KR101564348B1 - Separator - Google Patents

Abstract

A separator is disclosed. A separator according to the present invention includes: a body for providing a space for receiving a liquid therein; And a first weir disposed in the body at a predetermined height so as to divide the liquid, wherein the first weir is installed to be changeable in height.

Description

Separator {Separator}

The present invention relates to a separator.

Unlike maritime plant facilities, marine floating or marine structures are usually moved by waves, tidal currents or the like because they must be operated at sea.

In other words, depending on the height of the waves and the current of the tide, movements such as Surging, Swaying, Heaving, Pitching, Rolling, Yawing, Simultaneously, the conditions of this motion are greatly changed according to the conditions of the sea.

These movements at sea will greatly affect the structural strength of marine floating structures and offshore structures, as well as the performance of some process equipment whose performance is determined by gravity direction movement (free fall, vertical fall) And also acts as a factor for lowering the temperature.

In order to secure the performance of such process equipment, the required specification requires that the system has a kind of tolerance so that the performance of the marine suspended structure or the offshore structure can be maintained. Additional cost increases or system complexity can result.

Therefore, there is a growing need for equipment that is capable of maintaining the attitude in the direction of gravity so that the marine floating materials or the process equipment using the gravity direction movement installed in the offshore structure are not greatly affected by the movement at sea. to be.

The above-described background technology is technical information that the inventor holds for the derivation of the present invention or acquired in the process of deriving the present invention, and can not necessarily be a known technology disclosed to the general public prior to the filing of the present invention.

US Pat. No. 8,197,700 discloses a method and software for designing the size of a three-phase separator by using an iterative calculation method. In Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2004-0098635, Wherein the weir is a screw decanter type centrifuge having a throttling device, in particular a port to which a throttle disc is assigned, the distance from the port to the throttle disc being variable, Wherein at least one nozzle rotating together with the drum for discharging the purified fluid is also assigned to the screw-type decanter.

Patent Document 1: U.S. Patent No. 8,197,700 Patent Document 2: Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0098635

The present invention provides a separator capable of preventing the deterioration of the separation performance by preventing the internal liquid from flowing over even when the separator installed in an offshore structure moves.

Other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid container comprising: a body for providing a space for receiving a liquid therein; And a first weir disposed in the body at a predetermined height so as to partition the liquid, wherein the first weir has a height changeable.

A gauge for measuring a height of a water surface of the liquid; An actuator for applying a driving force to change the height of the first weir; And a controller receiving the measurement value by the gauge and controlling the operation of the actuator.

The gauge may be installed at a plurality of points, and the control unit may generate a control signal so that the actuator is operated when a maximum value among a plurality of measured values received from the plurality of gauges is greater than a preset reference value.

The body is formed in a cylindrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction, and the first weir is formed in a shape forming a part of a circle having a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cylinder, and the first weir is formed in the center direction of the circle Lt; / RTI >

A flexible wing may be coupled to both sides of the first weir to fill the gap between both sides of the first weir and the inner circumferential surface of the body when the first weir moves in the center direction of the circle.

And a pair of second weirs installed in the body so as to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined gap, wherein the first weir may be installed to be inserted into the gap.

A linear motor guide is interposed between the first weir and the second weir, an LM rail is coupled to one of the first weir and the second weir, and an LM block May be coupled to the other of the first weir and the second weir.

The upper end of the first weir may be bent toward the liquid.

The body is installed in an offshore structure and the height of the first weir can be changed corresponding to one or more of the rolling or pitching of the offshore structure.

Other aspects, features, and advantages will become apparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed description of the invention.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the weir provided in the horizontal type separator moves in the vertical direction so that the height thereof can be changed, so that even if movement occurs in the marine structure, the height of the weir increases, It is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which the liquid contained in the separator flows over the weir, and consequently deterioration of the separation performance of the separator.

1 is a sectional view showing a separator according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A 'in Fig.
3 illustrates an operating state of a weir according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

Also, the terms " part, "" unit," " module, "and the like, which are described in the specification, refer to a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software .

