Slugcatcher

Slug Catcher is the name of a unit in the gas refinery or petroleum industry in which slugs at the outlet of pipelines are collected or caught. A slug is a large quantity of gas or liquid that exits in the pipeline. Slug Catcher is the name of a unit in the gas refinery or petroleum industry in which slugs at the outlet of pipelines are collected or caught. A slug is a large quantity of gas or liquid that exits in the pipeline. Pipelines that transport both gas and liquids together, known as two-phase flow, can operate in a flow regime known as slugging flow or slug flow. Under the influence of gravity, liquids will tend to settle on the bottom of the pipeline, while the gases occupy the top section of the pipeline. Under certain operating conditions gas and liquid are not evenly distributed throughout the pipeline, but travel as large plugs with mostly liquids or mostly gases through the pipeline. These large plugs are called slugs.