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An oil/gas separator is a pressure vessel used for separating a well stream into gaseous and
liquid components. They are installed either in an onshore processing station or on an
offshore platform. Based on the vessel configurations, the oil/gas separators can be divided
into horizontal, vertical, or spherical separators. In teams of fluids to be separated, the oil/gas
separators can be grouped into gas/liquid two-phase separator or oil/gas/water three-phase
separator. Based on separation function, the oil/gas separators can also classified into primary
phase separator, test separator, high-pressure separator, low-pressure separator, deliquilizer,
degasser, etc. To meet process requirements, the oil/gas separators are normally designed in
stages, in which the first stage separator is used for priliminary phase separation, while the
second and third stage separator are applied for further treatment of each individual phase
(gas, oil and water). Depending on a specific application, oil/gas separators are also called
deliquilizer or degasser. The deliquilizers are used to remove dispersed droplets from a bulk
gas stream; while the degassers are designed to remove contaimined gas bubbles from the
bulk liquid stream.
Oil/gas separator
Gas/liquid separator
Degasser
Deliqulizer
Scrubber
Trap
Separator components
An oil/gas separator generally consists of following components
In most oil/gas processing systems, the oil/gas separator is the first vessel the well stream
flows through after it leaves the producing well. However, other equipment such as heaters
may be installed upstream of the separator.
Function of a separator
The primary functions of an oil/gas separator, along with separation methods, are
summarized in Table 1.
Table 1
Requirements of separators
Separators are required to provide oil/gas streams that meet saleable pipeline specification as
well as disposal.
Oil must have less than 1% (by volume) water and less than 5 lbm water/MMscf gas.
Water stream must have less than 20 ppm oil for overboard discharge in the Gulf of
Mexico (GOM).
Depressurization
Fig. 1—Typical GOM production separation train consisting of HP, IP, FWKO,
degasser, and BOT (courtesy of CDS Separation Technologies Inc.).
Bulk water is removed in the third stage, FWKO, and final dewatering is accomplished in the
BOT. In the North Sea and other locations, water may be removed in the HP and/or IP
vessels. The BOT is typically an electrostatic treater. Sometimes, the BOT will include a
degassing section, eliminating the need for a separate degasser vessel. Typical deepwater
GOM platform pressures for degasser stages are:
Metering
Fig. 3 the glycol dehydration unit. Both systems make use of separators as a major
component in their design.
Separator orientation
Table 2 compares the advantages and disadvantages of vertical and horizontal separators.
This table should be used as a guideline in selection.
Table 2
Design Consideration
The oil/gas separators are typically sized by the settling theory or retention time for the liquid
phase. To handle the liquid surges or production fluctuation frequenctly encountered during
oil/gas production, it is a common practice to size the oil/gas separators with a sufficient
margin. The separator is generally divided into the following functional zones,
Inlet zone
Flow distribution zone
Gravity separation/coalescing zone
Outlet zone
Each zone has to be carefully designed to achieve the designated overall separation
performance. More details show on the separator sizing page.
Inlet zone
Appropriate inlet device is needed to obtain an initial bulk separation of liquid/gas. In most
cases, gas will have already come out of solution in the pipeline, leading to the separator
(because of pressure drop across an upstream choke or a control valve). Hence, the majority
of the gas is separated from the liquid in the inlet zone. Because of foaming issues and the
need for higher capacities, cyclonic inlets are now becoming increasingly popular. For
applications with inlet momentum saying less than 9 kPa, a vane inlet can be used.
These inlets, although inexpensive, may have the shortcoming of negatively affecting
separation performance. However, for higher-momentum fluids, these inlets can cause
problems. The flat or dished-head plates can result in small drops and foam. The open-pipe
designs can lead to fluid short-circuiting or channeling. Although inlet momentum is a good
starting guideline for selection, the process conditions, as well as the demister choice, should
also be considered. For example, if the liquid loading is low enough that a demister can
handle all the liquid, then inlet devices can be applied beyond their typical momentum
ranges.
Regardless of the size of the vessel, short-circuiting can result in poor separation efficiency.
