On June 9th, 2019, as part of the “Energie Aperte” project, QOC Solutions team visited the Eni’s Garibaldi C oil plant in Ravenna.
The Garibaldi C represents a point of reference of the North District, which thanks to its 60 plants spread between Ravenna and Cervia and the almost 900 m3 of gas produced daily, is the most important for the company.
On the Garibaldi C platform, there are 12 oil wells, of which only two are working at the moment, with average daily gas production of 20000 m3. The gas produced, which is mostly methane, gets transferred to the Casalborsetti headquarters, where the gas extracted by the satellite plants arrives as well; that increases the quantity of gas received every day by the plant to almost 900000 m3. From there, the gas is put in the Snam Rete Gas distribution network.
The plant tour allows people to follow the gas journey from when it arrives on the platform (in the case of the one extracted in the Adriatic Sea, the gas is 99% pure, and it requires minimal cleaning procedures) to when it is compressed, sorted and sent to the facility located on the land through an underwater pipeline.
The submarine pipeline used for the gas transportation undergoes recurring maintenance; the checkups have mainly cleaning purposes or are essential to check on the corrosion state of the pipes, a common occurrence because they’re constantly submerged in salty water.
The pipeline cleaning and inspection processes are called pigging because they’re carried out by using a tool called “pig”.
The pig, typically cylindrical, is inserted into the pipe and pushed with air pressure through the launch trap to the opposite end where it is then extracted through the receiving trap along with the residues it has collected along its path.
Usually, along the pipelines, there are two access/exit points to carry out these pigging operations, which must be well closed during the normal process of gas transportation (to avoid leaks) but at the same time must be quick and easy to access during the control and cleaning operations.
The traps must be at least two (launching and receiving) and are installed at both ends of the pipeline.
The quick opening closures designed and manufactured by QOC Solutions perform the essential task of controlling and granting access to the traps swiftly and safely to the maintenance teams.
In the case of the Garibaldi C platform, we were able to see the quick opening closure system installed on the platform that is used to receive the pig, while the launch trap is located in the Casalborsetti plant, from where maintenance operations are periodically managed.
To learn more about QOC Solutions’ pig traps and quick opening closures models available check out this link.