An electric cart with Chevron’s blue and red logo on its side zipped through a maze of pipelines in a bewildering industrial jungle. Wearing a blue jumpsuit, white hardhat and steel-toed boots, Ken Khadder steered the cart under the shadow of tall stacks emitting white clouds of steam. Ken had been a reliability engineer at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery for so long he could practically navigate the one and a half square-mile facility blindfolded.
Ken knew as much about Chevron’s main Los Angeles oil refinery as anyone alive. At some point in his career he’d worked on every system at El Segundo. From the offshore Marine Terminal where oil tankers unloaded their crude into pipelines that ran under Santa Monica Bay, to the distillation towers where the refining process began, to the cat cracker that converted heavy petroleum into gasoline: Ken knew how El Segundo worked. He was even the refinery’s unofficial historian, happy to tell visitors about Standard Oil choosing this site for their second California refinery in 1911 to produce kerosene for lamps.
In 1911, El Segundo was an unpopulated hinterland on the Pacific coast south of Los Angeles. The city grew up around it, a relentless urban sea that lapped at the refinery’s borders. Los Angeles International Airport was less than a mile to the north, and this proximity made LAX an important customer. El Segundo supplied 40% of the jet fuel used at LAX.
Jet fuel was on Ken’s agenda today. He rolled the electric cart to a stop beside what looked like a giant erector set. The complex metallic structure was the refinery’s hydrocracking unit. It converted heavy petroleum into jet fuel, a sophisticated chemical process that used a patented catalyst to break or “crack” large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones. Ken spoke to a supervisor at the hydrocracking unit, reminding him about the pipeline maintenance scheduled for that afternoon. Then he continued to the storage tank area, where he met another engineer wearing a jumpsuit that was stretched tight over his expansive belly.
“Did you bring the pig, Al?” Ken asked.
“Wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t,” Al replied. “I’m the pig keeper.”
They both smiled at his joke.
“These smart pigs are my babies,” Al continued. “The one in the truck is new. I used it for the first time yesterday. Worked like a charm.”
“Which in-line inspection did you use it for?”
“We ran the pig through the gasoline delivery pipelines. Got data on the integrity of all the 87 and 89 octane pipes, from storage tanks to trucks.”
“Then I expect the pig will do a good job again today. We’ll run it through the jet fuel pipelines from here to LAX. Program the pig to record information on metal loss and corrosion, and temperature and pressure in the pipe. Of course if there are any early signs of fracture, I want to know. Get pictures, if you can.”
“It’s as good as done,” Al said.
The two men walked to the bed of Al’s truck, where he opened a large plastic case approximately the shape of a pipe. The smart pig was inside.
Al made an oinking sound, but of course the pig didn’t squeal. A pig, or pipeline inspection gauge, is a tool inserted into a pipeline to perform a task, such as cleaning the pipe, separating batches of different liquids flowing through the same pipeline, or in this case, inspecting the pipeline as part of routine maintenance.
“Nice pig,” Ken said.
“A beauty, isn’t she?” Al said. “Looks like a cross between a jet engine and a sandworm from Dune.”
“Yeah. A real beauty,” Ken said with a laugh. “Let’s get her in the trap.”
The pig trap, or launcher, was isolated from the main pipe by a valve above and a valve beyond. Al made sure the trap was depressurized, then inserted a key to open the trap closure lid. Together they lifted the pig and shoved it through the opening. Then Al sealed the lid behind the pig. Next, he opened the kicker connection which isolated the trap from the main pipe. Pressurized jet fuel rushed from the main pipe into the trap behind the pig. This flow pushed the pig forward, but the pig couldn’t enter the main pipe until Al opened the throat valve. When he did open it, they heard the pig surge down the pipe, propelled by flowing jet fuel.
“Done,” Al said as he reset the system and depressurized the trap. “This little piggy went to market.”
Ken waved approval and departed to continue his rounds on the electric cart. Hours later he got a call from Al.
“I retrieved the pig and downloaded the inspection data,” Al said. “I’ll send you the file but the bottom line is the LAX pipeline looks great and the pig performed flawlessly. Just like yesterday in the gasoline pipes.”
“Glad to hear it, Al. We wouldn’t want any problems getting jet fuel to the airport. Summer travel season is in full swing,” Ken said.
“If LAX has a problem, it won’t be our fault,” Al assured him.
Before leaving work for the day, Ken checked a traffic report. The news was bad. He groaned and called his wife to let her know he’d be late.