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EP1255911B1 - A device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream - Google Patents

A device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1255911B1
EP1255911B1 EP01910250A EP01910250A EP1255911B1 EP 1255911 B1 EP1255911 B1 EP 1255911B1 EP 01910250 A EP01910250 A EP 01910250A EP 01910250 A EP01910250 A EP 01910250A EP 1255911 B1 EP1255911 B1 EP 1255911B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
gas
liquid
separator unit
well
separator
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP01910250A
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German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1255911A1 (en
Inventor
Geir Inge Olsen
Gunder Homstevdt
Bjornar Svingen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Aker Solutions AS
Original Assignee
Aker Kvaerner Subsea AS
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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Publication of EP1255911A1 publication Critical patent/EP1255911A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1255911B1 publication Critical patent/EP1255911B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/34—Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well
    • E21B43/38—Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well in the well
    • E21B43/385—Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well in the well by reinjecting the separated materials into an earth formation in the same well

Definitions

  • the present invention regards a device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream in accordance with the preamble of the independent claims.
  • the volume of produced water will increase as the production proceeds. If this water is not removed continuously, a gradual reduction in production will result, and eventually the well will stop producing gas. As long as the gas rate is high compared with the water rate, the water will be carried out of the well in the form of dispersed water droplets in the gas. As the water/gas ratio increase however, the water droplets will start to accumulate in the well, leading to a reduced bottom hole pressure. It is thus important to maintain the water level in the well at an acceptable level in order to achieve the maximum production life for the well.
  • the separated water may be injected into a suitable area of the formation. If the conditions of the formation are favourable, such water injection may contribute towards maintaining the pressure in the production zone. Reducing the volume of water being passed up to the surface will also reduce the costs associated with cleaning the produced water in order to be able to discharge it to the surrounding environment or reinject it from the surface.
  • the separator unit consists of a tubular body with an outer diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the borehole, in which tubular body is arranged one or more helical plates.
  • the gas/liquid mixture is introduced at the lower end of the separator unit and will as a result of the rotation induced by the helical plates be subjected to a centrifugal force, which causes the heavier fraction, the liquid, to be flung out towards the walls of the tubular body, while the lighter fraction, the gas, moves towards the centre of the tubular body.
  • a gas outlet pipe is provided at the centre of the separator unit, which leads the gas into the annulus between the casing and the separator unit. The liquid carried out of the separator unit and further into the riser.
  • a liquid/liquid separator system to be positioned downhole in an oil producing well.
  • the separator system consists of one or more separators such as filters, membranes, electrostatic devices, separators with rotating fins, static or moving centrifugal separators or any combination of such separation devices.
  • the water that is separated out at each stage is led to a common liquid sump for possible injection into a suitable area of the borehole.
  • a separator for separation of well fluids and in particular separation of water from a gas producing well there is known a separator for separation of well fluids and in particular separation of water from a gas producing well.
  • the actual separator is not placed in an oil or gas producing well but in a so-called "dummy well" that has been drilled into the seabed.
  • the separator consists of a continuous screw with a varying pitch, creating one or more stages of separation. This separator has a central channel that is used for collecting the separated gas.
  • the separator comprises a first chamber with a vortex finder and a core body.
  • a guide vane is arranged coaxially with and adjacent to the internal surface of the vortex finder, in order to increase the rotational velocity components of the gas and entrained fluids that pass through the vortex finder by converting the axial velocity component to a rotational velocity component.
  • the unit also comprises an arrangement for preventing carry-over of gas into the liquid outlet.
  • a limitation of the previously known solutions for downhole separation of liquid and gas is the fact that the liquid/gas mixture is subjected to a relatively low centrifugal force. This results in a corresponding ineffective separation. Another limitation is the ability to handle slug flow.
  • a further limitation of several of the known solutions is the fact that control cables and gas pipes are arranged between the separation device and the well casing. This reduces the effective diameter of the separation device by the order of 10-15 %, with a follow-on reduction in separation efficiency in the order of 20 - 30%.
  • An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a separation device of the type mentioned at the beginning, in which the liquid/gas mixture is subjected to a higher centrifugal force than that which is known from prior art, in order to achieve more efficient separation.
  • Another object of the present invention is to achieve an improved separation effect under slug flow conditions.
  • Yet another object of the invention is to achieve more efficient separation by using an optimum part of the cross section of the borehole for separation, while at the same time using the central, low separation efficiency section of the cross section to run cables, shafts, pipes etc.
  • a further object of the present invention is to provide a separation device of the type mentioned at the beginning, which can handle large variations in the incoming gas/liquid flow.
  • a device for separating gas and liquid which device includes at least two separator units arranged in a common housing, the separated liquid fraction from each of the separator units being sent to a common liquid sump, characterised by the device in combination comprising:
