Unit-4

Oil and gas separation system and process

Most oil wells produce saltwater along with gas

bubbling out of the oil. They are separated in a long
cylindrical steel tank called a separator. The separator
can be either vertical (up to 12 ft or 3.7 m high) or
horizontal (up to 16 ft or 4.9 m in length). Vertical
separator take up less surface space, but horizontal
separators have longer retention times, the time that the
produced fluid is in the separator. The separator is
either a two-phase separator that separates gas from
liquid or a three-phase separator that separates gas, oil
and water

What is the function of separator?

Separator is a vessel used to separate gas and liquid

components from the fluids extracted from an oil well.
Oil, gas or water can be removed from the fluids. It can
also be defined as a device which separates a fluid into
its constituent components.
How do you separate oil and gas?

To remove water and natural gas from oil, the mixture

is passed through a device that removes the gas and
sends it into a separate line.
The remaining oil, gas and water mixture goes into a
heater/treater unit. Heating helps to break up the
mixture so that oil separates from water, which is more
dense.

Types of separators

Separators can be either horizontal or vertical.

Separators can be classified into two-phase and three-
phase separators (commonly called free-water
knockout)
The two-phase type deals only with oil and gas, while
the three-phase type handles oil, water and gas

How horizontal separator works?

In a horizontal separator, fluid enters the vessel through
an inlet, and immediately hits an inlet diverter. This
sudden impact provides the initial separation of liquid
and vapaour. In the liquid collection section of the
vessel, the oil and emulsion separate due to gravity,
forming a layer above the free water. These separators
are less expensive than the vertical separators for a
given gas capacity, these may go with many names like
horizontal separators, oil-water separator, three-phase
separator, two-phase separator but functionality is all
relatively the same.

The various separators parts are as follows:

1. Liquid level controllers: Liquid level controllers

maintain the desired level in a vessel. The displacer
floats in the process fluid and as the fluid level passes
to the high-level set point. The liquid level controller
pilot sends signals to the dump valve to open. As the
 level decreases and reaches the low-level set point the
pilot stops send supply gas to the dump.

2. Dump valves: A dump valve is opened by the

controller to drain the liquids from a vessel

3. Gauge valve sets: These valve sets are used when

replacing a broken sight glass to isolate process fluid

4. Sight glass: A sight glass is a transparent glass tube

that allows you to see the process fluid inside a vessel

5. Temperature gauges: Temperature gauges are

designed to show process temperature

6. Thermowell: Thermowells are designed to block the

process fluid and to be a connection port for
temperature gauges

7. Pressure gauges: Pressure gauges are designed to

show process pressure

8. Vent caps: Vents caps are used to protect the PSV

from rainwater. The vent cap also has a whistle vent
integrated for low amounts of pressure-relieving that
is usually not noticeable
9. Pressure safety valves: The pressure safety valve will
open if process pressure exceeds the factory set
pressure. The PSV ensures the safety of the
equipment

How does a vertical separator works?

The figure above is a schematic diagram of two phase

vertical separator. In this vertical separator
configuration the fluid enters the separator through the
side. The initial separation process occurs at the inlet
diverter causing the liquid droplets falls down to the
collection section.

The liquid will flow down to the outlet; the entrained

gas bubbles in the liquid will flow upward and leaves to
the vapour space as the liquid reaches equilibrium. The
level controller will maintain the liquid gas interface
level; if it goes to high the level controller will give an
open command to the outlet valve.

The gas that separated from the liquid will flows over
the inlet diverter and continue upward to the gas outlet.
The entrained liquid in the gas will form droplets and
falls to the liquid gas interface section. Before the gas
leaves the vessel, it will flow through a mist extractor to
clear the gas from remaining liquids. To maintain the
pressure, pressure controller will sense the pressure and
control it by giving command to the gas outlet control
valve.

Explain two-phase and three phase separators?

