New Separator Internals Cut
Revamping Costs
Rambout A. Swanborn, CDS Engineering BV; Frits Koene, * Burgess Manning;
and Jan de Graauw, Delft U. of Technology
Summary
This article describes the debottlenecking operation of the produc-
tion separators on the Shell Leman AK platform in the southern
North Sea. The original, compactly built separators became over-
loaded through decreasing well pressures. Gradually, they were
forming a serious restriction in the productIOn flow sheet. Two alter-
natives were considered to overcome this problem: (I) extending
the platform and installing new separators or (2) retrofitting the old
separator vessels with state-of-the-art internals. The second alterna-
tive was chosen because of considerably lower costs (totaling only
10% of first alternative) and considerably shorter downtime. This
separator upgrade was a joint project between the operator of the
field and their central research and engineering facilities and Bur-
gess Manning, Technical U. of Delft. and CDS Engineering BY.
Background
The debottlenecking operation formed part of a larger project in
which gas production of an aging gas field was boosted through,
among others, the installation of new compressors. Fig. 1 depicts
the simplified process flow sheet of the Leman AK platform. The
function of the platform is to remove liquids from the produced gas
and to secure transport of the gas onshore through additional com-
pression. The produced well fluids first pass through the slug catch-
er. which removes the bulk of the liquid. Downstream of the slug
catcher two parallel separators remove the finer liquids, so the gas
is "fit" to enter the centrifugal compressors.
Recently, well pressures were at a level of 690 kPa, with typical
flow rates of 5.66 X 109 m3/d per vessel. It was doubtful whether the
second stage separators functioned effectively under such condi-
tions, although the original design stated that the separators could
handle 16.99x 109 m 3/d per vessel. After the planned installation
of the compressors, we expected flow rates of 4.96 X 109 m3/d per
vessel at pressures of 290 kPa. The vendor of the original separators
re-rated maximum flow rates per vessel at these pressures at
2.03 X 109 m3/d, and it became clear that the separators would not
sufficiently guard the compressors against incoming free liquids.
Therefore, we considered it necessary to improve the performance
of this separation stage before installing the new compressors.
Original Separator Design
The original separators (Fig. 2) consisted of 152-cm-diameter,
363-cm-Iong horizontal vessels with 11 horizontally mounted.
20.3-cm cyclone tubes in the top half of the vessel. The length of
these cyclones was = 250 cm. Although this arrangement func-
tioned well under original design conditions, we observed a clear
deterioration of performance with increasing flow rates. In the end,
no more liquid was separated at all (Fig. 3).
Options To Improve Separation Performance
The two main alternatives to improve the performance of the second
separation stage were (1) to replace the current separators with big-
ger ones able to handle the increased flow rates or (2) to remove the
internals from the current separators and install high-throughput ret-
rofit internals.
The generally accepted advantage of new vessels (Option 1) was
that we were certain that performance would improve. The disad-
Copyright 1995 SOCiety of Petroleum Engineers
'Now with Koene Consultancy Holland.
Original SPE manuscript received for review May 1. 1995. ReVised manuscript received May
18. 1995. Paper peer approved May 24. 1995. Paper (SPE 30901) first presented at the 1995
Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston. May 1-4.
688
vantage of this option is that a platform extension would be required
because of lack of space on the platform.
The primary advantages of the retrofit option are the much lower
costs and much shorter downtime. The disadvantages were that pre-
vious retrofit operations had seldom been carried out under these
conditions and that a range of novel engineering techniques had to
be applied to guarantee success. The feasibility and consequences
of each of these alternatives will be detailed.
New Separators
If new separators were to be designed for this operation, current de-
sign and engineering procedures prescribe the following. Vertical
vessels would be = 200 cm in diameter and have a length between
tangents of = 290 cm. Weight per vessel would be = 11,500 kg. The
cost of a new separator per vessel would be = $200,000. Because
the existing horizontal separators are difficult to remove, a consider-
able amount of platform reconstruction/extension work would be
necessary. Estimated total costs were = $1.25 million. Completion
time (from project start in 1993) was projected for mid-I995.
Debottlenecking Existing Separators
The success of this alternative depends on fulfilling the following
requirements.
1. Selection of a gas/liquid separation internal that can be fitted in-
side the existing vessels and that can process the current flow rates.
2. Proper flow distribution to and from the internal, taking into
account that the remaining area inside the vessels will be restricted.
3. A geometry that will allow the internal to be brought in through
the manway/outlet nozzle and be mounted inside the vessels within
a short period of time (3 days) after removal of the current internals.
Selection of a Suitable Internal. Under the conditions specified,
the operating principle of the separation internal will rely on inertial
forces. That is, centrifugal forces are used and separation is
achieved because of the difference in density between the gas phase
and the contaminants. The current internals consisted of 11 20.3-cm
cyclone tubes that function along this principle. Under original de-
sign conditions, entrance velocities of the cyclones were = 25 to 30
rn/s and G forces in the cyclones were = 300 to 500 G.
Normally with inertial forces as the principal force of separation,
particles as small as 5 flm can be separated, which is in line with the
purpose of the separators. The use of different separation principles
(e.g., diffusion) only leads to larger separators, which was unwanted
in this case.
Inertial Separator Internals. Two main types of inertial separator
internals exist: vane-type and cyclone-type separators.
Vane-Type Separators. In vane-type separators, the gas flows
through a bundle of parallel, curved blades. The droplets in the gas
are flung onto these blades (Fig. 4A) and subsequently drained. Var-
ious designs are on the market, but all have one property in common;
that is, these internals require a relatively large area and also are sen-
sitive to poor distribution and subsequent local overloading in re-
stricted surroundings.
For this particular application, = 3.5 m2 of intake area of a sophis-
ticated upflow vane-type internal would be required. The available
area in the vessel between the tangents is only 5.5 m2. Fig 4B shows
a possible mounting configuration. Because of the almost impossi-
ble task of achieving an even distribution across the vane area, l we
rejected this option.
Cyclone-Type Internals. In cyclones, the gas/particulate-phase
mixture is brought into a spinning motion. The heavier particulates
August 1995 •.JPT
 ,~
f ".,...1U~-"
£
, ......
Inlet Separator
Slug Catcher
41 . US & tJ i2LE;
\,

