Designing of horizontal and vertical separators and optimizing by varying vessels internal diameter

Abstract

Separators are used in every GGS (group gathering station). They are the used to separate the into the gaseous and liquid fractions. Gases being ligther are recovered from the top of the separator and liquid part from the bottom of the separator. There are two types of separators used in the petroleum industry. First one is two-phase separator and the other one is three phase separator. Two phase separator splits the crude oil into gaseous and liquid components. Three phase separator splits the liquid components into crude oil and water. Both two phase and three phase separators are further divided into horizontal and vertical separators. Designing of separators plays a crucial part in the petroleum industry. Improper sizing of the separators can lead to damaging of the vessel internals and can reduce the efficiency of the separators.  Designing of the separators is defined as choosing appropriate L_ss and internal diameter. It helps in determining the cost of the separator. In this paper, two cases have been taken, firstly horizontal separator and then vertical separators and the results have been discussed.