INTRODUCTION

 Separators are field equipment used to separate

gas, oil, and water coming directly from an oil
or gas well.
 In terms of physical shapes, there are three
types of separators:
 Vertical
 Horizontal
 Single tube
 Double tube
 Spherical
Oil and Gas Separation 1
 Fig. 1. Vertical Separator
Oil and Gas Separation 2
 Fig. 2. Single-Tube Horizontal Separator
Oil and Gas Separation 3
 Fig. 3. Double-Tube Horizontal Separator
Oil and Gas Separation 4
 Fig. 4. Spherical Separator
Oil and Gas Separation 5
  Separators operate basically upon the principle
of pressure separation of gas and liquid from an
inlet stream.
 Phase separation is performed as soon as
suitably possible because:
 It is technically easier and less costly to
process the phases separately.
 The produced water is often corrosive.

Oil and Gas Separation 6

  Further refinement of the gas and liquid
streams is induced by allowing the liquid to
"stand" for a period of time (retention time),
so that any dissolved gas in the liquid can
escape by the formation of small gas bubbles
that rise to the liquid surface.
 The entrained liquid mist is removed from the
gas by gravity settling, impingement,
centrifugical action, and other means..

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  Turbulent flow allows gas bubbles to escape
more rapidly than laminar flow; thus, many
separators have sections where turbulence is
induced for this pupose.
 On the other hand, turbulence is unfavorable
to the removal efficiency of liquid droplet
from the gas by gravity settling.
 Thus, the design of the separator comprises
different modules assembled to achieve
different functions in a single vessel.

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 TERMINOLOGY
Separator
 Recall: Separators are field equipment used to
separate gas, oil, and water coming directly
from an oil or gas well.
 In terms of phase separation, separators are
classified into two categories:
 Two-Phase Separator: it achieves only
vapor liquid separation.
 Three-Phase Separator: it separates crude,
water and vapor.
Oil and Gas Separation 9
 1. Feed inlet
2. Vapor outlet
3. Liquid outlet
4. Inlet diffuser (distributor)
5. De-entrainment mesh pad
6. Control valve

Fig. 5. Two-Phase Vertical Separator

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 Fig. 6. Three-Phase Horizontal Separator
Oil and Gas Separation 11
  In terms of operating pressure, separators can
be classified into three categories:
 Low-pressure units handle pressures of 10
to 180 psi (69 to 1,241 kPa).
 Medium-pressure separators operate from
230 to 700 psi (1,586 to 4,826 kPa).
 High-pressure separators handle pressures
of 975 to 1,500 psi (6,722 to 10,342 kPa).

Oil and Gas Separation 12

 Scrubber
 It is an equipment that uses liquid to remove
small liquid drops from a gas phase.
 It is often used ahead of compressors, or
dehydration unit.
 It is often applied downstream of field
separators to remove entrained liquid or
condensed liquid.
 It is specifically designed for streams with
unusually high GLR ratios and so it is not
intended to handle large slugs or liquids.
Oil and Gas Separation 13
 Fig. 7. Scrubber
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 Knockout
It is separator that falls into two groups:
 Water free knockout. It is used to separate
free water from a combined gas and
hydrocarbon (HC) liquid. The gas and HC
liquids leave together from the same outlet.
 Total liquid knockout. It is used to remove
liquids from a high pressure gas stream
(3,000 psig and above).

Oil and Gas Separation 15

 Flash chamber
 It is an equipment used as a subsequent
nd
separation stage (2 stage) to process the
liquid HC flashed from a primary separator.
 It is a low pressure design vessel (<125 psig).

Oil and Gas Separation 16

 Expansion Vessel
 It is an equipment in which gas expands for a
cold separation application.
 It is often referred to as a cold separator.
 It is primarily designed to handle and melt
gas hydrates that are formed by expansion
cooling.
 The working pressure of this vessel is in the
range of 1,000-1,500 psig.

Oil and Gas Separation 17

 Filter, Dust Scrubber or Coalescer
 It is mainly designed to remove small
quantities of mist, oil fogs, rust, scales, and
dust from gases.
 It is usually located upstream of compressors
and dehydration units.
 In this vessel the solids are trapped by the
filter fibers while liquid droplets are
coalesced into large drops which are then
separated by gravity.

Oil and Gas Separation 18

 Physical Description of Common Components
 Primary Separation Section
 It is an area for collecting and removing the
bulk of liquid in the inlet stream.
 Inlet baffling is usually used to exploit the
momentum of the inlet stream either by
centrifugal force (vertical sept.) or an abrupt
direction change (horizontal sept.).
 This device destroys the momentum of the
turbulent feed so that gravity can complete
the phase separation.
Oil and Gas Separation 19
  Secondary or Gravity Settling Section
In this section gas velocity is reduced so the
entrained liquid drops settle by gravity.
 Liquid Accumulation Section
To collect the liquid removed from gas and to
handle liquid surge.

