Pigging ball, pigging system and pigging method for oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of oil and gas pipeline maintenance, and discloses a pigging ball for an oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline, a pigging system and a pigging method.The pigging ball comprises a ball body, a detector is arranged in the ball body, and the detector comprises a barrel, a microprocessor, an ultrasonic thickness measuring module, a positioning module, a communication module and a power source, and the microprocessor, the ultrasonic thickness measuring module, the positioning module, the communication module and the power source are integrally installed in the barrel; the pipe cleaning system comprises a ball serving pipe section and a ball collecting pipe section which are connected to the gathering and transportation pipeline, and an automatic ball serving assembly and an automatic ball collecting assembly are arranged on the ball serving pipe section and the ball collecting pipe section respectively. By the adoption of the scheme, automatic sending and recycling of the spherical pig can be achieved, remote operation is facilitated, the working intensity of workers is reduced, the pipeline cleaning efficiency is improved, meanwhile, safety risks are avoided, in addition, a detector in the spherical pig is matched, a pipeline can be detected to a certain degree, two purposes can be achieved through one procedure, and the requirement for safe, green and energy-saving construction operation is better met.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of oil and gas pipeline maintenance, and particularly relates to a pig for an oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline, a pigging system and a pigging method. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the maintenance process of an oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline, pigging operation has always been a key link to ensure efficient and safe operation of the pipeline. Traditional pigging operation relies on manual operation, which has many drawbacks. On the one hand, manual operation is tedious and labor-intensive, requiring a large amount of manpower and being prone to operational risks due to human error, especially when dealing with pipelines containing toxic and hazardous media, which poses a serious threat to the safety of the operators.

[0003] On the other hand, traditional equipment has a low degree of automation and cannot adapt to the pigging needs of modern oil and gas pipelines under high pressure and complex working conditions, making it difficult to meet the daily maintenance requirements of the pipeline. Although some automated pigging devices have been proposed in the prior art, such as the patent with the patent number "202110630729.7" and the name "a full-automatic pigging and launching device and a using method thereof", which mainly realizes automatic pigging operation through a ball changing mechanism and valve control. However, the applicant found in the research that the reliability of the ball changing mechanism is relatively poor, which reduces the overall practicality and increases the implementation cost due to the complex structure.

[0004] In addition, existing pigging operations mainly clean the attachments on the inner wall of the pipeline, which is relatively single-acting and relatively high in construction or cost, and does not meet the development needs of green and energy-saving operations. SUMMARY

[0005] Therefore, the present application provides a pig for an oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline, a pigging system and a pigging method to solve the problems of single function of the existing pig, tedious pigging operation, and high operational intensity and safety risk.

[0006] The technical scheme is as follows:

[0007] A pig for an oil and gas gathering and transportation pipeline, which comprises a ball body, wherein the ball body is provided with a detector, the detector comprises a cylinder, and a microprocessor, an ultrasonic thickness measurement module, a positioning module, a communication module and a power supply are integrated in the cylinder. With the above scheme, the detector works synchronously during pigging, which can detect the inner wall of the pipeline and facilitate the understanding of the pipeline condition without the need for separate pipeline detection or reduction of detection frequency, thereby increasing the function of the pig and being more conducive to pipeline maintenance.

[0008] As preferred: the sphere has at least one set of three installation holes distributed at an angle of 120°, each installation hole has a detector mounted in a detachable manner, and a gap is left between the detector and the outer end of the corresponding installation hole. With the above scheme, the detector is not always directed towards the axis of the pipeline, ensuring that at least one detector can face the pipe wall, i.e. the ultrasonic thickness measurement module can face the pipe wall, thereby achieving better detection effect.

[0009] As preferred: the material of the sphere is carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite. With the above scheme, the durability can be increased, and the service life of the pigging ball can be prolonged.

[0010] As preferred: the cylinder is also provided with a storage device. With the above scheme, the detection data can be temporarily stored to prevent transmission failure and improve reliability.

[0011] A pigging system for oil and gas gathering pipelines, comprising a ball launching pipe section and a ball collecting pipe section connected to the gathering pipeline, the key being that the ball launching pipe section and the ball collecting pipe section are respectively provided with an automatic ball launching assembly and an automatic ball collecting assembly.

