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Gas and Liquid Separation 101

actual flowing volume, and the allowable velocity through the separator.
With increasing temperature. the separator capacity usually decreases, due to
the effect of temperature on the flowing volume and gas and liquid densi-
ties.
In actual oil-field practice. economics is the foremost concern. The idea is

Separator Design Using Basic Separation Principles

Gas Capacity

The Souders-Brown relationship (Equation 4-6) has been traditionally


used for calculating the gas capacity of gas-liquid separators:

vg= Pd1Pgr
where vR allowable gas velocity at the operating conditions, ftisec
pi = liquid density at the operating conditions, Ibm/fti
pg = gas density at the operating conditions, 1bm/ft3
K = separation coefficient

The separation coefficient, K. is an empirical constant given as follows


(Craft et al., 1962; Sivalls, 1977):

Most commonly used


Separator type Range of K K value
Vertical 0.06 to 0.35 0.117 without mist extractor
0.167 with a mist extractor
Horizontal 0.40 to 0.50 0.382 with a mist extractor
Spherical' 0.35 with a mist extractor

Besides calculating the diameter of the separator required for a given gas
capacity, the Souders-Brown relationship can also be used for other designs
such as bubble cap or trayed towers for dehydration and desulfurization
units, and for sizing mist eliminators. The K values given by Sivalls (1977) for
these are as follows:

Wire mesh mist eliminators K = 0.35


Bubble cap trayed columns K = 0.16 for 24 in. spacing.
Valve tray columns K = 0.18 for 24 in. spacing.

Using Equation 4-6, the gas capacity at operating conditions, qR, in


ft3/sec is given by:

(IR = Avg = (1.14)(132)1C [(pt - ply pd) 5 (4-9)

The gas capacity of spherical separators is based upon the rapacity of the mist extractor.
where A = cross-sectional area of the separator, ft2
D = internal diameter of the vessel, ft

Note that the gas velocity vg is based upon total separator area, and it is
therefore more appropriate to refer to it as the superficial gas velocity. The gas
capacity at standard conditions (14.7 psia and 60F). qg., generally re-
ported in units of MMscfd (million standard cubic feet per day), is thus given
by:

)
2.40132Kp(pi PR 5
cigsc (4-10)
Z(T + 460)45

where a = gas capacity at standard conditions. MMscfd


p = operating pressure. psia
T = operating temperature, F
Z gas compressibility factor at the operating conditions

Equation 4-9 or 4-10 can be used to calculate the separator diameter re-
quired to handle a given gas rate. or to calculate the gas rate that a separator of a
given size can handle. The area of the mist extractor required. Am, can be
obtained as follows:

Am =qR/vm (4-11)

where vm is the gas velocity through the mist extractor, determined using
Equation 4-6 with K = 0.35 for mist extractor (wire mesh type).

Liquid Capacity

The liquid capacity of a separator depends upon the volume of the separa-
tor available to the liquid. and the retention time of the liquid within the
separator (SivalLs, 1977):

W = 1440V0 (4-12)

where W = liquid capacity, bbl/day


VL = liquid settling volume, bbl
t = retention time. min (1440 is the conversion factor to convert
bbliday into bbl/min)

The liquid settling volume, VL, can be calculated as follows: VL

= 0.1399D2h for vertical separators


Vi_ = 0.1399172(L12) for horizontal single-tube separators Vt
= 0.13991YL for horizontal double-tube separators Vt =
0.0466D-3(D/2)s for spherical separators'

where h = height of liquid column above the bottom of the liquid outlet in
the vertical separator, ft
L = separator length (height), ft

For good separation, a sufficient retention time, t, must he provided.


From field experience, the following liquid retention times have been sug-
gested by Sivalis (1977):

Oil-gas separation 1 min.


High pressure oil-water-gas separation 2 to 5 min.
Low pressure oil-water-gas separation 5 to 10 min. at > 100F
10 to 15 min. at 90F
15 to 20 min. at 80F
20 to 25 min. at 70F
2.5 to 30 min. at 60F

Vessel Design Considerations

Some of the basic Factors that must be considered in designing separators are
(Lockhart et al., 1986):
1. The length to diameter ratio, LID. for a horizontal or vertical separa-
tor should be kept between 3 and 8, due to considerations of fabrica-
tion costs. foundation costs. etc.

2. For a vertical separator, the vapor-liquid interface (at which the feed
enters) should be at least 2 Ft from the bottom and 4 ft from the top of
the vessel. This implies a minimum vertical separator height (length)
of 8 ft.
3. For a horizontal separator, the feed enters just above the vapor-liquid
interface that may be off-centered to adjust for a greater gas (or liquid)
capacity as needed. The vapor-liquid interface. however, must be kept
at least 10 in. from the bottom and 16 in. from the top of the vessel.
This implies a minimum horizontal separator diameter of 28 in.

In practice, novel design techniques violate these rules of thumb by pro-


viding additional features. Therefore, standard vertical separators less than

Spherical separators are generally operated at half-full of liquid conditions: the relationship
mentioned assumes this case. Also, the olume is increased by a factor of (Dt2)" because
spherical separators have greater surge rapacity due to their shape.
6 ft and standard horizontal separators of diameter less than 26 in. are avail -
able and have been used successfully.
High-pressure separators are generally used for high-pressure, high gas-
liquid ratio (gas and gas condensate) wells. In this case, the gas capacity of the
separator is usually the limiting factor. Low-pressure separators, used
generally for low gas-liquid ratio at low pressures, are subject to the opposite
constraintthey require a high liquid capacity. The separator chosen must
satisfy both the gas as well as liquid capacities. Also. the liquid discharge (or
dump) valve should be designed for the pressure drop available and the liq-
uid flow rate (SivalLs, 1977).
Note that as the gas-liquid ratio (CLR) increases, the retention time t de-
creases. The volume of the separator occupied by gas, VG, is given by:

VG = V - VL = V - Wt

because VL = Wt by Equation 4-12.

where V = total separator volume

VG is also given by:

VG = Clgt = WGLRt

Therefore:

WGLII-t = - Wt

On rearranging:

V
t-
W(GLR + 1)

Thus, for a fixed separator volume V and liquid capacity W, as GLR in-
creases, retention time t decreases.

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