Inlet Separator

PU;S4A~~ lit
Interstage
Separator

+ Fig. 2-0riginal second-stage separator.

secondary separation step. As Fig. 5C shows, this is achieved by

having a recycle duct that connects the area of low pressure within
the center of the cyclone to the cyclone outside compartment. The
discharge-gas flow is now sucked back into the cyclone and cleaned
thoroughly before it leaves the separation internal.
Fig. 1-Simplified flow sheet of Leman AK platform. The advantage of this cycle is a strongly increased throughput,
leading to very compact assemblies. A disadvantage of this cyclone
are flung out and collected on the cyclone wall (Fig. 5A). To apply is that the mechanical design of the cyclone has a strong influence
this principle of operation in practice, various options exist. The op- on the cyclone performance. Because of this, no robust and practice-
erating properties of cyclone-type separation internals are deter- proven recycle-axial-cyclone separators were commercially avail-
mined by two parameters: the cyclone type and the number of paral- able up to now.
lel cyclones that are arranged into "cyclone bundles." Single- vs. Multicyclone Internals. Designing a cyclone separator
Type I: Reverse-Flow Cyclone. The conventional cyclone is the means carrying out a tradeoff between separation efficiency, pressure
so-called "reverse-flow" cyclone (Fig. 5A). Normally, the gas en- drop, and cyclone size. High pressure drops are accompanied mainly
ters through one or more tangential inlets that induce a strong rota- by high erosion rates inside the cyclone because of high internal velo-
tional motion. On the way down, the particulate phase is slung cities. 2 The smaller the cyclone, the higher the pressure drop; but sep-
against the cyclone wall and discharged into a hopper. The gas re- aration of small particles also is better. This is approximately a qua-
verses direction and flows out through the centrally located gas-out- dratic relation. Therefore, it pays off to feed into a multiple of smaller
flow pipe. Principal advantages of this cyclone are its robustness
and its fairly tolerant design and layout requirements. Disadvan-
tages are its pressure drop and bulkiness.
Type II: Axial Cyclone. The "axial" cyclone operates on a slightly
different principle from that of the reverse-flow cyclone. The gas
(Fig. 5B) enters the cyclone tube through a spinning device (swirl-
device), which is responsible for generating the swirling flow in this
case. Particulates are again collected on the wall, and discharged
through longitudinal slits in the wall. The cleaned gas flows out of
the cyclone without reversing direction.
The principal advantage of this cyclone is the possibility of build-
ing compact multi cyclone bundles that have very low pressure
drops. The disadvantage is that flow rates above maximum through-
put lead to strongly decreasing separation efficiencies because of an
unsolved problem in this design, which requires a certain percent-
age of the gas throughput ( = 10%) as a discharge "force" to drive
out the separated liquids collected on the cyclone wall. This dis-
charge gas is heavily loaded with liquids and has to join the clean
gas flow after a relatively crude (secondary) separation step. Nor-
mally, a baffle that forces this gas to flow around a bend is used for
this purpose (Fig. 5B). At higher flow rates, this step is insufficient
to clean the purge gas, and liquids are re-entrained in quickly in-
creasing quantities.
Type Ill: Recycle Axial Cyclone. The "recycle axial cyclone"
(Fig. 5C) overcomes the axial-cyclone problem by recycling the
purge gas through the cyclone, thereby using the cyclone itself as a
Fig. 4A-Principle of operation of vane demister.
Separated liquids (bbI/D)
30
.....
20 ~ "'c 0
:;;;
/ c

10
/..,--.... (,)
c
Cl

~ ""'
V ".\ '0

I~
c

° 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8

- - Original separators
- b - Retrofitted separators

Load factor (m/s)

