Experimental performance evaluation and design optimization of a horizontal multi-pipe separator for subsea oil-water bulk separation

Skjefstad, Håvard Slettahjell; Stanko, Milan

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2019.01.027

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The separator being tested in this paper is the Multiple Parallel Pipe Separator (MPPS), a multi-pipe arrangement for oil-water bulk separation. The concept was previously presented in [5,6], where the reader can find detailed information on design considerations and performance evaluation. Experiments are carried out on a two-pipe 150.6 mm ID prototype, which is depicted in Figure 1.…”

Section: Separator Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inlet has a tangential configuration and is fitted with novel phase-rearranging internals. Detailed information on the inlet configuration can be found in [6]. The total horizontal length of the separator prototype is 6.1 m.…”

Section: Separator Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reduced diameter of the pipes compared to that of vessels makes the pipe separator better suited for installation at deeper waters. A prototype of the separator has been built at the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the steady-state performance has been evaluated [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controller Design and Control Structure Analysis for a Novel Oil–Water Multi-Pipe Separator

et al. 2019

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To enable more efficient production of hydrocarbons on the seabed in waters where traditional separator equipment is infeasible, the offshore oil and gas industry is leaning towards more compact separation equipment. A novel multi-pipe separator concept, designed to meet the challenges of subsea separation, has been developed at the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In this initial study, a control structure analysis for the novel separator concept, based on step-response experiments, is presented. Proportional-integral controllers and model reference adaptive controllers are designed for the different control loops. The proportional-integral controllers are tuned based on the well-established simple internal model control tuning rules. Both control methods are implemented and tested on a prototype of the separator concept. Different measurements are controlled, and results show that the performance of the separator under varying inlet conditions can be improved with proper selection of control inputs and measurements.

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Section: Separator Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Separator Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Controller Design and Control Structure Analysis for a Novel Oil–Water Multi-Pipe Separator

et al. 2019

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“…The physical orientation of a gravity-based separator plays an essential role in determining the performance of a separator by affecting the separation efficiency. Both experimental and numerical methods have been used to investigate this critical area, and they show that horizontal separators are more economical and provide higher separation efficiencies [3,4]. In a gravity-based separator, separation relies on the difference in the specific gravities of the phases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Separation dynamics of immiscible liquids

2020

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In this paper, the geometric design of a gravity-based separator is studied with a computational fluid dynamics method. ANSYS Fluent (18.2) is used to model the ratio of horizontal and vertical lengths with three dimensionless groups. A dimensional analysis method is used to develop a new correlation of separator geometric design. Corresponding plots were created and analyzed using nonlinear regression on the x-y Cartesian coordinate system. Also, manual iterations were performed to determine the coefficients in the general correlation relationship. The dimensional analysis results show that the Reynolds and Euler numbers have a direct correlation with separator design, which means increasing the Reynolds and Euler numbers require a separator with a larger length to height ratio to achieve the same separation efficiency. However, the Weber number has an inverse correlation with separator design, which means an increase in the Weber number requires a separator with a smaller length to height ratio. The new correlation developed in this paper can be used as a reference for separator geometry design to separate immiscible fluids with a wide range of fluid properties.

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“…Gas-liquid compact separator designed to operate based on the cyclonic separation principle is now gaining momentum in the petroleum industry, especially in situations where equipment weights and installation space are design constraints. A good example of such a situation includes subsea separation, offshore production platforms, downhole separation, metering skids, well-testing, and underbalanced drilling [1][2][3][4][5]. However, these compact separators suffer the disadvantage of a narrow operating envelope for liquid carryover (LCO).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Empirical Correlation for Zero-Net Liquid Flow in Gas-Liquid Compact Separator

Kanshio¹

2019

AJCHE

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Compact separators have significant application for subsea separation and offshore application. However, their operating envelope is usually narrow due to physical phenomena such as liquid carryover and gas carry-under. Before the occurrence of liquid carryover, the separator operates in what is termed zero-net liquid flow (ZNLF). Though there is an efficient separation during ZNLF; there is also liquid holdup in the upper section of the separator, which is termed as ZNLF holdup. The ZNLF holdup in a cyclonic separator during an actual gas-liquid separation was studied experimentally. The ZNLF holdup was measured directly using electrical resistance tomography (ERT). The direct measurement approach is an improvement of the existing method, which depends on measuring the pressure drop across the stagnant liquid column. The results showed that increasing gas flow rate at a constant liquid flow rate increase zero-net liquid holdup in the upper part of the separator. An empirical correction was developed, and the correlation predicted the experimental results with a ±10% error margin. The correlation could be useful as part of the input into a pressure drop model for calculating pressure drop across the gas leg of the cylindrical cyclonic separator. This correlation will be useful to process engineers for optimum design and operation of a gas-liquid compact separator.

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Experimental performance evaluation and design optimization of a horizontal multi-pipe separator for subsea oil-water bulk separation

Cited by 19 publications

References 3 publications

Controller Design and Control Structure Analysis for a Novel Oil–Water Multi-Pipe Separator

Controller Design and Control Structure Analysis for a Novel Oil–Water Multi-Pipe Separator

Separation dynamics of immiscible liquids

An Empirical Correlation for Zero-Net Liquid Flow in Gas-Liquid Compact Separator

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