Two-phase vapour-liquid separators are used in many

industries including oil refineries, chemical plants,
refrigeration systems, natural gas and petrochemical
processing plants.
Depending on the specific application and the vapor-
liquid mixture being separated, two-phase vessels can
be oriented vertically or horizontally. In their simplest
form, they are an empty tank that’s used to reduce the
velocity of a fluid on entry, thus allowing the liquid to
fall to the bottom of the vessel and the vapor to rise to
the top. Most separators include internal devices that
assist in the separation process, such as:

• An inlet diverter – An inlet diverter includes a

downcomer that directs the inlet flow below the liquid
level in the tank. This has the effect of stabilizing the
liquid level while preventing splattering and foaming.

• A mist eliminator – A mist eliminator removes liquid

droplets entrained with the gas.

Liquid-Liquid Separators

As their name indicates, liquid-liquid separators are

used to separate two immiscible liquids, like oil and
water. The viscosity, specific gravity and interfacial
tension of the two liquids must be considered when
designing this separator.

If the difference in density between the two liquids is

large, separation can be achieved through gravity
separation. In such instances, the heavier liquid is
drawn off the bottom of the tank and the lighter liquid
off the top. Otherwise, a coalescer can be used to
facilitate liquid-liquid separation using plastic, polymer,
wool or fiberglass as a coalescing medium.

Solid-Liquid Separators

Solid-liquid separation is normally achieved through

filtration, settling or centrifugation. These types of
separators utilize filters, which contain a porous
medium that retains suspended solids as the mixture
passes through it. Settlers are normally tanks of very
basic design that facilitate the settling of solids to the
bottom of the vessel by gravity.

Three phase separators are used to separate gas and two

liquids of different densities typically oil and water.
They are the combination of liquid-liquid and vapour-
liquid separators. These can be horizontal or vertical
and is used on a well in order to separate water,oil and
gas from an inflow fluid.

Basic Design Principles:

A primary separation section – The primary separation

section is situated at the inlet to the vessel and is
designed to separate the fluids from any entrained gas.
Secondary separation – The secondary separation
section is designed to facilitate the separation of the
liquid constituents into light and heavy phases
according to their specific gravity. Typically oil
comprises the light phase and water the heavy phase.

Coalescing section – The coalescing section includes a

vapour coalescer or mist extractor to remove liquid
droplets from the gas. A wire mesh eliminator is often
used for this purpose.

Benefits of 3-Phase Separators:

1. A 3-phase separator is a wise decision for all the
companies that maintains field production facilities in
the petroleum industry.

2. Without a high-performance separator, your team

will be left to guesswork to determine the volume and
composition of outflowing resources, which can lead to
errant decisions that may compromise your bottom line.

3. A 3-phase separators can be used in environments

with high levels of hydrogen sulphide.
4. These oil & gas separators are also environmentally
friendly and help reduce potentially devastating and
costly accidents while increasing the lifespan of
supplementary extraction and testing equipment.

Horizontal vs. Vertical Scrubber for offshore

facility

For offshore facilities a vertical vessel is typically

recommended for the following reasons:
 Typically the rate of liquid accumulation is small, and
a vertical separator can provide adequate liquid surge
volume in the bottom of the vessel.

 Smaller footprint.

 Easier to clean and maintain.

 A vertical vessel can accommodate a tangential entry

nozzle, which promotes removal of entrained liquid
from the vapor.
 Compressor Suction Scrubbers typically have been
equipped with wire mesh mist eliminators, which
require vertical upflow of gas. For this a vertical
vessel accommodates horizontal installation of the
wire mesh pad.

A horizontal vessel is preferred due to reasons below:

 Takes less vertical space, which may be important in

some offshore installations.

 Better liquid slugs handling than horizontal vessels.

 Vane-type mist eliminator is better accommodated.

Liquid Carryover and Gas Blowby

Liquid carryover and gas blowby are two common

operating problems. Liquid carryover occurs when free
liquid escapes with the gas phase and can indicate high
liquid level, damage to vessel internals, foam, improper
design, plugged liquid outlets, or a flow rate that
exceeds the vessel’s design rate. Gas blowby occurs
when free gas escapes with the liquid phase and can be
an indication of low liquid level, vortexing, or level
control failure.

