Subsea Automated Pig Launcher

National Oilwell Varco (NOV) announced the commercial availability of its subsea automated pig launcher (SAPL) system. The SAPL is designed to reduce the development costs of subsea tiebacks in wax-prone fields and to remove slug in gas-transportation lines, potentially eliminating the need for a second production line, or loop system, in such scenarios. The SAPL system, which is mounted on a subsea structure and loaded with pigs from a retrievable cassette, enables operational pigging without vessel or remotely operated vehicle support, reducing typical deployment and retrieval costs when compared with conventional subsea pig launchers. The cassette can house several pigs, which can be launched from shore or a platform at a desired time. The SAPL is designed to simplify precommissioning and commissioning operations as well as wax- and slug-control operations. The SAPL can also be used to launch intelligent inspection pigs. The new system aims to make long tiebacks economical in instances in which they otherwise might not be, and where future development will enable deployment in high-pressure areas without stopping production.