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Product pipelines cleaning with AQUASOL agent.
The AQUASOL agent has proved itself to be a suitable medium for cleaning selected product pipelines of sediments and oxidation products that cover the inner surface of product pipelines.
This particularly applies to crude oil pipelines and diesel fuel pipelines in which it is possible using the AQUASOL agent to attain the required cleaning level by means of a relatively simple process.
To clean product pipelines, the AQUASOL agent is prepared in the form of a concentrated solution no sooner than at the application site (it dissolves in warm water – from the form of a pasty substance), which makes sense in transport terms – water is not transported.
Calculation of the AQUASOL agent concentrated solution volume is performed on the basis of the technical parameters of the product pipeline (inner surface of product pipeline walls) and on the subsequently calculated volume of oil substances settled on this surface.
Based on applications experience, it can be expected that there is a layer of approximately 0.5 mm (0.0005 m) of oxidation residua (e.g. oil substances) on the product pipeline walls. Multiplication of this number by the area (m2) of the inner surface of the cleaned product pipeline yields the approximate volume of oxidation substance residua in the product pipeline in m3.
For guidance, it is possible to determine that for elusion of one litre of oil substances of the diesel type one litre of concentrated AQUASOL agent is sufficient; for elution of crude oil it is necessary to consider 1.5 to 2.0 litres of concentrated AQUASOL agent.
The technology procedure for AQUASOL agent usage entails filling product pipeline sections with AQUASOL agent solutions (at first a more concentrated solution, then a more diluted one, and finally water without any agent).
Liquid coming through the product pipeline is in the end analyzed for content of extractable non-polar substances and if their concentration is below the limit of 5 mg NEL/litre the product pipeline is considered cleaned.
Experience from applications of the AQUASOL agent shows that liquid waste (mixture of removed oil substance, AQUASOL agent and water) taken from the nose of the cleaned product pipeline can come out in sequence: phase; mixture of oil substance emulsion with the AQUASOL agent; and finally, water with a decreasing emulsion content.
When disposing of liquid waste originating from product pipeline cleaning it is possible to use the phase for burning, and the remaining emulsion can be broken up by mineral acids.
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