Integral to any inlet device is a flow straightener such as a single perforated baffle plate. A
full-diameter plate allows the gas/liquid to flow more uniformly after leaving the vane-type
inlet, inlet cyclones, or even the impact plates. The plate also acts as an impingement
demister and foam breaker as well. Typical net-free area (NFA) ranges in the 10 to 50%
range. As the NFA lowers, the shear of the fluids gets higher, so the NFA should be matched
to the particular application. One concern of these plates is solids buildup on the upstream
side. Generally, the velocities are high enough in the inlet zone to carry the solids through the
perforations. In any case, a flush nozzle should be installed in the inlet zone. Other designs
include flow straightening vanes. However, the open area is generally too high to be
effective.
Gravity/coalescing zone
To assist in separation (and foam breaking), mesh pad, vane pack, and/or plate/matrix packs
are sometimes introduced in the gas/liquid separator. These internals provide more
impingement or shearing surfaces to enhance coalescing effect of the dispersed phase. For the
gas phase, matrix/plate packs and vanes have been used to aid in liquid drop coalescence or
foam breaking. The theory behind installing the high surface internals such as plate packs for
foam breaking is that the bubbles will stretch and break as they are dragged along the
surfaces. However, if most of the gas flows through the top portion of the pack, the foamy
layer will not be sufficiently sheared, and the bubbles will meander through to the other end.
Outlet zone
Mist capture can occur by three mechanisms; it should be kept in mind that there are no
sharply defined limits between mechanisms. As the momentum of a droplet varies directly
with liquid density and the cube of the diameter, heavier or larger particles tend to resist
following the streamline of a flowing gas and will strike objects placed in their line of travel.
This is inertial impaction, the mechanism responsible for removing most particles of diameter
> 10 μm. Smaller particles that follow the streamlines may collide with the solid objects, if
their distance of approach is less than their radius. This is direct impaction. It is often the
governing mechanism for droplets in the 1- to 10-μm range. With submicron mists, Brownian
capture becomes the dominant collection mechanism. This depends on Brownian motion—
the continuous random motion of droplets in elastic collision with gas molecules. As the
particles become smaller and the velocity gets lower, the Brownian capture becomes more
efficient. Almost all mist elimination equipment falls into four categories:
Mesh
Vanes
Cyclones
Fiber-beds
Separator performance
Separation performance can be evaluaed by liquid carrying over and gsa carrying down rates,
which are affected by many factors, such as:
Flow rates
Fluid properties
Vessel configuration
Internals
Control system
ETC.
The gas capacity of most gas/liquid separation vessel is sized on the basis of removing a
certain size of liquid droplets. The main unknown is the incoming drop-size distribution.
Without this, the effluent quality cannot realistically be estimated. For example, a
specification that the gas outlet should have less than 0.1 gal/MMscf liquid is somewhat
difficult to guarantee because of the unknown drop-size distribution. Pressure drops across
upstream piping components and equipment can create very small drops (1 to 10 μm) while
coalescence in piping and inlet devices can create larger drops. A removal drop size of 10 μm
for scrubbers is more realistic to specify. The same discussion applies to water-in-oil and oil-
in-water specifications. To the author’s knowledge, a correlation is not available to predict
water-in-oil or oil-in-water concentrations. For example, prediction of whether a separator
can produce an oil stream with less than 20%v water is generally based on experience or
analogous separators.
The liquid capacity of most separators is sized to provide enough retention time to allow gas
bubbles to form and separate out. More retention time is needed for separators that are
designed to separate oil from water, as well as gas from liquid (three-phase compared to two-
phase separators).
Vessel Internals
It is evidenced that tvessel internals could significantly affect the operating performance of an
oil/gas separator through the following ways:
Flow distribution
Drop/bubble shearing and coalescence
Foam creation
Mixing
Level control
Performance impediments
Foaming
When pressure is reduced on certain types of crude oil, tiny bubbles of gas are encased in a
thin film of oil when the gas comes out of solution. This may result in foam, or froth, being
dispersed in the oil and creates what is known as “foaming” oil. In other types of crude oil,
the viscosity and surface tension of the oil may mechanically lock gas in the oil and can cause
an effect similar to foam. Oil foam is not stable or long-lasting unless a foaming agent is
present in the oil.
