Separator Sizing PDF

Separator sizing -
Page 1 of 9
(http://petrowiki.org/ads/www/delivery/ck.php?
oaparams=2__bannerid=96__zoneid=13__cb=ffce199aab__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.spe.org%2F)
Separator sizing
Considerations in separator sizes is important during design. The liquid capacity of most separators is sized to
provide enough retention time to allow gas bubbles to form and separate out.
Contents
1 Separator design basics
2 Settling theory
2.1 Horizontal separators
2.2 Vertical vessels
2.3 Drop/bubble sizes
3 Retention time
3.1 Horizontal vessels
4 Demister sizing
5 Seam to seam length
5.1 Horizontal Vessels
6 Nozzle sizing
7 Examples of separator sizing
7.1 Example 1: vertical two-phase separator with a mesh pad demister given values
7.2 Example 2: Horizontal two phase separator
7.3 Example 3: Vertical three phase separator
8 Drag coefficients
9 Nomenclature
10 Subscripts
11 References
12 Noteworthy papers in OnePetro
13 External links
14 See also
15 Category
Separator design basics

Separators are typically sized by the droplet settling theory or retention time for the liquid phase. For illustration
purpose, a general procedure based on retention time appraoch is as follows
1. Estimate overall volume based on the retention time and expected separation performance for each phase, and the
major factors needed to be considered include:
Expected perforamance
Overall through put
Composition of incoming fluids
Intensity of emulsion
Retention time of each individal phase
Types of vessel and internals
levels and alarms
2. Determination of gas cross-sectional area based on settling theory or empirical correlations, and the other factors
include
Expected liquid carry-over rate
Avialable mist eliminator
Mean velocity of gas flow
3. Determine oil cross-sectional area based on settling theory or empirical correlations by following similar
procedure in Steps 1 and 2.
4. Determine water cross-sectional area based on settling theory or empirical correlations by following similar
procedure in Steps 1 and 2.
5. Determine vessel diameter based on cross-sectional area for each phase
6. Determine vessel length to meet the required retention time for all phases
7. Select inlet device and iterate.
8. Evaluation of separation performance for a specific applocation. .
Settling theory
In gravity settling, the dispersed drops/bubbles will settle at a velocity determined by equating the gravity force on
the drop/bubble with the drag force caused by its motion relative to the continuous phase.
In horizontal vessels, a simple ballistic model can be used to determine a relationship between vessel length and
diameter. In vertical vessels, settling theory results in a relation for the vessel diameter.
Horizontal separators
Droplet settling theory, using a ballistic model, results in the relationship shown in Eq. 1. For liquid drops in gas
http://petrowiki.org/Separator_sizing
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 2 of 9
phase
(/File%3AVol3_page_039_eq_001.PNG) ................(1)
where
d = vessel internal diameter, in.

dm = drop diameter, m
hg = gas-phase space height, in.
Fg = fractional gas cross-sectional area
Leff = effective length of the vessel where separation occurs, ft
T = operating temperature, R
Qg = gas flow rate, MMscf/D
P = operating pressure, psia
Z = gas compressibility
l = liquid density, lbm/ft3
g = gas density, lbm/ft3
CD = drag coefficient. (See below for calculation)
For bubbles or liquid drops in liquid phase:

where
dm = bubble or drop diameter, m

hc = continuous liquid-phase space height, in.
Fc = fractional continuous-phase cross-sectional area
d = dispersed liquid-phase density, lbm/ft3
c = continuous liquid-phase density, lbm/ft3
Qc = continuous liquid-phase flow rate, B/D.
For low Reynolds number flow, Eq. 3 can be further reduced to

where
trc = continuous-phase retention time, minutes
c = continuous-phase dynamic viscosity, cp
= specific gravity difference (heavy/light) of continuous and dispersed phases.
Vertical vessels
Settling theory results in the following relationship. For liquid drops in gas phase,
For bubbles or liquid drops in liquid phase,
Assuming low Reynolds number flow, Eq. 5 can be further reduced to
Drop/bubble sizes
If drop or bubble removal is being used for sizing, consult Table 1 for guidelines. Sizing the water phase by oildrop removal is usually not effective. The water effluent quality is more likely dictated by the added chemicals.
Hence, the water-phase volume is typically determined by a retention time, based on experience.
(/File%3AVol3_Page_052_Image_0001.png)
Table 1
The oil drops to be removed from the gas stream also depend upon the downstream equipment. Flare scrubbers are
typically designed for removal of drops that are a few hundred microns in size.
Retention time
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 3 of 9
Horizontal vessels
The relationship of vessel diameter and length is given by Eq. 7.
where
tro = oil retention time, minutes