[0012] The automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly both include a ball direction switching mechanism and a ball pushing mechanism, wherein the ball direction switching mechanism in the automatic ball launching assembly is provided with a ball storage pipe, and the ball direction switching mechanism in the automatic ball collecting assembly is provided with a collection box.

[0013] The gathering pipeline is provided with a first electrically operated gate valve and a second electrically operated gate valve. With the above scheme, automatic pigging operation can be realized, personnel can be relatively far away from the scene, and safety factor and pigging efficiency can be improved.

[0014] As preferred: the ball direction switching mechanism includes a housing, the housing has two channels arranged orthogonally, the two channels are channel A and channel B respectively, a switch ball is arranged at the orthogonal position of the two channels in the housing, the switch ball has a communication cavity adapted to the channels, the housing has a driving mechanism for controlling the ninety-degree forward and reverse rotation of the switch ball, the driving mechanism drives the rotation of the switch ball, which can make the two ends of channel A communicate or the two ends of channel B communicate, and the channels are adapted to the pigging balls. The ball direction switching mechanism adopts a structure similar to a ball valve, which utilizes the rotation of the ball to communicate different channels, thereby realizing the functions of ball feeding, ball receiving and channel sealing, which is ingenious and easy to implement. Moreover, the driving mechanism can directly adopt an electrically controlled ball valve structure, which can further reduce the implementation difficulty.

[0015] As preferred: one end of the communication cavity has a stop structure. With the above scheme, the incoming pigging ball is mainly stopped to prevent it from coming out from the other end, thereby improving the use reliability.

[0016] As preferred: the ball launching pipe section and the ball collecting pipe section are both provided with negative pressure devices. With the above scheme, the negative pressure devices can prevent or reduce gas leakage during ball launching and collecting, further improving safety.

[0017] As preferred: the suction end and the delivery end of the negative pressure device are both located at the upper part of the corresponding pipeline. With the above scheme, it is ensured that it can work normally, avoiding the influence of liquid delivery.

[0018] On the basis of the above, the application also synchronously proposes a pigging method for an oil and gas gathering and transferring pipeline, and the technical scheme is as follows:

[0019] A pigging method for an oil and gas gathering and transferring pipeline, the key of which is that the above pigging ball and pigging system are used, and the following steps are performed.

[0020] S1, in the initial state, a plurality of pigging balls are pre-stored in the ball storage pipe, the ball of the automatic ball launching assembly is turned to the switching mechanism, the communication cavity of the switch ball is communicated with the ball storage pipe, and only one pigging ball is in the communication cavity, and the first electric gate valve and the second electric gate valve are in the open state;

[0021] S2, after starting pigging, the first electric gate valve and the second electric gate valve are closed, the negative pressure device on the ball launching pipe section works, and the negative pressure state is maintained;

[0022] S3, the ball of the automatic ball launching assembly is turned to the switch ball in the switching mechanism by ninety degrees, the pigging ball is pushed into the gathering and transferring pipeline through the ball pushing mechanism, and then the automatic ball launching assembly and the corresponding ball pushing mechanism are reset;

[0023] S4, the first electric gate valve and the second electric gate valve are opened, the pigging ball is pushed by fluid to perform pigging operation, and the pigging ball simultaneously performs pipeline detection during pigging operation;

[0024] S5, when the pigging ball reaches the automatic ball collecting assembly, the pigging ball is recycled by the automatic ball collecting assembly.

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the application has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] The pigging ball, the pigging system and the pigging method for the oil and gas gathering and transferring pipeline provided by the application can realize automatic launching and recycling of the pigging ball through cooperation of the automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly, are convenient for remote operation, thereby reducing the working intensity of personnel, improving the pigging efficiency, avoiding safety risks, and further meeting the requirements of safe, green and energy-saving operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 It is a structure schematic diagram of the pigging system in the application.

