INTEC designs, when possible, separator inlet chokes to control separator liquid ingress and/or dump rate, and the resultant separator volumn. Slug catchers are less desireable from a weight and space perspective.

We provide our clients with designs incorporating the proper size of slug catcher (or separator sized to avoid using a slug catcher), determined by the normal liquid and gas production rates, the dynamic variation in those rates due to operational factors (e.g., rate change - including pigging), the dynamic variation that can be accommodated by the separator, the length of slug that must be absorbed by the catcher to protect the process, the location of the slug catcher within the system (surface or subsea), and the extent to which riser gas lift, separator inlet chokes, and separator level controls can or should be integrated. In short, we incorporate the use and/or design of slug catchers as part of our overall system hardware and operational design.

Our typical pigging calculations approximate techniques to predict the gas and liquid behavior in front of and behind the pig. INTEC models provide highly accurate prediction of pigging slugs using our transient multiphase simulation software.