Basrah University for Oil and Gas

College of Oil and Gas Engineering

Oil and Gas Engineering Department

Advantages of Each Type of Separator

STUDENT’S NAME
AHMED AYAD
HAMEED HUSSEIN

1
 TABLE OF Contents

TITLE PAGE ...........................................................................................................1

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………….……….………………........ 2

INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................3

TYPES OF SEPARATORS ....................................................................................4

1. VERTICAL SEPARATOR ..............................................................................5

ADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL SEPARATOR .................................................7

DISADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL SEPARATOR ..........................................8

2. HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR- .......................................................................9

ADVANTAGES OF HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR.........................................12

DISADVANTAGES OF HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR ..................................13

3. SPHERICAL SEPARATOR ..........................................................................13

ADVANTAGES OF SPHERICAL SEPARATOR .............................................15

DISADVANTAGES OF SPHERICAL SEPARATOR ......................................15

CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................16

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................17

2
 INTRODUCTION

The term separator in oilfield terminology designates a pressure vessel used for
separating well fluids produced from oil and gas wells into gaseous and liquid
components.

A separator for petroleum production is a large vessel designed to separate

production fluids into their constituent components (oil, gas, and water)

An oil/gas separator is a pressure vessel used for separating a good stream into
gaseous and liquid components and applicable onshore and offshore

Based on the vessel configurations, the oil/gas separators can be divided into
horizontal, vertical, or spherical separators

In terms of fluids to be separated , the oil/gas separators can be grouped into

gas/liquid two-phase separator or oil/gas/water three-phase separator.

3
TYPES OF SEPARATORS:-

SHAPE OF SEPARATOR Phase of Separation

Vertical

Two-Phase Separator
Horizontal

Three-Phase Separator
Spherical

4
 1. VERTICAL SEPARATOR:-

This type is capable of handling large slugs of liquid without carryover to the gas
outlet and is best suited for good streams with high liquid content and low gas
volume. The action of level control is not critical.
Due to the greater vertical distance between the liquid level and the gas outlet,
there is less tendency to re-vaporize the liquid into the gas phase.
Vertical type is most often used for fluid streams having considerably more liquid
than gas.

1.1 Vertical two-phase separator:-

Fig.1 shows a vertical two-phase separator with inlet diverter and demister. The
inlet stream gets into the vessel from the inlet device. After separation, the liquid
phase drops down to the vessel bottom while the gas phase floats up to the vessel
top.

1.2 Vertical three-phase separator:-

Fig. 2 illustrates a vertical three-phase separator configured with inlet diverter and
demister. After the inlet diverter, the separated gas flows up to the gas outlet, while
the liquid phase.
(oil/water mixture) get into the liquid space through a downcomer, where the
oil/water is further separated and collected at each outlet.

5
Figure 1: Different types of Two- Phase Vertical separator

Figure 2: Different types of Three - Phase Vertical separator

6
ADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL SEPARATOR:-

 Good for surging control

 treat low to intermediate gas/oil ratio well streams
 Liquid level control is not critical
 Fewer tendencies for entrainment.
 Owing to the large vertical distance between the liquid level and the gas outlet,
the chance for the liquid to re-vaporize into the gas phase is limited.
 Have good bottom-drain and clean-out facilities
 Can handle more sand, mud, wax, and paraffin without plugging
 Has full diameter for gas flow at top and oil flow at the bottom
 Occupies smaller plot area
 Much more economical as compared to the use of horizontal separators
 Can be skid-mounted for quick and easy installation

Vertical separators have the capability to handle different types of liquids such
as crude oil, petroleum, and natural gas. They can also separate contaminants
that are not easy to get rid of such as mud and sludge. With vertical separators,
oil and gas plants will find fewer instances of re-entrainment.

The vertical position and shape of the separator ensure that any changes in the
liquid level are minimal. This allows the separator to control the level flow and any
fluctuations that may occur. The separator is also designed to ensure that any
changes in the level flow will not cause any problems to the overall gas flow
stream or increase the mist content within the separator. due to the natural upward
flow of gas in a vertical separator against the falling droplets of liquid, adequate
separator diameter is required.

7
 Vertical separators use gravity as part of the separation process. When the well
stream enters the separator, its momentum causes the stream to spin within the
vessel. The vertical position of the separator causes the liquid to drop to the
bottom. The separator has enough chamber space to segregate the liquid from other
contaminants.

DISADVANTAGES OF VERTICAL SEPARATOR:-

 It takes longer diameter separator for a given gas capacity as compared to

the horizontal separator.
 More expensive to fabricate.
 Difficult and more expensive to transport.
 Some instruments and safety devices may be difficult to access without ladders
or access platforms.