[0028] Figure 2 is a top view of the ball; Figure 1

[0029] Figure 3 is a schematic view of a ball direction switching mechanism in the automatic ball feeding assembly;

[0030] Figure 4 is a sectional view of the ball; Figure 3

[0031] Figure 5 is a schematic view of a ball direction switching mechanism in the automatic ball collecting assembly;

[0032] Figure 6 is a sectional view of the ball; Figure 5

[0033] Figure 7 is a schematic view of the negative pressure device structure

[0034] Figure 8 is a schematic view of the pig ball structure;

[0035] Figure 9 is a schematic view of the detector installation;

[0036] Figure 10 is a schematic view of the circuit module in the detector;

[0037] Figure 11 is a schematic view of the microprocessor connection;

[0038] Figure 12 is a schematic view of the GNSS module;

[0039] Figure 13 is a schematic view of the USB communication interface;

[0040] Figure 14 is a schematic view of the power module;

[0041] Figure 15 is a schematic view of the wireless communication module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0043] Referring to Figures 1 to 15 , the application provides a pig ball for oil and gas gathering pipelines, mainly comprising a ball body 100 and a detector 110 arranged in the ball body 100, wherein the detector 110 mainly comprises a cylinder 111 and a microprocessor 112, an ultrasonic thickness measuring module 113, a positioning module 114, a communication module 115 and a power supply 116 for all components, which are integrally arranged in the cylinder 111, and the power supply 116 has a corresponding power supply circuit. ​​​

[0044] The ball 100 has a mounting hole 120 adapted to the detector 110, the detector 110 is detachably mounted in the mounting hole 120, usually by threaded mounting, and in addition, there is a gap between the detector 110 and the outer end of the corresponding mounting hole 120. The ultrasonic thickness measuring module 113 is mainly composed of an ultrasonic pulse probe and a corresponding thickness measuring circuit, and its specific principle can be referred to the patent with the patent number 202211296407.4 and the name of an ultrasonic thickness gauge, which will not be repeated here. In order to improve the detection accuracy of the ultrasonic thickness measuring module 113, the ultrasonic thickness measuring module 113 is close to the outer end of the mounting hole 120, that is, the ultrasonic pulse probe is at the outermost end.

[0045] During the pigging process of the pigging ball in the gathering pipeline, the pigging ball mainly rolls and slides. In order to avoid the ultrasonic pulse probe always pointing to the axis of the pipeline, which leads to inaccurate detection of the pipe wall condition, at least three mounting holes 120 are provided on the ball 100, the three mounting holes 120 are in the same plane and are distributed at an angle of 120°, and the detector 110 is detachably mounted in each mounting hole 120.

[0046] As Figures 10 to 15 , in specific implementation, the microprocessor 112 adopts C8051F340 / 341 / 344 / 345 single-chip microcomputer and is electrically connected with the thickness measuring circuit, the communication module 115 can adopt a Bluetooth module, a WiFi module or a GSM module, and in the embodiment, an ESP-07 WIFI wireless communication module is adopted, the positioning module 114 adopts a GNSS module, the microprocessor is connected with the GNSS module through two pins P1.6 and P1.7 to obtain positioning data, the GNSS module adopts a NEO-M8U navigation module, supports GPS / GLONASS and Beidou satellite signals, realizes global coverage and high-precision positioning, has a built-in inertial navigation unit (IMU), keeps continuous positioning when the satellite signal is interrupted, can better realize accurate positioning in the pipeline, avoids missing of position information, and is more conducive to one-to-one correspondence between the thickness data and the positioning data.

[0047] In addition, a storage device 117 (SST25VF064) is further arranged in the detector in the application, mainly used for storing the received micro-processing data, and in the embodiment, a FLASH memory chip or a memory card is adopted, and the data can be read through a USB communication interface and a wireless communication module.

[0048] The outer surface of the barrel 111 is provided with a power module switch and a USB communication interface, the switch is used to control the power module to charge the battery to supply power for the microprocessor and other chips and circuits. The USB communication interface can be connected to an external charging power supply (not shown), and the external charging power supply can charge the battery of the power module through the USB communication interface. The USB communication interface charges the battery through the TP4056 module, and in addition, the data in the storage device can be read through the USB communication interface.

[0049] In specific implementation, in order to further improve the service life of the pig, the ball body 100 is made of carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite material.