Carry Over in Oil-Gas Separator

 

In simple words Liquid Carry Over means: exit of crude

oil droplets with the gas already separated from oil; this
will lead to a very black smoke from the flare; and
burning the small amounts of oil from time to time, it
will further lead to the reach of oil droplets to the gas
treatment facility, which may contain gas compressors;
these amounts of oil will lead to
gas compressor vibration.

Carry Over Causes

– high inlet flowrate to the oil gas separator which is
caused by bad manifold distribution , this will lead to
high flowrate to some separators and low flowrate to
others.

– closing oil outlet valve mistakenly , or a technical

problem in it.

– oil level indicator false signal, which will lead to raise

the oil level in the separator.

– a technical problem in pressure control valve, this will

decrease the separator pressure causing oil level to
increase and pass the mist extractor, then escape with
gas.

How to solve this problem?

– if there is a bad manifold distribution, we have to re-

organize the flowrate to each oil gas separator, this will
guarantee not to overload any separator with excessive
flow.

– If there is idle manual valve in any separator, then we

have to shut down it, then fix or replace this valve.
– Calibrate the control valves. then check level and
pressure indicators.

Gas-blowby in oil-gas separators

This problem is simply the entrance of gas in oil outlet

stream; this will lead to gas pockets in the oil
export pipeline, especially if these pipelines are long,
this problem happens also when the flow is much less
than its design capacity.

So what?
This problem will lead to a backpressure on the oil gas
separator, causing high oil level and high separator
pressure in the same time.

Gas Blowby Causes:

– a decrease in oil level because of an out of order in
the oil level control valve, or a false set point given to
this control.

– a sudden increase in the separator pressure because of

a disorder of pressure control valve, or changing its set
point mistakenly

How to solve this?

If there is any malfunction in the control valve; they

need to be fixed then re-calibrated.
Then we have to have a look at pressure and level
indicators, to be sure that they are accurate, but in all
cases we have to vent the pipeline from any vent point.

Factors Affecting Separation

Characteristics of the flow stream will greatly affect the

design and operation of a separator. The following
factors must be determined before separator design:
• Gas and liquid flow rates (minimum, average, and
peak)
• Operating and design pressures and temperatures
• Surging or slugging tendencies of the feed streams
• Physical properties of the fluids such as density and
compressibility
• Designed degree of separation (e.g., removing 100%
of particles greater than 10 microns)
• Presence of impurities (paraffin, sand, scale, etc.)
• Foaming tendencies of the crude oil
• Corrosive tendencies of the liquids or gas Design

The following must be considered in designing

separator vessel:

1. The volumes of the dished heads are negligible as

compared with the volume of the cylinder

2. Unless specifically stated the length/diameter (L/D)

is considered to be acceptable when it is between
about 3/1 and 8/1. There is not a great change in cost
over this ranger and other factors such as
foundations, plant layout, and symmetry are
significant.

3. For a vertical separator, the gas flows through the

entire cross section of the upper part of the vessel.
The feed enters the separator just above the vapor-
 liquid interface, which should be at least 2 ft from the
bottom and at least 4 ft from the top of vessel. The
interface does not have to be at the center of the
vessel.

4. For a horizontal separator, the interface does not have

to be at the centerline of the vessel. In some cases, a
smaller-diameter vessel may be obtained by making the
interface location off-center and a design variable. The
feed enters at the end of separator just above the vapor-
liquid interface, which should be at least 10 in from the
bottom and at least 16 in from the top of the vessel.

General Separator Design Criteria

Separator sizing must satisfy several criteria for good
operation during the lifetime of the producing field:

1. Provide sufficient time to allow the immiscible gas,

oil, and water phases to separate by gravity.

2. Provide sufficient time to allow for the coalescence

and breaking of emulsion droplets at the oil–water
interface.
3. Provide sufficient volume in the gas space to
accommodate rises in the liquid level that result from
the surge in the liquid flow rate.

4. Provide for the removal of solids that settle to the

bottom of the separator.

5. Allow for variation in the flow rates of gas, oil, and

water into the separator without adversely affecting
separation efficiency.