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Successfully Specify 3 Phase Separators - CEP Set 1994 PDF
Successfully Specify 3 Phase Separators - CEP Set 1994 PDF
Three-Phase
Separators
t is often necessaryto separatetwo section calm to promote the separation.
Hereis a stepwise immiscible liquids, the light and
heavy phases,and a vapor. A typi-
There are different variations of hor-
izontal three-phasevapor-liquid separa-
procedure for cal example in petroleum refining tors. The liquid separation section is
is the separationofwater, and a hydro- usually a variationof a deviceto provide
designing carbon liquid and vapor. Little has interface level control, which may
been published on three-phase (liq- include a boot or a weir. A boot typical-
liquid/Iiquid/vapor uid/liquid/vapor) separarion, with ly is specifiedwhen the volume of heavy
most information available only in liquid is not substantial(< l5-207o of
separutors. corporate design files. This article total liquid by weight), while a weir is
attempts to alleviate this situation by used when the volume is substantial.
covering the basicsofthree-phase sep- Thesehorizontal separatorsare illustrat-
arator design. The authors provide a ed in Figure 2. The bucket-and-weir
Step-by-Step procedure and worked type design is used when interface level
out examples. Further, the examples control may be difficult, such as with
offer guidanceon making assumptions heavy oils or when large amounts of an
for the calculations. emulsionor a paraffin are present(1).
Selectingthree.phareseparatore $tokos'lawappliee
As with two-phase designs, three- Separatinga vapor from a light liquid
phaseunits can be either vertical or hor- (two-phaseseparation)has been covered
izontal, althoughthey typically are hori- in a previous article (2) and will not be
zontal (seeFigures l and2). The verti- discussedhere. However, all necessary
cal orientation.Figure 1, is only used if information for performing this part of
there is a large amount of vapor to be the calculation is provided here. The fol-
WayneD.Monnery separatedfrom a small amount of the lowing discussioncoversthe separation
andWilliam
light and heavy liquid (< l0-207o by of light and heavy liquids.
Y.Svrcek,
weight). Unfortunately, there are no The flow of rising light droplets in
University
of Calgary
simple rules for separator selection. the heavy liquid phase or settling heavy
Sometimes,both configurationsshould dropletsin the light liquid phaseis con- ,
be evaluatedto decide which is more sidered laminar and is soverned bv
economical. Further, the available plot Stokes'law:
space(footprint) may be a factor.
The design of three-phaseseparators
is similar to their two-phase counter- rt -
1,488g,fi(p,- pr) (l)
v T -
parts, except that the liquid section dif- 18F
fers. For the vertical type, a baffle com-
monly keeps the liquid separation where 1,488convertsviscosityof the
30 . 1994.
SEpTEMBER pRocREss
ENGTNEERTNG
CHEMIcAL
3. Interfacecontrol with weir
Feed
inlet
l,v
Min.12in.
Min.12in.
Heavy Light
liquid liquid
outlet outlet
* l N , *l L NI*-
',l^n. - l
* * u,n.l
2. InterJacecontrol with boot 4. Bucketand weir
Vapor Vapor
outlet outlet
Lightliquidholdu/surge
Heavy Light
liquid liquid
outlet outlet
| -t -t -t -l
I L, lLzlLslL4l
Heavyliquid
outlet Note:N= 112d7,1+6in.