It is to be understood that the components of the embodiments described with reference to the drawings are not limited to the embodiments and may be embodied in other embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is to be understood that although the description is omitted, multiple embodiments may be implemented again in one integrated embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a separator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view showing an operation state of a weir according to an embodiment of the present invention. to be. 1 to 3, an oceango structure 10, a liquid 90, a separator 100, a body 110, a first weir 120, a wing 122, a second weir 130, An LM guide 132, a gauge 140, an actuator 142, and a controller 144 are shown.

The present embodiment relates to a separator in which a weir system is constructed so as not to be significantly affected by external environmental changes, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a separator which is capable of performing a movement such as rolling or pitching on an ocean structure such as a ship or a drill ship The weights provided in the separator are raised and lowered in the height direction so that the liquid contained in the separator flows over the weir so as not to overflow.

A separator is a device for separating three phases of oil, gas and water, in which gas and liquid are separated by a gravity force, and liquids of different densities, that is, immiscible, The liquid can be separated by the density difference.

Feeds entering the crude oil production process consist of hydrocarbon molecules of various constituents and water. Hydrocarbon molecules and water have unique physical properties such as different densities and vapor pressures. Thus, oil, gas and water can be separated in a physical manner under specific temperatures and pressures.

A separator is used for this purpose. The process in which crude oil is separated from the separator is the earliest process in the crude oil production process. Therefore, if the separator is not designed properly, it will become a bottleneck phenomenon in the whole production process, and the total production amount may be reduced.

When the flow rate of the liquid to be separated is larger than the gas flow rate, a horizontal type separator is used, and in the opposite case, a vertical type separator is used in many cases.

That is, the separator can be classified into a horizontal type, a vertical type and a spherical type. The horizontal type is mainly used when the flow rate of the liquid is large, and the two liquids having different densities can be easily separated.

The vertical type is mainly used when the flow rate of the gas is large and is often used for the compressor front end. The spherical type is often used in the case of high pressure.

As such, the separator is an essential device for separating crude oil collected from the wells into oil, gas and water on a primary and secondary basis. As the specification of the following process is determined according to the performance of the separator, the separator is an important equipment and therefore its performance is very important.

Normally, the horizontal separator provided on the ship can be arranged in the longitudinal direction (bow direction) of the ship to increase its separation performance. In this case, the movement of the ship, particularly the rolling or pitching phenomenon, greatly affects the performance of the separator.

The present embodiment relates to a separator installation structure implemented so that a horizontal separator installed in an offshore structure such as a ship can be always kept horizontal without being affected by rolling or pitching of a ship.

The separator according to the present embodiment can be configured so that the weir rotates by compensating for the rolling phenomenon of the ship when the separator is disposed in the forward direction. When the separator is disposed at a right angle to the bow direction, Thereby allowing the weir to rotate.

The separator 100 according to the present embodiment may include the body 110 and the first weir 120.

The body 110 constituting the basic skeleton of the separator 100 is a component that accommodates the liquid 90 therein and provides a space for separating the liquid 90 received by the density difference. (110) may be the body of a horizontal separator installed on the deck of an offshore structure (10) such as a ship.

In this case, the body 110 is formed in a cylindrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction and is installed on the offshore structure 10 in a horizontally laid state. When the flow rate of the liquid is large, it is easy to separate two liquids having different densities The fact that it can be widely used for production is as described above.

A partition wall or weir for partitioning the liquid 90 may be installed inside the body 110 to separate the liquid 90 contained therein.

If the marine structure with the separator is subjected to rolling or pitching movements, the body will also move, and the weir in the body will also tilt, resulting in a liquid (which would not have crossed the weir if the body was horizontal) A problem that overflows over the weir may occur.

Thus, if the liquid to be separated by the weir flows over the weir, the ability of the separator to separate the liquid may deteriorate, and the subsequent process may be adversely affected.

The separator 100 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the weir 120 is raised or lowered in the height direction so as to compensate for the movement of the offshore structure 10, So that the performance of the separator 100 is prevented from deteriorating.

