The parking loop slug catcher is designed to handle liquid carry-over that can be easily
Introduction :
Two-phase flow can be defined as the flow in which the fluid occurs in both the
liquid and gas phases. It is a very important consideration in process plant piping.
If Two-phase flow is not considered during design, Pressure drop will be
underestimated. Higher than the expected pressure drop can reduce plant capacity.
Ignoring Two-phase flow may also lead to poor process control. Two-phase flow
to a control valve is difficult to regulate smoothly and reproducibly.
Figure 1: Two phase flow types .
What are slugs?
Oil produced offshore is transported through pipelines as a complex mixture of
oil, gas water and sand. One common flow regime is known as slug flow, in
which the liquid flows intermittently along the pipes in a concentrated mass,
called a slug. Understanding slug flow is made difficult by its transient nature and
the multi-dimensional fluid dynamic process that characterizes it. Because slug
flow is highly complex and unstable, it is difficult to predict the pressure drop, Figure 2 : slugging Flow .
heat and
mass transfer. In addition, the flow nature will vary depending on whether the
pipeline is horizontal, vertical or inclined!
Terrain-induced slug flow cycle :
Liquid build-up: Terrain-induced slug flow is initiated by a period during which
liquid, oil and water accumulate in the lower parts of the pipeline or at the bottom
of the riser. Pressure build-up: After a certain time, the liquid will block the
passage of the gas. Some of the gas will bubble through the liquid plug, but most
of it accumulates upstream, causing an increase in pressure. Mass acceleration: At Figure 3 : Slug flow cycle .
a certain pressure, the liquid plug starts moving due to forces acting on it. Mass
transportation: Depending on the pipeline geometry downstream, the liquid plug
and the operating conditions, the plug may either die out or be transported to the
outlet of the pipeline/riser. Pressure reduction: As the gas and liquidate
transported out of the pipeline, the upstream pressure decreases and the liquid
flow from the pipeline ceases. The process then starts over again, resulting in an
unstable multiphase flow pattern in which the liquid flow rate varies from zero to
a significant value in one cycle, called the terrain-induced slug flow cycle
The appropriate design of the slug catcher accounts largely to avoid problems at
the receiving terminals. In order to prevent the acceleration of the gas/liquid
mixture, the inlet diameter of the pipes entering the slug catcher should be the
same as that of the pipeline. Normally the slug catcher is made up of a series of
pipes that are parallel and inclined in order to give the hold-up volume for the
liquid (Shell, 1998). Each one of these pipes in the slug catcher is known as a
finger. The upper end of the pipes discharges the gas while the bottom end
discharges the liquid. A strong structure and foundation maintain the pipes so as to
support the impact of the slug.
In slug control we simplify to two main types of slug flow: F
1-small slugs (< 5 min. periode): limited effect on receiving facilities
Often hydrodynamic or short terrain induced, water slugging
2-severe slugs (10-180 min. periode): can result in shut down
Riser slugging, well slugging, transient slugging during start-up
A slug catcher, which is a part of the gas pipeline system, is an essential
Figure 4 : Vessel type of slug catcher .
equipment at the receiving terminal of a multiphase flow processing plant. The
specific function of a slug catcher is the separation of the gas and liquid phases as
well as the storage of the liquids temporarily. The gas is then sent for further
treatment in the gas-treating facilities downstream the pipes. The slug catcher is
mainly made up of two different compartments: the first one includes the gas-
liquid separator under steady flow conditions while the second consists of the
storage where the received liquid is accumulated under operating conditions. The
gas will be guaranteed to reach the downstream facilities as the accumulated
liquid will displace the existing gas in a relatively continuous pattern. The size of
the slug catcher should be determined by the size of the largest slug that is
possible to form in the pipeline.
Figure 5 : The parking loop slug catcher .
The slug catchers exist in three different types:
1-the vessel type
2-the multi-pipe type
3-parking loop type
The vessel type can range from a simple to a more complicated knock-out
vessel which is mainly used for limited plot sizes such as offshore platforms due
to its small size. For large volumes of slugs which implies a volume exceeding
100 m3, the multi-pipe or parking loop slug catchers are mainly used.
The is made up of a liquid and gas separation entry slot and a series of parallel
tilted bottles where the liquid is stored. The inflow of liquid gets first through the
splitter into the inlet manifold and then down to the bottles moving thus the
Figure 6 : multi-pipe slug catcher .
existing gas up to the gas outlet risers. As a consequence, a continuous gas flow is
maintained to the downstream facilities. Therefore, the advantage of this slug
catcher category is the ease of operation due to a free flow
control measure. The gas inlet side and the liquid inlet header .
formed in case of counter-current gas/liquid flow. The separation and storage parts are
practically separated but the liquid and the gas from the incoming stream are separated in
the container. A slug arrival into the separator can be detected by an increase in the liquid
volume in the vessel. For precautious measures, the gas is controlled by forcing the liquid
to get into the pipe-loop where a pig is present. The latter is responsible for the separation
of the liquid and gas. The other side of the loop is now open for the gas to flow in a co-
current mode to the downstream facilities. This slug catcher type is mainly used offshore
where the separator is located on the platform while the loop is mounted on the seabed. It
can also be used onshore to reduce the space used if the pipe-loop is placed parallel to the
inlet pipe.