trw = water-retention time, minutes
Qo = oil flow rate, B/D
Qw = water flow rate, B/D
Fl = fraction of vessel cross-sectional area filled by liquid.
Vertical vessels
Similarly for vertical vessels, the relationship of vessel diameter and liquid pad heights is given by Eq. 8.
where
ho = oil pad height, in.
hw = water pad height, in.
Demister sizing
As discussed previously, many types of demisters are limited by a maximum velocity given by
where
Kd = demister capacity factor, ft/sec and depends upon the demister type
Vm = maximum velocity, ft/sec
L = liquid density, lbm/ft3
g = gas density, lbm/ft3
For horizontal vessels, the required demister area (Ad) is given by
For vertical vessels, Eq. 11 is also valid. The vessel diameter is then obtained as
For demisters (horizontal or vertical vessels) sealed in a gas box, in addition to the demister area, some height must
be maintained between the bottom of the demister and the highest liquid level for the demister to drain. A pressure
drop exists across the demister. If the liquid level is too high, the demister will not drain, and liquid siphoning can
occur. A small hole is sometimes drilled into the drainpipe as a siphon breaker.
When using settling theory or demister sizing in horizontal vessels, one should also consider the gas velocity for reentrainment. Too high of a gas velocity will result in liquid re-entrainment from the liquid surface, which may flood
the demister and cause carryover. Typical gas velocities for re-entrainment are shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Seam to seam length

Horizontal Vessels
The seam-to-seam length, Lss, for the horizontal vessel should be determined from the geometry once a diameter
and effective length have been determined. Length must be allotted for inlet devices, gas demisters, and coalescers.
For screening purposes, the following approximations can be used.
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 4 of 9
The ratio of length to diameter is typically in the 3 to 5 range.
Vertical vessels
The seam-to-seam length of the vertical vessel should be determined from the geometry, once a diameter and height
of liquid volume are known. Allowance must be made for:
the inlet nozzle

space above the liquid level
gas separation section
mist extractor
for any space below the water outlet as shown in Fig. 1
(/File%
3AVol3_Page_051_Image_0001.png)
Fig. 1Approximate shell length for vertical
vessels (courtesy of CDS Separation Technologies
Inc.).
For screening purposes, the following approximations can be used, where d is the vessel diameter).
The ratio of height to diameter is typically in the 3 to 5 range for two-phase separators. For three-phase separators,
the ratio is in the 1.5 to 3 range.
Additional consideration should be given for installation of the internals as well as man-way access. In glycol
dehydration towers, a man-way is typically installed above the packing/trays and the demister. Access space must
be allotted for installation of the equipment.
Nozzle sizing
Nozzles are generally sized by momentum or velocities. Table 3 gives guidelines that can be used for sizing
nozzles, where m is the bulk density and Vm the bulk velocity.
Table 3
In addition, the API RP14E[1] on erosion velocity should be included. This relationship is also given by an inlet
momentum criterion as mVm2 = C2, where C is given as 100 for continuous service and 125 for intermittent service.
The value of C can also vary with pipe material, solids loading, and service. See the chapter on Piping and Pipelines
in this section of the Handbook. Vortex breakers are generally required on the liquid outlets. These are typically
perpendicular plates, as shown in Fig. 2.
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 5 of 9
(/File%
Fig. 2Typical vortex breaker (courtesy of CDS
Separation Technologies Inc.).
Examples of separator sizing

Example 1: vertical two-phase separator with a mesh pad demister given values
The given values for Example 1 are listed next.
Gas rate
10 MMscf/D
Gas specific gravity
0.6
Gas z-factor
0.84
Gas density
3.7 lbm/ft3
Oil rate
2,000 B/D
Oil density
50 lbm/ft3
Operating pressure
1,000 psia
Operating temperature
60F
OperMesh pad K-factor 0.35 ft/sec

Mesh pad thickness
6 in.
Liquid-retention time
1 minute
Inlet nozzle
4 in.
Step 1. Calculate the required mesh-pad area with Eq. 10. This mesh area will result in a vessel internal diameter of
15 in.
Step 2. Calculate the height for liquid retention time with Eq. 2.13. ho = 74 in.
Step 3. Compute seam-to-seam length with Eq. 9.
The Leff/D (D = d/12) is 9.2 and is larger than the typical 3 to 5 range. Therefore, the internal diameter must be
increased to reduce the Leff/D ratio. Table 4 shows Leff/D for three different vessel IDs. A 24-in. ID vessel has the
appropriate Leff/D ratio. The selected vessel would then be 24 in. 8 ft SS tall (after rounding up the height).
Table 4
The mesh pad can be installed in two ways, if the 1.15 ft 2 is to be maintained. One, a full-diameter mesh pad can
be installed with a blanking annular plate on top. Two, a cylindrical box with a 15-in. diameter can be installed
around the gas outlet.
Example 2: Horizontal two phase separator