Whether crude oil is foamy is not well known. The presence of a surface active agent and
process conditions play a part. The literature indicates organic acids as being a foaming
agent. High-gravity oils and condensates typically do not result in foaming situations, as
described by Callaghan et al.[1]
Foaming greatly reduces the capacity of oil/gas separators because a much longer retention
time is required to adequately separate a given quantity of foaming crude oil. Foaming crude
oil cannot be measured accurately with positive-displacement meters or with conventional
volumetric metering vessels. These problems, combined with the potential loss of oil/gas
because of improper separation, emphasize the need for special equipment and procedures in
handling foaming crude oil.
Settling
Agitation (baffling)
Heat
Chemicals
Centrifugal force
These factors or methods of “reducing” or “breaking” foaming oil are also used to remove
entrained gas from oil. Many different designs of separators for handling foaming crude oil
have evolved. They are available from various manufacturers—some as standard foam
handling units and some designed especially for a specific application.
Silicone- and fluorosilicone-based chemical defoamers are typically used in conjunction with
cyclonic inlets to break foam. The chemical defoamer concentration is generally in the range
of 5 to 10 ppm, but for many GOM crudes, 50 to 100 ppm is common.
Fig. 4 is a gamma ray scan of a 48-in.-diameter horizontal gas separator showing the
problems resulting from foam. The horizontal axis is signal strength, and the vertical axis is
height within the separator. High signal strength indicates less mass or more gas. Less signal
strength indicates more mass or liquid. As the chemical rate is decreased, the interface
between gas/liquid becomes less defined. The bottom of the vessel becomes gassy (more
signal), while the upper portion becomes foamy (less signal). Liquid carryover occurs as the
foam is swept through the demister. Gas carry-under occurs as the bubbles cannot be
separated.
Fig. 5 shows a horizontal separator used to process foamy crudes. The fluids flow through
inlet cyclones, where the centrifugal action helps break the large bubbles. A perforated plate
downstream of the inlet cyclones aids in promoting uniform flow as well as demisting and
defoaming. Demisting cyclones in the gas outlet remove large amounts of the liquid that
results from a foamy oil layer. The foamy oil pad results from the small bubbles that cannot
be removed in the inlet cyclones.
In between the perforated plate and the demister, high-surface internals such as plate or
matrix packs are sometimes installed to break the large bubbles. As previously discussed, the
theory behind the high-surface internals is that the bubbles will stretch and break as they are
dragged along the surfaces. However, if most of the gas flows through the top portion of the
pack, the foamy layer will not be sufficiently sheared, and the bubbles will meander through
to the other end.
Paraffin
Paraffin deposition in oil/gas separators reduces their efficiency and may render them
inoperable by partially filling the vessel and/or blocking the mist extractor and fluid passages.
Paraffin can be effectively removed from separators by use of steam or solvents. However,
the best solution is to prevent initial deposition in the vessel by heat or chemical treatment of
the fluid upstream of the separator. Another deterrent, successful in most instances, involves
the coating of all internal surfaces of the separator with a plastic for which paraffin has little
or no affinity. The weight of the paraffin causes it to slough off of the coated surface before it
builds up to a harmful thickness.
In general, paraffinic oils are not a problem when the operating temperature is above the
cloud point (temperature at which paraffin crystals begin to form). The problems arise,
however, during a shutdown, when the oil has a chance to cool. paraffin comes out of
solution and plates surfaces. When production is restored, the incoming fluid may not be able
to flow to the plated areas to dissolve the paraffin. In addition, temperatures higher than the
cloud point are required to dissolve the paraffin.
If sand and other solids are continuously produced in appreciable quantities with well fluids,
they should be removed before the fluids enter the pipelines. Salt may be removed by mixing
water with the oil, and after the salt is dissolved, the water can be separated from the oil and
drained from the system.
Vertical vessels are well suited for solids removal because of the small collection area. The
vessel bottom can also be cone-shaped, with water jets to assist in the solids removal. In
horizontal vessels, sand jets and suction nozzles are placed along the bottom of the vessel,
typically every 5 to 8 ft. Inverted troughs may be placed on top of the suction nozzles as well
to keep the nozzles from plugging. A sand-jet system is shown in Fig. 6. This type of system
is sometimes difficult to use while the vessel is in operation because of the effect of the
jetting and suction on separation and level control. For vessels that must be designed to
enable sand jetting while in service, see the discussion on Emulsion Treating.