Fig. 3-Performance comparison of old vs. new situation. Fig. 4B-Separator retrofitted with a vane demister.

JPT • August 1995 689

 Fig. 5A-Reverse-flow cyclone. Fig. 58-Axial cyclone.
cyclones; this way, high separation efficiencies can be combined with
small separator sizes and low separator pressure drops (low erosion).
Unfortunately, a more complicated construction is another conse-
quence. Fig. 6, which shows separator efficiency as a function of load
factor, A, for a variety of cyclone-type and other separators,3 makes
the advantages of muiticyclone internals clear.
Cyclone Type Internal Selection. It became clear that only a mul-
ticyclone consisting of recycle axial cyclones would fulfill both the
size and separation-efficiency requirements that are imposed on the
retrofit internals for the overloaded separators. In a joint research
project, carried out at the U. of Delft and sponsored primarily by
Shell IntI. Petroleum Mij. B V and the Dutch Ministry of Economic
Affairs, a compact recycle axial cyclone was developed. 4 This cy-
clone had been operationally proved in on- and offshore gas-clean-
ing applications and was commercially available at the time of this
project (the CDS Engineering A-X Axiflow cyclone licensed to
Burgess Manning Europe). With the practical experience gained
with this cyclone, designing a reliable cyclone internal with a sur-
face area of 2.9 m 2, containing 600 5.08-cm cyclones and still offer-
ing a tolerance to 25% local overloading was feasible.
As an illustration of the increased capacity of the separators with
this internal, the maximum inlet velocity of the cyclones was = 60
m1s (compared with 25 m1s for old cyclones), resulting in G forces
between 5000 and 6000 G (compared with between 300 and 500 G).
The net free area of this internal is 48% (compared with 28%).
Ensuring Even Flow Distribution. With the availability of the de-
scribed multiaxial-cyclone-type internal, the first requirement for a
successful separator upgrading had been fulfilled. With respect to
Maximum allowable gas velocity in vessel (m/s)
o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200
Operating pressure (bar)
Fig. 6-Relation between operating pressure and separator capacity.
690
Fig. 5C-Recycle axial cyclone.
the gas-flow distribution requirement through the internal, we still
needed to ensure that the variations in the distribution would remain
within the 25% overload limit tolerated by the internal. In case of
separator upgrading, we expected that this could be achieved reli-
ably through the installation of gas-flow distribution baffles whose
size and location were to be determined by computational fluid dy-
namics (CFD) techniques.
Ensuring Feasibility ofInstallation. We decided that a mockup of
the vessel as it would be after the removal of the current internal
would be necessary to ensure that the new internal could be located
and fastened where foreseen in case a separator-upgrade solution
was preferred.
New Separators or Upgrading of Current Separators?
The costs of two new sets of retrofit internals (including installation)
amounted to = $170,000. Removal of the current internals and
installation of the new multicyclones was expected to take place in
mid-1994. These facts compared very favorably with those linked
to the installation of new, bigger separators (Table 1). Given that the
risks, as previously described, for installing retrofit internals were
well quantified and considered acceptable, we decided to proceed
with the upgrading of the current separators.
Ensuring Proper Flow Distribution
A CFD package (Fluent) was used to determine the distribution of
the gas flow through the internal. With such software tools, gas-flow
patterns can be predicted in various geometries.
--8-- Recycle axial multi cyclone
(CDS Axiflow)
_ State-of-the-art upflow vane
~ Axial multicyclone
~ Reverse flow multicyclone
500
August 1995 • JPT
 TABLE 1-COMPARISON OF KEY PARAMETERS
Total Costs
(U.S. $) On Stream
New Separators 1,680,000 1995
Retrofit Internals 170,000 1994

