The Experts below are selected from a list of 12 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Chen Xiaoxia - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Yang Hongzhong - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Ken Arnold - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Quantifying Separation Performance Taking Bothamley’s Work to the Next Level
    Oil and gas facilities, 2014
    Co-Authors: Ken Arnold
    Abstract:

    The three-part series about quantifying separation performance in the August, October, and December 2013 Oil and Gas Facilities by Mark Bothamley represents a significant addition to the literature in two-phase separator design. I have been arguing against the misuse of the modified Souders-Brown K factors in selecting the size of separators for 30 years, and for a droplet settling design as proposed by Mark. I proposed the use of the droplet settling theory in the mid-1980s and that the function of a separator’s gravity settling section be visualized as merely to remove large droplets and liquid loadings that escape the inlet diverter and to prevent those droplets from flooding the Mist Extractor. Unfortunately, I did not know how to characterize the liquid loading, the drop size distribution downstream of the inlet diverter, or the requirements for flooding of various Mist Extractor designs. In my early career, I collected size and capacities of various separators and scrubbers that were published in those ancient times by National Tank, Sivalls, and Smith Industries. I was able to show that if one assumed the following conditions—140-μm separation, the droplet had to fall the whole height of the gas space in a horizontal separator, and short circuiting was not a factor—one could predict the published sizes. The assumption was that if the technique explained the standard sizes, perhaps it was a good scaling technique to use in sizing separators of higher capacity and pressure and with different temperatures and fluids. However, I continued to assert that this method was weak, because the actual dimensions of the gravity settling section should be a function of the capabilities of the inlet diverter and Mist Extractor. Mark has presented for the first time a logical process to take into account the capabilities and restrictions of the inlet diverter and Mist eliminator. Now that he can do this, he can also be more precise in proposing techniques for taking into account short circuiting and a horizontal separator’s ability to capture to the liquid surface different size droplets as a function of their initial height above the liquid surface. I think this is a tremendous advancement and wish to compliment Mark for putting this technique together and his intention of making a spreadsheet available for facilities engineers to use. It is only by sharing such information that the science of facilities engineering advances. As with all such theories, I can quibble with some of Mark’s assumptions, but as he points out, what we really need are data to see how this technique compares with the actual performance of real separators. I suggest further thought or study of the following concepts:

L. Khezzar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Discrete Phase Modeling of Oil Droplets in the Gas Compartment of a Production Separator
    Volume 7: Fluids Engineering Systems and Technologies, 2014
    Co-Authors: Y. F. Qaroot, N. Kharoua, L. Khezzar
    Abstract:

    Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a powerful engineering tool that has different applications in the Petroleum Industry. In recent years, CFD has been used to analyze the complex 3D multiphase flow inside production separators. Due to changing reservoir conditions oil companies replace old internals with upgraded ones. In this study, a numerical simulation of the turbulent multiphase flow using the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is used to assess the effects of the oil droplet size distribution on the oil carry-over in a production separator. Liquid droplet size distributions, meant to represent fine and coarse populations of oil droplets, were generated at the inlet of the separator within the range of sizes recommended in the literature for design purposes. The DPM model accounts for the key phenomena of droplets coalescence and breakup. Although the real case includes three phases, the present DPM simulations do not account for the water phase due to its negligible volume fraction and its prevailing gravitational settling compared to the carry-over effect. The new internals included; an inlet device known as Schoepentoeter, agglomerator, parallel-plates coalescer, and cyclonic Mist Extractor. Unlike many of the CFD studies reported in the literature, usually representing the internals by numerical models for simplicity, the internals of the separator were replicated with the maximum of geometrical details in this study. The present work was compared with field tests and previous numerical simulations using the Population Balance Model PBM. The PBM simulations considered the whole separator volume and the presence of three phases (gas, oil, water). The mean residence time obtained from the simulations agreed reasonably with some of the results published in the literature using semi-empirical formulas and experiments. The new internals were seen to promote droplet coalescence with minimal breakup. The new inlet device (Schoepentoeter), in particular, was found to contribute considerably to the coalescence of droplets and, hence, to separation.Copyright © 2014 by ASME

Y. F. Qaroot - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Discrete Phase Modeling of Oil Droplets in the Gas Compartment of a Production Separator
    Volume 7: Fluids Engineering Systems and Technologies, 2014
    Co-Authors: Y. F. Qaroot, N. Kharoua, L. Khezzar
    Abstract:

    Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a powerful engineering tool that has different applications in the Petroleum Industry. In recent years, CFD has been used to analyze the complex 3D multiphase flow inside production separators. Due to changing reservoir conditions oil companies replace old internals with upgraded ones. In this study, a numerical simulation of the turbulent multiphase flow using the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is used to assess the effects of the oil droplet size distribution on the oil carry-over in a production separator. Liquid droplet size distributions, meant to represent fine and coarse populations of oil droplets, were generated at the inlet of the separator within the range of sizes recommended in the literature for design purposes. The DPM model accounts for the key phenomena of droplets coalescence and breakup. Although the real case includes three phases, the present DPM simulations do not account for the water phase due to its negligible volume fraction and its prevailing gravitational settling compared to the carry-over effect. The new internals included; an inlet device known as Schoepentoeter, agglomerator, parallel-plates coalescer, and cyclonic Mist Extractor. Unlike many of the CFD studies reported in the literature, usually representing the internals by numerical models for simplicity, the internals of the separator were replicated with the maximum of geometrical details in this study. The present work was compared with field tests and previous numerical simulations using the Population Balance Model PBM. The PBM simulations considered the whole separator volume and the presence of three phases (gas, oil, water). The mean residence time obtained from the simulations agreed reasonably with some of the results published in the literature using semi-empirical formulas and experiments. The new internals were seen to promote droplet coalescence with minimal breakup. The new inlet device (Schoepentoeter), in particular, was found to contribute considerably to the coalescence of droplets and, hence, to separation.Copyright © 2014 by ASME