Hereinafter, the first weir 120 will be referred to as a weir which moves inward (descend and descend) in accordance with the movement of the body 110 in the present embodiment.

A level gauge 140 for measuring the height of the water surface of the liquid 90 contained in the body 110 to control the ascending and descending of the first weir 120, And a controller 144 for receiving the measured value by the gauge 140 and controlling the operation of the actuator 142. [

The controller 144 controls the first weir 120 so that the liquid 90 does not exceed the first weir 120 according to the height of the liquid 90 measured by the gauge 140. [ Can be moved up and down to control the operation of the actuator 142 so that its height is changed.

When the separator body 110 is tilted by the movement of the offshore structure 10, the liquid 90 in the body 110 also tilts to one side, so that the water surface on the side where the liquid 90 is inclined becomes higher and the water surface on the opposite side becomes lower.

Therefore, when the gauges 140 according to the present embodiment are provided such that the height of the liquid 90 at least two points is measured, if the water level of any one of the gauges 140 is measured to be higher than the reference value, The weir 120 can be moved up and down.

That is, the control unit 144 according to the present embodiment receives a plurality of measured values from the plurality of gauges 140. If the maximum value of the plurality of measured values is larger than the reference value, 120), so that the control signal can be generated so that the actuator 142 is operated.

Here, the reference value may be set to a height at which the liquid 90 may flood over the first weir 120.

Meanwhile, the actuator 142 according to the present embodiment is a system for moving the first weir 120 in a linear direction (height direction), and a hydraulic linear moving system operated by air can be applied.

The first weir 120 according to the present embodiment is installed so as to be able to ascend and descend in the height direction in order to compensate for the increase in the water surface of the liquid 90 when the body 110 is moved.

When the body 110 according to the present embodiment is formed into a cylindrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction as described above, the liquid 90 contained therein can be defined by a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cylinder.

In the case of the cylinder, since the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is circular, the first weir 120 according to the present embodiment may be formed in a shape corresponding to a part of the circle as shown in FIG.

The height of the first weir 120 corresponds to the height of the water surface of the liquid 90 to be partitioned, and the height of the first weir 120 is equal to the height of the surface of the liquid 90, And may be formed at a height that does not overflow.

The first weir 120 according to the present embodiment can be installed so as to be able to move up and down in the height direction. This is because the first weir 120 moves in the direction of the center of the circle, It can mean.

When the first weir 120 is moved in the direction of the center of the circle of the trunk (when the first weir 120 is lifted), between both sides of the first weir 120 and the inner peripheral surface of the body 110 A gap is created.

Even if the first weir 120 rises to divide the liquid 90, the liquid 90 may flow over the gap, so that the gap between both sides of the first weir 120 and the inner peripheral surface of the body 110 The wings 122 can be attached to both sides of the first weir 120 so that they can be filled, that is, filled with gaps.

The wings 122 protrude from both sides of the first weir 120 so that even if the first weir 120 rises, the gap between the inner circumferential surface of the body 110 and the liquid 90 is leaked Can be prevented.

When the first weir 120 moves in the outer circumferential direction of the circular cross section of the body (when the first weir 120 descends), the distance between both sides of the first weir 120 and the inner circumferential surface of the body 110 The gap narrows or disappears.

In order to effectively fill the gap between the both side surfaces of the first weir 120 and the inner circumferential surface of the body 110 even if the first weir 120 descends, (122) may be made of a flexible material.

Accordingly, even when the first weir 120 descends, the wing portion 122 is deformed to still effectively cover the gap (narrowed gap) with the inner circumferential surface of the body 110, thereby preventing the liquid 90 from leaking .

In order to allow the first weir 120 to move up and down in the height direction, a pair of second weirs 130 may be further provided in the body 110 as shown in FIG.

The pair of second weirs 130 are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined gap. The first weir 120 according to the present embodiment is inserted into the gap between the pair of second weirs 130 The first weir 120 can smoothly move up and down by interposing the LM guide 132 or the like as will be described later.

