A slug catcher is a piece of equipment used in the oil and gas industry to separate large volumes of liquid from a gas stream, typically upstream of key equipment such a processing plant or compressor.
In the context of oil and gas pipelines, a “slug” is a large quantity of liquid that builds up in low areas and which can rapidly flow through the pipeline once a volume of gas is alowed to build up pressure behind the liquid slug.
This slug can cause significant damage to downstream equipment if it’s inflow is not managed actively.
Below, we’ll discuss more about slugs, slug catchers and how OilPro and Innopipe can assistwith our innovative gas separator and piggable drip system called Innopipe.
How does a slug catcher work?
Separation: It’s essentially a large vessel into which a high-velocity gas-liquid mixture enters. The sudden expansion within the vessel requires liquid to separate from gas.
Storage: The separated liquid is temporarily stored in the slug catcher, under pipeline pressure, until it can be processed at a controlled rate.
Protection: By preventing large liquid slugs from entering downstream equipment, it protects expensive machinery from damage and ensures continued efficient downstream operations.
200 barrel housed Innopipe installation.
Importance of Slug Catchers
Slug catchers offer a number of advantages to pipeline owners:
Operational Efficiency and Steady Uptime
Reduced downtime: By preventing slug-induced equipment failures, these systems minimize production interruptions.
Optimized flow rates: Effective slug management ensures consistent fluid flow, enhancing overall operational efficiency in downstream equipment with narrow operating bands and limited turndown.
Increased production: By preventing slug-related issues, production output can be optimized to match downstream process design capacities.
Equipment Protection
Reduced equipment wear: Slug impacts can cause severe damage to pipelines, pumps, compressors, and other equipment. Slug management systems mitigate this risk.
Extended equipment life: By protecting equipment from premature wear, overall asset lifespan is increased.
Safety
Reduced safety risks: Slugs can lead to pipeline failures and hazardous conditions. Effective slug management improves safety for personnel.
Environmental protection: By preventing leaks and spills, these systems help protect the environment.
Cost Savings
Reduced maintenance costs: Fewer equipment breakdowns and repairs lead to significant cost savings.
Increased revenue: Optimized production and reduced downtime contribute to higher revenue.
Enhanced Data Collection
Improved process understanding: By monitoring slug behavior, operators gain valuable insights into production processes.
Optimized production parameters: Data collected from slug management systems can be used to optimize production parameters.
In summary, slug catchers are crucial components in oil and gas production, ensuring the smooth and safe operation of facilities.
Innopipe unit during in-bunker installation stage
How Can OilPro Help?
Innopipe is OilPro’s inline gas separator and piggable drip system that additionally offers slug catching benefits.
Innopipe separates liquids to produce a primary gas stream that is 99%+ liquid-free. Innopipe also offers slug control and management benefits to reduce downtime, optimize your flow rates and increase production by preventing slug-related issues and equipment failures.
The Innopipe separator stands out from traditional designs by effectively addressing the prevalent annular flow pattern in higher-velocity gas transmission and gathering pipelines.
Our solution offers lower construction costs and a wider operational range compared to gravity-based alternatives.
Delivering exceptional 99.9% separation efficiency, the Innopipe is piggable and customizable to meet global standards including CSA, ASME, GOST, DNV, ANSI, DIN, CE, ISO, AS, CFR, PD, and TUV. Notably, the Innopipe incurs minimal pressure drop.
We are able to combine 3 phase separation capacity in the lower collection vessel of the Innopipe/ collection reservoir combination as well. We divide gas/ liquid separation in the upper Innopipe separator and only divert a small amount of gas to the lower collection separator. This small gas volume enables Innopipe to dedicate a higher amount of the internal volume to liquid retention time.
This is in contrast to conventional slug catchers which require at least one half of the diameter to be dedicated to gas disengaging space. The result is that an Innopipe that is only slightly larger than the flow line deals with the gas, and the bottom vessel is almost entirely dedicated to liquids, sized for however much time (3-10 minutes is typical) required for good separation. Liquids then dump to tanks or in some cases, condensates are re-injected into the downstream gas line, thus mitigating costly pipeline volume capacity taken up by water. The downstream infrastructure only has to deal with gas and condensate, operating much more efficiently.
Call OilPro directly at 1-403-215-3373 or by email at [email protected] for all global Innopipe enquiries. To date, we have 100+ Innopipe installs around the world throughout the United States, Canada and the Middle East.