UNIT-1

Design principles and sizing of gas-oil separators: Principles of phase separators- Sizing
of vertical & horizontal two-phase and three phase separators- Optimum pressure - Design
of single and multistage flash vaporization equipment- Materials of construction and
mechanical design of separators.

Principles of phase separators:

The principles used to achieve physical separation of gas and liquids or solids are
momentum, gravity settling and coalescing. Any separator may employ one or more of those
principles, but the fluid phases must be immiscible and have different densities for
separation to occur.
Momentum: Fluid phases with different densities will have different momentum. If a two
phase stream changes direction sharply, greater momentum will not allow the particles of
the heavier phase to turn as rapidly as the lighter fluid, so separation occurs. Momentum is
usually employed for bulk separation of the two phases in a stream.
Gravity Settling: Liquid droplets will settle out of a gas phase if the gravitational force
acting on the droplet is greater than the drag force of the gas flowing around the droplet.
Coalescing: Liquid removed by the inlet diverter falls to the bottom of the vessel. The gas
moves upward, usually passing through a mist extractor to remove suspended mist, and then
flaws out. Liquid removed by the mist extraction is coalesced into larger droplets that fall
down to the liquid reservoir in the bottom.
Factors Affecting Separation
Characteristics of the flow stream will greatly affect the design and operation of a separator.
The following factors must be determined before separator design:
 Gas and liquid flow rates (minimum, average, and peak),
 Operating and design pressures and temperatures,
 Surging or slugging tendencies of the feed streams,
 Physical properties of the fluids such as density and compressibility factor,
 Designed degree of separation (e.g., removing 100% of particles greater than 10
microns),
 Presence of impurities (paraffin, sand, scale, etc.),
 Foaming tendencies of the crude oil,
 Corrosive tendencies of the liquids or gas.
Sizing of vertical & horizontal two-phase separators:
Assumptions:
1. No oil foaming takes place during the gas–oil separation (otherwise retention time has to
be drastically increased as explained earlier).
2. The cloud point of the oil and the hydrate point of the gas are below the operating
temperature.
3. The smallest separable liquid drops are spherical ones having a diameter of 100 mm.
4. Liquid carryover with the separated gas does not exceed 0.10 gallon/MMSCF.
Fundamentals
1. The difference in densities between liquid and gas is taken as a basis for sizing the gas
capacity of the separator (  l   g ).

2. A normal liquid (oil) retention time for gas to separate from oil is between 30 s and 3
min. Under foaming conditions, more time is considered (5–20 min).
3. In the gravity settling section, liquid drops will settle at a terminal velocity that is
reached when the gravity/buoyancy force FB acting on the oil drop balances the drag

force ( FD ) exerted by the surrounding fluid or gas.

4. For vertical separators, liquid droplets (oil) separate by settling downward against an up-
flowing gas stream; for horizontal ones, liquid droplets assume a trajectory like path
while it flows through the vessel.
5. For vertical separators, the gas capacity is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the
separator, whereas for horizontal separators, gas capacity is proportional to area of
disengagement (i.e. length  diameter ).
Settling velocity of liquid droplets:
In separating oil droplets from the gas in the gravity settling section of a separator, a relative
motion exists between the particle, which is the oil/ water droplet, and the surrounding fluid,
which is the gas.
Liquid droplets being much greater in density than the gas, tends to move vertically
downward under the gravitational or buoyant force
Dm 3
FB   l   g  lbf
6

Manojkumar Gudala
Asst professor, AHCET
The fluid (gas), on the other hand, exerts a drag force, FD , on the oil droplet in the opposite
direction.
V 2 
FD  C D Ad  g  t  lbf
 2g 

 24  Dm  Vt 

2 2

FD     g   lbf
 Re  4   2 g 

Here C D is drag coefficient, Ad is cross sectional area of the droplet ( ft 2 ),  g is density of

the gas ( lbf/ft 3 ),  l is density of the liquid ( lbf/ft 3 ), Vt is terminal of the droplet ( ft/s ), g is

gravitational constant ( ft/s2 ).