  • the device preferably comprises a further gas/liquid separator unit located upstream of the first gas separator unit, which gas/liquid separator unit comprises an enclosing wall with radial inlets for introduction of a wellstream to be treated and static vanes arranged in close proximity to the inlets in order to impart a tangential spin to the wellstream.
  • the device preferably comprises a pump designed to inject the separated liquid into an injection zone in the well or pump the liquid to the surface at a rate controlled on the basis of the liquid level in the liquid sump.
  • the device is provided with one or several centrally placed pipes for leading through cables, shafts, pipes or similar for supplying energy to the pump or a turbine, electric motor or mechanical device that drives the pump.
  • the device is provided with a centrally placed pipe designed to carry the gas flow from the separation device and out of the well.
  • the device also comprises means of supplying driving power to the pump located centrally in the separator housing, which driving power is supplied in the form of a rotating shaft or reciprocating rod from the surface, or a drive unit positioned above the separation device in the well, or as electric or hydraulic energy to a motor positioned below the separation device.
  • driving power is supplied in the form of a rotating shaft or reciprocating rod from the surface, or a drive unit positioned above the separation device in the well, or as electric or hydraulic energy to a motor positioned below the separation device.
  • the device is placed in an essentially horizontal or steeply inclined section of the well, whereby the inlets are arranged solely in the upper half of the cross section of the well, the gas/liquid separator unit of the separator has a closed bottom, and the liquid from each of the separator units is pumped out by a pump, preferably an ejector pump.
  • the device preferably comprises an outlet cyclone downstream of the pump in order to prevent foaming at the outlet.
  • the invention also regards a method of separating a gas/liquid stream from a gas producing well, which separation preferably takes place downhole, and which method includes the steps of:
  • the well stream is passed into a gas/liquid separator unit prior to the above step a), and the a spin is imparted to the well stream, giving it a centrifugal acceleration in the range 1 - 100 G, preferably approximately 25 G, and the separated liquid then flows to the liquid sump.
  • the separated liquid is either carried out of the well or injected into a suitable area of the well.
  • the present invention is based on such a centrifugal force initially being generated by means of radially arranged, static vanes, while the increase of spin in the axial direction is achieved by a reduction of the cross-section of flow.
  • the effect of the second gas separator unit is enhanced considerably by drops of a certain size (determined by the gravitational field (the G field)), which still follow the gas after the first gas separator unit, not being allowed to flow out through the outlets due to the strong centrifugal field being generated. Such drops will remain in the outer enclosing chamber until such time as they are collected and drained off.
  • separation principle described herein for downhole application may also be applicable for surface and seabed based separation systems, in that case located in a pipe as the enclosing chamber as a replacement for the well casing as otherwise given as such chamber in the present description.
  • the present solution shows far better performance under conditions of slug flow than existing solutions.
  • the biggest slugs are extracted in the first separator unit, with the downstream separator units removing those liquid drops that will pass through the first separator unit under such conditions.
  • Arranging control cables, gas and possibly liquid pipes and similar centrally in the separation device allows the effective diameter of the separation device according to the invention to be maintained while achieving a significant improvement in separation efficiency in comparison with previously known solutions.
  • gas/liquid separator unit denotes a separator for separation of a well stream with a relatively high liquid content (> 5 % liquid) while the term gas separator unit denotes a separator for separation of a wellstream or pre-treated wellstream with a relatively low liquid content ( ⁇ 5 % liquid).
  • liquid signifies condensate: water or other hydrocarbon-containing liquids or mixtures of these.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the separation device in accordance with the present invention.
  • the device in accordance with the embodiment shown consists of two gas separator units 2, 3 in which a gas stream 8 from a production zone, which stream contains a relatively small fraction of water, is led to a first gas separator unit 2.
  • the liquid from the first gas separator unit 2 is transported to a pump sump 5 in the form of a stream 9 .
  • the remaining gas fraction from the first gas separator unit 2 is carried further to a second gas separator unit 3 in the form of stream 10, the separated liquid from which separator unit is led to pump sump 5 in the form of a stream 11 and the gas fraction 12 from which separator unit is sent to the surface.
  • the liquid fraction in the pump sump 5 is either injected into a suitable area of the well or pumped to the surface by pump 6.
  • the two gas separator units 2, 3 consist of separators that are based on the centrifugal principle.
  • a liquid/gas separator 1 is provided upstream of the two gas separator units 2,3.
  • the liquid fraction from this separator is also carried to a common liquid sump in the form of a stream 7, whereas the gas fraction is passed to the first gas separator unit 2 in the form of a stream 8.
  • This liquid/gas separator is known from international patent application WO 97/46323, which is incorporated herein as a reference.
  • Figure 2 shows an arrangement of the separation device of Figure 1 in more detail, which device is located in a borehole defined by a well casing 20.
  • the separation device is positioned near a production zone 18.
  • Expansion packings 16 and 17 are provided above and below the separation device in order to isolate the separation device from the rest of the well. All the separator units are located in one separator housing 14, and will be explained in more detail later.
  • Liquid/gas 4 from a production zone is introduced into the separation device/separator housing 14, and the gas fraction 12 is passed to the surface via a centrally located pipe 15 while the total liquid fraction 22 flows to a pump 6 that, in the embodiment shown, pumps the liquid fraction to an injection zone 19 in the borehole.
  • the pump 6 will either lift the liquid from the well or transport it to an injection zone 19.
  • the pump will also maintain the level in the well below that of the inlet perforations to the production zone.
