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Gas flotation units should not be used when:

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l l

Equipment size and weight are prime considerations. The unit is subject to accelerations and tilting such as floating production facilities. The water stream to be treated is comprised of multiple water sources having significantly varying water chemistry and dispersed oil characteristics. Service support from water treating chemical vendors is limited. Very low effluent oil concentrations are required. Power costs are high.

3.6.7 Hydrocyclones
General Considerations Since the early 1980s, hydrocyclones have been used in produced water treatment to de-oil the water prior to discharge. Hydrocyclones used to de-oil the water are referred to as liquidliquid de-oiling hydrocyclones. Liquidliquid hydrocyclones are further classified as static or dynamic hydrocyclones. Operating Principles Hydrocyclones, sometimes called enhanced gravity separators, use centrifugal force to remove oil droplets from oily water. As shown in Figure 3.47, a de-oiling static hydrocyclone typically consists of liner(s) contained within a pressure retaining outer vessel or shell. The liner consists of the following four sections: a cylindrical swirl chamber, a concentric reducing section, a fine tapered section, and a cylindrical tail section. Figure 3.48 shows a typical multiliner vessel. Oily water enters the cylindrical swirl chamber through a tangential inlet nozzle (Figure 3.49), creating a high-velocity vortex with a reverse-flowing central core. The fluid accelerates as it flows through the concentric reducing section and the fine tapered section. The fluid then continues at a constant rate through the cylindrical tail section. Larger oil droplets are separated from the fluid in the fine tapered section, while smaller droplets are removed in the tail section. Centripetal forces cause the lighter-density droplets to move toward the low-pressure central core, where axial reverse flow occurs. The oil is removed through a small-diameter reject port located in the head of the hydrocyclone. Clean water is removed through the downstream outlet.

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Oily Water Tangential Inlet Nozzle 3 Fine Tapered Section

185

4 Cylindrical Tail Section

Oil Reject Clean Water Underflow

Overflow

1 Cylindrical Swirl Section

2 Concentric Reducing Section

Point at Which Hydrocyclone Size Is Specified

FIGURE 3.47. Liquidliquid static hydrocyclone separation liner.

FIGURE 3.48. Multiliner hydrocyclone vessel.

The separation mechanism inside a hydrocyclone is governed by Stokes law. However, in a hydrocyclone, the gravitational force is orders of magnitude (between 10002000 gs) higher than that available in conventional gravity-based separation equipment. A high-velocity vortex with a reverse-flowing central core is set up by entry through a specially designed tangential inlet(s) (Figure 3.49). The fluid is accelerated (thereby offsetting the frictional losses) through the concentric reducing and fine tapered sections of the cyclonewhere the bulk of

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FIGURE 3.49. Tangental inlet nozzle.

separation occursinto the cylindrical tail section where smaller, slower-moving droplets are recovered. The size of a hydrocyclone (for example, 35 or 60 mm) refers to the diameter at transition between the concentric reducing and fine tapered section of the cyclone (see Figure 3.47). The lighter oil droplets migrate toward the inner central core where an axial reversal of flow occurs, resulting in the removal of the lower-density oil-enriched phase through a small-diameter orifice (the reject port or the vortex finder) located in the center of the inlet head. This stream is also known as the reject stream or the overflow. The oil-depleted water stream exits from the downstream end (also known as underflow). A hydrocyclone can be oriented either horizontally or vertically although horizontal orientation is more common. The horizontal orientation requires more plan area (deck space) but is more convenient for maintenance (about a 42-in. clearance is required to remove the liners from the vessel). The energy required to achieve separation is provided by the differential pressure across the cyclone. A minimum of 100 psi is generally needed. Higher pressures are preferable when available. The reject stream is on the order of 13 vol.% of the inlet. Only about 10% (by volume) of the reject stream is oil, the rest being water. The reject stream may be directed back to the separator through a low-shear progressive cavity pump. It should be noted, however, that in certain field applications oil-field chemicals have caused swelling of the rubber stator of these pumps, leading to poor performance. In such situations, a low-speed single-stage centrifugal pump with an open impeller may be suitable. Many hydrocyclone installations typically include a degassing vessel downstream of the clean product water outlet. The vessel provides a short residence time serving essentially as a single gas