8
 2. HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR:-

The horizontal separator is designed for processing well stream with a large
volume of gas. The large liquid surface area provides efficient removal of gas from
the liquid. This type of vessel has a large interface area between the liquid and the
gas phases, thus, adding more separation capability when the gas capacity is a
design criterion. The horizontal vessel is more economical in high-pressure
separators due to increased wall thickness required with large diameters. However,
the liquid level control replacement is more critical than that in vertical separators.

2.1 Horizontal two-phase separator:-

Fig 3, 4 illustrate two types of horizontal separators, as can be seen,
a weir plate is installed to prevent the gas phase being carry-under to the liquid
outlet, and well-positioned liquid level to prevent the liquid carry-over from the
gas outlet.

2.2 Horizontal three-phase separator:-

Figs 5, 6 illustrate different configurations of horizontal three-phase separators.
Compared to the two-phase separator above, an additional weir is introduced to
control the oil/water interface.

9
Figure 3: Horizontal Two- Phase separator

Figure 4: Horizontal Two- Phase separator

10
Figure 5: Horizontal Three- Phase separator

Figure 6: Horizontal Three- Phase separator

11
ADVANTAGES OF HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR:-

 Require a smaller diameter for similar gas capacity as compared to vertical.

 No counter-flow (gas flow does not oppose drainage of mist extractor).
 Large liquid surface area for foam dispersion generally reduces turbulence
 Handle high gas/oil ratio well streams, foaming well streams, or liquid-from-
liquid separation.
 They have much greater gas/liquid interface due to a large, long, baffled gas-
separation section.
 Required less piping for field connection.
 Cheaper than the vertical separator

Horizontal separators are not as good as vertical separators in handling

solids. The liquid dump of a vertical separator can be placed at the center of the
bottom head so that solids will not build up in the separator but continue to the
next vessel in the process. As an alternative, a drain could be placed at this location
so that solids could be disposed of periodically while liquid leaves the vessel at a
slightly higher elevation. In a horizontal vessel, it is necessary to place several
drains along the length of the vessel. Since the solids will have an angle of repose
of 45° to 60°, the drains must be spaced at very close intervals. Attempts to
lengthen the distance between drains, by providing sand jets in the vicinity of each
drain to fluidize the solids while the drains are in operation, are expensive and have
been only marginally successful in field operations.

12
DISADVANTAGES OF HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR:-

 Difficult to clean (the separator is not suitable for sand-containing

conditions).
 High requirement for level control and it’s highly critical.
 Large occupied area & inconvenient high-level erection.

3. SPHERICAL SEPARATOR:-
Spherical separators are a special case of a vertical separator where there is no
cylindrical shell between the two heads. Fluid enters the vessel through the inlet
diverter where the flow stream is split into two streams.
Spherical separators are compact vessels and provide good gas separation.
However, they have very limited surge space and liquid settling section.
When a well stream contains excess mud or sand or is subjected to surging foamy
components, the spherical separator is not economical. The liquid level control is
very critical. These Separators are not popular today because of their limitations.

13
Figure 7: Spherical Separator

Figure 8: Spherical Separator

14
ADVANTAGES OF SPHERICAL SEPARATOR:-

 Very inexpensive.
 Good for the intermediate or low gas-oil ratio.
 Very compact and easy to ship and install.
 Better clean out and better drain than vertical type.

DISADVANTAGES OF SPHERICAL SEPARATOR:-

 Liquid level control is critical to the spherical separator performance.

 Very limited surge capacity and liquid settling section.
 It’s difficult to use it in three-phase(oil-water-gas) because of the limited
internal space.

15
CONCLUSION:-

 The principle of the separator is for separating gases, oil/condensate

and water contained in the effluent leaving a well, by using the
differences in their densities before continuing to next process depend
on the result of products (gas and oil/condensate).
 The separator is an equipment, which holds a major contribution in
the production process of oil and gas.
 It used to separate the hydrocarbon, withdraw water, sand and other
unwanted particles from wells.
 Every type of separator used in a special different situation than the
other one.
 There are three types of separators depending on the manufactured:
vertical separators, horizontal separators, and spherical separators.
 Horizontal separators could be divided into single or double tubes.
 Each type of separator has specific advantages and limitations.
 The selection of separator type is based on several factors including
characteristics of produc-tion steam to be treated, floor space
availability at the facility site, transportation, and cost.
 In terms of fluids to be separated, the oil/gas separators
can be grouped into gas/liquid two-phase separator or
oil/gas/water three-phase separator.
 In addition to this basic information, separator types could be divided
Based on separation function, the oil/gas separators can also be
classified into primary phase separator, test separator, high-pressure
separator, low-pressure separator, deliquilizer, degasser, etc.

16
REFERENCES:-

Natural Gas Production Engineering

https://libgen.is/book

https://slideplayer.com/

https://www.coursehero.com/textbook

https://www.scribd.com/

https://www.slideshare.net/

17