Corrosion
Produced well fluids can be very corrosive and cause early failure of equipment. The two
most corrosive elements are hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. These two gases may be
present in the well fluids in quantities from a trace up to 40 to 50% of the gas by volume. A
discussion of corrosion in pressure vessels is included in the page of water treating.
Sloshing
Because of the action of waves or ocean current on a floating structure, liquid contents in an
oil/gas separator would be excited, which results in internal fluid sloshing motions. It is
particularly a problem in long horizontal separators. Sloshing degrades the separation
efficiency through additional mixing, resulting in liquid carry-over in the gas line, gas carry-
under in the liquid line, and loss of level control. In three-phase separators, oil/water and
gas/liquid separation efficiency is degraded. It is therefore necessary to design internal baffle
systems to limit sloshing. Emphasis is generally placed on internals for wave dampening in
gas-capped separators because of the larger fluid motions.
The liquid level changes from end to end must be considered in the design of the inlet and
outlet devices. Too low a liquid level can result in gas blow-by of inlet cyclones, whereas too
high a liquid level can cause siphoning of liquid through the mist extractor.
Table 3 gives some estimates of the natural period of the liquid for vessels undergoing
lengthwise motions (sway). The periods are in the order of 10s, which is similar to the period
found for floating platforms such as tension leg platforms (TLP) and floating production,
storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels under a 10-year storm condition.
Table 3
The alignment of the separators with the structure motion should be considered when
designing the layout. For example, on TLP, the vessels are recommended to be aligned with
their long dimension, perpendicular to the TLP prevailing motion. On ships, the magnitude
and period of the pitch and roll should be considered when aligning the vessels. Normally, it
is recommended to align the separators with their long dimension along the length of the ship.
The available literature, as described by Roberts et al.[2], highlights two main features of
wave-damping internals:
On some ships, fuel tanks fill with sea water, as the fuel is spent, to prevent problems
associated with sloshing.
Shifting the natural frequency is usually accomplished by segmenting the vessel with
transverse baffles. The baffles are perforated, can be placed throughout the liquid phase, or
can be placed in the region of the oil/water interface. However the following are major
concerns:
Vessel access
Solids collection
Mixing are major concerns
Horizontal perimeter baffles can be used, but they have disadvantages as well. Other baffle
shapes include angled wings along the length of the vessel to mitigate waves because of roll
as well as vertical perforated baffles down the length of the vessel. Table 4 highlights the
differences between horizontal and vertical baffles.
Table 4
Level controls
Stable control of the oil/water and gas/oil interfaces is important for good separation. The
typical two-phase separator level settings are shown in Table 5. For three-phase operation,
level settings are placed on both the oil/water interface and oil/gas interface levels.
Table 5
Typically, the spacing between the different levels is at least 4 to 6 in. or a minimum of 10 to
20 seconds of retention time. The location of the lowest levels must also consider sand/solids
settling. These levels are typically 6 to 12 in. from the vessel bottom. Minimum water/oil pad
thicknesses are approximately 12 in. Note that these minimum settings may dominate the
vessel sizing as opposed to the specified retention times.
In a two- or three-phase horizontal separator with very little liquid/water, a boot or “double-
barrel” separator configuration is used. All the interface controls are then located within the
boot or lower barrel. Examples of these types of separators can be seen at Separator types.
To coerce the liquid to exit through the tube-wall gap, a slipstream of gas is also withdrawn.
The slipstream is induced to exit through the gap by maintaining a lower pressure in the outer
annular space than that which is inside the tubes. This is done by constructing ducts between
the annular space and the hollow core pieces of all the spin generators. The tails of these
hollow cores are, in turn, open to the low pressure of the newly generated gas vortices. A gas
slipstream of about 5% is recycled out of the tubes to pull liquid out, then back to the spin
generator and out its tail end, where it joins the main gas stream.
Nomenclature
ρc = continuous phase density, kg/m3;
μc = continuous phase dynamic viscosity, kg/(m∙s) or N∙s/m2;
Vc = continuous phase velocity, m/s;
dh = hydraulic diameter.
Vr = drop/rise velocity, m/s;
Vh = horizontal water velocity, m/s;
L = plate-pack length, m;
dpp = plate-pack perpendicular gap spacing, m.
ρw = water density, kg/m3;
ρo = oil density, kg/m3;
μw = water dynamic viscosity, kg/(m∙s) or N∙s/m2;
g = gravitational acceleration, 9.81 m/s2;
Do = drop diameter, m.
