Phase Separation 215

5.5 TWISTER SUPERSONIC SEPARATOR

The Twister supersonic separator is a unique combination of known phys-
ical processes, combining the expansion, cyclonic gas/liquid separation, and
recompression process steps in a compact, tubular device to condense and
separate water and heavy hydrocarbons from natural gas. Condensation
and separation at supersonic velocity are key to achieving step-change re-
ductions in both capital and operating costs. The residence time inside
the Twister supersonic separator is only milliseconds, allowing hydrates
no time to form and avoiding the requirement for hydrate inhibition
chemicals. The elimination of the associated chemical regeneration systems
avoids harmful benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) emissions to the envi-
ronment or the expense of chemical recovery systems. The simplicity and
reliability of a static device with no rotating parts that operates without
chemicals ensures a simple facility with a high availability, suitable for un-
manned operation in harsh and/or offshore environments. In addition,
the compact and low-weight Twister system design enables debottlenecking
of existing space and weight-constrained platforms. The first commercial ap-
plication at the Shell-operated B11 platform offshore Malaysia proves the
technical and commercial maturity of Twister supersonic separator, which
is a major milestone toward industry acceptance of this innovative technol-
ogy (Brouwer et al., 2004). However, the feasibility and benefits of this tech-
nology must be studied for a specific gas development. The system design of
the Twister supersonic separator is discussed in greater detail by Okimoto
and Brouwer (2002) and Brouwer and Epsom (2003).

5.6 SLUG CATCHERS

Slug catchers are used at the terminus of large gas/condensate transmission
pipelines to catch large slugs of liquid in pipelines, to hold these slugs tem-
porarily, and then to allow them to follow into downstream equipment and
facilities at a rate at which the liquid can be properly handled. In fact, the slug
catcher provides temporary storage for any surges (slugs) in liquid flows and
roughly separates the gas from the liquids. The gas then exits the top of the
slug catcher and flows to the plant inlet separator via a pressure control valve,
which reduces the pressure of the gas and further condenses water and some
of the heavier hydrocarbons.
Slug catchers may be either of the vessel or of the manifolded pipe type.
A vessel-type slug catcher is essentially a knockout vessel. This type is simple
216 Handbook of Natural Gas Transmission and Processing

in design and maintenance. A pipe-type slug catcher consists of several long

pieces of pipe (fingers), which together form the buffer volume to store the
largest slugs expected from the upstream system. Vessel-type slug catchers
can be used only if the incoming liquid volume is small. When larger liquid
volumes have to be accommodated, say of more than 100 m3 (3,531 ft3), the
pipe-type slug catcher should be used (Shell DEP 31.40.10.12–Gen, 1998).
Pipe-type slug catchers are frequently less expensive than vessel-type slug
catchers of the same capacity due to thinner wall requirements of smaller pipe
diameter. The manifold nature of multiple pipe-type slug catchers also makes
possible the later addition of further capacity by laying more parallel pipes.
Because the pipe-type slug catcher is defined as a piping configuration rather
than a pressure vessel, it is not constrained to the same requirements as a nor-
mal vessel. However, due to its large size, it will contain the majority of high-
pressure hydrocarbon gas on the site. It is therefore recommended that the slug
catcher be automatically depressurized (for prevention of fire) as quickly as
possible without imposing unusually high flow rates on the flare system.
A schematic of a pipe-type slug catcher is shown in Figure 5-6. The gen-
eral configuration consists of the following parts:
• Fingers with dual slope and three distinct sections: gas/liquid separation,
intermediate, and storage sections.
• Gas risers connected to each finger at the transition zone between the
separation and intermediate sections.
• Gas equalization lines located on each finger. These lines are located
within the slug storage section.
• Liquid header collecting liquid from each finger. This header will not be
sloped and is configured perpendicular to the fingers.
Note that it has been assumed that all liquids (condensate and water) are
collected and sent to an inlet three-phase separator although it is possible to sep-
arate condensate and water directly at the fingers. When doing condensate/
water separation at the slug catcher itself, one has to allow separately for the
maximum condensate slug and the maximum water slug in order to ensure
continuous-level control.
Separation of gas and liquid phases is achieved in the first section of the
fingers. The length of this section will promote a stratified flow pattern and
permit primary separation to occur. Ideally, liquid droplets, 600 mm and be-
low, will be removed from the gas disengaged into the gas risers, which are
located at the end of this section. The length of the intermediate section is
minimal such that there is no liquid level beneath the gas riser when the slug
catcher is full; i.e., the storage section is completely full. This section is
 Phase Separation 217

Outlet Gas Riser Inlet Finger

Inlet Manifold

Liquid Collection
Header
Two Banks of Equalization Lines
Connected to Gas Outlet Header

To Inlet Three-Phase Equalization Line

Separator

Figure 5-6 Three-dimensional rendering of finger-type slug catcher.

composed of a change in elevation between the gas risers and the storage
section that allows a clear distinction between the liquid and gas phases.
The length of the storage section ensures that the maximum slug volume
can be retained without liquid carryover in the gas outlet. During normal
operations, the normal liquid level is kept at around the top of the riser from
each finger into the main liquid collection header, which is equivalent to
approximately 5 minutes’ operation of the condensate stabilization units
at maximum capacity.
Because the slug catcher is the first element in the gas processing plant,
determining its proper size is vital to the operation of the entire plant. In fact,
if more liquid is brought in than the slug catcher can handle, the plant nor-
mally shuts down. Therefore, slug sizing results should always be treated
with caution, and slug catchers should be designed with an ample design
margin (Burke and Kashou, 1996; Xiao and Shoup, 1998). Shell DEP
31.40.10.12–Gen (1998) specifies requirements and gives recommendations
for the design of multiple-pipe slug catchers. However, vendors should be
requested to provide detailed design guidelines.