A hydrocyclone is a device to classify, separate or sort particles in a liquid suspension based on the ratio of their centripetal force to fluid resistance. This ratio is high for dense and coarse particles, and low for light and fine particles. Hydrocyclones also find application in the separation of liquids of different densities.
A supercritical fluid (SCF) is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. It can effuse through solids like a gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid. In addition, close to the critical point, small changes in pressure or temperature result in large changes in density, allowing many properties of a supercritical fluid to be "fine-tuned". The fluid will also be called supercritical even if its temperature is below critical point value. In that case, it will be a highly compressed liquid. But pressure is mandatory to be above the critical value.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a water treatment process that clarifies wastewaters by the removal of suspended matter such as oil or solids. The removal is achieved by dissolving air in the water or wastewater under pressure and then releasing the air at atmospheric pressure in a flotation tank basin. The released air forms tiny bubbles which adhere to the suspended matter causing the suspended matter to float to the surface of the water where it may then be removed by a skimming device.
Gas-oil separation plant (GOSP) is a term used in the upstream oil industry to refer to temporary or permanent facilities that separate wellhead fluids into constituent vapor (gas) and liquid components.
A turboexpander, also referred to as a turbo-expander or an expansion turbine, is a centrifugal or axial-flow turbine, through which a high-pressure gas is expanded to produce work that is often used to drive a compressor or generator.
The term wet scrubber describes a variety of devices that remove pollutants from a furnace flue gas or from other gas streams. In a wet scrubber, the polluted gas stream is brought into contact with the scrubbing liquid, by spraying it with the liquid, by forcing it through a pool of liquid, or by some other contact method, so as to remove the pollutants.
An oil production plant is a facility which processes production fluids from oil wells in order to separate out key components and prepare them for export. This is distinct from an oil depot, which does not have processing facilities.
The term separator in oilfield terminology designates a pressure vessel used for separating well fluids produced from oil and gas wells into gaseous and liquid components. A separator for petroleum production is a large vessel designed to separate production fluids into their constituent components of oil, gas and water. A separating vessel may be referred to in the following ways: Oil and gas separator, Separator, Stage separator, Trap, Knockout vessel, Flash chamber, Expansion separator or expansion vessel, Scrubber, Filter. These separating vessels are normally used on a producing lease or platform near the wellhead, manifold, or tank battery to separate fluids produced from oil and gas wells into oil and gas or liquid and gas. An oil and gas separator generally includes the following essential components and features:
The Souders–Brown equation has been a tool for obtaining the maximum allowable vapor velocity in vapor–liquid separation vessels. It has also been used for the same purpose in designing trayed fractionating columns, trayed absorption columns and other vapor–liquid-contacting columns.
A vapor–liquid separator is a device used in several industrial applications to separate a vapor–liquid mixture.
Glycol dehydration is a liquid desiccant system for the removal of water from natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL). It is the most common and economical means of water removal from these streams. Glycols typically seen in industry include triethylene glycol (TEG), diethylene glycol (DEG), ethylene glycol (MEG), and tetraethylene glycol (TREG). TEG is the most commonly used glycol in industry.
Supersonic gas separation is a technology to remove one or several gaseous components out of a mixed gas. The process condensates the target components by cooling the gas through expansion in a Laval nozzle and then separates the condensates from the dried gas through an integrated cyclonic gas/liquid separator. The separator is only using a part of the field pressure as energy and has technical and commercial advantages when compared to commonly used conventional technologies.
Clarifiers are settling tanks built with mechanical means for continuous removal of solids being deposited by sedimentation. A clarifier is generally used to remove solid particulates or suspended solids from liquid for clarification and/or thickening. Concentrated impurities, discharged from the bottom of the tank are known as sludge, while the particles that float to the surface of the liquid are called scum.
Swirl valve technology has been developed by Twister BV of the Netherlands primarily for the gas processing market. This technology is similar to the swirl tube and can also be applied for liquid/liquid separation applications such as oil/water separation and for oil degassing. It is currently being used for optimising existing Joule–Thomson (JT-LTS) systems to minimise liquid carryover. The swirl valve is exactly the same as a Joule-Thomson (JT) choke valve, but it enhances the performance of downstream separators for the same pressure drop, by maximising droplet coalescence. The technology can be applied where a low temperature separator is undersized, or when a lower pressure drop over a JT valve is needed with a similar dew pointing performance. It can also be applied for reducing glycol/chemical inhibition liquid mist carry-over problems.
Instrumentation is used to monitor and control the process plant in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Instrumentation comprises sensor elements, signal transmitters, controllers, indicators and alarms, actuated valves, logic circuits and operator interfaces.
Extraction in chemistry is a separation process consisting in the separation of a substance from a matrix. Common examples include liquid-liquid extraction, and solid phase extraction. The distribution of a solute between two phases is an equilibrium condition described by partition theory. This is based on exactly how the analyte moves from the initial solvent into the extracting solvent. The term washing may also be used to refer to an extraction in which impurities are extracted from the solvent containing the desired compound.
A separation process is a method that converts a mixture or solution of chemical substances into two or more distinct product mixtures. At least one of results of the separation is enriched in one or more of the source mixture's constituents. In some cases, a separation may fully divide the mixture into pure constituents. Separations exploit differences in chemical properties or physical properties between the constituents of a mixture.
The Buzzard Oil Field is an oil field located in the North Sea. It was discovered in 2001 by PanCanadian, and developed initially by EnCana and then by Nexen. The oil field was initially operated and owned by Nexen which is now a subsidiary of China's CNOOC. The total proven reserves of the Buzzard oil field are 1.5 billion barrels, and production will be centered on 180,300 barrels per day (28,670 m3/d).
An oil water separator (OWS) is a piece of equipment used to separate oil and water mixtures into their separate components. There are many different types of oil-water separator. Each has different oil separation capability and are used in different industries. Oil water separators are designed and selected after consideration of oil separation performance parameters and life cycle cost considerations. "Oil" can be taken to mean mineral, vegetable and animal oils, and the many different hydrocarbons.
