SPE 56644 Designing Tomorrow's Compact Separation Train

Kenneth E. Arnold, SPE/Paragon Engineering Services, Inc. Patti L. Ferguson/Paragon Engineering Services, Inc.

Copyright 1999, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, 36 October 1999. This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

and liquid-liquid separation. The development of these compact separation techniques is the first step toward designing tomorrows compact separation train. What is a conventional separator? Conventional separation consists primarily of two and three phase separators. These separators are generally cylindrical shelled vessels that can be either horizontal or vertical in orientation. In a conventional two-phase separator (Figure 1), gas is separated from bulk liquid. Fluid enters the separator and hits an inlet diverter. The impact causes a sudden change in momentum, and the initial gross separation of the liquid and gas occurs. The force of gravity causes the liquid to drain to the bottom of the vessel where it is collected. Following the diverter, gas enters the gravity settling section of the vessel. As the gas flows through this section, small drops of liquid that were entrained in the gas and not separated by the inlet diverter are separated by gravity and fall to the gas-liquid interface. Beneath the gravity settling section is the liquid collection section of the vessel. This section provides the retention time required for any flash gas to evolve out of the oil and rise to the vapor space. The last separation effort in the two-phase separator is the mist extractor. This section uses vanes, wire mesh, or plates to coalesce and remove the very small droplets of liquid before the gas leaves the vessel. Three-phase separators are also used to separate gas from liquid, but in addition, they separate a light liquid from a heavier liquid, (oil from water, for example). A conventional three phase separator (Figure 2) contains an inlet diverter that provides the initial gross separation of liquid and vapor. The main difference between the two and three phase inlet diverter is that the three-phase diverter contains a downcomer that directs the liquid flow beneath the gas-oil interface to below the oil-water interface. Like the two-phase separator, the three-phase separator also contains a gravity settling section and a liquid collection section; however, the liquid collection section is much larger for the three-phase separator. The liquid collection section must provide enough retention time so that the oil and emulsion form a layer above the water layer. Interface level controllers or weirs are used to maintain the oil-water interface at design height. The oil and water are discharged from separate collection areas in the vessel. There are three main factors that determine the size

Abstract Newly developed compact separation technology may be an attractive alternative to conventional separation methods in certain oil and gas applications. The purpose of this paper is to compare the new compact separators to conventional separation methods and explore the possible applications of this new technology. The size of conventional separators is based on liquid retention time, droplet or settling velocity for gas, and, for three-phase separators, water droplet settling time in the oil phase. Compact separators perform the same function as conventional separators but require a smaller shell. They have great potential where cost savings due to smaller size and lower weight are greater than the cost of more complex equipment. Both the benefits and problems associated with using compact separation techniques for downhole processing, subsea processing, and surface facilities will be discussed in this paper. It is necessary for a design engineer to understand the benefits and detriments of using compact separators so that this new technology may be used effectively in the production of oil and gas. Introduction Oil and gas companies are constantly searching for more effective ways to produce oil. Current separation techniques are costly, and because of size and weight requirements, separation equipment greatly affects the space and load requirements, and thus the cost of offshore structures. In order to reduce cost and maximize the effectiveness of separation equipment, better designs for separation equipment are being evaluated. Over the past few years, notable advances in compact separation technology have been made. Equipment that promises to be lighter and smaller than current separation equipment has been developed and is suitable for gas-liquid

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of conventional separators. The first factor is retention time for the liquids. A certain amount of time and liquid storage space is required to assure that the liquid and gas reach equilibrium at separator pressure. The second factor affecting vessel size is the droplet or settling velocity for the liquid drops entrained in the gas. The purpose of the gravity settling section of the vessel is to condition the gas for final polishing in the mist extractor. The liquid drops will settle at a velocity determined by equating the gravity force on the drop with the drag force caused by its motion relative to the gas continuous phase. For three phase separators, water droplet settling in the oil layer is also a sizing factor. For good results to be obtained, the oil pad must be designed so that water droplets which enter the oil pad as the emulsion flows through the interface settle out. In conventional separators a certain amount of liquid retention time is required to assure that the oil reaches equilibrium and flashed gas is liberated. In a three phase separator, additional retention time is necessary to assure that the free water has time to coalesce into droplet sizes sufficient enough to fall to the oil water interface. A certain amount of water retention time must also exist in a three phase separator so that the large droplets of oil entrained in the water have enough time to coalesce and rise to the oilwater interface. What is a compact separator? Compact separators perform the same function as their conventional counterparts, but they do so in a smaller shell. This is achieved by the use of centrifugal force and resulting flow patterns to separate immiscible phases of different densities. The conventional separation of two liquids or liquid and gas depends on the force of gravity to affect separation. Because the two phases have different densities, the force of gravity causes the more dense substance to fall to the bottom of the separation vessel while the lighter, less dense liquid rises up. If the affective force of gravity is somehow increased locally by centrifugal action, then separation occurs more rapidly. Compact separators can be designed so that the centrifugal force is thousands of time greater than the force of gravity. By increasing the speed of separation, the need for long retention times within vessels is eliminated, and the size of the separation vessel can be greatly reduced. Separation techniques utilizing centrifugal force may not produce outlet streams with as good a quality as conventional separation, but they are sufficient enough for many practical purposes. The three main types of separation service that compact separators are available for are bulk gas-liquid separation, bulk oil-water separation, and water polishing. One problem associated with compact separation is that compact separation equipment tends to be more sensitive to flow variations than conventional separators. The control of liquid and interface levels is difficult in slugging services. Thus there is a potential for liquid carry over or gas blowby in gas/liquid separators and poor quality oil and/or water in oil/water separators. However, compact separators can be used