[0050] The application also simultaneously proposes a pigging system for oil and gas gathering and transportation pipelines, mainly including a ball launching pipe section 200 and a ball collecting pipe section 300 connected to the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, wherein the ball launching pipe section 200 is located at the starting end of the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, and the ball collecting pipe section 300 is located at the end of the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, and the ball launching pipe section 200 and the ball collecting pipe section 300 are respectively provided with an automatic ball launching assembly and an automatic ball collecting assembly. The automatic ball launching assembly sends the pig into the starting end of the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, and uses fluid to push the pig to complete the pigging operation, and finally the pig is recycled at the end of the gathering and transportation pipeline 600 through the automatic ball collecting assembly.

[0051] The automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly in the application both include a ball direction switching mechanism 400 and a ball pushing mechanism 700, in addition, the ball direction switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball launching assembly is provided with a ball storage pipe 410, and the ball storage pipe 410 is used to store the pig and is arranged in a single column, and the ball direction switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball collecting assembly is provided with a collection box 420.

[0052] In order to better automatically launch and collect the ball and improve the operation safety factor, a first electric gate valve 610 and a second electric gate valve 620 are arranged on the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, as shown in the figure, the first electric gate valve 610 is located upstream of the ball launching pipe section 200 and is close to the connection position of the ball launching pipe section 200 and the gathering and transportation pipeline 600, and correspondingly, the second electric gate valve 620 is located upstream of the ball collecting pipe section 300 and is close to the position of the automatic ball collecting assembly.

[0053] In this embodiment, the ball direction switching mechanism 400 is mainly used to adjust the direction of the pig to realize the operation of launching and collecting the pig. The ball direction switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly is basically the same in structure, as shown in the figure, and includes a shell 430. The shell 430 has two channels arranged in a right angle, which are channel A 431 and channel B 432. The shell 430 is provided with a switch ball 440 at the right angle position corresponding to the two channels. The switch ball 440 has a communication cavity 441 adapted to the channels. The shell 430 is provided with a driving mechanism 450 for controlling the ninety-degree forward and reverse rotation of the switch ball 440. The driving mechanism 450 drives the switch ball 440 to rotate, so that the two ends of the channel A 431 are communicated or the two ends of the channel B 432 are communicated. The channels are adapted to the pig and can pass through the pig.

[0054] In specific implementation, the driving mechanism 450 can adopt a structure similar to an electric ball valve, and a manual operation turntable is arranged.

[0055] Reference Figures 1 to 6 The shell 430 mainly includes a main body 433 in a hollow structure. The main body 433 has two through holes arranged in a right angle. The two ends of the two through holes are provided with limiting plugs 434. The four limiting plugs 434 jointly form a rotation space of the switch ball 440. The inner end of the limiting plug 434 is provided with a sealing structure 435. The sealing structure 435 is annular and in contact with the surface of the switch ball 440 to realize sealing. The outer end of the limiting plug 434 has a flange connecting seat 436. The flange connecting seat 436 is fixed with the limiting plug 434 and the main body 433 through bolts. The flange connecting seat 436 and the end face of the limiting plug 434, and the through hole end face of the limiting plug 434 and the main body 433 are all provided with sealing gaskets.

[0056] It should be noted that the ball direction switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly is slightly different for the convenience of connection and use. In the ball direction switching mechanism 400 of the automatic ball launching assembly, one end of one limiting plug 434 is directly provided with a blind plate 437. The flange connecting seat 436 opposite to the blind plate 437 is used for installing the ball storage pipe 410. In the ball direction switching mechanism 400 of the automatic ball collecting assembly, the limiting plugs 434 are all connected with the flange connecting seats 436.

[0057] In order to ensure that the pig can only go out from the specified end after entering the communication cavity 441, a stop structure 442 is arranged at one end of the communication cavity 441. The stop structure 442 has a through hole in the middle. The two ends of the through hole are arc chamfered, which is used for the push ball mechanism 700 to extend in for the push ball operation and prevent jamming. The stop structure 442 can be integrally formed with the switch ball 440 or separately installed. In this embodiment, the stop structure 442 is generally annular and is installed in a threaded cooperation manner. In this way, different stop structures with different through hole sizes can be installed according to needs.

