A lesson in pipeline safety efforts

Pigging is one of the many measures Piedmont Natural Gas takes to help ensure safe delivery of natural gas to your home or business. This preventive maintenance procedure detects and solves pipeline issues before they can interrupt your energy service.

Mara Sikora knows all about pigging. As the director of Transmission Integrity Management for Piedmont Natural Gas, she is responsible for enhancing the safe and reliable natural gas transmission system through proper inspections.

Temi Ajibola, manager of Transmission Integrity Management, and his team are accountable for helping ensure proper inspection of in-line tool selection, data analysis and pipeline repairs.

They are not alone. A successful pigging operation can involve up to 18 people – opening and closing valves, as well as lifting and inserting inspection tools into the natural gas pipelines. This is done under pressure without service interruptions for our customers.

The term “pigging” originates from the distinctive squealing sounds that in-line inspection tools make as they work their way through a pipeline during an operation.

A typical pigging run is 25-30 miles long and is used on 6-inch to 30-inch sized pipelines. It’s typically performed every seven years. The data can accurately map out the features on a pipeline, such as valve location, fittings type and location, pipeline bends and previous repairs.

Like many engineers in pipeline integrity management, Sikora and Ajibola didn’t begin their careers in pigging. Sikora started out as an engineer, managing the construction of transmission pipelines. Ajibola began as a corrosion control engineering contractor for Duke Energy and quickly landed a permanent role with Piedmont Natural Gas on the pipeline integrity management team. Their work with pigging helps reduce the need for costly shutdowns and repairs. It also helps increase the lifespan of the pipeline and minimize negative environmental impacts.

For Sikora and Ajibola, pigging is more than just a funny word people ask about. It’s a necessary part of pipeline safety – something Piedmont Natural Gas works hard to perfect.