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flotation unit. The vessel also provides oil slug-catching volume in case of major upsets and additional residence time for emulsionbreaking chemicals. Static Hydrocyclones Static hydrocyclones require a minimum pressure of 100 psi to produce the required velocities. Manufacturers make designs that operate at lower pressures, but these models have not always been as efficient as those that operate at higher inlet pressures. If a minimum separator pressure of 100 psi is not available, a low-shear pump should be used (e.g., a progressive cavity pump) or sufficient pipe should be used between the pump and the hydrocyclone to allow pipe coalescence of the oil droplets. As is the case with flotation units, hydrocyclones do not appear to work well with oil droplets less than 1020 mm in diameter. Performance is chiefly influenced by the reject ratio and the pressure drop ratio (PDR). The reject ratio refers to the ratio of the reject fluid rate to the total inlet fluid rate. Typically, the optimum ratio is between 1% and 3%. This ratio is also proportional to the PDR. Operation below the optimum reject ratio will result in low oil removal efficiencies. Operation above the optimum reject ratio does not impair oil removal efficiency, but it increases the amount of liquid that must be reticulated through the facility. The PDR refers to the ratio of the pressure difference between the inlets and reject outlets and the difference from the inlet to the water outlet. A PDR of between 1.4 and 2.0 is usually desired. Performance is also affected by inlet oil droplet size, concentration of inlet oil, differential specific gravity, and inlet temperature. Temperatures greater than 80  F result in better operation. Although the performance of hydrocyclones varies from facility to facility (as with flotation units), an assumption of 90% oil removal is a reasonable number for design. Often the unit will perform better than this, but for design it would be unwise to assume this will happen. Performance cannot be predicted more accurately from laboratory or field testing because it is dependent on the actual shearing and coalescing that occur under field flow conditions and on impurities in the water, such as residual treating and corrosion chemicals and sand, scale, and corrosion products, which vary with time. Hydrocyclones are excellent coalescing devices, and they actually function best as a primary treating device followed by a downstream skim vessel that can separate the 500- to 1000-mm droplets that leave with the water effluent. A simplified P&ID for a hydrocyclone is shown in Figure 3.50. Advantages of static hydrocyclones include that (1) they have no moving parts (thus, minimum maintenance and operator attention are required), (2) their compact design reduces weight and space

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Clarifier Injection

3-Phase Separator 400 psi Oil Reject

Deck Drains Skimmer 10 psi From Treater Skimmer, etc.

30-psi Accumulator Discharge Pile

FIGURE 3.50. Simplified P&ID showing a hydrocyclone used as preliminary treating device.

requirements when compared to those of a flotation unit, (3) they are insensitive to motion (thus, they are suitable for floating facilities), (4) their modular design allows easy addition of capacity, and (5) they offer lower operating costs when compared to flotation units, if inlet pressure is available. Disadvantages include the need to install a pump if oil is available only at low pressure and the tendency of the reject port to plug with sand or scale. Sand in the produced water will cause erosion of the cones and increase operating costs. Performance of hydrocyclones is affected by the following parameters:
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Oil droplet size (at fixed concentrations). Efficiency generally decreases as the oil droplet size is reduced. This is consistent with Stokes law, where a smaller droplet will move less rapidly toward the hydrocyclone core. Droplets below a certain size (about 30 mm) are not captured by the hydrocyclone and, therefore, as the median feed oil droplet size decreases, more of the smaller droplets escape and the efficiency drops. Restrictions (valves, fittings, etc.) and pumps causing droplet shearing in the incoming flow should be avoided. Differential specific gravity. At a constant temperature, the hydrocyclone oil removal efficiency increases as the salinity increases and/or the crude specific gravity decreases. As the specific gravity difference between water and oil increases, a greater driving force for oil removal in the hydrocyclone occurs.

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Inlet temperature. The temperature of the produced water inlet stream determines the viscosity of the oil and water phases and the density difference between the two phases. As temperature increases, the viscosity of water decreases slightly, while the density difference increases more substantially. This is because oil density decreases at a faster rate than water density. Temperatures greater than 80  F result in better operation. Inlet flow rate. The centrifugal force induced in the hydrocyclone is a function of the flow rate. At low flow rates, insufficient inlet velocity exists to establish a vortex and separation efficiency is low. Once the vortex is established, the efficiency increases slowly as a function of the flow rate to a point where the pressure at the core approaches atmospheric. Any further increase in the flow rate hinders oil flow from the reject outlet and causes efficiency to decline. In addition, a high flow rate can cause shearing of the droplets. This maximum flow rate is the capacity of the chamber. Flow rate is controlled by back pressure on the underflow outlet. The ratio of maximum to minimum flow rate, as determined by the lowest separation efficiency acceptable and the available pressure drop, is the turndown ratio for a given application.