I
t - L -
drv= Nozzledia'
WV kt(Pn - Pr)
Qv= 3,600pu
(s) vr tH L -- 0\ n -Wrt
unr- 60pa (10)
ltr
3. Calculate the vessel internal where ft, is obtained from Table 1 or is 7. Assume Hr = I ft (minimum)
diameter,Dur: calculated(seeEq. 3). and calculate the settling time for the
. sEprEMBERrggr
CHEMTCALENGTNEERTNGpRocREss . 31
MULTIPHASE
^ =(t.+aeal\/oo
o,in{ (0- .0rl\
a, r,
l- I--T-/\----G-/
) Equation13
- 0.6973=2.14ftJs
Ur =0' 313 53.95
I EquationEl
-
-* 415.000lb/h =165.32ft'ls
Qv=
= 3.600s/hx 0.69731Vff
: lEquation E2
=
--
=
^
r-\o= 1TVT4STFIs
--irISHs - r0.13ft
V
I
2
lEquation E3
16.5000lb/h = 5.10ft'lmin
ou -
60 minthx 53.95lbtftt
a EquationE4
"=,{*t#d) vnr=ffi
l,3o0lb/h = 0.35ft'lmin
t -
l2H,
----------= (11) plate - settling area for the light liq- Check this r-alueu'ith that assumed
,HL_
U,, uid;A.-A-Ao. in Step 9b to ensurethat the assumed
8. Assume Hn = | ft (minimum) 10. Calculate the residence time value is reasonable. ft- surge is not
and calculate the settling time for the of each phasebased on the volumes specified, calculate the surge height
light liquid droplets to rise through occupied by the light and heavY basedon surgetime:
phases:
this distance:
(1 2 )
(eu* eo)r, (16)
L zH ,
t -
,LH -
---:
TI
uLH
32, . CHEMICALENGINEERINGPRoGRESS
sEprEMBERlggd
10,000
c 24in.
o_
o
F
c
9,000
-
-o
G 8,000
G
r.i
High liquid levelaboveinterface
/= 4.0184a8
. = _ J . 9 t 6 4tt
= -i.801705
= :l 1.i5348
pr- pu,lblft3
t. \, to H/D+
= HID
= \/.\r I Figure 3. G is found from the downconterallowableflow.
= 0.00153756
' = 16.787101 the time lbr the
= 1.299201
light liquid to
: - i.2.923932 rise out of the
. = 1.1.353518 heavy liquid
'= 11.844824 phase:
- = -36.999376 trH=(12)(1.0)
: = 10.529572 ll.lJ=6.9min
: = 9.892851 9. Calculate
2 . C a l c u l a t et h e r a p o r '\ r r l u r r - t r i " iili ti-:,r-r' :'1:ri- i1f-;1:
:.luivalent
expressions,
suchasH',/D _ r _ i l , ) <
flow rate,seeEq. El in the bor. r r l n t l l l _ i l ) S
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING . SEPTEMBER
PROGRESS 1994. 33
MULTIPHASE FLOW
34 . 1994.
SEpTEMBER pRocREss
ENGTNEERTNG
CHEMTCAL
2. Calculate the light and heavy
liquid volumetric flow rates, Q' and I\ A ', - A , -. A 1u , l\ L 1 ?| q r
' . /
O711, using Eqs. 9 and 10. Qrr=
3. Calculate the vertical terminal Q,,
velocity, Ur, using Eq. 4. (selecta K 17.If gHL< tLHor 0,-, < t", then
r alue from Table 2) and set Uu = increasethe vessellength (liquid sep-
0.75Ur. arationcontrols):
4. Select holdup and surge times
t-romTable 6 and calculate the holdup velocity:
and surgevolumes,V, atd Vr, (unless trrQ* tntQ,
surgeis otherwisespecified,suchas a Uw= Qr/Av ()L\ '= -"{
>lus volume):
e*'(h-Av-o*)
12. Calculatethe minimum length
Vo= To Q, (18) required for vaporiliquid separation:
(30)
Vs=TsQr (19) Lum= UvlQ (2s) 18. CalculateUD.If UD << 1.5,
decreaseD (unlessit is alreadyat its
5. Obtain an UD from Table 7 and 13. If L 1 Lr,,,r, then set L = Lr,* minimum), and if UD >> 6.0 then
initially calculate the diameter (here, vapor/liquid separation con- increaseD; repeatfrom Step 5.
accordingto: trols). This simply results in some 19. Calculate the thickness of the
extra holdup and residencetime. If I shell and headsaccording to Table 8.