  • the pump 6 may be driven by an electric or hydraulic motor 21 or mechanically by means of a shaft with its motor positioned over the separation device or on the surface. It is also possible to use a reciprocating pump, the driving rod of which passes through the centre of the separation device and up to the surface (piston rod pump).
  • FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the separation device in accordance with the present invention, with liquid injection in the well.
  • the gas/liquid mixture 4 from the production zone 18 enters the first separator unit 1 of the separation device through radial inlets 33 in the separator housing through static vanes 25, typically arranged as per Fig. 7a.
  • the vanes impart a moderate tangential rotation to the gas/liquid mixture 4, which creates a centrifugal acceleration in the order of 1 - 100 G, preferably approximately 25 G.
  • Much of the liquid will separate out and collect on the enclosing cylindrical surface that is formed by the centrally located pipe 23. The initial liquid separation will therefore take place in the gas/liquid separator unit 1 of the separation device, in addition to that which is separated out in the well itself due to gravity.
  • the separated liquid will flow down into the liquid sump 5 while gas with a reduced liquid content, in the form of a stream 8 is forced through an axially arranged pipe 23 and into the first gas separator unit 2.
  • the gas stream 8 enters the first gas separator unit 2 axially, and the movement of the gas stream 8 is accelerated by means of static vanes 27, typically arranged as per Fig. 7b.
  • the centrifugal acceleration due to the tangential velocity is in the range 50 - 500 G, preferably approximately 250 G at the outlet from the vanes 27.
  • Most of the liquid will separate and collect on the wall 28 that enclosed the vanes.
  • the separated liquid flows down to the liquid sump 5 through drainage pipe 29.
  • the gas stream is forced into the second gas separator unit 3 via an axially arranged pipe 35 with a smaller diameter than that of the first gas separator unit 2, causing the rotational velocity of the gas mixture to increase further.
  • the ratio of diameters between the outer wall 35 of the second gas separator unit 3 and the actual separator housing 14 is in the range 0.1 - 0.75, preferably approximately 0.5.
  • the centrifugal acceleration will here increase to the order of 300 - 1500 G, preferably approximately 800 G at the outer wall 35 of the separator unit 3. This will result in most of the free liquid drops separating through drainage orifices 30 in the outer wall 35 of the separator unit 3, so as to create a dry gas stream 12.
  • the separated liquid is conducted down to the liquid sump 5 by means of a drainage pipe 31.
  • the gas stream 12 is sent out of the well for further treatment, while the liquid fraction in the liquid sump 5 is injected into a suitable area 19 of the well (Fig. 2) by the pump 6.
  • Figure 4 shows an embodiment of the device in accordance with the present invention, in which the liquid fraction is also transported out of the well.
  • the separation device itself corresponds to that which is shown in Figure 3, apart from the fact that the liquid fraction is carried out of the well in the form of a stream 13, via a centrally located pipe 38.
  • the operation of the pump 6 is the same for the two embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4.
  • the pump 6 may be run by a hydraulic or electric motor 21 placed in the borehole.
  • the power supply to the motor 21 is placed centrally in the borehole so as to minimise the reduction of the effective diameter of the separation device. If the motor 6 is driven hydraulically by means of pressurised water, the water exiting from the motor 21 may be sent directly to the liquid sump 5 and either be injected into the well along with the separated water (Fig. 3) or be pumped to the surface with the separated water (Fig. 4).
  • the pump may be driven mechanically by a drive shaft or a driving rod being led from a motor positioned over the separation device downhole or from a motor on the surface, down to the pump 6.
  • This drive shaft or driving rod is placed centrally in the borehole, in the same manner as the power supply described above.
  • Fig. 5 shows an embodiment in which the separation device is placed in a horizontal or steeply inclined section of the well.
  • the separation device itself corresponds to that which is shown in Figure 3, apart from the fact that the introduction of the gas/liquid mixture and the draining of the separated liquid are different.
  • the separation device is rotationally oriented in such a manner in the well that the inlets 33 are positioned in the upper half of the cross section of the well.
  • the liquid/gas separator unit of the separation device has a closed bottom and a drainage outlet 26 corresponding to 29 and 31 for the first and second gas separator units respectively. Due to the low drainage height above the liquid sump 5 in such horizontal or steeply inclined wells, it will in some cases be necessary to pump the liquid out of the separator chambers by using a small auxiliary pump. This is illustrated by an ejector pump 39 run by a small side stream from the injection water stream. A small hydraulic pump run by this side stream may also be used.
  • the outlet is designed as a small outlet cyclone (40) that separates liquid and gas, and where the liquid outlet is submerged in the liquid.
  • Fig. 6 shows a variant of the alternative shown in Fig.5.
  • the injection water pump is located above the actual separation device while the injection water is sent back through central pipe 32, to an injection zone below the separator.
  • the auxiliary pump typically an ejector pump, is run by a small side stream from this pressurised injection water, corresponding to Fig.5.
  • Figs. 7 A and B show sections through typical embodiments of the static vanes 25 and 27 for the gas/liquid separator unit 1 and the first gas separator unit respectively.
  • the injection pump 6 must be controlled so that the liquid level in the liquid sump 5 is maintained between a highest level corresponding to the lowest inlet 33 to the separation device and a lowest level corresponding to the pump inlet. This is typically done by a level gauge 36 controlling the pumping of the injection water.
  • the gas dehydration stages first and second gas separator units 2, 3
  • the partially dried gas will then be transferred between the liquid/gas separator unit 1 and the gas separator units 2 and 3 through a dedicated pipe.
  • Such a configuration would be able to produce even drier gas at the outlet of the well, as liquid particles that separate out due to the pressure drop through the production tubing will be removed by the gas separator units 2, 3.