Dynamic Hydrocyclones The major difference between static and dynamic hydrocyclones is that in the dynamic hydrocyclone an external motor is used to rotate the outer shell of the hydrocyclone, whereas in a static hydrocyclone the outer shell is stationary and feed pressure supplies the energy to accomplish separation of oil from water (no external motor is required). As shown in Figure 3.51, a dynamic hydrocyclone consists of a rotating cylinder, axial inlet and outlet, reject nozzle, and external motor. The rotation of the cylinder creates a free vortex. The tangential speed is inversely proportional to the distance to the centerline of the cyclone. Since there is no complex geometry that requires a high pressure drop, dynamic units can operate at lower inlet pressures (approximately 50 psig) than static units. In addition, the effect of the reject ratio is not as important in dynamic units as it is in static units. Dynamic hydrocyclone performance is affected by the following parameters:
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Reject flow. The reject flow must remain constant across the inlet flow range. Rotational speed. High rotational speeds (between 1000 and 3000 rpm) generate higher centrifugal forces, which in turn yield better oil removal efficiencies at a given flow rate.

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Inlet

Mechanical Seals

Rotating Vane

Rotating Wall

Outer Wall

Motor

Mechanical Seals Reject

Outlet

FIGURE 3.51. Liquidliquid dynamic hydrocyclone separation.

The oil removal efficiency, which is a function of the drop size distribution, is between 50% and 75%. Dynamic units are more effective at removing small oil droplets (15 mm) from the water. Dynamic hydrocyclones have found few applications because of the poor costbenefit ratio. Selection Criteria and Application Guidelines Hydrocyclones can be applied when: 1. Median oil particle size is in excess of 30 mm. 2. Produced water feed pressure is at least 100 psig.

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3. Platform deck space is a critical consideration. Hydrocyclones have low size and weight requirements compared to other water treating equipment for the same capacity. 4. Platform motion is significant, such as tension leg platforms or floating production facilities, since the hydrocyclone is insensitive to motion. Other devices, such as flotation cells, are adversely impacted since platform motion makes accurate level control (using weirs or other control devices) difficult. 5. An appreciable quantity of solids is not present. 6. An appreciable amount of free gas is not present. 7. The flow rate and feed water oil concentration are fairly constant. 8. Low equipment maintenance is desired. Since a hydrocyclone has no moving parts, its maintenance requirements are fairly low. 9. Power constraints exist. Hydrocyclones do not require any outside energy supply, except for a low HP (about 5 HP) rejectrecycle pump. They are not applicable when: 1. A tight emulsion exists, with a median oil droplet size less than 30 mm (manufacturers claim that newer high-efficiency liners are capable of removing 20 mm). 2. The feed water pressure is less than 100 psig. A pump would be required to develop adequate pressure to use a hydrocyclone. However, pumps can cause the oil droplets to shear, making it more difficult for separation by a hydrocyclone. 3. The difference in specific gravity between the oil and water is relatively low, that is, heavy crude is being produced. 4. Considerable sand is entrained in the produced water. The sand could potentially plug the reject orifice and also cause erosion of the liner. Sizing and Design The performance of hydrocyclones is measured in terms of oil removal efficiency (E). Ci Co 100 ; Product oil removal efficiency : E Ci where Ci dispersed oil concentration in feed water, Co dispersed oil concentration in effluent water. Figure 3.52 shows generalized removal efficiency curves of a hydrocyclone. For a typical case (30  API oil and 1.05 SG water), the

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differential specific gravity is 0.17 and the removal efficiency would be 92% of 40-mm, 85% of 30-mm, and 68% of 20-mm oil droplets. Figure 3.53 shows a typical control scheme for a hydrocyclone.

3.6.8 Disposal Piles

Disposal piles are large-diameter (24- to 48-in.), open-ended pipes attached to the platform and extending below the surface of the water. Their main uses are to (1) concentrate all platform discharges into one location, (2) provide a conduit protected from wave action so that discharges can be placed deep enough to prevent sheens from occurring during upset conditions, and (3) provide an alarm or shutdown point in the event of a failure that causes oil to flow overboard.
100

50 microns
40 microns 30 microns 20 microns

Removal efficiency (%)

80

60 10 microns 40 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30

Differential specific gravity

FIGURE 3.52. Generalized performance curves for hydrocyclone.

Oil HP
LC

To LP Separator

Hydrocyclone Gas Separator LC Degassing Vessel

LC LC

Recovered Oil

Water to Disposal

FIGURE 3.53. Typical control scheme for a hydrocyclone.