Oil and Gas Separation 20

  Mist Extraction or Coalescence Section
 It consists of series of vanes, a woven wire
mesh pad, or centrifugal device to remove
small droplets from gas stream.
 Liquid carry-over often meets a specification
of 0.1 gallon/MMscf.

Mist extraction equipment are very critical and

will be discussed later in more details.

Oil and Gas Separation 21

  Process Control
 The separator pressure is controlled by a
backpressure regulator in the exit gas line.
 The separator temperature is usually not
controlled.
 The two-phase separator has one liquid level
controller for liquid accumulation section.

Oil and Gas Separation 22

  The three-phase separator has two liquid
level controllers to regulate the release of
crude and water.
 A thermometer well, pressure gage and gage
class are usually provided.

 Safety Device
The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
requires that all separators be protected by
pressure relief valves and/or rupture disk.

Oil and Gas Separation 23

 Vertical Separator

Fig. 8. Vertical Separator (Schematic Illustration)

Oil and Gas Separation 24
  A baffle or diverter directs the inlet stream
tangentially against the separator wall causing
an efficient primary separation by three
simultaneous actions on the stream: gravity
settling, centrifugation, and impingement of
the inlet fluid against the separator wall in a
thin film.

Oil and Gas Separation 25

  The centrifugal motion of the inlet fluid
achieves the primary separator by reducing
the fluids momentum.
 Liquid is pushed outward as a thin film
over a large part of the internal shell area.
 Large liquid droplets can fall out of the rising
gas, and small droplets are removed by the
mist extractor.
 Vertical separators without mist extractors
will remove only liquid droplets larger than
100 microns.
Oil and Gas Separation 26
 Uses of Vertical Separator
 When sand, paraffin or wax are produced.
 Plot space is limited.
 Ease of level control is desired.
 Small flow rates.
 Very low or very high (i.e. scrubber) GOR
stream.

Oil and Gas Separation 27

 Advantages of Vertical Separator
 It is used on low to intermediate GOR wells.
 It can handle large liquid slugs.
 It can handle more sand, mud, and wax.
 The liquid level control is not so critical.
 It has good bottom drain and cleanout facilities.
 It has less tendency for re-entrainment.
 It has full diameter for gas flow at the top and
oil flow at the bottom.
 It occupies smaller plot area.

Oil and Gas Separation 28

 Disadvantages of Vertical Separator
 It is more expensive than horizontal separator.
 It is more difficult to ship.
 It requires larger diameter for a given gas
capacity.
 It is more difficult to reach and service the
top-mounted instruments.

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 Horizontal Separator

Oil and Gas Separation 30

 Fig. 9a. Single-Tube Horizontal Separator
(Schematic Illustration)

Oil and Gas Separation 31

  Similar to the vertical separator, the kinetic
energy of the inlet stream is dissipated by a
deflection baffle.
 Predominately, gas flows around the
deflection baffle and enters a secondary
settling stage, while the liquid with entrained
gas falls downward.

Oil and Gas Separation 32

  The remaining liquid droplets are removed
from the gas by secondary settling stage by
velocity reduction and mist extraction device.
 Baffles and other internals are used to reduce
turbulence in the liquid collecting section;
thus, facilitating the rise and escape of the
entrained gas bubbles.

Oil and Gas Separation 33

 Fig. 9b. Single-Tube Horizontal Separator
(Schematic Illustration)

Oil and Gas Separation 34

 Double-Tube Horizontal Separator (Fig. 3)
Oil that is separated from the gas falls to the lower tube
from which it goes back to stock tanks. Gas leaves the
separator through the gas outlet.
Oil and Gas Separation 35
 Uses of Horizontal Separator
Horizontal separator can handle:
 Large volume of gas and/or liquid.
 High to medium GOR stream.
 Foaming crude oils.
 Three phase separations.

Oil and Gas Separation 36

 Advantages of Horizontal Separator
 It is cheaper than the vertical separator and
easier to ship, install, and service.
 It is large liquid surface area minimizes
turbulence and foaming.
 It can handle large gas volume economically
and efficiently.
 It requires smaller diameter than the vertical
separator for the same gas capacity.
 It does not allow counter flow (gas flow does
not oppose liquid drainage).
Oil and Gas Separation 37
 Disadvantages of Horizontal Separator
 Only part of the shell is available for gas
passage.
 It occupies more space than vertical separator
unless “stack” mounted.
 It is liquid level control is more critical.
 More difficult to clean produced sand, mud,
wax, paraffin, etc..