With the cyclone internal mounted in the vessel without any fur-
ther precautions, the flow pattern schematically depicted in Fig. 7A
was predicted. It became clear that hardly any flow at all went
through the upstream cyclones, even in the wrong direction, while
the downstream cyclones handled the bulk of the flow. These cy- Fig. 7A-Predicted flow pattern through retrofit internal without
clones handled =35% more than the average design flow rate, baffles.
which is more than the tolerated overload. This flow pattern is
caused by the fact that the static pressure below the upstream cy-
clones is low (high local gas velocities)and high above these cy-
clones (low local velocities). This effect is made even worse by the

LJLq~
narrowing of the gas flow when it enters the narrow space between
the internal and the vessel.
We simulated various gas-flow patterns with different flow-baffle
configurations. The baffle configuration in Fig. 7B gives the opti- , ,
mum simulated flow pattern. The upstream baffle compensates for l ;
the narrowing effect, and the downstream baffles improve flow dis- i r-
i f
tribution through the cyclones by influencing the static-pressure ..-?/
===:...J..j.:;;;;
distribution below the cyclones. Fig. 78 shows the resulting flow
pattern: local overloading is reduced to < 15%, which the cyclones
should be capable of handling easily. Another aspect that became
Fig. 7B-Predicted flow pattern through retrofit internal with
clear with the simulations was that the installed louvre-type inlet de-
baffles.
vice had an adverse effect on gas-flow distribution under the new
operating conditions. Removing it proved to be the best solution.

