Black powder has now become a recognized threat to pipeline efficiency and integrity world wide. Nevertheless still companies are still struggling with the subject and questions such as:

• What caused the problem of black powder in our particular case?

• What procedures for construction and commissioning of pipelines should be followed in order to prevent the occurrence of black powder?

• How can the black powder problem be recognized and what are its potential consequences?

• What methods exist for the removal of black powder and which method is most suitable in our particular case?

This lecture will touch on all the issues related above and it will explain in detail the mechanisms which are active in pipelines to produce black powder, such as reactions with free water, reactions in sour gas, reactions in Microbiologically Induced Corrosion, the influence of mill scale and the hydrotest phase.

A root cause analysis will show how the origin of black powder can be identified. Methods will be discussed to prevent the occurrence of black powder in pipelines.

Further, much emphasis will be laid on the various methods to remove black powder from pipelines and the cost effectiveness of these methods.

These methods include the usage of mechanical pigs, the installation of filters, chemical solution and advanced surfactant technology.