Eric E Freeman

US Patent:

8151483, Apr 10, 2012

Filed:

Jul 6, 2010

Appl. No.:

12/830939

Inventors:

Charles Culver Gidden Cooper - Arvada CO, US
Mark Russell Henault - Westminster CO, US
Robert F. Strong - Collinsville OK, US
Eric N. Freeman - Kiefer OK, US

Assignee:

TDW Delaware, Inc. - Wilmington DE

International Classification:

F26B 3/00

US Classification:

34513, 34437, 34467, 166423, 166383, 138 89, 134 8

Abstract:

A method for progressively dewatering a pipe or pipeline includes the use of a loose-fitting spherical- or quasi-spherical shaped pig body which rolls forward through the interior space of the pipe and temporarily captures and redistributes a portion of the volume of liquids available for capture and redistribution as the pig body rolls on past. Preferably, the portion captured is less than the volume available for capture. A part of the captured liquid may be redistributed to an upper quadrant of the pipe. Capture and redistribution are accomplished by way of a first bypass pathway and a second bypass pathway. One of the pathways may be a through-body pathway. The pig body may be a hollow pig body with a plurality of spaced-apart ports, a solid pig body with a plurality of paddle-like structures, or a cube-sphere type pig body with recessed external wall surfaces.