How Different Types of Production Separators Used in Oilfield Industry?

Hydrocarbon streams as produced at the wellhead are composed of a mixture of gas, liquid hydrocarbons & sometimes free water. In most cases, it is necessary to separate these phases as soon as possible after bringing them to the surface & handle or transport the two or three phases separately. This separation of the liquids from the gas phase is accomplished by passing well-stream through an oil-gas or oil-gas water oilfield separator. An oil & gas production separator is the pressure vessel that is used for separating the fluid components of an oil & gas well stream into both gaseous & liquid constituents. The LP separators can be installed in either an onshore processing facility or on an offshore platform. There various separators on oil & gas locations or process facilities than any other type of process equipment. Oilfield separators can be classified into two primary configurations; the position of the vessel and/or the number of fluids to be separated. Each of the vessel orientations (vertical or horizontal oilfield separators) can be either a 2-phase or 3-phase separator for sale.

Different test separator design criteria must be used in sizing & selecting the separator for a hydrocarbon stream based on the composition of the fluid mixture. In the case of low-pressure oil wells, the liquid phase will be large in volume as compared to the gas phase. In the case of the high pressure, the gas-distillate well-gas volume will be higher as compared to liquid volume. The liquid produced with high-pressure gas is generally high API gravity hydrocarbon, referred to as distillate or condensate. Though, both low-pressure oil wells & high-pressure gas-distillate wells might contain free water. Separators are used in numerous other locations other than wellhead production batteries, like gasoline plants, liquid traps in gas transmission lines, and upstream & downstream of compressors.

Produced well fluids consist of several amounts of oil, natural gas, water, & sediment. The first step in oil & gas production is to split the flow up into its components with the separator. A 3 phase horizontal separator for sale uses gravity to separate produced well fluid into gas, oil, & water phases. Installation of these vessels occurs near the wellhead, & they come in horizontal & vertical oilfield configurations.

Three Phase Separators for Oil & Gas

As stated earlier, 3 phase oilfield separators extract the water, oil, & gas constituents from well-fluids. Like two-phase separators, they can have a vertical or horizontal orientation. The vertical three-phase separator is ideal for space-constrained applications as it is of a smaller footprint, but typically accommodates lower fluid volumes than the horizontal separators. Horizontal separators take up more space but can handle large fluid volumes per time.

Two-Phase Separators for Oil & Gas

A two-stage separator extracts liquids from natural gas. They are available in vertical, horizontal, & spherical configurations. 2 phase separators are widely used in onshore or offshore oil & gas facilities. 2 phase separators are extensively used for liquid-liquid and solid-liquid separation at processing facilities.

At  Al Shirawi Oilfield Equipment, we offer two-phase & three-phase separators in our process equipment for upstream & midstream gas and oil. We are a best-in-class manufacturer of modular & custom-engineered pumping & process systems for oilfield operators & industrial clients in diverse industries.