Chapter 7

Separators

Muhammad Ali
 Separating and Treating Well Fluids

- - Well fluids produced - - Mixture of oil, gas and water

 the force of gravity

Separation of oil, gas and water

Principles and Operation of Production Separators

─ Gas, oil and water separation was achieved by

the difference in gravity, or weight, of each fluid.

─ Production separator do the same job, except they

are built to handle a continuous-flow stream and
have features to improve separation efficiency
under flow conditions.

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4
Three general types of
separators
─ Horizontal separator
─ for high-pressure and medium-pressure service

─ Vertical separator
─ for low-pressure service (generally)

─ Spherical separator
─ more compact and cheaper
─ limited separation space and liquid surge capacity
─ for low-volume remote platforms

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Internal Structure of Separators

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• Introduction
Separation
• Natural gases produced from gas wells are normally complex mixtures
of hundreds of different compounds.

• A typical gas well stream is a high velocity, turbulent, constantly

expanding mixture of gases and hydrocarbon liquids, intimately mixed
with water vapor, free water, and sometimes solids.

• The well stream should be processed as soon as possible after bringing

it to the surface.
• Introduction
Separation
• Field processing consists of four basic processes:
• (1) separating the gas from free liquids such as crude oil, hydrocarbon
condensate, water, and entrained solids;
• (2) processing the gas to remove condensable and recoverable
hydrocarbon vapors;
• (3) processing the gas to remove condensable water vapor; and
• (4) processing the gas to remove other undesirable compounds, such as
hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide.
Separation of Gas and Liquids
• Separation of well stream gas from free liquids is the first and most
critical stage of field processing operations.
• Factors affecting separators type and size are:
• 1-Composition of the fluid mixture
• 2-pressure : pressure is another key factor affecting
selection of separators.
• 3-location :Separators are also used in other locations such as
upstream and downstream of compressors, dehydration units, and
gas sweetening units. At these locations, separators are referred to as
scrubbers, knockouts, and free liquid knockouts.
Basic Functions of Separators
• Separators should be designed to perform the following basic
functions:
• cause a primary-phase separation of the mostly liquid hydrocarbons
from the gas stream
• refine the primary separation by further removing most of the
entrained liquid mist from the gas
• refine the separation by further removing the entrained gas from the
liquid stream
• discharge the separated gas and liquid from the vessel and ensure
that no reentrainment of one into the other occurs
Principles of Separation
• Most separators work based on the principles of gravity segregation
and/or centrifugal segregation. A separator is normally constructed in
such a way that it has the following features:
• it has a centrifugal inlet device where the primary separation of the
liquid and gas is made
• it provides a large settling section of sufficient height or length to
allow liquid droplets to settle out of the gas stream with adequate surge
room for slugs of liquid
• it is equipped with a mist extractor or eliminator near the gas outlet to
coalesce small particles of liquid that do not settle out by gravity
• it allows adequate controls consisting of level control, liquid dump valve,
gas backpressure valve, safety relief valve, pressure gauge, gauge glass,
instrument gas regulator, and piping
Types
•
of Separators
Three types of separators are generally available from
manufacturers:
• vertical separators,
• horizontal separators:
1- single tube
2- double tube , and
• spherical separators.
• Each type of separator has specific advantages and limitations.
Selection of separator type is based on several factors including
characteristics of produc­tion steam to be treated, floor space
availability at the facility site, transportation, and cost.
1-Vertical Separators
Vertical separators are often used to :
• 1- treat low to intermediate gas/oil ratio well streams
• 2-treat streams with relatively large slugs of liquid.
• 3-They handle greater slugs of liquid without carryover to the gas
outlet, and the action of the liquid level control is not as critical as in
Figure 7-1.
• 4- Vertical separators occupy less floor space, which is important for
facility sites such as those on offshore platforms where space is limited.
• 5-Owing to the large vertical distance between the liquid level and the
gas outlet, the chance for liquid to revaporize into the gas phase is
limited.
• due to the natural upward flow of gas in a vertical separator against the
falling droplets of liquid, adequate separator diameter is required.
Vertical separator schematic
2-Horizontal Separators
• Horizontal double-tube separators (Figure 7-2) are usually the first
choice because of their low costs.
• 1-Horizontal separators are widely used for high gas/oil ratio well
streams, foaming well streams, or liquid-from-liquid separation.
• 2-They have much greater gas/liquid interface due to a large, long,
baffled gas-separation section.
• 3-Horizontal separators are easier to skid-mount and service,
• 4-require less piping for field connections.
• 5-Individual separators can be stacked easily into stage-separation
assemblies to minimize space requirements. In horizontal separators,
gas flows horizontally and, at the same time, liquid droplets fall toward
the liquid surface.
2-Horizontal Separators
 Horizontal separator schematic
• Horizontal double-tube separators have all the advantages of
normal horizontal single-tube separators plus much higher
liquid capacities.
3• Spherical
-Spherical Separators
separators offer an inexpensive and compact means
of the separation arrangement shown in Figure 7-4.
• these types of vessels have a very limited surge space and liquid
settling section. The placement and action of the liquid level control in
this type of vessel is very critical.

Factors Affecting Separation

• Separator operating pressure, separator operating temperature, and

fluid stream composition affect the operation and separation between
the liquid and gas phases in a separator. Changes in any one of these
factors on a given fluid well stream will change the amount of gas and
liquid leaving the separator.
• Generally, an increase in operating pressure or a decrease in operating
temperature will increase the liquid covered in a separator. However,
there are optimum points in both cases beyond which further changes
will not aid in liquid recovery.
• In the case of wellhead separation equipment, an operator generally
wants to determine the optimum conditions for a separator to effect
the maximum income. Again, generally speaking, the liquid recovered
is worth more than the gas. So, high liquid recovery is a desirable
feature, providing it can be held in the available storage system.

• Also, pipeline requirements for the Btu content of the gas may be
another factor in separator operation. Without the addition of
expensive mechanical refrigeration equipment, it is often unfeasible
to try to lower the operating temperature of a separator.
• The operator can also control operating pressure to some extent by
use of back-pressure valves within the limitation of the flowing
characteristics of the well against a set pressure head and the
transmission line pressure requirements. As previously mentioned,
higher operating pressure will generally result in higher liquid
recovery.
• An analysis can be made using the well stream composition to find the
optimum temperature and pressure at which a separator should
operate to give maximum liquid or gas phase recovery. These
calculations, known as flash vapor­ization calculations, require a trial-
and-error solution and are more generally adapted to solution by a
programmed computer.