That is, the pair of second weirs 130 define the movement path so that the first weir 120 moves up and down in the height direction.

An LM guide 132 may be provided between the first weir 120 and the second weir 130 to move (move up and down) the first weir 120. [ The LM guide 132 may be configured as an LM block moving along a path provided by the LM rail.

The LM guide 132 may be provided to connect the LM rail to the first weir 120 and the LM block to the second weir 130 so that the first weir 120 is relatively relative to the second weir 130 . ≪ / RTI >

Alternatively, the LM guide 132 may be installed to connect the LM rail to the second weir 130 and the LM block to the first weir 120 so that the first weir 120 is positioned relative to the second weir 130 So that it can be relatively moved.

In this case, by coupling the LM rail so as to extend in the height direction, the first weir 120 can be raised and lowered in the height direction as a result.

Meanwhile, the upper end of the first weir 120 may be bent toward the liquid 90 as shown in FIG. By bending the upper end of the weir as described above, it is possible to reduce the risk of the liquid 90 passing over the weir 120 in the process of the liquid 90 being loosened even if the water surface of the liquid 90 contained in the body 110 is not higher than the weir 120 have.

When the separator 100 according to the present embodiment is installed in an offshore structure 10 such as a ship or semi-submersible drilling rig, the bodies 110 are inclined together due to rolling or pitching of the offshore structure 10, The first weir 120 and the second weir 120 installed so as to be able to move up and down in the main body 110 are moved by the operation of the level gauge 140 and the actuator 142 so as to always maintain a height higher than the surface of the liquid 90 .

As described above, in the separator 100 according to the present embodiment, two or more level gauges 140 are installed in the body 110 to measure the height of the water surface of the crude oil due to the movement of the separator 100 And the height of the first weir 120 is adjusted accordingly.

The separator 100 according to the present embodiment can move in the vertical direction due to the movement of the offshore structure 10. The height of the crude oil can be measured at two or more points by the level gauge 140 installed in the body 110 , And the result can be analyzed to deduce the degree of height change.

The weir 120 is raised so that the crude does not exceed the weir 120 corresponding to the height of the measured crude oil.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the following claims And changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

10: Offshore structure 90: Liquid
100: separator 110: body
120: first weir 122: wing portion
130: second weir 132: LM guide
140: Gauge 142: Actuator
144:

Claims (9)

In the separator,
A body for providing a space for receiving a liquid therein;
A first weir disposed within the body at a predetermined height to define the liquid;
A plurality of gauges installed to measure the height of the water surface of the liquid contained in the space at at least two points;
An actuator for applying a driving force to change the height of the first weir;
And a controller receiving the measured value by the gauge and controlling the operation of the actuator,
The first weir is provided so that the height thereof is changeable,
The body is formed in a cylindrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction,
The first weir is formed in a shape forming a part of a circle having a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cylinder,
The first weir is arranged to move in the direction of the center of the circle,
Wherein at least one of Surging, Swaying, Heaving, Pitching, Rolling and Yawing movements is generated in the marine structure in which the separator is installed, And the control unit controls the operation of the actuator so that the height of the first weir is changed corresponding to the highest measured value when the measured value of the measured water surface is different. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the controller generates a control signal such that the actuator is operated when a maximum value among a plurality of measured values received from the plurality of gauges is greater than a preset reference value. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a flexible wing portion is coupled to both sides of the first weir so as to fill the gap between both sides of the first weir and the inner circumferential surface of the body when the first weir moves in the center direction of the circle. 6. The method of claim 5,
Further comprising a pair of second weirs mounted in the body so as to be spaced apart by a predetermined gap,
Wherein the first weir is installed to be inserted into the gap. The method according to claim 6,
A linear motor guide is interposed between the first weir and the second weir, an LM rail is coupled to one of the first weir and the second weir, and an LM block Is coupled to the other of the first weir and the second weir. The method according to claim 1,
And the upper end of the first weir is bent toward the liquid. delete

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