Name: Vijayi Dhansar

Student ID# - 94129

TYPES OF SEPARATORS
Separators can be classified into two-phase and three-phase separators. The two-phase type deals
only with oil and gas whereas the three-phase handle oil, water and gas.

Two-Phase Separators:
Two-phase separators can be classified as vertical, horizontal or spherical.

Operation:
The fluid enter the separator and hits an inlet diverter causing a sudden change in momentum.
The initial gross separation of liquid and vapor occurs at the inlet diverter. The force of gravity
causes the liquid droplets to fall out of the gas stream to bottom of the vessel. The liquid
collection section provides retention time when the gas evolves out of the oil and to the vapor
space. Any liquid found in the vapor are separated out by gravity. By controlling the rate at
which gas leaves the vapor space of the vessel the press in the vessel is maintained. Below are
examples of the design and main components of horizontal and vertical two-phase separators.
Three-Phase Separators:
Three-phase separators can also be classified as vertical, horizontal or spherical.

Operation:
Fluid enters the separator and this hit an inlet diverter causing a high impact for the separation of
the liquid and gas. Oil emulsion and free water phase separates at the bottom of the vessel. The
weir maintains the oil level while the water level is maintained by a level controller. Oil flow to
the oil dump valve, gas is exited out by pressure control valve and water flow from a nozzle
located upstream of the weir. Below are examples of the design and main components of
horizontal and vertical three-phase separators.
Advantages of Vertical Separators:
1) Ideal for high flow rate
2) Good for surging flows
3) Work well for high GOR applications
4) Can handle foaming liquids with ease
5) Can handle more sand, mud, paraffin, wax without plugging.

Disadvantages:
1) Difficult for modular systems- transport and installation
2) Some of the instrument and safety devices may be difficult to access without ladders or access
platform.
3) Low efficient in high liquid rate

Advantages of Horizontal Separators:

1) Normally more efficient at handling large amounts of liquid and gas
2) Cheaper than vertical separators for same capacity
3) Large quantity surface area for foam dispersion generally reduces turbulence
Disadvantages:
1) More efficient to clean produced sand, mud, wax, paraffin, etc.
2) Larger mounting area
3) Poor solids removal
4) Lower surge capacity

Spherical Separator:
A ball shaped vessel used for fluid separation. It can be used for both two-phase and three-phase
separation purposes. They are less efficient than either horizontal or vertical cylindrical
separators.

Operation:
Fluids enter the vessel through the tangential inlet diverter which directs the fluid
tangentially. The oil and gas is forced downward with the help of a guide cylinder and ring to
prevent splashing to the center of the sphere.
The gas emerges from the bottom of the sphere and upward towards the mist extractor. The
gas enters the gas outlet where it is discharged through a convention gas back-pressure valve.
The liquid spreads over the float chamber which occupies the lower position of the sphere. It
then moves to the inlet of the accumulator which is vented to the top position of the sphere
through a vertical pipe so that liquid levels will stabilize.
Water and other liquids are removed periodically through the drain located at the center of the
sphere’s bottom, flushed with the inside. There are two foam gas interfaces located inside the oil
accumulator compartment and the other above it.
 The gas is passed through there interfaces to prevent foamy oil from forming. The gas is then
exited through the gas outlet.

Advantages of Spherical Separators:

1) It is more economical to construct since only one concrete base is required
2) Installation and hook up is simpler

Disadvantages:
1) Limited separation space
2) Limited surge capacity
3) Liquid level control is extremely critical

Cyclone Separator:
Cyclone separators utilizes centrifugal force to effect the separation between liquid and gas. The
centrifugal force in a cyclone is from 5 to 2500 times that of the force of gravity.

Operation:
Dirty flue gas is fed into the chamber. The inside of the chamber creates a spiral vortex, similar
to a tornado. The lighter component of this gas has less inertia, so it is easier for them to be
influenced by the vortex and travel up it. Larger component therefore has more inertia and not
easily influenced by the vortex. These larger components hits the inside walls of the container
and drop down into a collection hopper. The larger particles of the gas move at a high speed
spiral motion in these chambers shaped like an upside down cone. This helps promote the
collection of these particles at the bottom of the container. The cleaned gas escapes out the top of
the chamber.

Advantages of Cyclone Separators:

1) Inexpensive to install
2) Removed particulate matter is collected when dry which makes it easier to dispose of.

Disadvantages:
1) Standard models are not able to collect particulate matter that is smaller than 10 micrometers
effectively.
2) Machines are unable to handle sticky or tacky materials well.

Vane- Type Separator:

Vane type separators are designed to give a high efficiency removal of liquid particles from a gas
stream. All the entrained liquid particles equal or larger than 8 microns are removed with a low
pressure drop. Vane unit is the heart of this vessel.

Operation:
the vane type separator generally includes plurality of undulating vanes which are arranged in
parallel to form one or more gas passageways with inlets and outlets. Vanes are typically layed
out vertically and the gas stream travels from the inlet to the outlet. The gas stream enters the
vanes through the inlet wherein the undulation force the gases stream to take a zig-zag path
through the passageway. The water droplets cling to the vanes as they flow through the
passageway. These droplets are forced into the pocket via pocket openings by aerodynamic
forces and surface tension of the droplets.

Advantages of Vane-Type Separators:

1) High efficiency reliable free liquid and aerosol mist removal
2) Available without slug catching
3) Offers most compact and cost effective utilization of vane technology
4) Easy to fabricate
Disadvantages:
1) Cannot remove droplets smaller than 3mm in diameter
2) Gas stream velocity must be controlled to avoid re-entrainment

Double-Barrel Horizontal Separator:

In case of very low liquid rate separation, two-barrel separator is commonly used to solve the
problem.

Operation:
The double barrel separator is a complex device consisting out of two separation compartments.
The first compartment is a parallel set of filter cartridges and the second consists of a filter vane
type separator. The filter cartridges are used to coalesce the fine droplets and filter the fine dust.
The demisting device is typically a vane- type separator designed for high gas velocities.

Advantages of Horizontal Double-Barrel Separator:

1) No chance of high gas velocities re-entraining liquid as it flows through the interface.
2) Used in situations where there is very low liquid flow rate.

Disadvantages:
1) Costly
2) Not widely used in the oil field systems because of the absence of problems with single vessel
separators.