[0058] Specific installation, the ball launching pipe section 200 and the gathering pipeline 600 are connected in T shape, and the ball collecting pipe section 300 and the gathering pipeline 600 are connected in cross shape. As shown in the figure, the ball pushing mechanism 700 in the embodiment adopts an electric push rod structure, the diameter of the push rod is smaller than the diameter of the through hole in the middle of the stop structure 442, and the front end of the push rod is concave or fixedly connected with a joint with a concave structure, so that the cleaning ball can be better pushed and slipping can be prevented.

[0059] In the initial state:

[0060] In the automatic ball launching assembly, the ball is in a vertical posture in the communication cavity 441 of the switch ball 440, the stop structure 442 is located below, the ball storage pipe 410 is vertically arranged, the air top has a detachable sealing plate, the cleaning ball in the ball storage pipe 410 can fall into the communication cavity 441, and the design needs to be uniformly designed according to the inner diameter of the gathering pipeline 600 to ensure that only one cleaning ball can be accommodated in the communication cavity 441 at this time.

[0061] In the automatic ball collecting assembly, the ball is in a horizontal posture in the communication cavity 441 of the switch ball 440, the channel A 431 is connected with the gathering pipeline 600, the stop structure 442 in the switch ball 440 is located at the end far away from the automatic ball launching assembly, and the ball pushing mechanism 700 and the collecting box 420 are arranged at the two ends of the channel B 432, as shown in the figure, wherein the ball pushing mechanism 700 and the collecting box 420 are respectively arranged on the two sides of the gathering pipeline 600.

[0062] In order to avoid or reduce gas leakage during the ball launching or recovery process, the ball launching pipe section 200 and the ball collecting pipe section 300 are both provided with a negative pressure device 500. Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 7 The negative pressure device 500 in the embodiment adopts an exhaust fan structure, mainly including an exhaust pipe 510, a impeller is rotatably arranged in the exhaust pipe 510, an electric machine 520 is arranged outside the exhaust pipe 510 for driving the impeller to rotate, and it is needed to note that the electric machine 520 and the impeller adopt a sealed transmission mode, such as gear box transmission, or a sealing cover is arranged outside the exhaust pipe 510 corresponding to the electric machine 520, the electric machine adopts an external mode, which is relatively safer and can prolong the service life.

[0063] In addition, both ends of the exhaust pipe 510 are flanges 530, so as to facilitate quick disassembly and assembly. As shown in the drawings, the tee joint A 210 is arranged on the ball launching pipe segment 200, and the tee joint B 630 and the tee joint C 640 are arranged in sequence on the gathering pipeline 600 at positions corresponding to the ball launching pipe segment 200. The tee joint C 640 is located downstream of the tee joint B 630. The flanges 530 at both ends of the exhaust pipe 510 are connected with bypass openings of the tee joint A 210 and the tee joint C 640, respectively. During installation, the direction of negative pressure is paid attention to, so as to ensure that the gas in the tee joint A 210 can be sucked into the tee joint C 640 when the motor is working.

[0064] The installation mode of the negative pressure device 500 on the ball collecting pipe segment 300 is similar. As shown in the drawings, the tee joint D 310 is connected with one end of the channel B 432 in the ball switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball launching assembly. The collecting box can be fixed on the tee joint D 310. The tee joint E 650 is arranged on the gathering pipeline 600 downstream of the channel A 431. The exhaust pipe 510 at both ends of the negative pressure device 500 is connected with bypass openings of the tee joint D 310 and the tee joint E 650, respectively, for sucking the gas in the tee joint D 310 into the tee joint E 650.

[0065] In a specific implementation, the suction end and the delivery end of the negative pressure device 500 are both located at the upper part of the corresponding pipeline, so as to achieve a better gas suction effect.

[0066] In another embodiment, in order to further improve the operation safety, the electric control gate valve (not shown in the drawings) can be arranged at both ends of the exhaust pipe 510. In this way, the sealing requirement for the motor transmission can be reduced. In the normal conveying state, the two ends are closed through the electric control gate valve, so as to avoid the gas entering or passing through the exhaust pipe 510, and effectively eliminate the leakage problem in the normal conveying working condition.

