Natural Gas Engineering

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Separation of Natural Gas

IIT
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C
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O Dr Pankaj Tiwari
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IIT Guwahati
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 Natural Gas Engineering
Separator: Separate free liquid from the gas stream
 Free liquid and solid entrain
 Recoverable hydrocarbon
 Condensable water vapor

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 Undesirable compounds

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Methane Hydrocarbon
Ethane

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Propane
i-Butane
n-Butane
i-Pentane

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n-Pentane Gravity Separator:
Hexane Knockout drum, scrubber,

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Heptanes + mist eliminator
CO2 Non-
hydrocarbon
H2S + H2O
N2+ He
O Gas in pipeline
 Btu content
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 Dew point temperature
 Foreign components
 No particulates
 Sufficiently dehydrated

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 Natural Gas Engineering

Optimum pressure and temperature: Maximum liquid recovery (NGL)

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scrubber+ heater

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Methane Hydrocarbon
gas oil ratio (GOR)
Ethane

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Propane
i-Butane
 Fluid stream composition
n-Butane
i-Pentane  Separator operating pressure,

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n-Pentane
Hexane  Separator operating temperature

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Heptanes +
CO2 Non-
hydrocarbon
H2S + H2O
N2+ He
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M

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 Separation of Natural Gas
Separator: Gravity segregation and/or centrifugal segregation (Monney and Svreck, 1993)

 Separator function

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 Primary phase separation: liquid hydrocarbon from gas
 Refine by removing entrained liquid mist from the gas

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 Refine by removing entrained gas from the liquid
 Separate discharge of gas and liquid: No re-entrainment

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 Separator components

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 Centrifugal inlet device
primary separation of the liquid and gas occurs

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 Large settling section of sufficient height or length- disengagement section
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to allow liquid droplets to settle out of the gas stream
adequate surge room for slugs of liquid
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 Mist extractor or eliminator near the gas outlet
to coalesce small particles of liquid- amalgamate

consisting of level control, liquid dump valve, gas backpressure valve, safety relief valve, pressure gauge, gauge glass, instrument gas regulator, etc
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4
 Separation of Natural Gas
Separator Design/Selection: Type and Size: Specifications Natural gas engineers:
Empirical equations proposed by Souders-Brown : gas capacity of oil/gas separators: do not perform detailed
designing

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ρL = Density of liquid at operating conditions, lbm/ft3
Gas Capacity ρg = Density of gas at operating conditions, lbm/ft3 carry out selection of separators

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K = Empirical factor suitable for their operations from
𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝑔 A = Total cross-sectional area of separator, ft3
𝑣=𝐾 manufacturers' product catalogs.
𝜌𝑔 v = Superficial gas velocity based on total cross sectional area, ft/s

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q = Gas Flow rate at operating condition, ft3/s
𝑞 = 𝐴𝑣
qst = Gas capacity at standard conditions, MMscfd
2.4𝐷2 𝐾𝑝

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𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝑔 D = Internal diameter of vessel, ft
𝑞𝑠𝑡 = p = Operating pressure, psia
𝑧 𝑇 + 460 𝜌𝑔

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T= Operating temperature, ᵒF  Fluid stream composition
z = gas compressibility factor
O  Separator operating pressure,
Liquid Capacity
qL = Liquid capacity, bbl/day  Separator operating temperature
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VL= Liquid Settling Volume, bbl
1440𝑉𝐿
𝑞𝐿 = t = retention time, min
𝑡
 Retention time of the liquid within the vessel determines liquid capacity of a separator.
 Empirical: Height differences in vertical separators and length differences in horizontal separators are not considered.
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Forces on liquid droplet
Drag force Net gravity force (gravity minus buoyancy)

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𝜋
(8 )𝐶𝐷 𝑑𝑝2 𝑣𝜗2 𝜌𝑔 𝑀𝑝 𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝑔 𝑔
𝐹𝐷 = 𝐹𝐺 =

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𝑔𝑐 𝜌𝑔 𝑔𝑐

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4 𝑑𝑝

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𝑀𝑝 = π 𝜌𝑙
Terminal velocity 3 2

Vapor velocity vv is less than the terminal velocity

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4𝑔𝑑𝑝 (𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝑔 )
𝑣𝑇 = vT, the liquid droplet will settle out

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3𝐶𝐷 𝜌𝑔
Without mist eliminator
Souders-Brown (1934) O
𝐶𝐷 = exp 8.4111 − 2.2243𝑥 + 1.865 × 10;2 𝑥 3 + 5.201 × 10;4 𝑥 4
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𝜌𝐿 − 𝜌𝑔 4𝑔𝑑𝑝
𝑣𝑇 = 𝐾 𝐾= 0.95 × 108 𝑑𝑝3 𝜌𝑔 𝜌𝑙 − 𝜌𝑔
𝜌𝑔 3𝐶𝐷 𝑥 = ln
𝜇𝑔2

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 Separation of Natural Gas Types of liquid/gas separator (Wines & Brown, 1994)

Vertical Separator Spherical Separator Horizontal Separators

 intermediate gas/oil ratio

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Conventional horizontal separator

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Spherical low pressure separator (Sivalls 1977)

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Conventional horizontal double-barrel separator
Selection of separator type is based on several factors:
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characteristics of production steam to be treated,
floor space availability at the facility site,
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cost.

Conventional vertical separator

Conventional horizontal three-phase separator
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Vertical Separator

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 Intermediate gas/oil ratio
 Large slug of liquid

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 Occupy less area but costly fabrication

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Settling Volumes of Standard Vertical High-Pressure
Separators (230 psi to 2,000 psi working pressure) Settling Volumes of Standard Vertical low-Pressure

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Separators (125 psi working pressure)

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O
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Conventional vertical separator

IIT Guwahati
The separator charts by Sivalls (1977) and Ikoku (1984) provide more legalistic values for the gas capacity 8
 Separation of Natural Gas
Horizontal Separator
 Widely used for high gas/oil ratio well streams

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 Much greater gas/liquid interface

 Horizontal double-tube separators : low cost and higher liquid capacity

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Conventional horizontal separator

Settling Volumes of Standard Horizontal High-Pressure

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Separators (230 psi to 2,000 psi working pressure)

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Conventional horizontal double-barrel separator

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Settling Volumes of Standard Horizontal low-Pressure
Separators ( 125 psi working pressure)
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Conventional horizontal three-phase separator

IIT Guwahati
The separator charts by Sivalls (1977) and Ikoku (1984) provide more legalistic values for the gas capacity 9
 Separation of Natural Gas
Spherical Separator
 An inexpensive and compact separation arrangement

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 Very limited surge space and liquid settling section.

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 liquid-level control in this type of separator is critical.

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Settling Volumes of Standard Spherical High-Pressure
Separators (230 psi to 3,000 psi working pressure)

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O Spherical low pressure separator (Sivalls 1977)
Settling Volumes of Standard Spherical Low-Pressure
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Separators (1.25 psi)

IIT Guwahati
The separator charts by Sivalls (1977) and Ikoku (1984) provide more legalistic values for the gas capacity 10
 Separation of Natural Gas
Three-phase Separators
 Oil/gas/water three-phase are commonly used for well testing and in instances where free

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water readily separates from the oil or condensate.
 Three-phase separation can be accomplished in any type of separator.

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 The three-phase separation feature is difficult to install in spherical separators because of
their limited available internal space.

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Conventional horizontal three-phase separator IIT Guwahati

The separator charts by Sivalls (1977) and Ikoku (1984) provide more legalistic values for the gas capacity 11
 Separation of Natural Gas

Factors Affecting Separation

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 Separator operating pressure

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 Separator operating temperature
 Fluid stream composition and qua

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operating pressure or operating temperature => liquid covered in a separator

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gas condensate systems are different

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 Flash vaporization calculation : optimum pressure and temperature to achieve maximum liquid recovery.
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 Sometimes it is not practical to operate at the optimum point. storage system vapor losses may become too
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great

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 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation assuming phase equilibriums are reached in the separators.

 Composition of well-stream fluid, For pressures lower than 1,000 psia

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 Products from separation can be predicted Standing (1979)

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1
𝑘𝑖 = 10𝑎:𝑐𝐹𝑖
𝑝

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𝑦𝑖
Equilibrium ratio 𝑘𝑖 = 𝑎 = 1.2 + 4.5 × 10;4 𝑝 + 1.5 × 10;9 𝑝2
𝑥𝑖
𝑐 = 0.89 − 1.74 × 10;4 𝑝 + 3.5 × 10;8 𝑝2

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1 1
ki = liquid/vapor equilibrium ratio of compound I 𝐹𝑖 = 𝑏𝑖 − Pc = critical pressure, psia
𝑇𝑏𝑖 𝑇
yi = mole fraction of compound I on the vapor phase
O 𝑝𝑐𝑖
log 14.7
Tb = boiling point, ᵒR
Tc = critical temperature, ᵒR
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xi = mole fraction of compound I in the liquid phase 𝑏𝑖 =
1 1
−
𝑇𝑏𝑖 𝑇𝑐𝑖

Accurate determination of ki values : Equation of State (EoS) for hydrocarbon systems Ahmed (1989).
IIT Guwahati
13
 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation
 Consider 1 mole of fed-in fluid

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nL = number of mole of fluid in the liquid phase
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑛𝑉 = 1

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nV = number of mole of fluid in the vapor phase
𝑧𝑖
 For compound i

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𝑧𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑦𝑖 𝑛𝑉 zi is the mole fraction of compound i in the fed-in fluid

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 For liquid phase
𝑧𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑥𝑖 𝑛𝑉

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𝑧𝑖 O
𝑥𝑖 =
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑉
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𝑁𝑐 𝑁𝑐
𝑧𝑖
𝑥𝑖 = =1 Nc is the number of compounds in the fluid
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣
𝑖<1 𝑖<1 IIT Guwahati
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation
𝑁𝑐 𝑁𝑐
𝑧𝑖 𝑧𝑖 𝑘𝑖

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 For vapor phase − =0
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣

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𝑖<1 𝑖<1
𝑧𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑦𝑖 𝑛𝑉
𝑁𝑐

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𝑦𝑖 𝑧𝑖 𝑘𝑖
𝑧𝑖 = 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑦𝑖 𝑛𝑉 =1
𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣
𝑖<1

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𝑧𝑘𝑖

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𝑦𝑖 = 𝑁𝑐
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑉 O 𝑧𝑖 (1 − 𝑘𝑖 )
=0
𝑛𝑣 (𝑘𝑖 −1) + 1
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𝑁𝑐 𝑁𝑐 𝑖<1
𝑧𝑖 𝑘𝑖
𝑦𝑖 = =1
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑉
𝑖<1 𝑖<1
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation
• If the values of ki are known: the number of mole of fluid in the vapor phase can be estimated

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• Then, xi and yi can be calculated

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 Apparent molecular weights of liquid phase ( MWa L ) and vapor phase ( MWa V )

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𝑁𝑐 𝑁𝑐
MWi is the molecular weight of compound i.
𝑀𝑊𝑎𝐿 = 𝑥𝑖 𝑀𝑊𝑖 𝑀𝑊𝑎𝑉 = 𝑦𝑖 𝑀𝑊𝑖
𝑖<1 𝑖<1

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Y0 = specific gravity of stock-tank oil, water = 1
Yg = specific gravity of solution gas, air = 1

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𝑀𝑊𝑎𝑉 𝑝
 Specific gravity of the vapor phase 𝜌𝑉 = Rs = gas solubility of the oil, scf/STB
𝑧𝑅𝑇
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62.4𝛾𝑜 + 0.0136𝑅𝑠 𝛾𝑔
 liquid phase density in lbm/ft3 can be 𝜌𝐿 = 1.175
𝛾𝑔
estimated by Standing's method 0.972 + 0.000147 𝑅𝑠 𝛾𝑜 + 1.25(𝑇 − 460)

IIT Guwahati
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation
 The volumes of vapor and liquid phases can be calculated as

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𝑧𝑛𝑉 𝑅𝑇𝑠𝑐

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𝑉𝑉𝑠𝑐 = VVsc = volume of vapor phase under standard condition, scf
𝑝𝑠𝑐
R = gas constant, 10.73 ft3-psia/lb-mol-R

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Tsc = standard temperature, 520 ᵒR

𝑛𝐿 𝑀𝑊𝑎𝐿 Psc = standard pressure, 14.7 psia

𝑉𝐿 = VL = volume of liquid phase, ft3
𝜌𝐿

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z = compressibility factor

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• The gas oil ratio (GOR) can be calculated
O
M

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Flash Calculation Specific gravity of stock-tank oil: 0.8; water = 1
Specific gravity of solution gas: 0.75 ; air = 1
Gas solubility Rs: 350 scf/STB
Pressure 600 Psia

