quantities of the material were removed resulting in pronounced hydraulic improvements in the network.

OMV, an Austrian company, produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions. In 2019 they installed a new water treatment plant at Gänserndorf, to treat produced brine before it is re-injection via the Prottes Ringschluss network. They discovered that ion sulphide build up was causing significant pressure losses across the network and water quality issues at a nearby polymer plant.

Traditional pigging would have required costly enabling works, as well as unacceptable network down time during the process. SUEZ sent its Ice Pigging™ service team to Austria with their mobile ice generation machinery. They pigged the 8,500m broken into seven separate ranging from 800m to 1,750m in length. The longest downtime was 3.5 hours with most completed in under two hours.

The customer was delighted with the results and the quality of our Ice Pigging™ service team.