A safety system for relieving over pressure in a pipeline carrying a congealable material, in which the pipeline is provided with a bursting disc located in a spur of the pipeline, the disc being mounted in a holder so that the surface of the disc forms part of the wall of the pipeline so that material passing down the pipeline washes the surface of the disc and keeps its clean.

According to the present invention, a pipeline processor is provided for executing a predictive branch instruction defining a number of at least one instruction which is to be executed in succession after the predictive branch instruction is given before a control flow is changed. The pipeline processor includes: a program counter for holding an address of an instruction to be fetched; an instruction memory for outputting an instruction corresponding to the address held by the program counter; a...

In the progressive forming and laying of an undersea pipeline the welded joints between the ends of pipes pre-coated with a corrosion protection coating and an outer concrete weighting coating are protected by a mastic coating applied by clamping a mould around the pipeline joint to form a cavity between the joint and the mould, filling the cavity with mastic by forcing into it under pressure a charge of mastic at a temperature of not more than 70.degree. C., releasing the pressure and opening a...

Pipe coupling apparatus including a tubular female coupling structure and a tubular male coupling structure sized to fit within and mate with the female coupling structure, one coupling structure including a housing and a locking ring that is radially deformable within an annular supporting groove of the housing, the other coupling structure including a tapered surface for biasing the ring to vary its radius as the coupling structures are brought together and an annular locking groove for receiv...

A multi-diameter plastic flange adapter that is fused to an end of a thermoplastic tube liner. The plastic liner and multi-diameter plastic flange adapter are inserted in a flanged pipe and air therebetween is evacuated thru a vent pipe.

The nature of the flow pattern in a pipeline carrying both a liquid and a gas depends on the flow rates of the two phases. The flow pattern is characterized by measuring the void fraction or the average density along at least one chord across the pipeline (12) and by determining the distribution of liquid around the periphery of the pipe wall. The void fraction may be measured by the absorption of gamma rays from a source (14); while the peripheral distribution may be determined from the attenua...

A pipeline switch for selectively connecting a loading pipe to one of several secondary pipes or conduits includes an apertured plate with several through-holes for rigid connection in alignment with the secondary pipes or conduits, a pipe plate rotatable parallel to the apertured plate and having a through-hole which can be aligned with any one of the through-holes of the apertured plate and with which the loading pipe is rigidly connected in alignment, and a control unit for rotating and locki...

A pipeline processor has a plurality of operand registers, a pipelined arithmetic unit, and a plurality of data buses connected between outputs of operational stages of the arithmetic unit and the inputs of the arithmetic unit. A selector is provided for selecting either outputs of the plurality of operand registers or outputs of the operational stages of the arithmetic unit as inputs to the arithmetic unit. The processor further includes a generator for generating operand determination signals ...

A pipeline pig includes a central body member, a plurality of circumferentially spaced return path elements surrounding said body member and each extending axially relative to the body member, each return path element including a pair of axially spaced magnets from each of which projects a metallic bristle set, and means for connecting the return path elements to the body member whereby the free ends of the bristles, in use, resiliently engage the inner wall of the pipeline, the connecting means...

A pipeline coupling comprises first and second substantially annular connecting pieces at each end of a length of pipe, an internally threaded nut on the first connecting piece and a corresponding external thread on the second connecting piece, and a sealing ring for location between adjacent ends of two lengths of pipe to be connected, a sealed connection between the two lengths of pipe being effected by screwing the nut onto the external thread to draw the connecting pieces axially towards one...