11 Lr,*, then increase Hu and recal- 20. Calculate surface area of the
culate Au, and repeat, starting from shell and headsaccordingto Table 8.
(20)
Step 9. If L > L*n, the design is 21.Calculate t h e a p p r o x i m a tvee s -
acceptable for vapor/liquid separa- sel weight accordingto Table 8.
tion. If L )) Lr,,.,(liquid holdup con- 22. Increaseor decreasethe vessel
Calculate the total cross-sectional trols). I can onlr,be reducedand l.rrr. diameter by 6-in. increments and
ilea: increasedif H,, is reduced. F1, ma1' repeat the calculations :until the UD
only be reducedif it is _ureater than the ratio ran-eesfrom 1.5-6.0.
minimum specifiedin Step 6. (With 23. Using the optimum vesselsize
A _ TED' (2r) reduced 11* recalculateAu and repeat (minimum wei-eht).calculatethe nor-
4
the procedurefrom Step9.) Note: For mal and high liquid levels:
6. Set the vapor space height, 11, this and other calculations, "much
, rhe larger of 0.2D or 2 ft; I ft if greater than" (>>) and "much less Hau= D - H, ( 31 )
:.-,ereis no mist eliminator. Using than" (<<) mean a variance of greater
1 ,/D in Table 3, obtainAr/A, andcal- than 20Vo. Anrr= (Am+ Arr) + Vo/L (32)
--llateAu. 14. Calculate the settling velocities
7. Set the heightsof the heavy and of the heavy liquid out of the light liq- Obtain 11r.. using Table 3 with the
;ht liquids, Hrrand Hr, uid phaseand the light liquid out of the value of A*ro/Ar.
8. Find (AnL+ AL)lAr, using (I1", heavyliquid phase,U". and U.o, using
- fl -tlD inTable 3,andcalculateA* Eqs. 7 and 8 (find ft, from Thble 1). Horizontaldesign procedure:
15. Calculatethe settling times of heavy liquid boot
9. Calculatethe minimum length to the heavy liquid out of the light phase 1. Calculate the vapor volumetric
-- -,rmmodatethe liquid holdup/surge: and the light liquid out of the heavy flow rate, Q, using Eq. 5.
phase: 2. Calcrilate the light and heavy
liquid volumetric flow rates, Q* and
r _ V, +V, tur= 12 (D - Hv- HH)IUHL (26)
L _
(22) Q n r , p e rE q s . 9 a n d 1 0 .
tr-Au_ (our*,4rr) 3. Calculate the vertical terminal
tro= 12 HHL/ULH (21) velocity, Ur, using Eq. 4 (the K value
10. Calculate the liquid dropout comes from Table 2) and set Uu =
-:a:
16. Calculate the residencetimes 0.15 Ur.
of the light and heavy liquids: 4. Select holdup and surge times
I = H,./L't Q3) from Table 6 and calculate the holdup
0ur= AorLlQu, (28) and surge volumes, V, and Vr, from
| [. Ca]culate the actual vapor Eqs. 18 and 19 (unlesssurgeis other-
,,,:
/ l?\
V., +V"o
f - n (34)
"- Ar-Au-ArN
10. Calculate the liquid droPout the heavy liquid out of the light liquid 19. Calculate the thickness of the
time, $, using Eq. 23. phase: shell and headsaccording to Table 8.
1L. Calculate the actual vaPor 20. Calculate the surface area of
velocity, Uuo,using Eq.24. tm= 12 (Hrrn + D - H)IUHL Q5) the shell and headsaccording to Table
12. Calculate the minimum length 8.
required for liquid/vaporseparation. 16. Calculate the residencetime of 21. Calculate the aPProximate
Lrr*, usingBq.25. the light liquid: weight of the shell and heads accord-
13. If L 1 Lr,*, then set L = Lr,* ing to Table 8.
\ (vapor/liquid separation controls). 22.Increaseor decreasethe vessel
: (,q,,-e,)r (36) diameter by 6-in. increments and
This simply results in some extra
ou= repeat the calculations until 1,/D
holdup and residence time. If I eu rangesfrom 1.5-6.0.
