Production Engineering II

Separator Internals

Gas / Water/ Oil Separation

Vessel Internals
Inlet
diverter
Sand jets
and
Drain

Coalescin
g plates

Wave
Breaker

Vess
el
Mist
extracto
r

Vortex
Breaker

Defoamin
g plates

Vessel Internals

Inlet Diverter
Function ~ disengage the gas and liquid .
Types - baffle plates
can be a spherical dish, flat plate, angle iron, cone

Inlet Diverter
Function ~ disengage the gas and liquid .
Types - centrifugal diverters

Wave Breakers
Function ~ dampen any wave action that caused by incoming fluids
Vertical baffles
Place perpendicular to the flow
In liquid collection section
Install in long horizontal vessel
Why eliminate wave?
Liquid control problem
Reduce separation

Wave Breakers

Defoaming Plates
Function ~ to aid in coalescence of the foam bubbles.
Inclined parallel plates or tubes to promote coalescence, or merging, of
the foam bubbles liberated from the liquid.

Defoaming Plates

Vortex Breaker
Vortex- a whirling mass of fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind
A vortex breaker is a device used in engineering to stop the formation of
a vortex when a fluid (liquid or gas) is drained from a vessel
The formation of vortices can entrain vapor in the liquid stream, leading
to poor separation in process steps such as distillation or excessive
pressure drop or causing cavitation of downstream pumps
Some use radial vanes or baffles around the liquid exit

Vortex Breaker

Sand Jets and Drains

The Sand Jetting system is commonly used in the upstream
separator to remove solids that settles in gravity separators.
It fluidizes the solids with pressurized water introduced through
specially designed nozzles.
The solids are then discharged through sand drains located down
the length of the vessel

Mist Extractor
Function ~ to remove liquids mist from gas stream
Made of wire mesh, vanes, centrifugal forces devices
Liquid droplets impinge on the matted wires and coalesce
Effectiveness of wire mesh depends largely on the gas velocity.
High ~the liquids knocked out will be re-entrained.

Mist Extractor

Mist Extractor

Mist Extractor

Coalescing Plates
Specific for oil/water separation
Function~ increase size of water droplets in oil phase.
Make gravity settling easier
Problem face ~ plugging with solids particles

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2013 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS SDN BHD
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