in applications where quality of output is not critical such as a gas-liquid split for multiphase flow meters, or separation where the quality of only one of the separated streams is important. Compact Separators may also be more sensitive to plugging with paraffins, corrosion products, and sand as well as being more sensitive to erosion and mechanical failure. Another disadvantage to the use of compact separators is that they have higher capital, operation, and maintenance costs than their conventional counterparts.

Bulk Gas - Liquid Separation Several types of compact separators are available for use in bulk gas-liquid separation. They are the auger, Split-Flo separator, Gasunie separator, gas liquid cylindrical cyclone, and the biphase turbine. The auger (Figure 3) is a simple compact gas-liquid separator that can be used for either downhole or topside processing. Multiphase fluid enters axially at the base of the unit. The fluid is forced to rotate because of stationary helical vanes in the vessel. Liquid flows to the outer wall by virtue of the phase density difference. A fraction of the gas passes through ports located on the inner wall and is removed while the remainder of the gas and the liquid continue and exit axially at the top of the unit. The Split-Flo separator (Figure 4) consists of a primary and secondary separator. Both utilize centrifugal force in separating gas from liquid. The fluids pass over curved surfaces within the primary separator to produce the centrifugal force. The primary separator typically removes 99% of the incoming liquids from the gas. The second stage separator removes the remaining liquid drops to produce a high quality gas. The Gasunie separator (Figure 5) also uses centrifugal force to separate heavy particles from the gas. The gas converges into an inverted vortex and exits the top of the vessel. The liquid is held against the outside wall as it runs down to exit at the bottom of the chamber. There are several types of gas/liquid cyclones on the market. In a typical design (Figure 6), fluid enters into a vertical cylindrical or conical cyclone where high velocity swirling flow creates a radial acceleration field. This causes gas to flow to the axial core region. The gas exits through an axial outlet located at the top of the unit, and liquid leaves through a tangential outlet at the base. The biphase turbine (Figure 7) achieves separation by combining oil-gas separation with energy recovery. The turbine uses a two-phase nozzle to convert the thermal and pressure energy of a liquid and vapor mixture to kinetic energy. The resulting high-velocity two-phase mixture impinges on a rotating cylinder to produce centrifugal force which then separates the mixture. Bulk Oil - Water Separation The main types of bulk oil-water compact separators are separators with high performance internals, hydrocylones, and

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electro-pulsed inductive coalescers. High performance internals consist of a cluster of vanes placed at the inlet of a vessel followed by a horizontal baffle that extends the entire height of the vessel. The internals can be retrofitted to a preexisting vessel or built into a new vessel. These internals increase separation speed by greatly reducing turbulence at the inlet end and quickly create quiescent conditions within the separator Figure 8 is an example of such a system. Hydrocyclones which are mounted inside a pressure vessel induces a centrifugal flow path within their tapered tubes. This allows a bulk separation of the liquid phases and a coalescence of the dispersed droplets in the continuous phase of the underflow. A cluster of hydrocyclones used as an inlet diverter in a conventional separator extends the separator's capacity and minimizes the formation of foam. Figure 9 shows a bulk oil-water separation device installed in a separator. In an electro-pulsed inductive coalescer (EPIC) fluid enters into a high voltage DC electro-pulsed inductive field where it is repeatedly pulsed. The pulsation causes the water droplets to coalesce into larger droplets thus increasing the potential for easy separation in the downstream processing equipment. This device only works where there is an oil continuous phase in the inlet stream, and thus may be thought of as an oil treating device as opposed to a bulk oil/water separation device. Water Treating Vertical flotation, hydrocyclones, air-sparged hydrocyclones, disc-stacked centrifuges, and simplified centrifuges are all compact separators used in water polishing. In vertical flotation units, gas is sparged into the bottom of the vertical vessel containing produced water. As the fine bubbles sweep the liquid, they collect oil droplets. The oil is then transported to the surface and accumulates in an oil pad layer. Hydrocyclones used for water polishing are similar to those used in bulk oil-water separation. With an assured water continuous phase and a 2% overflow of mostly water, the underflow will contain very little oil. In addition, these droplets of oil will coalesce and be easily separated in downstream equipment. Air-sparged hydrocyclones are vertical vessels with a tangential inlet. Upon entering the hydrocyclone, a thin liquid layer is formed that corkscrews along the wall of a porous tube into which air is being forced under pressure. Bubbles contact the liquid, adhere to oil droplets in the water, and rise up to the surface of the vessel as shown in Figure 10. A disk-stacked centrifuge is a separation bowl containing a disk stack of truncated cones which is rotated at high speeds. The high g-force and the large equivalent settling area that is provided by the stacked disks obtain excellent separation. A simplified version (sometimes called a "dynamic hydrocyclone") does not have the stacked disk. The inlet enters into an annular space between a spinning rotor and stationary housing. Mixed phases are rapidly accelerated to rotor speed and separation occurs. Both types of centrifuges can be operated to give a high quality water stream or a high

