During the life of a separator, its internals can become inefficient for many reasons, including changes in the operating conditions and in the characteristics of the process fluids, the need for maintenance or the formation of bottlenecks caused by obsolete or damaged components.
To meet the global demand for oil and gas while minimising the investments in new plants, revamping existing plants can help improve separation performances and increase the productivity and use of existing wells and plants.
Indeed, using more efficient internals can improve separation performances without having to replace the existing vessel, thus minimising both OPEX and CAPEX.
Costacurta is able to adapt the separation unit, offering assistance in examining the problem, proposing possible solutions and then designing and supplying the internals for the revamping of the separator. We will show below how we revamped some separators, proposing definitive solutions in each case.
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CASE STUDY 1 – REVAMPING OF A VERTICAL GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR INSTALLED IN A REFINING PLANT
The issue
Liquid and solid particles found in the compressor downstream the originally installed KO Drum.
The established causes
- Inlet flow rate increased
- Existing demister having low separation efficiency
- Inlet momentum too high for the existing inlet distributor
The solution offered by Costacurta
Installation of Vane Feed Inlet distributor (Schoepentoeter) suitable for the high inlet momentum and a set of VICO-Spin axial flow multicyclones to handle the higher flow rate, using new supports fixed to the existing supports without any welding.
CASE STUDY 2 – REVAMPING OF A VERTICAL GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR INSTALLED IN AN OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION PLATFORM
The issue
Flow rate increase to an existing gas scrubber due to a planned increase in production following the development of two additional wells
The established causes
- Gas load too high for the existing demister
- Inlet momentum too high for the existing inlet distributor
The solution offered by Costacurta
Installation of a Vane Feed Inlet distributor (Schoepentoeter) suitable for the high inlet momentum in addition to a VICO-Tex wire mesh agglomerator and a set of VICO-Spin axial flow multicyclones to achieve the necessary efficiencies with a higher gas load. To install these internals, a new support structure has been fixed to the existing supports without any welding to the vessel shell.
CASE STUDY 3 – REVAMPING OF A HORIZONTAL GAS-LIQUID SEPARATOR INSTALLED IN A REFINING PLANT
The issue
- Relevant water carryover at steam outlet
- Fouling, corrosion and poor efficiency of the downstream equipment
- Remarkable vibration of the structure
- Mechanical and safety issues
The established causes
- Extremely high Inlet momentum
- Slug flow
- Existing elbow inlet distributor not suitable for the current process conditions
The solution offered by Costacurta
Design and manufacture of a new inlet distributor, specifically developed to withstand a slug flow with an extremely high inlet momentum, causing process conditions and mechanical loads to be out of range for any type of existing distributor known at that time
CUSTOMER FOCUS FROM THE START TO THE END OF THE PROJECT
Costacurta’s Project Managers are PMP® certified and accompany the customer throughout the project: from on field assistance to the feasibility study, from design to development and supervision during the installation of the components on the plant.
All the projects are managed transparently, sharing all the technical information. During the feasibility study and design stage, the proposals are set forth in technical documentation prepared using proprietary calculation software and simulations (CFD and FEA) that check their correctness and efficiency.
Before the separator internals manufacturing, the customer receives extremely detailed construction drawings and, at the time of installation, assembly instructions. When requested, Costacurta can offer supervision services with its expert technicians or process engineers.
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