WO1992015386A1 - Appareil de separation - Google Patents

Appareil de separation Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1992015386A1
WO1992015386A1 PCT/GB1992/000409 GB9200409W WO9215386A1 WO 1992015386 A1 WO1992015386 A1 WO 1992015386A1 GB 9200409 W GB9200409 W GB 9200409W WO 9215386 A1 WO9215386 A1 WO 9215386A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
screen
passage
mixture
liquid
helical
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1992/000409
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
David Andrew Webb
Original Assignee
Merpro Montassa Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Merpro Montassa Limited filed Critical Merpro Montassa Limited
Publication of WO1992015386A1 publication Critical patent/WO1992015386A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01D—SEPARATION
    • B01D19/00—Degasification of liquids
    • B01D19/0042—Degasification of liquids modifying the liquid flow
    • B01D19/0052—Degasification of liquids modifying the liquid flow in rotating vessels, vessels containing movable parts or in which centrifugal movement is caused
    • B01D19/0057—Degasification of liquids modifying the liquid flow in rotating vessels, vessels containing movable parts or in which centrifugal movement is caused the centrifugal movement being caused by a vortex, e.g. using a cyclone, or by a tangential inlet

Definitions

  • a mixture of fluids, particularly gas, oil and water, is usually recovered at an oil- or gas-producing well head and has to be separated into its constituents prior to subsequent treatment.
  • Initial coarse separation is conventionally achieved by transferring the mixture into a retention pressure vessel, commonly called a three phase separator, in which the mixture settles and separates into an upper gaseous phase, a middle oil phase, and a lower water phase, the various phases being withdrawn from the vessel through exits at appropriate levels.
  • the settling and separation of the phases takes some minutes and, in order to accommodate, without interruption, the typical fluid flow from a production well, the retention vessel or vessels used must have a sufficiently large capacity corresponding to the total fluid flow during the period in which settlement and separation takes place.
  • phase separators particularly when utilised on an offshore production platform or subsea completion, as the vessels are large, heavy and very sensitive to motion such as may be experienced on a floating production or drilling facility.
  • a further problem to be overcome by three phase separators is that a large change in the relative proportions of the constituents of the fluid mixture can occur very quickly. For example, if the percentages of the different phases is 60% oil, 30% gas, and 10% water, these can change for a short period of time up to 100% of any one of the phases, due to surging or so called "slugging". The effect is particularly severe when a slug of gas is carried to the well head.
  • the three phase separator must be designed with enough volume and hence retention time, to effect a separation of the most extreme levels of the phases likely to be experienced. This in turn leads to the use of pressure vessels which are much larger than would be required for steady flow and hence requires even more of the valuable deck area on an offshore production facility.
  • apparatus for separating a mixture of gaseous and liquid phases comprises a tubular screen containing a helical vane which defines, with the screen, a helical passage with an inlet for the mixture under pressure at one end of the screen and an outlet for the gaseous phase at the other end of the screen, whereby, in use, the mixture is caused to follow the helical passage and the liquid phase migrates centrifugally towards, and passes out of the passage through, the screen.
  • a fluid mixture containing gaseous and liquid phases can be subjected very quickly to a preliminary, moderately efficient, separation of the gaseous and liquid phases.
  • the apparatus will usually operate upstream of two or three phase separators in which final separation will take place.
  • the quick preliminary separation of the gaseous and liquid phases should result in a significant reduction in the overall size, weight and cost of the separating equipment.
  • one or more of the apparatus may be mounted within a conventional three phase separator, a gas outlet from the apparatus leading into the upper portion of the retention pressure vessel and a liquid outlet from the apparatus leading into a lower portion of the retention vessel, so that final separation of the oil and water phases, and of any residual gas from these phases, occurs by conventional settlement.
  • the pitch of the helical vane reduces in the direction along the passage away from the mixture inlet end so that the cross sectional area of the passage becomes smaller. This will cause the fluid passing along the passage to accelerate which will assist in causing liquid droplets not immediately migrating to and through the screen, and still entrained within the residual gas flow, to migrate centrifugally to and through the screen.
  • the screen is preferably surrounded by a housing. It is expected that the apparatus will be used with the axis of the tubular screen substantially upright, with the mixture inlet at the bottom, in which case the housing will have a gas outlet adjacent to its upper end and one or more liquid outlets in its side wall.
  • the liquid outlet(s) may be provided by a vertical slot, which may diverge, i.e. increase in width, in the upward direction, or by vertically spaced ports, to present a continuous or stepwise increase in cross-sectional area to increasing levels of liquid phase in the housing.
  • the screen may be a metal screen of a kind having, for example, circumferentially extending, closely spaced slits of the order of 800 to 1200, preferably 1000, microns wide.
  • the invention is useful for the pre- separation of gaseous and liquid constituents of production fluids, it is equally useful in conjunction with smaller test separators to enable accurate and reliable information to be obtained speedily during tests for monitoring an existing field or assessing the viability of a new field.
  • the apparatus has an inlet port 1 which can be bolted and sealed to a flange coupling on a feed pipe or bolted and sealed inside at the bottom of a conventional retention pressure vessel of a three phase separator. Sealed to the inlet port is a tubular section 2 which has a tubular screen 3 sealed to it at its upper end. Contained inside the tubular sections 2,3 is a helical vane 4 of upwardly decreasing pitch. The tubular sections 2, 3 and vane 4 thus define a helical passage 6 of decreasing cross-section.
  • a housing 7 which terminates at its upper end in a gas outlet 8 and has, in its side wall, at different levels , a plurality of outlets 9, which lead to a common liquid outlet 10.
  • the liquid/gaseous mixture is introduced under pressure through the inlet port 1. It is then forced up along the helical passage between the vane 4 and screen 3. Centrifugal forces cause the liquid to migrate towards and through the screen 3. The decreasing pitch of the vane 4 causes the mixture to accelerate as it rises thus increasing the centrifugal force on the mixture and improving the separation.
  • the liquid passing through the screen 3 enters the housing 7 where it is discharged through the outlets 9 and common outlet 10. This arrangement ensures that the volume of liquid in the housing 7 varies with the volume of mixture being separated, so that liquid passing through the screen 3 does not cascade down through a gas filled space.
  • the gas being lighter than liquid, continues to follow the helical path and emerges from the top of the vane 4 and passes out through gas outlet 8.