The oil droplet continues to fall at a constant velocity known as the settling or terminal
velocity. This is found by equating the drag and buoyancy force
 Dm 2  Vt 2 
 D
3

l  g m
 C D   g  

6  4   2g 
By rearranging the above equation to find the terminal velocity
0.5
 8  l   g  
Vt      g  Dm 
 6   g 
 C D 

Generally droplet diameter is expressed in microns. Where 1micron is equal to

3.280810 6 ft

Substitute 3.2808  106 d m for Dm and 32.17 for g Substitute 3.2808  10 6 d m

0.5
 8  l   g  6 
Vt      32.17  3.2808  10 d m 
 6   g 
 CD 
0.5
  l   g  dm 
 0.01186 
  g  C 
 D

C D is dependent on the Re
24
For Re  1 ; C D 
Re
3 24
For Re  1 ; C D  0.34  0.5

Re Re

Manojkumar Gudala
Asst professor, AHCET
Gas capacity of separators
The volumetric flow rate of the gas processed by a gas–oil separator is directly related to the
cross-sectional area of flow and the maximum allowable gas velocity at which the oil
droplets will be suspended and not carried over.
Qg  Ag Vt ft 3 / s

In field units

Qg  10 6  60  60  24Ag Vg

P 520
MMSCFD
14.7 TZ
 P 
 3.056  Ag Vt MMSCFD
 TZ 
Solving for terminal velocity

 TZ  1 
 ft/s
Vg  0.327Qg  
 P  Ag 

Liquid capacity of separators
The basic relationship that combines the oil flow rate or oil capacity of a separator,
V
QL  L ft 3 / min
t
Here VL is volume of separator occupied by liquid ( ft 3 ), t is retention time ( min )
Sizing Vertical Gas–Oil Separators
The size (diameter and height or length) of a separator is normally determined by
consideration of its required capacity
Gas Capacity Constraint
The upward average gas velocity should not exceed the downward terminal velocity of the
smallest oil droplet to be separated.
0.5
 TZ  1      g  dm 
  0.01186 l 
C 
0.327Qg  
 P  Ag 


  g  D 

  D2
Substitute Ag 
4
Where D is internal diameter of separator in inches .
0.5
 TZ  4  144    l   g  dm 
0.327Qg     0.01186  
C 
 P    D 2
   g  D 
Manojkumar Gudala
Asst professor, AHCET
Solve for D
0.5
 TZ   g C D 
D  5058Qg 
2

 P   l   g d m 

Oil Capacity Constraint

The oil has to be retained within the separator for a specific retention time ( t ). The volume
of separator occupied by oil ( Vo ), is obtained by multiplying the cross-sectional area by the

height of the oil column, H .

   D 2  H  1 
Q0  257    bbl/day
 4  12  12  t 
Solve the equation
D 2 H  8.565  Qo  t

Sizing Procedure for vertical separators

1. Determine the minimum allowable vessel diameter by using following equation.
0.5
 TZ   g C D 
D  5058Qg 
2

 P   l   g d m 

2. Determine combinations of D and H by using

D 2 H  8.565  Qo  t

3. The seam-to-seam length, Ls , for each combination of D and H is determined using

one of the following expressions as appropriate
For D  36 in.
H  76
Ls  ft
12
For D  36 in.
H  D  40
Ls  ft
12
4. For each combination of D and Ls , the slenderness ratio, SR , defined as the ratio of

length to diameter is determined. Separators with SR between 3 and 4 are commonly

selected.

Manojkumar Gudala
Asst professor, AHCET
PROBLEMS:
1. Design Problem, Vertical Separator, Determine the diameter and height (seam-to-seam
length) of a vertical separator for the following operating conditions:
Gas flow rate: 15 MMSCFD
Additional data
Gas specific gravity: 0.6
Oil rate: 3000 bbl/day
Oil gravity: 35 o API
Operating pressure: 985 psi
Operating temperature: 60 o F 60F
Retention time: 3 min
Droplet size removal: 100 microns
2. Design Problem, horizontal Separator, Determine the diameter and height (seam-to-seam
length) of a horizontal separator for the following operating conditions:
Gas flow rate: 10 MMSCFD
Gas specific gravity: 0.6 Additional data
Oil rate: 2000 bbl/day
Oil gravity: 40 o API
Operating pressure: 1000 psi
Operating temperature: 60 o F
Retention time: 3 min
Droplet size removal: 140 microns
3. Determine the size of a vertical two-phase separator given the following data
Gas flow rate: 2.75 MMSCFD
Gas specific gravity: 0.6 Additional data
Oil rate: 5000 bbl/day
Water rate: 1000 bbl/day
Oil gravity: 30 o API
Operating pressure: 1015 psi
Operating temperature: 90 o F
Retention time: 2 min
Droplet size removal: 100 microns

Manojkumar Gudala
Asst professor, AHCET