Flow Stopping Mainline Control Systems

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Damage Prevention and Mitigation -- Excavation Damage Prevention

Marketed as the Kleiss MCS inflatable stopping system, it is used to stop the flow of gas in polyethylene, steel, cast-iron, and PVC pipes at diameters up to 18 inches and pressures up to 60 psig. The system provides safe operation with a gas tight seal and two pressure gauges to monitor the pressure in the stopper and in the pipeline without having to make additional taps. The system, which is manufactured in Europe, has demonstrated its operation and potential savings in the U.S. gas industry.

Current line stopping equipment are heavy, require mechanical assists to operate, costly to maintain, and are time consuming (welding time and drilling). The new technology can be used in larger diameter cast iron and steel piping systems that operate at operating pressures up to 60 psig and have limited options to control gas flow. Other options for shutdown of these pipes are either valves which may negatively impact customers or costly line stoppers. Another benefit is related to the natural gas industry’s move to the use of larger diameter polyethylene (PE) pipe. Currently, manual and hydraulic squeeze tools are used to squeeze the PE pipe to stop the flow of gas. However, squeezing vintage pipes may lead to premature failure due to the possible brittle nature of the aged PE material.

Increased Safety - Effective natural gas flow control is critical to LDCs’ operations ranging from reducing costs and accelerating routine construction and maintenance activities to responding to emergency situations resulting from third party damages on PE piping systems.

Reduced Operations Cost -

- Kleiss Bag Stopping Evaluation Project, Operations Technology Development, OTD Project Report 5.12.g, Oct 2015.
- Mainline Control Systems, www.mainlinecontrolsystems.com