quality oil stream but not both. Unless the inlet is a known and steady mixture the quality of the reject stream will vary greatly. Needs for Compact Separation Some of the challenges facing deepwater development include greater water depth, a greater step-out distance from where the oil field is to where the production is processed, and the need for reduction in topside weight. Compact separation may be useful in reducing development costs by allowing downhole and subsea processing and reducing topside weights. Downhole Processing Latest developments in downhole separation are focused on the separation of oil and water in the well bore before emulsification occurs. For emulsions to exist, there must be two immiscible liquids, an emulsifying agent, and sufficient agitation to disperse the discontinuous phase into the continuous phase. In oil production, oil and water are the immiscible liquids. Small solid particles, such as paraffins or asphaltenes, are usually present to act as the emulsifying agent, and agitation always occurs as fluid makes its way into the well bore, up the tubing, and through the surface choke. By using the compact separator in a downhole capacity, the oil and water will be separated before the fluids are agitated enough to produce an emulsion. Downhole separation can also reduce the energy required to lift water to the production surface, if the same borehole is used for water injection as shown in Figure 11. Problems associated with using compact separators for downhole processing include the need for a water continuous phase and downhole power. Where water is injected into another zone in the same wellbore, solids and transients of high oil content in the water can cause frequent plugging of the well. Thus operating costs due to both mechanical integrity of downhole equipment and instrumentation, and well remediation must be considered. Although downhole separation of oil and water is becoming common, to date it has only proved practical in cases where there is a water continuous phase. In most cases, these systems have been used where water cuts are 90 + %. Process reliability is a problem when oil is the continuous phase, and there is ongoing research to better evaluate this problem. Subsea Processing Until recently most applications of subsea processing focused on gas-liquid separation. In many offshore fields, transporting the hydrocarbons (gas plus liquid) in long multi-phase pipelines results in higher than desired backpressure on the wells thus reducing the flow of hydrocarbons from the well and requiring slug catching systems on the processing platform. In addition, cooling of hydrocarbons in multiphase lines can lead to deposition of paraffin and hydrates which obstructs the fluid's flow and decreases recovery efficiency. A subsea processing unit, with separate pipelines for liquid and gas, reduces backpressure on the well formation

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without the need for relatively inefficient multiphase pumps. In addition, it is easier to inhibit single phase lines against hydrate formation than it is to inhibit multiphase lines. In the separated liquid phase, only a small volume of gas is present and the hydrocarbon liquid will transport the small amount of hydrates which form. Therefore, the potential for hydrate plugging is negligible. Hydrate inhibition is easier in the gas line as the availability of free water is reduced. Problems associated with the use of compact separators in subsea applications include achieving level control, the cost of designing the vessel controls to withstand the external pressure, process reliability, and mechanical reliability. Providing power for any system involving a subsea pump, compressor or multiphase pump is also costly, and thus the efficiency of any rotating equipment as well as its mechanical reliability becomes important. Applications of subsea processing include the following: 1) Separating the gas and liquid, using a separate pump and compressor, and then recombining the streams in a multiphase pipeline. This requires less energy than the use of multiphase pumps. However, it requires maintaining two pieces of rotating equipment at subsea conditions. 2) Separating the gas and liquid and transporting the streams via two pipelines. With this method, there is less pressure drop in each line than in a multiphase line and thus the backpressure on the well is reduced. In deep water, further lowering of back pressure is possible by installing a pump on the liquid line to overcome the pressure due to liquid head. This method eliminates the need for a multiphase pump and a slugcatcher, and makes handling hydrate problems easier. Drawbacks to this approach include the cost of two pipelines and the need to assure the quality of separation. The mechanical reliability of a liquid pump should be equal to or higher than that of a multi-phase pump. 3) A three pipe variation of the system described above can aid in reducing formation of paraffins by introducing a recovered hydrocarbon stream into the liquid flowline soon after liquid exits the separator as shown in Figure 12. This recycled stream serves as a power fluid and also provides sufficient flowrate so that the liquid can be transported before cooling below its cloud point to minimize paraffin build up. In addition, the third pipeline provides a loop for frequent pigging. 4) Separating gas from liquid and re-injecting the gas into the same or another wellbore. This method eliminates flare or gas conversions costs, reduces the horsepower for compression that is needed, reduces back pressure on the well and reduces hydrate problems. Detriments to this application include the need for a high compression ratio compressor, the need for high quality separation to protect the compressor from liquids, and the need to maintain subsea equipment.