[0067] On the basis of the pigging ball and the pigging system described above, the application further provides a pigging method for the oil and gas gathering pipeline, which is mainly performed according to the following steps:

[0068] S1, in the initial state, a plurality of pigging balls are stored in the ball storage pipe 410. The number is determined according to the pigging requirement. When the pigging balls are put in, the detector 110 is started. The ball switching mechanism 400 in the automatic ball launching assembly is connected with the communication cavity 441 of the switch ball 440. Only one pigging ball is in the communication cavity 441. The first electric gate valve 610 and the second electric gate valve 620 are in the open state.

[0069] S2, after the pigging is started, the first electric gate valve 610 and the second electric gate valve 620 are closed. The electric control gate valves at both ends of the negative pressure device 500 on the ball launching pipe segment 200 are opened. The negative pressure device starts to work and maintains the negative pressure state.

[0070] S3, the ball switching mechanism 400 of the automatic ball launching assembly rotates the switch ball 440 by 90 degrees (as shown in the figure Figure 4 The switch ball is driven by the driving mechanism to rotate vertically counterclockwise by 90 degrees), so that the communication cavity 441 is communicated with the channel B 432, and the stop structure 442 is relatively close to the ball pushing mechanism 700. Then the pigging ball is pushed into the gathering pipeline 600 by the corresponding ball pushing mechanism 700, and then the automatic ball launching assembly and the corresponding ball pushing mechanism 700 are reset, and the corresponding negative pressure device 500 is closed.

[0071] S4, open the first electric gate valve 610 and the second electric gate valve 620, and use the fluid to push the pigging ball to perform the pigging operation. In the pigging operation, the pigging ball simultaneously performs the pipeline detection, uses the pigging ball to clean the inner wall, and detects the pipeline wall thickness. The wall thickness data and the position data are one-to-one corresponding, and the detection result is stored for subsequent reading and analysis.

[0072] S5, when the pigging ball reaches the automatic ball collecting assembly, it is blocked by the stop structure 442 and stops in the corresponding communication cavity of the switch ball. At this time, the first electric gate valve 610 and the second electric gate valve 620 are closed, and the pigging ball is recycled by the automatic ball collecting assembly. In the specific operation, the corresponding negative pressure device 500 is started first, the ball switching mechanism of the automatic ball collecting assembly works, the ball inlet end of the switch ball (the end close to the second electric gate valve 620) rotates counterclockwise towards the port where the tee joint D310 is located. In the actual operation process, it can be slowly rotated. When the switch ball is rotated by 45 degrees, the channel A431 and the channel B432 can be temporarily connected through the communication cavity. At this time, the pressure in the pipeline can be discharged through the channel B432, so as to achieve the purpose of pressure relief, until the communication cavity is opposite to the tee joint D310. Then the pigging ball in the communication cavity is pushed out by the corresponding ball pushing mechanism 700 and falls into the collecting box 420. The collecting box 420 has a plurality of arc grooves for placing the pigging ball.

[0073] In the specific implementation process, the pigging system cooperates with the background PLC control system. The first electric gate valve 610, the second electric gate valve 620, the two ball switching mechanisms 400, the two negative pressure devices 500, the ball pushing mechanism 700 can be remotely controlled by the background. Of course, in the actual operation process, pressure sensors and in-place sensors can also be arranged on the gathering pipeline for use, so as to achieve better pigging control effect and fully automatic operation, greatly reducing the labor intensity. After the pigging is completed, the detector in the pigging ball is taken out to read the internal data through the USB interface (it can also not be taken out, and the data is read directly through wireless communication). The pipeline condition can be quickly understood. In the specific implementation, the data of multiple detectors can be used for comprehensive analysis to obtain more accurate pipe wall information, which is beneficial to reduce or prevent pipeline safety accidents.

