pigging system demonstration facility

Our New Pigging System Demonstration Facility is Taking Shape!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been building a brand new pigging system demonstration facility. Housed at our headquarters in Nottingham, UK, the new, purpose-built demo room means that anyone that’s interested in pigging and product recovery can see, at first-hand, a live system in action.

Increasing Demand

Pigging is an established technology that’s widely used in process and FMCG industries. The products it’s used with range from food, dairy and beverages to household goods, cosmetics, paint, industrial lubricant and many others.

While lots of companies throughout the world have been reaping the rewards of pigging for a long while, an increasing number are showing an interest in the benefits of pigging for the first time. That’s partly down to the growing importance of sustainability to businesses. While pigging delivers significant gains in productivity, it’s also good for the environment. It increases product yields, speeds up processing, changeovers and CIP, while also reducing waste, power consumption, chemical and water usage. This increased interest has led to a corresponding increased demand for purpose-built demonstration facilities.

pigging system demonstration facility pipes

In-Depth Demonstrations

There’s no substitute for seeing a live pigging system in operation. It’s the best way of gaining an understanding of how this important industrial technology works.

The new facility enables us to deliver in-depth demonstrations of pigging system effectiveness, functionality and operation.

Proven, Effective Pigging Technology

Pigging systems designed by HPS use a unique design of continuous-contact flexible pig. This proven technology ensures extremely effective, reliable and quick recovery of residual liquids from pipes.

One of the key reasons we’ve set up a demo facility is to show how our fully detectable hygienic (sanitary) grade pigs recover up to 99.5% of residual liquids. There’s no other type of pigging method or technology that can match this level of performance. And not just in terms of product recovery. It’s also really fast and efficient.

Existing Implementations

Before we built the new demo room, we would often take people that were interested in seeing a working pigging system to existing installations. We’ve installed thousands of pigging solutions throughout the world, so finding a nearby system to show people isn’t usually a problem. And of course, our customers are proud of the pigging solutions we’ve provided them with and, as long as their company policies allow, are happy to show them to others.

One of the problems with showing people existing systems in working factories is that they are in a live manufacturing environment. While this shows how effective and reliable our equipment is, it can also limit demonstrations.

Available as Required

Having our own demonstration facility means we can show our pigging equipment at almost any time, whenever convenient to our clients. We can operate as many cycles as necessary, and show it to as many people that would like to see it. And of course our engineers are always on hand to answer any questions and technical queries.

pigging system demonstration facility

Transparent Section Enables Clear Observation

Most industrial liquid transfer and processing systems use stainless steel pipe. Similarly, most of the pipework we’ve used for our pigging demonstration equipment is also made out of stainless steel pipe. However, we’ve also included a special transparent section. This allows observers to see the pig as it travels past. They can clearly view the pig moving and the way it removes the residual liquid from within the pipe. Importantly, it shows that with HPS pigging systems, there’s no product bypass.

In industrial applications, the pigging process is extremely quick. The pig travels at high speed so, even if there were a transparent section, it would be hard to catch a glimpse of it. To get around this, we’ve designed the demo rig so that, if required, we can slow the pig down and anyone watching can take a close view as it passes by.

High ROI

HPS pigging technology is extremely cost-effective. Systems are usually fully automated, running costs are minimal and return on investment (ROI) is extremely high. A new HPS pigging system will typically pay for itself in just a few months. Once you see a system in action, you’ll see why. Especially when compared to other pigging technologies.

Full Automation and Controlpigging system demonstration facility pig detector

Pig detection is an essential function of product recovery technology. This is because it enables semi or full pigging system automation, safe and efficient operation, and accurate and reliable control. In HPS systems, pig detection is achieved using a flexible magnetised silicon core within the pig, and specially designed pig detectors.

The demonstration includes full PLC automation and control. The layout has several curves along the pigged line to demonstrate how HPS pigs can travel around 1.5 D bends while still maintaining full body contact with the inside of the pipe. This shows how the flexible pigs recover product at all times, not just in straight sections. As in the majority of ‘real life’ pigging systems, the pig detectors are positioned close to the pig launchers and pig receivers.

Opening Soon

The laboratory will be officially opened on 19th August 2016.

If you would like to arrange a visit, or have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer service department or your local HPS representative.

In the meantime, please take a look at our pigging system demonstration videos.

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