Ensuring the Feasibility To Install Internal

The following three criteria complicate the actual mechanical
installation of the internal the most.
1. All internal parts had to pass through a 60-cm man way or
through the vessel outlet.
2. No welding should take place within the vessel, although 3000
kg of internal would have to be fitted into it.
3. The vessel would still contain the remnants of various parts of
the previous internals, which could prove to be difficult obstacles
when encountered unexpectedly during the installation.
Therefore, the 600-cyclone multi cyclone internal was split into
60 modular units of 10 cyclones, each weighing 35 kg. Fig. 8 shows
a modular unit of 10 Axiflow cyclones. These modular units could
be handled by one person and could pass through the manway.
Because no welding was allowed, two "clamped-rings" were
used. These rings were mounted with flexible pac kings inside the
vessel and functioned as a seal between the internal up- and down-
stream compartments and as mechanical mounting points for the
supporting structure for the cyclone modules. A mockup, with all
obstacles reconstructed, was built to ensure that everything could fit
between the stumps and remnants left from the previous internal. In Fig. 8-Modular retrofit unit of 10 CDS-Axiflow cyclones.
this way, we could ensure that the internal actually could be put into
the existing vessels through the available openings. We later used diverting all flow through only one of the two upgraded second-
this mockup for training purposes: installation personnel did dry stage separators. Under these conditions, A= 0.60 on the internal,
runs and installation videos were prepared. Fig. 9 shows the partial- 10% higher than design conditions. Although it is not exactly clear
ly mounted internal in the mockup. how much liquid is present in the feed, tests have convincingly con-
firmed that the second-stage separators now separate out consider-
Conclusions
ably larger amounts of liquid than before (Fig. 3). From reservoir
During the shutdown of 1994, the old internals were removed and and well potential data, we estimated that the liquid content of the
the existing welded baffles and supports in the vessel were ground gas under test conditions was 0.03 to 0.06 m3/l.O x 104 m3.
off as far as possible. The new internals could be installed as planned This separator upgrade project shows how recently available pro-
without any major difficulties. This operation took place within 2 cess and mechanical engineering techniques can be applied to extend
weeks. The separators came on stream in late 1994, but the load on the performance and lifetime of existing equipment substantially.
the separators was minimal because of low flow rates. Under these
conditions the slug catcher (Fig. 1) separates out most of the en- Nomenclature
trained liquids.
In early 1995, two sets of capacity tests were carried out to simu- A= VCmax[PC/(PL - Pc)]o.s = load factor, Lit, mJs
late the conditions expected when the new compressors are in opera- Vcmax = maximum gas velocity, Lit, mJs
tion. During the most demanding test, high throughputs were Pc= gas density, mJO. kg/m3
achieved by blocking off the liquid outlet of the slug catcher and by PL= liquid density, mlL3. kg/m3

JIYf • August 1995 691

 Fig. 9-Mockup with partly assembled retrofit internal.

References Rambout A. Swanborn is director of Dutch-based CDS Engi-

neering BV in Hamburg, Germany, specializing in separation
1. Verlaan. C.C.J.: "The Effect of Gas Density on the Performance of Vane- technology. Previously, he worked in the process industry with
Type Demisters," internal report, Technical U. Delft (1991). Unilever and as an independent consultant. Swanborn holds an
2. Jackson, R: Mechanical Equipment for Removing Dust and Grit From MS degree in mining engineering and a PhD degree in chemi-
Gases, British Coal Utilisation Research Assn., Leatherhead (1963). cal engineering, both from Delft U. of Technology. Frits P.J.
3. Oranje, LL.: "Cyclone Separators Score High in Comparative Tests," Oil Koene is an independent consultant and principal of Koene
& GasJ. (1990). Consultancy Holland, specializing in the engineering and pro-
4. Swanborn, R.A.: "New Gas-Liquid Separators For the Offshore Indus- duction of industrial separation systems. Previously, he was with
try," PhD dissertation, Technical U. Delft, Delft (1988). Burgess Manning (Europe) for 21 years in as a sales manager
and as engineering and production manager. Jan de Graauw
SI Metric Conversion Factors is a professor and chair of process equipment design at Delft U.
ofTechnology, where he specializes in separation equipment,
bar x 1.0* E+05 =Pa particle separations, distillation, and extraction (supercritical).
bbl x 1.589 873 E-OI =m 3 Previously, he was manager of the Process Engineering Dept.
ft x 3.048* E-OI =m with Tebodin in The Hague. de Graauw holds an MS degree in
chemistry and a PhD degree in chemical engineering, both
ft2 x 9.290304* E-02 =m2
from Delft U. of Technology.
ft 3 x 2.831 685 E-02 =m 3
in. x 2.54* E+OO =cm
Ibm x 4.535 924 E-Ol =kg
* Conversion factor is exact.

Swanborn Koene de Graauw

692 August 1995 • JITI'