Oil and Gas Separation 38

 Spherical Separator

Spherical Separator (Fig. 4)

Oil and Gas Separation 39
 Spherical separator is designed to make optimum
use of all known means of gas and liquid
separation such as gravity, centrifugal force, low
velocity, and surface contact.
Advantages of Spherical Separator
 It is cheaper than either the vertical and the
horizontal separators.
 It is very compact and offers better cleanout
and bottom drain features.
 It is applicable for well streams with low to
intermediate GOR.
Oil and Gas Separation 40
 Disadvantages of Spherical Separator
 The liquid control is critical.
 It has very limited liquid surge capacity and
liquid settling section.
 Due to its limited internal space, it is difficult to
use for three-phase (gas-oil-water) separation.

Oil and Gas Separation 41

 Mist Extractors Equipment
Mist extractors are used to remove liquid mist
from gas stream. In final analysis, liquid removal
is accomplished by gravity.
 Vane type (Dixon plates, item D in Fig. 3)
 They are the industry standards.
 They are flat plate oriented parallel to
gas flow and inclined 45 degrees to the
horizontal.

Oil and Gas Separation 42

  They reduce the turbulence (chaotic
flow) in gas flow because the flow is
forced to flow between 1 in. spaced
plates which forces the streamlines to be
straight line (more or less laminar).
 They reduce vertical distance a liquid
drop must fall to be collected.

Long vertical
distance Shorter vertical
distance

Oil and Gas Separation 43

 Fig. 10. Dixon Plate (Vane Type)
Oil and Gas Separation 44
  The vane type has removal efficiency more
than 90% of drops larger than 10 mm and
entrainment losses of 0.1 gal/MMscf.
 Vane extractor enjoys two advantages:
 It is inexpensive
 It does not plug as readily with
paraffin, wax, solids, etc..
 Pressure drop varies from 2 to 8 in. of
water.

Oil and Gas Separation 45

  Blade-type mist extractor:
 NATCO
 It accelerates separation by changing
the gas flow direction and velocity
causing coalescence.
 Liquid drainage occurs at right angle
to the gas flow; thus, minimizing
liquid re-entrainment.

Oil and Gas Separation 46

 Fig. 11. NATCO Mist Collector
Oil and Gas Separation 47
  Chevron
 It uses drop impingement, change in
direction and velocity of gas flow to
enhance drop removal.

Fig. 12. Chevron Mist Collector

Oil and Gas Separation 48
 Fig. 13. Top View of Chevron Mist Collector

Oil and Gas Separation 49

  Wire-Mesh (Fibrous) mist extractor:
 It is used for clean stream where
plugging by solids is unlikely.
 It is made of knitting wire typically
0.002 to 0.02 in. diameter.
 Common types have 0.011 in. diameter,
3
97.7% void fraction, 12 lbm/ft bulk
2 3
density and 110 ft /ft surface area.

Oil and Gas Separation 50

  4-6 in. pad often used at pressure drops
of 0.1 to 1.0 in. of water.
 Droplets as small as 5 mm and liquid
entrainments less than 0.1 gal/MMscf
can be achieved.

Oil and Gas Separation 51

  Wire-mesh pads capture liquid drops by
three mechanisms:
 Inertial impaction
 Direct interception
 Brownian capture.

Oil and Gas Separation 52

Oil and Gas Separation 53
 Level control-open separator

Fig. 14. Level Control-Open Separator

(Schematic Illustration)
Oil and Gas Separation 54
 Advantages
 It is a simple and inexpensive approach.
 It uses float displacement sensor with no
baffles weirs.
 It is relative retention volume can be varied
easily.
 It does not have traps to accumulate sand.
 It is easy to clean the separator.

Oil and Gas Separation 55

 Disadvantages
 Failure of water level controller results in
entire liquid stream being discharged through
water outlet.
 Oil-water interface is hard to measure
especially when there is emulsion.
 Small drop in oil level will result in gas
entering oil outlet.

Oil and Gas Separation 56

 Level control - Weir Plate

Fig. 15. Level Control – Weir Plate Separator

(Schematic Illustration)
Oil and Gas Separation 57
 Advantages
 Interfacial (oil-water level) control is easier
to operate because of small liquid volume.
 Relative retention time can be varied easily.
 The cleanest oil is taken off the top.

Oil and Gas Separation 58

 Disadvantage
 Use of baffle makes the removal of sand and
mud difficult.
 Dead space in vessel because oil-water
separation stops when the oil flows over the
weir.
 The interface level controller must sense the
difference in densities of oil and water.

Oil and Gas Separation 59

 Level Control-Bucket and Weir Plate

Fig. 16. Level Control-Bucket and Weir Plate Separator

(Schematic Illustration)

Oil and Gas Separation 60

 Advantages
 Only float level control is used; controllers
sense the large density difference between
liquid and gas.
 If level control or valves fail, only that liquid
and gas are discharged.

Oil and Gas Separation 61

 Disadvantages
 More internal baffles are required.
 Difficult to remove sand and mud.
 More vessel space is wasted.
 More difficult to vary the relative liquid
retention volume (i.e. difficult to adjust the
bucket and weir).

Oil and Gas Separation 62