Separating Oil, Water and Gas
Illustration: Photomicrograph of a water-in-oil emulsion
Illustration: Photomicrograph of an oil-in-water emulsion
Oil and gas production
The production of crude oil is technically a highly complex task that requires separation technology of its best. The changing process conditions over the long lifetime (but especially in winter times) of a production well demand from separators a maximum of “range capability” to deal with wide operating conditions.
In the early stage the water-cut of an oil-well is low and towards the end of lifetime is will reach a maximum. In addition to the changing water-cut ratios the thermophysical properties of the extracted fluids will change. Gas composition change as well as the tendency of foaming.
Biggest challenge is presented by the formation of the oil droplet in water (or water droplets in oil), if as loose or tight emulsions.
The use of demulsifier to break the surface tension of oil in order to crack a stable emulsion formation as well hindering the emergence of foam is common.
Ensepatec offers 3-or 4-phase separators designed for purpose. Separators can provide a robust service to separate fluids utilizing several different separation mechanisms
- Enhanced gravity for mixtures of density differences and higher API numbers
- Inertial forces to destroy foam and to remove free liquid from the gas flow
- Cyclonic forces to virtually destroy all foam bubbles before they even emerge and to separate the L/L-phase at the source entry of the separator
Cyclonic forces are a great support to reduce the use of chemicals and injected additional energy in form of heat to separate fluids.