Size a horizontal separator to remove 100 m drops in the gas phase.
Given Values. The given values for Example 2 are listed next:
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 6 of 9
Gas rate
10 MMscf/D
0.6
Gas z-factor
0.84
Gas density
3.7 lbm/ft3
Gas viscosity
0.012 cp
Oil rate
2,000 B/D
Oil density
50 lbm/ft3
Operating pressure
1,000 psia
Operating temperature 60F

Mesh pad K-factor
0.35 ft/sec
Mesh pad thickness
6 in.
Liquid retention time 1 minute

Inlet nozzle
4 in.
Vessel fill
50% (Therefore, Fg = 0.5 and hg = 0.5d.)
Step 1. Calculate vessel diameter and length with Eq. 1 for gas capacity.
Assume hg = 0.5 d so that Fg = 0.5.
From Appendix A, using a gas viscosity of 0.012 cp, CD = 1.42.
Step 2. Calculate Leff and Lss = Leff + d/12 for different values of d.
Step 3. Calculate the vessel diameter and length for liquid retention time with Eq. 7.
(/File%3AVol3_page_054_eq_005.png)
Step 4. Calculate Leff and Lss = Leff + d/12 for different values of d.
Step 5. Select vessel that satisfies both gas and liquid capacity.
A comparison of Tables 5 and 6 shows that the liquid capacity is the dominant parameter. Hence, a 24-in. 6.6-ft
vessel is sufficient, as it has a slenderness ratio within the typical 3 to 5 range. This size should be rounded up to 24
in. 7 ft.
Table 5
Table 6
Example 3: Vertical three phase separator

Given values. The given values for Example 3 are listed next:
Gas rate
5 MMscf/D
0.6
Gas z-factor
0.84
Gas density
3.7 lbm/ft3
Oil rate
5,000 B/D
Oil density
50 lbm/ft3
Oil viscosity
10 cp
Water rate
3,000 B/D
Water density
66.8 lbm/ft3
Operating pressure
1,000 psia
Operating temperature 60F

Liquid-retention time
10 minutes each phase
Inlet nozzle
12 in.
Drop removal from gas 100 m
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 7 of 9
Step 1. Calculate vessel diameter based on gas capacity from Eq. 4.
From the previous example:
Step 2. Calculate the vessel diameter based on water drop removal from Eq. 6 for a 500-m drop.
At this point, we know that the water-drop removal is the dominant sizing parameter in comparison to the gas
capacity.
Step 3. Calculate liquid levels for retention time based on Eq. 8.
(/File%3AVol3_page_056_eq_001.PNG) ................
(25)
Table 7 shows liquid levels for different vessel diameters.
Table 7
Step 4. Calculate vessel height from Eq. 13. Vales for Lss are given in Table 8. Values for 12 Lss /d should be in
the 1.5 to 3 range.
(/File%
Table 8
Step 5. Select a vessel size that satisfies gas capacity, water-drop removal, and liquid-retention time requirements.
An 84-in. 13.4-ft separator satisfies the requirements, so you would round up to an 84-in. 13.5-ft vessel.
Similarly, a 90-in. 12.5-ft separator would also be satisfactory.
Drag coefficients
The balance of drag and buoyancy is given as
where
VT = terminal velocity, cm/sec;
CD = drag coefficient of drop/bubble;
c = continuous phase density, g/cm3;
d = dispersed phase density, g/cm3;
g = gravitational constant, 981 cm/sec2;
and
dv = dispersed phase drop/bubble size, cm.
Eq.26 can be rewritten as
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 8 of 9
where
c = continuous phase viscosity, g/(cm/sec) = poise,
Re = Reynolds number, VT dv c/c,
and
Ar = Archimedes number.
The drag coefficient is a function of the Reynolds number, Re, and is given by a curve-fit of data (up to a Reynolds
number of 5,000) from Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook. [2]
The form of Eq. 28 was chosen to allow for an easy solution of Eq. 28 for the Reynolds number as outlined by
Darby in Darby[3].
The procedure then to calculate the drag coefficient is to calculate the Archimedes number, Ar, as defined in Eq.
27; solve Eq. 29 for the Reynolds number, Re; and solve Eq. 28 for the drag coefficient, CD.
Nomenclature
Ad = required demister area
C = API RP14E erosion constant, (lbm/ft-sec2)1/2
CD = drag coefficient (see Appendix A for calculation)
d = vessel internal diameter, in.
dh = hydraulic diameter, in. (or consistent units for Eq. 11)
dm = bubble or drop diameter, m
dpp = perpendicular spacing of plates, m
D = vessel diameter, ft
Fc = fractional continuous-phase cross-sectional area
Fg = fractional gas cross-sectional area
Fl = fraction of vessel cross-sectional area filled by liquid
h = liquid height, in.
hc = continuous liquid-phase space height, in.
hg = gas-phase space height, in.
ho = oil pad height, in.
hw = water pad height, in.
K = mesh capacity factor, m/s or ft/sec
Leff = effective length of the vessel where separation occurs, ft
Lss = seam-to-seam vessel length, ft
P = operating pressure, psia
Qc = continuous liquid-phase flow rate, B/D
Qg = gas flow rate, MMscf/D
Qo = oil flow rate, B/D
Qw = water flow rate, B/D
Re = Reynolds number
T = operating temperature, R
trc = continuous-phase retention time, minutes
tro = oil-retention time, minutes
trw = water-retention time, minutes
V = bulk velocity, m/sec
Vc = continuous-phase velocity, m/s (or consistent units for Eq. 11 )
Z = gas compressibility
= inclination angle, degrees
= specific gravity difference (heavy/light) of continuous and dispersed phases
c = continuous phase dynamic viscosity, cp
= constant, 3.14159
= density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
m = bulk density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
c = continuous liquid-phase density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
d = dispersed liquid-phase density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
g = gas density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
l = liquid density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
o = oil density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
w = water density, kg/m3 or lbm/ft3
Ar = Archimedes number
CD = drag coefficient of drop/bubble
dv = dispersed phase drop/bubble size, cm
g
Re
VT
c
c
d
= gravitational constant, 981 cm/sec2