11Lr,*, then increaseH, and recalcu-
lateAr, thenrepeatfrom Step9.If L> Note: This volume of light liquid 23. With the optimum vessel size
Lr,*, the design is accePtable for ignores the light liquid volume in the (minimum weight), calculate the nor-
vapor/liquid separation.If L >> LMrN, boot. mal and high liquid levels:
liquid holdup controls. I can only be I7. If 1LL < to, then increase the
vessellength (liquid separationcon- Hnu= D - Hu (38)
reduced atd L*,* increased if I1u is
reduced.Humay only be reducedif it trols):
Attrr= Arru + VrlL (39)
is greater than the minimum specified
in Step 6. (37)
With reduced Hu, recalailate A, Determine H*rrusingTable 3 from
and repeat from Step 9. A*r/Ar.
14. Calculate the settling velocity 24. Design the heavy liquid boot:
of the heavy liquid out of the light liq- 18. CalculateUD.If UD << 1.5 Set the height of the heavY liquid,
uid phase, U"., using Eq. 7 (obtain ks then decreaseD (unlessit is already at Hur; calculate the rising velocity of
from Table 1). a minimum) and if UD >> 6.0 then the light liquid out of the heavy liquid
15. Calculate the settling time of increaseD; rcpeatfrom SteP5. phase,Uru, using Eq. 8 (find ft, from
36 . 1994.
SEpTEMBER PRocREss
ENGINEERING
cHEMICAL
Table 1); set U, - 0.15 ULHicalculate
the heavy liquid boot diameter:
o,,=
45'ooorblh -=18.52ft'lmin -, ,-- ( 4 r 2xt.7
7 r . 8 0 " ' ' = 11'15
ft' usel1'0ft
60min/hx 40.5lb/ft' \0.6ru xr/i)
I Equation E9 I EquationE12
7'5oolb/h =2.y2ft'lmin
o-, =
60 min/hx62.0lblfr'
4=ffi=14.54ft
I Equation810 - Equation813
rr ff ls = 4.83ftls
Q u = 343.51
ure=
T 7r.08
te
I Equation816
38 . 1994.
SEPTEMBER PROGRESS
ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL
w,D,
tlni
propr- Nomenclbture
engli
lne
"'
:, =;il;:::T:1",,-*lllllJli, 0
S
= v o l u m e t r i cf i o w . f l r / s o r l t r / m i n
- vessem l l l e r i a l s t r e s sv a l u e .p s i
^- = liquidabor.e
vessel
bor- ASu = 5psqif. gravity differenceberween
:#, ?:light
==,1'l I i g h ra n d h e a v yl i q u i d r
l: = :-i;iliill,1l11;1",, "'*ftJil],."',0,'o TC
'7\
il,,l,l,1l;; "'"'.'"
l,'.;l:l
= 0,"0,",,
TH
tut
D = ressel
diemeler.
n
"r'llu'
ttu = *'
o u t o l l i g h t I i q u i d 'm i n
" r p r e l so u l
iiii,r;
i:i::';i'J'
of Western
degreesin
3' =llJli';,ilr,.ormicrons
D , = r 3 p r l r ' J i s e n g a g e m edni a
t =
t . .f r
e f f i c i e n c yd. i m e n s i o n -
1s
TH =;5.,ff::;l
= \ u r g et r m r .m i n .
TS
0.00128e'(AsG)Dpr
r-i6,
-'
;::]o.oLoint
= c f a \ i t a r i o n acl o n s t a n tJ, 2 . 1 7 f r , / s r Y:,
vHL
= a l l o r l a b l eb o r i z o r r n lv c l o c i t l . f r l s
= s e t t l i n qr e l o c i t vu f h e r v r l i o u i d
u 6 = baffle liquid toad.gph/fr) d r o p l e i so L r o
r f l i g h r l i q u i d .i n . t m i n
V,' H = h e i g h r .f t u,., = r i s i n g v e l o c i t )o f l i g h r l i q u i d d r o p l e r s
H.. = liquid level above baffle, in. or ft o u t o f h e a v yl i q u i d ,i n . i m i n
,.hereD" is in microns.
HB,. = liquid height from abor.ebaffle to Un = mixture velocity, tVs
13. Calculate the differenc- rl
leed nozzle.ft Up = boot velocitr'.in.lmin
:rsht betweenthe light and he;:,,., = disengagementheight. fi
H;, f = l c f r n i l r Jilg l 6 . i 1 _ 1 r i.. ' .c r i n . / r r i n
quid weirs: = htrldupheisht. fi
H. L = \ i - L p i \rre l . r c i t r .f L l :
H- = t e i , s h tl r . . = l i ; . : : i : : : : : = : : ii li
i o. r : : , z z : : .: '
_\H=H --\r r l l - X l i: -.
Pu l ,
a,
= --- .-.-:.:. :'
H,,;
1 - 1D . e s i g nt h e l i g h t l i q u i d b u c k e r : H,,-
': the top of light liquid u eir'= D
H,.. - - - :-- - : - - - . . ' - _ - .
, i l s s u m et h e b o t t o n rr s a t 0 . 1 l 5 D l = :::::::::-::::,
. . r t t i e a h o l d u p / s u r g e( t 1 , p r c a l l r .
H,,,u ::-
HP. = heiSi:t:i,'::r iiir:
' . -i min.); assume
HLL is 6 in. fle. 11 = ::-:: ailrdenaa time. min
, rrl the weir height andLLL is 6 in.
Hs = irrroe heiohr ri - ::'.:::,i:. liquid ifaction
i e the bottom of the bucket. g
= totai vertical separarorheight.ii = l\:.:::\. !-P
. r,c Table 3 with HrrrlD and
nv = vapor disengagementareaheighi. ir = :::.:::.lbr'ft]
D. calculate Au' and Arr.r. = weir height. ft
H,,, = :, :: j irLrloui time- s
-ulateL,: = h e i g h ld r f l e r e n c eb e l i i e e nl i g h i u n J
heavy iiquid weirs. in. )lr'-:-
w h e r eP: = d e s i g p
n r e s s u raen dD = d r u md i a ,
shell and headsaccordingto Table 8. about827oof theloading,setF1yto be 18. LurN = (4.83 ftls)(4.03 s ) =
21. Calculatethe approximateves- much greaterthan the minimum. 19.5fr
sel weight according to Table 8. AssumeHv = 0.70D= (0.70)(1 1.0f0 19. Since L 1 Lr,*, set -L = 19.5 ft
22. Increase or decreasethe diam- = 7.70 ft. Using Table 3, Av/Ar = (setZ, = 16.0ft, lr = 3.5 ft)
eter by 6-in. incrementsand repeatthe 0.148, Av= 71.08ft2 20. UD = 19.5/11.0= L78
calculations until UD ranges from 7 , H r r r =( 0 . 5 ) ( 1 1 .+07) = I 2 . 5 i n . , 21. Assume dished heads per
t.5-6.0. use13in. Table11.
Hrr/D = 13/(11.0 x 12)= 0.098 AssumeE = 0.85
Example2 UsingTable3, ALLrj/Ar = 0.051 Use SA-516 70 carbon steel,
Design a three-phasehorizontal Aur= (0.051X95.03 fP) = 4.95112 design temperature= 650o
separatorwith a weir to separatethe 8. H, = 11.0- 1.10= 3.30ft S = 17,500psi; from Ref. (3).
mixture in Table 10. The operating 9. SeeEq.El3, box,p. 38 Corrosionallowance= Vrsin.
pressure and temperature are 25 psig Usel,r = 15.0ft. P=25+30=55psig
and 100, respectively,and it is neces- 10.HHL- Hrr= 3.3012 = 1.65ft SeeEq. E17, box on this page.
sary to have a liquid holdup and surge ll. HH//D= 1.65111.0 = 0.150 Use r, - 7s in.
time of 15 min. FromTable3, AH/A, = 0.094 SeeEq. E18, box on this page.
1. SeeEq. E8, box, p. 38 Aur= (0.094X95.03 ft2)= 8.93ft2 Use /" = Vz in; use t = Vzin.
2. SeeEqs.E9 and E10, box, p. 38 Au=95.03- 71.08 - 8.93= 15.02 ftl 2 2 . A s = ? I ( 1 1 . 0f 0 ( 1 9 . 5 f 0 =
3. K = 0.175 (the Gas Processors 12.FromTable1, ks= 0.333 673.81ftz
Suppliers'Associationvalue in Table Uur= (0.333)(62.0 - 40.5)/0.24 = Au= (0.842)(11.0fO'z= 101.88ft2
2 was divided by 2 since there is no 29.83in./min 23. SeeEq. E19, box on this page.
mist eliminator). Use 10in./min(maximum) 24. In this example, calculations
S e eE q . E 1 1 ,b o x , p . 3 8 Uro= (0.333)(62.0 - 40.5)10.682 = were performed for only one diame-
U v = 0 . 7 5 x 2 . 5 5 = 1 . 9 1f t l s 10.50in./min ter. However, nearly the minimum
4. Holdup + surgeas specified= 15 Use 10in./min(maximum) UD corcespondedto a diameter of
min. 13, tHL = Q2 in./ft)(1.65ft)ilo 11.0 fU therefore. the next diameter
Vu+ V, = (15 min) (18.52ft3lmin) in./min= 1.98min, use2.0mins should be smaller, resulting in a
= 211.80 ft3 tr, = tnr = 2.0 min laryer UD. Also, calculationsshould
Assume 10 min holdup, 5 min 14. SeeEqs.E14 and E15. box, be performed using a diameter of
surge. p .3 8 I 1 . 5f t .
5 . A s s u m eU D = l . l . Uselr = 3.0ft. 25. For the light liquid compartment:
SeeEq. El2, box, p. 38 1 5 .L = 3 . 0+ 1 5 . 0= 1 8 . 0f t Hnrr= Hw= 3'3 ft - 3 ft, 4 in'
'7.10
Ar=n/4 (11.0f|'z = 95.03ft2 16.0 = ftll.gI ftls = 4.03s A x L r = 4 . 8 5+ 1 8 5 . 2 0 1 1 6=.106 . 4 3 f P
6. Since the mass rate of vaoor is 17.SeeEq.El6, box.p. 38 A*t/Ar= 16.43/95.03 = 0.713
Using Table 3, HNLrt/D= 0.229
Htrrr= (0.229)(11.0)= 2.52 ft - 2
ft, 6 in.
1_ 55xI32 *l|rc= 0.307in. HLLL= 13 in'
"-2xl7M Comment: Due to the small
I Equation 817 amount of heavy liquid and large
amount of vapor, a better design
. .-= = , = 0 . - -x8l=! f8 1-10?. 1? - - * r , 1=60 . 4 9i5n .
'rH would have used a boot. A vertical
2 x 1 7 . 5 0x00 . 8 5 x 55
vessel should be comoared. as
I EquationE18
we11. @
t = rt2 n')= ' 7.s20tb
+2x r0r.88 Toreceivea free copyof this article,
ff'ltff#(on.at sendin theReader Inquirycardin this
I EquationE19
issuewith the number153circled,
40 . 1994.
sEpTEMBER CHEMTCAL pRocnEss
ENGTNEERTNG