Vm = design velocity, m/s;
ρg = gas-phase density, kg/m3;
ρl = liquid-phase density, kg/m3;
K = mesh capacity factor, m/s.
References
1. ↑ Callaghan, I.C., McKechnie, A.L., Ray, J.E. et al. 1985. Identification of Crude Oil
Components Responsible for Foaming. SPE J. 25 (2): 171–175. SPE-12342-PA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/12342-PA.
2. ↑ Roberts, J.R., Basurto, E.R., and Chen, P.Y. 1966. Slosh Design Handbook I,
NASA-CR-406, Contract No. NAS 8-11111. Huntsville, Alabama: Northrop Space
Laboratories.
http://petrowiki.org/Oil_and_gas_separators
gas liq and liq liq separator
below the oil-water interface.
This forces the inlet mixture of oil and water to mix with the water continuous phase in the bottom
of the vessel and rise through the oil-water interface. This process is called water washing, and it
promotes the coalescence of water droplets , which are entrained in the oil continuous phase.
FAIM 2006 HTTP://TEES.OPENREPOSITORY.COM/TEES/BITSTREAM/10149/128090/2/128090.PDF
29 September 2012
The three phase separator are designed to separate an measure water, gas, and oil rates.
The separators are equipment with internal components (inlet deflector, vane pack,
coalecer, wave breaker, adjustable weir plates, and mist extractor) that facilitate and
improve the phases separation and with complete instrumentation (reflief valves, level &
pressure controllers, control valves, measuring equipment and safety devices) that allow us
to provide our customers with accurate information concerning the well performance.
Separator sizes range from 15 MMcfd / 2,500 BPD to 150 MMCFD / 42,000 BPD All of
our equipment has full traceability for each component, and are designed according ASME
and NACE codes.
APPLICATIONS
Well testing
Well cleanups
Frac flow back
Pipe line cleaning / pigging
FEATURES
Separators ANSI 300, 600, 900
Water and oil lines designed with by-pass lines, and measurement and control
devices
Dual PSV (pressure safety valve system) with relief line to the back of the skid
High and low level alarms / pilots
High and low pressure alarms / pilots
Certified skid and crash frame for offshore operations
Mounted on trailers for onshore operations
SEPARATOR CAPACITIES
WORKING LIQUID MAX. GAS
SIZE PRESSURE CAPACITY CAPACITY
OD X S/S PSI BPD MMCFD
24" X 10' 1,440 2,500 15
30" X 10' 1,440 5,000 30
40" X 10' 1,440 10,000 45
42" X 10' 2,160 10,000 65
42" X 10' 1,440 15,000 90
48" X 10' 1,440 20,000 100
52" X 10' 2,160 20,000 100
52" X 20' 2,160 42,000 150
Data Sheet
Description Horizontal, Three phase Separator
Codes ASME VII Div 1
NACE B.313
NACE M R-01-75
ISO 9001
DNV 2.7.1
ANSI 600
Nominal vessel size 52" OD S/S / 132cm OD x3.04 m S/S
Maximum Operation Pressure 1440 PSI / 9.93 Mpa
Gas rate capacity 100 MM cfd / 2.83 M Mm3/d
Liquid rate capacity 20,000 bbl/d / 3180 m3
Inlet 4" RF flange ANSI 600 / 4" Hammer
union Fig. 602 Female
Gas outlet 3" RF flange ANSI 900 / 3 " Hammer
union Fig. 602 Male
Oil outlet 3" RF flange ANSI 900 / 3 " Hammer
union Fig. 602 Male
Water outlet 2" RF flange ANSI 900 / 2" Hammer
union Fig. 602 Male
Aprox. Empty Weight 30,000 lbs. / 213,608 kg
Skid/frame dimensions( L x W X H) 17 X 8'6' X 9' / 5.18 m x 2.59 m x 2.74 m
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Test unit fitted with:
deflector plate, coalescing plates, adjustable weir plate, and mist extractor. Gas leg with
6" and 2" Senior Daniels orifice meter, Mallard back pressure valve 3" oil leg with
Mallard dump valves and turbine meters (1/2", 1",2",3"2") water leg with Mallard dum
valve and turbine meters (1/2", 1",2"") two 3" x 4" relied valves.