Troubleshooting the separators

 Published on June 19, 2017

Alexander Romanov
Process Engineer at Aibel
29 articles Follow

An underperforming separator is a common problem in the upstream processing plants.

Several different types of separators can be met in the oil and gas fields. Typically, they are
gas/liquid type or liquid/liquid type separators. When a separator starts to underperform, it
requires troubleshooting. First, the effect of poor performance is observed. Then the cause for
it should be identified. Possible solutions have to be evaluated based on the collected data.  

Effects:

Separator performance negatively affects the downstream process equipment when the
effluent streams are out of spec, such as:

 Too much liquid in the separated gas.

 Gas blow-by to the liquid outlet.
 Too much oil in water/ too high content of BS&W in oil.
  The need to troubleshooting comes up when either the one or more of the mentioned
conditions occur due to degraded performance over time, or when the operating conditions
are no longer within the original design envelope. Changes in the operating conditions may
be due to introduction of subsea tieback. Alteration of production stream composition due to
waterflooding front break-through to the production wells is among other conditions.

Causes:

Separators may underperform at given operating conditions due to various reasons. Most
common are:

 Wrong type of equipment was chosen in a first place.

 Right type of equipment was chosen, but sized incorrectly.
 Operating conditions changed outside of the working envelope of the
equipment.
  Separator troubleshooting always begins with assessment of the process as a whole,
collecting the data, such as vessel design specifications, operational data, maintenance
program, and the vessel performance. The quality of the data are critical for the
understanding the causes of the issues, and developing the possible steps addressing these
issues. To provide a good baseline, collection of consistent data over a period of time is
essential.

Evaluation of the separator performance regarding various effects may include following:

 Sampling the fluids from inlet and outlet streams. Measurements of

sediment content, presence of emulsion, and droplet size distribution
are helpful in identification of the performance issues.
 Mapping of the fluids interface, presence of a “rag” layer and its
thickness, if there are suitable means of doing it, e.g. sample nozzles.
 Sampling of the solid phase and identification of its composition to
determine its origin.
  Good understanding of the separating process with appropriate utilization of various
diagnostic techniques will provide clear picture of the separator operation and will reveal the
cause of the poor performance.

Possible solutions:

Individual assessment is required to proposes a specific solution based on the findings. Some
solutions, though, are often preferable due to their relative ease of implementation:

 Retrofit of the separator internals.

 Modification of inlet pipe geometry and the type of fittings/valves
used upstream the separator.
 Evaluate recycle streams. “Bad oil” streams may deteriorate
separator performance significantly.
 Mesh demisting designs and plate packs are susceptible to fouling.
Evaluate if this is the case.
 Review the operating liquid levels. Review the measurement
instruments, their calibration. 
Usually there are multiple ways to improve the separator performance in each specific case.
Evaluation of economic and technical parameters should be taken into consideration in order
to choose the most viable option.