= Reynolds number, VTdvc/c
= terminal velocity, cm/sec
= continuous phase viscosity, g/(cm/sec) = poise
= continuous phase density, g/cm3
= dispersed phase density, g/cm3
01-Dec-16
Separator sizing -
Page 9 of 9
Subscripts
m = bulk properties
References
1. API RP14E, Recommended Practice for Design and Installation of Offshore Production Platform Piping
Systems, fifth edition. 1991. Washington, DC: API.
2. Perry, R.H. and Green, D.W. 1984. Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, fifth edition, 5-66. New York
City: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
3. Darby, R. 1996. Determining Settling Rates of Particles. Chemical Engineering (December): 109.
Noteworthy papers in OnePetro

Olotu, C.O. and Osisanya, S. 2013. Development of a User Friendly Computer Program for Designing
Conventional Oilfield Separators. SPE-167578-MS Presented at the SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference
and Exhibition, Lagos, Nigeria, 5-7 August. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/167578-MS
(http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/167578-MS).
Laleh, A.P., Svrcek, W.Y. and Monnery, W. 2013. Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Study of an Oilfield
Separator--Part II: An Optimum Design. Oil and Gas Fac. 2 (1): 52-59. SPE-161036-PA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/161036-PA (http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/161036-PA).
External links
Use this section to provide links to relevant material on websites other than PetroWiki and OnePetro
See also
PEH:Oil_and_Gas_Separators (/PEH%3AOil_and_Gas_Separators)
Oil and gas separators (/Oil_and_gas_separators)
Category
Categories (/Special%3ACategories): 4.1.2 Separation and treating (/Category%3A4.1.2_Separation_and_treating)
YR (/Category%3AYR)
(https://www.onepetro.org/search?q=Separator sizing)
q=Separator sizing)
(http://scholar.google.ca/scholar?
(http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Separator sizing)
(http://wiki.seg.org/index.php?title=Special%
3ASearch&redirs=1&fulltext=Search&ns0=1&ns4=1&ns500=1&redirs=1&title=Special%
3ASearch&advanced=1&fulltext=Advanced+search&search=Separator sizing)
(http://wiki.aapg.org/index.php?title=Special%
3ASearch&profile=advanced&fulltext=Search&ns0=1&ns4=1&ns102=1&ns104=1&ns106=1&ns108=1&ns420=1&ns828=1&redirs=1&profile=advanced&search=
sizing)
01-Dec-16

Separator Sizing PDF

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Separator Sizing PDF

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Separator sizing -

Separator design basics

d = vessel internal diameter, in.

For bubbles or liquid drops in liquid phase:

dm = bubble or drop diameter, m

For low Reynolds number flow, Eq. 3 can be further reduced to

tro = oil retention time, minutes

For horizontal vessels, the required demister area (Ad) is given by

Seam to seam length

The ratio of length to diameter is typically in the 3 to 5 range.

the inlet nozzle

Examples of separator sizing

Gas specific gravity

OperMesh pad K-factor 0.35 ft/sec

Example 2: Horizontal two phase separator

Gas specific gravity

Operating temperature 60F

Mesh pad thickness

Liquid retention time 1 minute

50% (Therefore, Fg = 0.5 and hg = 0.5d.)

Example 3: Vertical three phase separator

Gas specific gravity

Operating temperature 60F

10 minutes each phase

Drop removal from gas 100 m

= gravitational constant, 981 cm/sec2

Noteworthy papers in OnePetro

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen