"Morgans" writes:


"Mike Isaksen" wrote

A little further OT,... I've watched a lot of heavy #6 (needs to be heated
to pump) unloaded at the offshore platform. When the tanker is empty, we
pig the pipe and backfill with #2. The methods seem crude to the observer,
but the results are exact enough even for the accountants.

Care to explain a little more, for the unfamiliar among us?

Pig the pipe?

Backfill with #2? What is that?


#6 Bunker is one step up from road tar. It's what's left over when you
take all the good stuph out at the refinery.

It's CHEAP, so BIG ships burned it. But it is virually solid when
cold. So first it must be heated to pump. Remember WWII movies about
"bringing another boiler on line"? They used handheld Kerosene torches
to bootstrap the process; then waste steam from the boiler..

#2 is Fuel Oil; slight heavier than #1 aka Kerosene. (Diesel is #2
with added goodies.) If they left #6 in the line, they'd be SOL
as it cooled. So they use thinner stuff to displace it.

A pig is a scraper. You run it down a line to scrape gunk off the
walls. It's pushed by the line flow. There are several types: A poly pig
is a GIANT Tylonol capsule. A conventional pig is a disk [picture an old
LP..] the ID of the line, with a gasket around the edge. The center hole
has a shaft trailing back with wire brushes articulated from it; they're
spring-loaded outward to scrape the wall.

You pig the line while pushing Kero or Fuel Oil; the dirt settles into
the destination tank bottom...

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