A method for cleaning the interior of a pipe using a plurality of microbots, where each microbots has a propulsion device and a programmable computer processor operatively associated with the propulsion device, and each of said processors is programmed to instruct its associated propulsion device to operate in cooperation with one or more of the other microbot propulsion devices of said plurality of microbots to form a pig in the pipe having a mutable shape that dynamically and substantially conforms to the interior contours of the pipe.

A pig trap of this disclosure may include one or more injectors or nozzles located along a sidewall of the barrel and oriented to deliver a jet of fluid toward a back side of a vertical member of a pig or tool. The nozzle may be part of an assembly that includes a longitudinally extending pipe having a flat-profile flange at an inlet end, a curved-profile flange at the nozzle end, and a bend in between the two ends. When the assembly is installed in a sidewall opening of a pig trap, the nozzle delivers a jet of fluid toward the back side of a vertical member of the pig. A leak path may be provided through flanges or formed between the sidewall opening and a periphery of the curved-profile flange. Launch forces of more than 10 to 15 times that of a conventional launcher may be achieved.

A pipeline pig that can traverse dual- or multiple-diameter pipes or pipelines has collapsible and expandable sealing elements that support the pig, provide a sliding (dynamic) seal with the pipe wall, and maintain the necessary pressure for driving or cleaning as the elements collapse and expand. The sealing elements each have an internal cavity sized to house a first volume of a fluid and a reservoir sized to house a second volume of the fluid. The cavity and reservoir are arranged so that a portion of the volumes of the fluid can move between each. An accumulator maintains a pressure of the first and second volumes of the fluid so that regardless of the sealing element's current size, or whether the element is transitioning between sizes, the element can maintain a sliding seal engagement with the pipe wall and perform the primary function of driving or cleaning (or both).

The efficiency of projectile tube cleaning in multitube heat exchangers is greatly enhanced by the use of two or more nozzles for pressurized water or other liquid held by a bracket in parallel orientation a distance apart that equals the distance apart of the tubes. A pneumatic control system enables the simultaneous activation of two or more pressurized water valves so that two or more tubes can be scraped clean at once. Large heat exchangers and condensers having ordered arrays of thousands of parallel tubes can be cleaned by selecting a number of tubes for deposition of cleaning projectiles, repeatedly projecting two or more of the projectiles simultaneously, and immediately moving on to another set of tubes; then repeating the process with another selected number of tubes.

A cleaning installation of a heat exchanger includes a heat exchanger linked upstream to an intake duct for a fluid and downstream to an outlet duct for the fluid. A system is provided for recovering cleaning bodies from the outlet duct after cleaning of the exchanger by the bodies and for reinjecting bodies into the intake duct. The system includes a member capable of being displaced between a first position in which the system is configured to recover and contain cleaning bodies in the mobile member, and a second position in which the system is configured to take fluid from the intake duct and reinject, into this duct, via the mobile member and under the action of the fluid taken, cleaning bodies contained in the member.

The method of using the flow of liquid or gas in a pipeline to facilitate service operations within said pipeline by connecting to a service pig with a restraining line, deploying said service pig in said pipeline at a deployment location, holding back on the restraining line to cause a pressure differential buildup across the service pig to facilitate said service operations, releasing said service pig from the restraints the operations can be completed without bringing the service pig back to said deployment location.

A method assisting the movement of a tool within a pipeline to a distal direction with respect to the point of entry to provide remediation within the pipeline by pumping a volume of fluid into the front of tool through a motor and having the motor drive a pump which removes more volume from the front of the pig than was pumped into it, thereby causing a relative vacuum in front of the tool.

The present disclosure provides a method for evaluating a pipeline cleaning solution based on smart gas and an Internet of Things system. The method comprises: obtaining an operation feature of at least one gas pipeline and inspection data of the at least one gas pipeline; determining an area to be cleaned and an area feature of the area to be cleaned; generating at least one candidate pipeline cleaning solution based on the area feature of the area to be cleaned; processing each of the at least one candidate pipeline cleaning solution and the area feature through a pipeline cleaning effect prediction model to determine a pipeline cleaning effect of each of the at least one candidate pipeline cleaning solution; determining a pipeline cleaning solution based on the pipeline cleaning effect; and evaluating a pipeline cleaning effect of the pipeline cleaning solution based on an implementation of the pipeline cleaning solution.

A pipeline descaling tool includes a milling tool, a roller assembly and a motor. The milling tool can rotate about a longitudinal axis of the assembly and is sized to fit within an inner volume defined by a pipeline. The milling tool can mill, by rotating, solid obstructions protruding from an inner surface of the pipeline into the inner volume. The roller assembly includes multiple rollers. The roller assembly is axially coupled to the milling tool. The roller assembly can transport the pipeline tool assembly including the milling tool within the inner volume. The motor is connected to the roller assembly and to the milling tool. The motor can rotate the milling tool and power the roller assembly.

Embodiments provide a housing defining a trailing end, a leading end and longitudinal axis extending therebetween, at least one relief channel extending longitudinally through the housing between the trailing end and the leading end thereof, the at least one relief channel defining an annular wall, a closure member disposed within the annular wall, the closure member operable to engage a first seat to prohibit fluid flow through the relief channel and operable to disengage the first seat to permit fluid flow through the relief channel, and an annular space defined between the closure member and the annular wall, the annular space exhibiting a smaller cross-section than regions of relief channel upstream and downstream of the closure member such that the annular space represents a constriction for fluid flow and the relief channel defines a venturi.