Multiphase surges can be classified into three different categories. The latters are
hydrodynamic slugs, terrain induced slugs and operationally induced surges.
Hydrodynamic slugs, as mentioned previously, form due to an instability in the waves at
the gas-liquid interface in stratified flow regimes. On the other hand, the terrain induced
slugs form mostly at low flow rates after accumulation and intermittent removal of liquids
in dips along the flow line. The operationally induced surges occur usually as the system is
forced to change from one steady state to the other such as in pigging operations. In order
to say that a pipeline is being operated under slug flow regime, it should be then filled
with a number of hydrodynamic slugs. Under such regime, the liquid-gas flow shows a
chaotic behavior.
A slug catcher operation :
A slug catcher provides a buffer volume to accommodate the intermittent high liquid flow
in the form of a slug. Slug performs a very crude gas liquid separation and the liquids in
the vessel can then be slowly drained to the downstream processing facilities at their
design flow .
Effect of slug flow :
Slugging may have undesirable effects on the oil and gas production process. Severe
slugging will affect the inlet separator liquid level, may give poor separation, and in some
cases lead to separator flooding. The oscillating pressure may cause wear on processing
equipment and will reduce the lifetime and increase the maintenance costs compared to
production with even flow. Well pressure will oscillate during severe slugging, and this
might reduce well performance. A varying gas flow will result in varying separator
pressure and poor separation and some liquid may follow the gas into the compressors.
Varying gas rate may also result in flaring. Emergency shutdown of the platform due to the
high level of liquid in the separators, floods, corrosion and damages to the equipments of
the process, high costs with maintenance .
Where does slug theory stand today ?
flow research has been going on for many years, and various approximate methods have
been developed for calculating slug hydrodynamics. In the past, these have relied on
correlation with experimental data, but more recently modeling has been used to simulate
the flow behavior sufficiently accurately to calculate pressure drops and other flow
parameters with relative confidence. These models, however, consider steady slug flow, in
which the slug moves with constant velocity, so that the characteristic slug intermittency
and irregularity are less well described. Current research tends to target measurement and
modeling of the development of liquid slug length distribution along the pipe as well as
the dependence of various pipeline and flow parameters on the flow velocities. Knowledge
of the time-averaged flow values may be inadequate due to an absence of information
about the longitudinal distribution, which is often essential. Slug catchers, for example,
which should eliminate slugs, are designed on the basis of the maximum slug length and
not the average.
Slug control :
Objectives of slug control:
1. Improved regularity: stabile rater and redusert risiko for trip
2. Reduced pipeline pressure: increased and prolonged tail production
and increased recovery
Available inputs
fast topside choke (f.ex. <3 min closing time)
Measurements:
subsea pressure transmitter (<20 km away, time delay, etc)
pressure up- and downstream topside choke
multiphase meter, or densitometer and diff.press., for topside choke
Solution: active control to stabilize pressure and rates and to smear out
transient slugs during start-up/rate changes
Conclusion :
Slug formation constitutes one of the major concerns for gas transport from offshore to
onshore facilities. Several conditions induce their formation. Slug tends to form as the
flow velocity is increased and the flow is lying in the slug flow regime region. A small
pipeline diameter would lead to the same problem. The irregular and rough sea bed causes
some low lying areas in the pipelines where the liquid might accumulate; additionally, a
small variation in the angle of inclination would lead to a change in the flow regime
dominating the pipes.Slug catchers are facilities used for handling the slug formed from
the production of a multiphase pipeline along with the use of the MEG inhibitor. Multi-
pipe slug catchers are frequently used in the industry due to the ease of manipulation of
the fingers and to the ability to handle large volumes of slugs which is the case for all the
fields under investigation. Single and dual slope concept can be applied to this type of the
catchers; thus, the choice of the concept will be costumed to every field.
Refrnes :
1-THE CHARACTERISTICS AND FORCES DUE TO SLUGS IN AN'S'SHAPED RISER , CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY IAFDAS,
(2003)
https://www.scribd.com/doc/208838127/Slug-Force
2-http://www.statoil.com/en/technologyinnovation/fielddevelopment/flowassurance/slugcontrol/pages/default.aspx
3-Airam Sausen, Paulo Sausen, Mauricio de Campos, The Slug Flow Problem in Oil Industry and Pi Level Control ,
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/40523.pdf
4- Mapasabc (Sep 27, 2013), Slug Flow Analysis CAESAR
https://www.scribd.com/doc/171311323/62913120-Slug-Flow-Analysis-CAESAR
5-Karam ,2012, Slug Catchers in Natural Gas Production .
http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~jsg/studenter/prosjekt/2012KaramProsjekt.pdf
6-John-Morten Godhavn, Mehrdad P. Fard, Per H. Fuchs,2005, New slug control strategies, tuning rules and experimental results .
http://home.nt.ntnu.no/users/skoge/diplom/prosjekt08/tuvnes/Articles/Godhavn_New%20slug%20control%20strategies_tuning
%20rules.pdf