89- The feather leaf separator is used in the design of the gas-liquid separation internals for the three-phase separator in FPSO floating semi-submersed oil and gas platform projects

The design and construction of ships for FPSO oil and gas platforms are entirely separate from the extraction, processing, and transportation of oil and gas on such platforms; they belong to different industries and fields. Just because the design and construction of vessels for FPSO platforms enjoy a time advantage, it does not mean that the processes of oil and gas extraction, processing, and transportation on such platforms should be carried out within the vessel systems in an unprofessional and semi-enclosed manner. This point needs to be brought to the attention of ship design and manufacturing companies working on FPSO oil and gas platforms.

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2017-3-6 at 13:15. Here, the design of the gas-liquid separation internals for the oil and gas three-phase separator in a certain FPSO oil and gas platform project is used as an example to illustrate some issues. This project is overall manufactured by a shipbuilding company, but the oil and gas separation process equipment is also the responsibility of an affiliated unit of a research institute for EPC.

Why do people want to discuss it with you by considering their own situations?

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2023-9-27 at 14:57. A mechanical equipment company that has entered into an EPC contract for three-phase separators with that research institute approached us, asking us to provide precisely designed vanes for use in those separators. We have also agreed to utilize our advanced management science-based separation technology and design system platforms to contribute to domestic FPSO oil and gas platform projects.

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2017-3-6 at 13:17. Gas-liquid separation technology belongs to the category of precise kinetic separation techniques; it requires systematic kinetic analysis and precise design based on the physical properties of the materials involved in the process. To carry out this process, it is necessary to have information such as the operating temperature and pressure of the system, the composition of the gas phase, the gas flow rate, the viscosity of the gas phase, the liquid flow rate, the composition of the liquid phase, the density of the liquid phase, the viscosity of the liquid phase, and the surface tension of the liquid phase. Furthermore, the gas-liquid separation node is a part of the entire three-phase separator, and it needs to be integrated with the overall three-phase separator system. This ensures that the internal components designed through hydraulic system calculations based on precise dynamic separation processes not only offer high efficiency, accuracy, and reliability in gas-liquid separation, but also that their structural dimensions meet the spatial constraints within the three-phase separator, allowing for easy installation.

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2023-9-27 at 14:57. We originally intended to develop a hydraulic system calculation and design platform based on our precise dynamics separation process, in order to provide customers with a three-phase separator design solution specific for FSPO oil and gas projects, thereby addressing the significant fluctuations in separation efficiency that can occur due to sea conditions and variations in upstream and downstream operations. However, the machinery company politely declined our offer of assistance; we believe this may be due to the need for phased execution as part of project confidentiality, or there may be other reasons. The client only provided us with the structural dimension drawings of the three-phase separator that they had commissioned another company to manufacture, asking us to design the baffle demister based on those provided dimensions.

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2019-12-23 at 16:02. The image below shows the dimensions of the three-phase separator provided by that machinery company:

The last edit to this post was made by luoli519 on 2017-3-6 at 13:20. From the dimensions diagram of the three-phase separator, it can be seen that: 1. No inlet separation assembly is installed at the inlet of the three-phase separator; as a result, the kinetic energy and momentum of the fluid entering the separator are not well uniform, and there is a high proportion of gas and liquid carried together. 2. For three-phase separators without an inlet separation assembly, the position of the mixed inlet pipe is incorrect. 3. The liquid-liquid separation chamber of the three-phase separator contains no internal components at all; there are no rectifiers, coagulators, sand blowers, or anything of the kind. 4. The weir plate has a traditional and simple structure, which is unable to cope with the fluctuations in the liquid surface caused by the up-and-down movement of the ship’s hull, making stable operation difficult. 5. There is no necessary vortex breaker installed at the liquid phase outlet. 6. The location and design of the gas-liquid demisting separator installed before the gas outlet need to be determined. Obviously, the aforementioned three-phase separator is likely a solution provided by a non-specialized separator manufacturer; it fails to meet the requirements of conventional onshore terminal oil and gas processing three-phase separators, let alone the specific requirements for three-phase separators in FPSO offshore semi-submersible oil and gas platform projects.

This post was last edited by luoli519 on 2023-9-27 at 14:57. We promptly informed the customer of the issues with the three-phase separator, although they preferred that another client handle the design of the three-phase separator rather than us. However, that machinery company repeatedly asked our side to provide a precise design for the internal components of the feather separator. It is estimated that the customers themselves are not sure about the gas-liquid demisting separators provided by their partners. Since we are required to design precisely rather than follow a pre-existing blueprint, it is essential that the client provide us with data on the logistics and physical properties of our gas-phase outlet process.

The property data of the gas-phase outlet stream from the three-phase separator provided by the customer are as follows: 1. Gas phase medium: natural gas after water removal; the natural gas contains HS2 and CO2. 2. Gas phase flow rate: 2500 Nm^3/h. 3. Operating pressure: 0.3 MPaG. 4. Operating temperature: 65°C. 5. Gas phase density: 8.89 kg/m^3. 6. Gas phase viscosity: 0.00878 cp. Technical requirements: 1. Operational flexibility, 30%-100% ； 2. Noise: less than 85 dB; 3. Removal of 10–25 micron droplets ； 4. The demister uses a feather-leaf type and is placed horizontally.