An Analysis of Inlet Inclination on the Performance of a Gas-Liquid Cylindrical Cyclonic Separator

Gas-Liquid cylindrical cyclonic separator plays a significant role with regards to gas-liquid separation in the oil fields. Its major operational challenges include liquid carryover and excessive pressure losses. The Inlet geometry of a gas-liquid cylindrical cyclone is one of its critical parts that affect the performance of the separator. The inlet geometry drives the performance of the separator in terms of liquid carryover and pressure drop. Traditionally, the 27° downward inclined inlet is usually used because of its advantage in terms of liquid carryover operating envelope. However, detail comparison in terms of pressure drop in the gas leg of the separator is yet to be reported. In this paper, the author presents experimental results on the effect of inlet inclination on the performance of a gas-liquid cyclonic separator in terms of separation efficiency (liquid carryover) and pressure drop. The results showed that under the same inlet conditions, the liquid carryover operating envelope of the 27° downward inclined inlet pipe cyclonic gas-liquid separator is slightly wider than the horizontal inlet of the same separator. However, the pressure drop across the gas leg of the 27° downward inclined inlet pipe cyclonic gas-liquid separator is far greater than the horizontal inlet of the same separator. The paper concludes that, where there is a strict requirement on pressure drop, the horizontal inlet cyclonic separator should be favoured against the 27° inclined inlet.