Separating water from oil and disposing of the water. The energy required to lift water (if downhole separation is used) or transport water (if subsea separation is used) is reduced. Problems with this approach are mechanical reliability and assuring high enough water quality to keep from plugging the formation (if water is re-injected) or to meet environmental constraints (if water is discharged to the sea). The effects of downhole and subsea processing on reducing topside space and weight requirements as well as cost may not be as substantial as once thought. While performing separation subsea or downhole may reduce the size of some topside equipment, it will not completely eliminate any part of the traditional production equipment. For example, if gas and liquid are separated subsea and the gas is reinjected, there will still be flash gas produced that must be handled. Therefore, compression, dehydration, and gas sales equipment will still be required, although these pieces of equipment may be smaller. Likewise, if bulk oil and water separation is performed subsea or downhole, the topside equipment for water treating is not completely eliminated. Water removed from the oil as the oil is treated will have to be treated for disposal. In both of these cases, the size and weight of some topsides equipment is reduced, but the associated cost savings will be offset by increased packaging costs, cost to provide power, operation and maintenance expense, and downtime associated with subsea and downhole designs. The potential weight and space savings have only a marginal impact on facilities. As shown in Table 1. Ultimately, the real impact of using subsea and downhole processing is the ability to produce the well, not topside reductions. Because these separation techniques can reduce backpressure on a well and facilitate the transport of hydrocarbons over long distances, marginal fields can be produced. Topside Processing Topside processing can benefit from the use of compact separators which can reduce the footprint and loading requirements of the production facilities. Although this may not be too important for new facilities onshore or facilities on fixed structures or FPSOs, it is important for facilities on other structures such as TLPs, Semis, and Spars. Initial phase separation and oil treating systems dominate production equipment cost, weight, and footprint. By focusing the use of compact separation techniques here, the greatest impact to the production facility can be made. A hydrocyclone used in a multiphase metering arrangement can eliminate the need for a conventional test separator. Split-Flo separators can be used in place of traditional 2-phase separators where gas flow rates are sufficient. Three-phase separators that are enhanced with high performance internals or hydrocyclones reduce in size dramatically. In cases of heavier oils that require multiple parallel vessels to accommodate the long retention times needed for difficult

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separation, these internal devices can reduce the quantity of vessels required. Centrifuges can be used for oil treating as well as water treating. The use of the compact separators can dramatically reduce the space and weight needs of a facility. Savings become more apparent as oil specific gravity increases. The use of compact separation techniques may also enable the expansion of facilities that are constrained by space and weight restrictions by reducing space and weight requirements for supplemental processing equipment. Compact separation devices such as high performance internals and hydrocyclones can also be retrofitted to existing separator vessels. For gas/liquid separation this can be beneficial in decreasing foaming within the vessel and consequently increasing throughput. Conclusions A critical objective in all new field developments is to reduce project capital cost, operation and maintenance cost, and project cycle time (life cycle cost). Currently, compact separators have greater capital, operation, and maintenance costs than conventional separators. Most often, the correct use of compact versus conventional separators will make only a marginal difference in topside life cycle costs Therefore, the choice to use compact separators must be based on the full understanding of life cycle costs of complex system alternatives. In the past ten years, there have been dramatic changes in the application of new technology to both gasliquid and oil-water separation. This technology is constantly evolving and compact separation is becoming a more attractive alternative to conventional separation methods. In the past, it was beneficial, but not essential, for a design engineer to know how to size conventional separation equipment. Any number of suppliers would provide the size for free, and sizing results would be essentially the same no matter which supplier was used. With compact separation, it is now more important that the design engineer understand the specific benefits and detriments of the different compact separators. When considering using this new equipment, the design engineer needs to consider the following points: First, this technology is new and the designs are often proprietary; therefore, pricing is less competitive. Second, choices in equipment must often be made before costs are definitely known. There has never been a practical performance guarantee in the upstream separation business and thus the engineer must make an informed choice and be able to critically evaluate sales claims. If design engineers are informed about these advances in separation technology and remember these points, this technology will be used wisely and to the benefit of oil production.