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Centrifugal Separators (AREA)

Abstract

Appareil destiné à séparer un mélange de phases gazeuses et liquides qui comprend un tamis tubulaire (3) contenant une aube hélicoïdale (4) qui définit, avec le tamis, un passage hélicoïdal. Ledit passage comporte un orifice d'entrée (1) pour le mélange sous pression à une extrémité du tamis (3) et un orifice de sortie pour la phase gazeuse à l'autre extrémité du tamis. A l'utilisation, on pousse le mélange à suivre le passage hélicoïdal et la phase liquide se déplace de manière centrifuge vers le tamis (3) qu'elle traverse, s'échappant ainsi du passage.
PCT/GB1992/000409 1991-03-07 1992-03-09 Appareil de separation WO1992015386A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9104803.3 1991-03-07
GB919104803A GB9104803D0 (en) 1991-03-07 1991-03-07 Separating apparatus

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1992015386A1 true WO1992015386A1 (fr) 1992-09-17

Family

ID=10691142

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1992/000409 WO1992015386A1 (fr) 1991-03-07 1992-03-09 Appareil de separation

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB9104803D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO1992015386A1 (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5368007A (en) * 1993-08-13 1994-11-29 Air America Airgun expansion chamber
US5531811A (en) * 1994-08-16 1996-07-02 Marathon Oil Company Method for recovering entrained liquid from natural gas
WO2013110950A1 (fr) * 2012-01-25 2013-08-01 Acal Energy Limited Régénérateur et séparateur améliorés d'électrolyte de pile à combustible

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1791304A (en) * 1926-06-09 1931-02-03 Wurster & Sanger Inc Catch-all and entrainment separator
US2413324A (en) * 1939-06-09 1946-12-31 Holzwarth Gas Turbine Co Gas purifying apparatus
FR2281170A1 (fr) * 1974-08-06 1976-03-05 Saget Pierre Cyclone perfectionne pour la separation d'au moins deux phases de masses specifiques differentes
EP0147215A2 (fr) * 1983-12-21 1985-07-03 R. Goodwin International Ltd Séparation de fluide/fluide
GB2169822A (en) * 1985-01-18 1986-07-23 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low pressure drop modular centrifugal moisture separator

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1791304A (en) * 1926-06-09 1931-02-03 Wurster & Sanger Inc Catch-all and entrainment separator
US2413324A (en) * 1939-06-09 1946-12-31 Holzwarth Gas Turbine Co Gas purifying apparatus
FR2281170A1 (fr) * 1974-08-06 1976-03-05 Saget Pierre Cyclone perfectionne pour la separation d'au moins deux phases de masses specifiques differentes
EP0147215A2 (fr) * 1983-12-21 1985-07-03 R. Goodwin International Ltd Séparation de fluide/fluide
GB2169822A (en) * 1985-01-18 1986-07-23 Westinghouse Electric Corp Low pressure drop modular centrifugal moisture separator

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5368007A (en) * 1993-08-13 1994-11-29 Air America Airgun expansion chamber
US5531811A (en) * 1994-08-16 1996-07-02 Marathon Oil Company Method for recovering entrained liquid from natural gas
WO2013110950A1 (fr) * 2012-01-25 2013-08-01 Acal Energy Limited Régénérateur et séparateur améliorés d'électrolyte de pile à combustible
JP2015511872A (ja) * 2012-01-25 2015-04-23 アカル エネルギー リミテッド 改善された燃料電池電解質の再生器および分離器

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9104803D0 (en) 1991-04-17

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