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Temperature 630 oR nV nL
0.9443 0.056

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[goal seek] 1-nV

zi zi(1-ki)/(nV(ki-1)+1)
Compound (Pc),Psia (Tc),oR (Tb),oR a c bi Fi ki xi yi Mwi xi ·Mwi yi · Mwi

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C1 667.8 343.37 201.3 1.47 0.78 806.33 2.73 6.40 0.8407 -0.744257109 0.14 0.88 16 2.21 14.11
C2 709 550 332.5 1.47 0.78 1415.35 2.01 1.78 0.0586 -0.026369642 0.03 0.06 30 1.01 1.80
C3 618 666 416.2 1.47 0.78 1801.70 1.47 0.68 0.022 0.010158529 0.03 0.02 44 1.39 0.94
i-C4 530 733 470.9 1.47 0.78 2050.42 1.10 0.35 0.0035 0.005871999 0.01 0.00 58 0.52 0.18

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n-C4 551 766 491.1 1.47 0.78 2153.69 0.97 0.28 0.0058 0.013229524 0.02 0.01 58 1.06 0.29
i-C5 482 830 542.2 1.47 0.78 2370.11 0.61 0.15 0.0027 0.011900168 0.01 0.00 72 1.00 0.15
n-C5 0.0025 0.01273325 0.01 0.00 72 1.05 0.13

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485 847 557.0 1.47 0.78 2470.21 0.51 0.12
C6 434 915 615.7 1.47 0.78 2767.27 0.10 0.06 0.0028 0.023621781 0.03 0.00 86 2.16 0.13
C7+ 361 1024 669.1 1.47 0.78 2683.86 -0.25 0.03 0.0076 0.086028933 0.09 0.00 100 8.88 0.28
N2
CO2
H2S
492.519
1073
1306
227.7
548
672
264.2
403.0
400.0
1.47
1.47
1.47
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0.78 -2513.64 -5.52 0.00
0.78 2837.89 2.54 4.57
0.78 1925.70 1.76 1.14
0.0345
0.013
0.0063
0.618951345
-0.010617062
-0.000757235
0.62
0.00
0.01
0.00
0.01
0.01
28
44
34
17.33
0.13
0.19
0.00
0.60
0.22
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1.0000 0.00049 1.00 1.00 36.94 18.84
Density of vapour phase 1.76 lbm/ft3 Apparent molecular weight of liquid phase 36.94
Volume of vapour phase 340.35 Scf GOR 40814 scf/bbl
Apparent molecular weight of vapour phase 18.84
Density of liquid phase 43.97 lbm/ft3
Volume of liquid phase 0.0468 ft3
0.0083 bbl IIT Guwahati
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 Separation of Natural Gas
Flash Calculation Gas Oil Ratio (GOR)
Equation of State (EoS)

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• equilibrium ratio
𝑁𝑐
𝑧𝑖 (1 − 𝑘𝑖 )

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𝒚𝒊 =0
𝒌𝒊 = 𝑛𝑣 (𝑘𝑖 −1) + 1
𝒙𝒊 𝑖<1

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• Standing (1979) 𝑧𝑖
𝑥𝑖 =
𝟏 𝒂:𝒄𝑭 𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣
𝒌𝒊 = 𝟏𝟎 𝒊
𝒑

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𝑧𝑖 𝑘𝑖
𝑦𝑖 =
𝑛𝐿 + 𝑘𝑖 𝑛𝑣

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𝒛𝒏𝒗 𝑹𝑻𝒔𝒄
𝑽𝑽𝒔𝒄 =
𝒑𝒔𝒄 O 𝑀𝑊𝑎𝑣 𝑝
𝜌𝑣 =
𝑧𝑅𝑇
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𝒏𝑳 𝑴𝑾𝑳𝒂 62.4𝛾𝑜 + 0.0136𝑅𝑠 𝛾𝑔
𝑽𝑳 = 𝜌𝐿 =
𝝆𝑳 𝛾𝑔
1.175
0.972 + 0.000147 𝑅𝑠
𝛾𝑜 + 1.25(𝑇 − 460)
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 Separation of Natural Gas

 Stage Separation

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 Low-Temperature Separation

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 Design procedure for
 Three phase Vertical separator

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 Two phase Vertical separator

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 Three phase Horizontal separator

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 Two phase Horizontal separator
O
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