VP Pigging System of Double Pigs Demo

What Is a Pigging System?

The pigging system, also known as a pipeline cleaning system or product recovery system, uses a slightly oversize, flexible projectile called a “pig” or “pipeline cleaner.” Driven by water, liquids, compressed air, gas, or even the product itself, the pig travels through the pipeline to remove, clean, and recover residual materials. As an efficient pipeline cleaning solution widely used in the coatings, oil & gas, lubricants, food & beverage, and cosmetics industries, pigging technology helps improve product yield, reduce contamination, and minimize waste.

The VP pigging system is a technology for removing the liquid in the pipe through pigging. The PIG launcher and receiver are located at both ends of the pipe, enabling efficient product recovery and pipeline cleaning.

Advantages of Pigging Systems

1. High-Efficiency Cleaning: The pig’s unique structure and movement effectively remove residual materials inside the pipeline, delivering cleaning speeds several times faster than traditional manual methods.

2. Increased Pipeline Utilization: Efficient cleaning enables the same pipeline to switch quickly between different product batches, significantly improving utilization while reducing the consumption of cleaning agents and water.

3. Prevention of Cross-Contamination: The system can push remaining liquids to designated branches during product changeovers, preventing cross-contamination and supporting diverse production processes.

4. High Automation: Pigging systems support automated control, offering easy operation, stable performance, and reduced human errors and operational costs.

5. Space-Saving Design: Compared with traditional setups, pigging reduces pipeline infrastructure requirements, saving up to 40% in pipeline length and installation space.

VP Black Coating Pigging

6. Wide Applicability: Suitable for cleaning pipelines that handle various fluids—including high-viscosity, thick, adhesive, and particle-containing materials.

7. Sustainability Benefits: Reduces water usage, chemical consumption, and waste disposal costs, contributing to improved environmental performance.

8. Lower Costs & Higher Profitability: By recovering up to 99.9% of high-value residual products, pigging systems reduce material loss, lower production costs, and significantly enhance overall profitability.

Components of a Pigging System

A pigging system mainly consists of pigs, launch/receiver stations, intermediate stations, 3-way diverter stations (3W), piggable pipelines, pig loading/unloading devices (optional), pipeline sleeves, communication cables, and the control system.

1. Pigs (Cleaning Tools): Pigs are slightly oversized, flexible projectiles made of elastomeric materials such as rubber or polyurethane. Driven by gas or liquid, they clean pipelines efficiently. Advanced pigs often include sensors and control systems to monitor position and speed in real time, enabling precise control and automated operation. Loading or retrieval can be done via pig loading/unloading devices.

2. Launch/Receiver Stations: These critical stations serve as the “starting point” and “control hub” of the system. Positioned at the pipeline’s beginning and end, they are equipped with valves to control compressed gas. Some stations are launch-only, but most adopt an integrated design to both launch and receive pigs, ensuring efficient and safe operation.

3. Control System: The control system manages pigging operations, monitoring pipeline pressure in real time and precisely controlling valve actuation and pig movement, ensuring safe and efficient pipeline cleaning.

Types of Pigging Systems

Pigging systems are available in industrial and sanitary food-grade types, with fully automatic, semi-automatic, or manual options based on product and customer requirements.

1. Industrial Pigging Systems efficiently recover products and remove pipeline residues, designed to withstand harsh conditions such as high temperatures, high pressures, corrosive media, and high-frequency operations. Pipelines are typically welded or flanged to ensure sealing performance, widely used in petrochemical, paint and coating, and food and beverage industries.

2. Sanitary Pigging Systems prioritize thorough cleaning, zero residue, and contamination-free operation, utilizing hygienic materials on contact surfaces. After pigging, pipelines are flushed with water or cleaning agents. Equipped with Tri-Clover quick-install clamps for easy disassembly and cleaning, these systems are ideal for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.

Applications Industries

BJVP’s pipeline pigging and self-cleaning systems are widely used across multiple industries. Key application sectors include:Paints & Coatings, Chemical Additives, Lubricating Oil, Food & Beverage, Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology, etc. These pigging systems not only clean pipelines efficiently but also enable fast product changeover, prevent cross-contamination, improve raw material recovery, and significantly enhance production efficiency and profitability.

Coatings Pipeline Pigging Technology by Mr. Gou Jingsheng

The Coatings Pipeline Material Recovery Pigging Technology addresses three major production challenges:

1. Low Product Recovery: Remaining paint or coating material inside the pipeline before filling cannot be fully recovered.

2. Cross-Contamination: Multiple color pastes and additives share the same pipelines, making batch-to-batch color contamination a common risk.

3. High Hazardous Waste Disposal Cost: Traditional cleaning requires large amounts of solvent or deionized water, causing product loss and generating difficult-to-treat hazardous waste, resulting in substantial economic loss.

Application of BJVP Pigging Systems in the Coatings Industry

BJVP’s pigging system enables 1-minute rapid pigging with a 99.9% product recovery rate, completely eliminating issues such as material displacement, color cross-contamination, and product waste commonly found in traditional coating production.

This technology has been successfully implemented by leading international coatings manufacturers. Field data shows:

• 2.55 tons of product saved per day
• Over RMB 38 million annual cost savings
• Pipeline residue as low as 1 g/m

Delivering both significant economic benefits and enhanced environmental performance, BJVP’s pigging system has become a proven, high-efficiency solution for modern coatings production.

Advantages of the VP Pigging System

The VP Pigging System delivers key advantages: high-efficiency self-cleaning, reliable performance, automated control, and easy operation.

VP Pigging Exhibition

As a professional designer and manufacturer of pipeline pigging systems, BJVP provides a full range of components—including launchers, receivers, pigs, and control systems—and supports complete turnkey projects. From equipment supply, process design, and automation control to installation, commissioning, operator training, spare parts, and after-sales service, we offer one-stop solutions to fully meet customer requirements.

VP Pigging System Project Cases

With over 30 years of expertise in pigging and pipeline cleaning systems, VP has accumulated extensive project experience and strong R&D capabilities. Thousands of VP pigging systems have been successfully installed and are operating reliably worldwide, covering a wide range of industries and applications. This long-term practice has resulted in a large database of proven performance and successful case studies.

As a recognized industry leader, BJVP has earned a solid reputation for reliability and quality. Our long-standing technical expertise and robust product performance have gained the trust of customers worldwide, making us a dependable long-term partner for many enterprises.

We have delivered pigging solutions and engineering services to numerous global companies, including BP, Shell, PPG, Wanhua Chemical, Evonik, Arkema, and Total, earning widespread market recognition through our advanced technology and proven applications.

For more information on pigging systems and product recovery solutions, please visit: Pigging System and Pigging System Solutions.

If you are interested in our Pigging Systems or other solutions—such as Additive Drum Decanting Systems(DDU), Automatic Batch Blending Systems(ABB), Viscosity Improver Dissolving System, or Manifold Systems—we welcome you to visit our factory. Our team will provide tailored solutions to support your production needs and help drive technological advancement and industry development. We look forward to working with you.