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Cyclones (AREA)
  • Degasification And Air Bubble Elimination (AREA)
  • Separating Particles In Gases By Inertia (AREA)
EP01910250A 2000-02-18 2001-02-19 A device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream Expired - Lifetime EP1255911B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NO20000816A NO20000816D0 (no) 2000-02-18 2000-02-18 Anordning og fremgangsmåte for separasjon av gass og væske i en brønnstrøm
NO20000816 2000-02-18
PCT/NO2001/000060 WO2001061149A1 (en) 2000-02-18 2001-02-19 A device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1255911A1 EP1255911A1 (en) 2002-11-13
EP1255911B1 true EP1255911B1 (en) 2007-04-11

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ID=19910758

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01910250A Expired - Lifetime EP1255911B1 (en) 2000-02-18 2001-02-19 A device for and method of separating gas and liquid in a wellstream

Country Status (4)

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EP (1) EP1255911B1 (no)
AU (1) AU2001237826A1 (no)
NO (1) NO20000816D0 (no)
WO (1) WO2001061149A1 (no)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NO326078B1 (no) 2006-07-07 2008-09-15 Shell Int Research Fluidseparasjonskar
WO2009097869A1 (en) * 2008-02-06 2009-08-13 Statoilhydro Asa Gas-liquid separator
CN103603791B (zh) * 2013-12-10 2015-12-30 四川澳维采油设备有限公司 一种空心抽油泵
CN104801071B (zh) * 2015-04-14 2016-06-22 中国石油大学(华东) 两级轴流式水下管道在线气液分离装置
CN109306862A (zh) * 2017-07-26 2019-02-05 江洁松 基于超亲水材料的井下油水分离器和潜油电泵注采系统

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB9211663D0 (en) * 1992-06-02 1992-07-15 Merpro Azgaz Ltd Liquid/gas seperator
US5531811A (en) * 1994-08-16 1996-07-02 Marathon Oil Company Method for recovering entrained liquid from natural gas
DE69511821T2 (de) * 1994-11-10 2000-01-13 The Babcock & Wilcox Co., New Orleans Trennung von Öl- und Gasphase am Bohrlochkopf
EP1029596A1 (en) * 1999-02-15 2000-08-23 Hudson Products Corporation Gas/liquid mixture separation

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1255911A1 (en) 2002-11-13
AU2001237826A1 (en) 2001-08-27
NO20000816D0 (no) 2000-02-18
WO2001061149A1 (en) 2001-08-23

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