[0074] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is only for the preferred embodiments of the present application, and those of ordinary skill in the art can make various similar expressions under the inspiration of the present application without departing from the purpose and scope of the present application, and such changes fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A pigging ball for use in an oil and gas gathering pipeline comprising a ball body (100), characterised in that: The detector (110) is arranged in the ball (100) and comprises a cylinder (111), a microprocessor (112), an ultrasonic thickness measuring module (113), a positioning module (114), a communication module (115) and a power supply (116) which are integrally arranged in the cylinder (111).

2. The pigging ball for oil and gas gathering pipelines according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ball (100) is provided with at least one group of three mounting holes (120) which are distributed at an angle of 120°, and each mounting hole (120) is detachably provided with a detector (110), and a gap is left between the detector (110) and the outer end of the corresponding mounting hole (120).

3. A pigging ball for use in an oil and gas gathering pipeline according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The material of the ball (100) is carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide ceramic matrix composite material.

4. A pigging ball for use in an oil and gas gathering pipeline according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The cylinder (111) is further provided with a storage device (117).

5. A pigging system for an oil and gas gathering pipeline comprising a launch pipe section (200) and a receive pipe section (300) connected to the gathering pipeline (600), characterized in that: The ball launching pipe section (200) and the ball collecting pipe section (300) are respectively provided with an automatic ball launching assembly and an automatic ball collecting assembly. The automatic ball launching assembly and the automatic ball collecting assembly each comprise a ball direction switching mechanism (400) and a ball pushing mechanism (700), wherein the ball direction switching mechanism (400) in the automatic ball launching assembly is provided with a ball storage pipe (410), and the ball direction switching mechanism (400) in the automatic ball collecting assembly is provided with a collecting box (420). The gathering pipeline (600) is provided with a first electric gate valve (610) and a second electric gate valve (620).

6. The pipe cleaning system for an oil and gas gathering pipeline of claim 5, wherein: The ball direction switching mechanism (400) comprises a shell (430), the shell (430) is provided with two channels which are arranged in an orthogonal manner, the two channels are a channel A (431) and a channel B (432), the shell (430) is provided with a switching ball (440) at the orthogonal position of the two channels, the switching ball (440) is provided with a communication cavity (441) which is adapted to the channels, the shell (430) is provided with a driving mechanism (450) which is used for controlling the ninety-degree forward and reverse rotation of the switching ball (440), the driving mechanism (450) drives the switching ball (440) to rotate, so that the two ends of the channel A (431) are communicated or the two ends of the channel B (432) are communicated, and the channels are adapted to the cleaning balls.

7. The pipe cleaning system for an oil and gas gathering pipeline of claim 6, wherein: One end of the communication cavity (441) is provided with a stop structure (442).

8. The pipe pig system for an oil and gas gathering pipeline according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The ball launching pipe section (200) and the ball collecting pipe section (300) are each provided with a negative pressure device (500).

9. The pipe pig system for an oil and gas gathering pipeline of claim 8, wherein: The suction end and the delivery end of the negative pressure device (500) are located at the upper part of the corresponding pipeline.

10. The method of pigging a hydrocarbon gathering pipeline of claim 1, wherein: The cleaning ball and the cleaning system are used according to the following steps. S1, in the initial state, a plurality of cleaning balls are stored in the ball storage pipe (410), the communication cavity (441) of the switching ball (440) in the ball direction switching mechanism (400) of the automatic ball launching assembly is communicated with the ball storage pipe (410), and only one cleaning ball is located in the communication cavity (441), and the first electric gate valve (610) and the second electric gate valve (620) are in the open state. S2, after starting pigging, the first electric gate valve (610) and the second electric gate valve (620) are closed, the negative pressure device (500) on the launching tube section (200) works to maintain the negative pressure state; S3, the ball of the automatic launching assembly rotates the switch ball (440) in the ball switching mechanism (400) by ninety degrees, the pigging ball is pushed into the gathering pipeline (600) through the ball pushing mechanism (700), and then the automatic launching assembly and the corresponding ball pushing mechanism (700) are reset; S4, the first electric gate valve (610) and the second electric gate valve (620) are opened, the pigging ball is pushed by fluid to carry out pigging operation, and the pigging ball carries out pipeline detection at the same time in the pigging operation; S5, when the pigging ball reaches the automatic ball collecting assembly, the pigging ball is recycled by the automatic ball collecting assembly.

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