PETE 310

Lecture # 27
Chapter 13
Surface Separation
Separator Calculations
† Oil and gas are recombined to
determine initial reservoir
composition & properties (provided oil
is above pb)
† Separator calculations are done to
determine best operating p and T
such that stock tank API is
maximum… (dejavu)
Separator Stages
2

3
Separator Designs
3-Phase Separators
† Water is also
separated, but will
not be considered
in our calculations
Surface Sampling
Bottom Hole Sampling
† Preserved Samples
† Reservoirs Conditions
† Selective Sampling
Zones
† Sampling early in the
life of the reservoir with
minimum disturbance
† Lower overall cost
Nomenclature Used

fv1
fv2

Recall

fv1+ fl1=1
fl1 fl2 fv2+fl2 =1
Separator Calculations
† Six step procedure for 2 stage separators
1. Given separator p and T, k-values, and feed
composition zi run a flash and evaluate:

x i1 , y i1 , fv1 , or (ng1 )

2. Using xi1 as the feed from separator to stock tank

evaluate

x i 2 , y i 2 , fv 2 , or (ng 2 )
Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
3. Using recently evaluated stock tank liquid
compositions evaluate (Chapter 11 methods)

x i 2 ⇒ Mwo ⇒ ρ po

4. Evaluate gas-oil ratio from steps 1,2,3 as follows:

lb mole SP gas
ng1 ng1
lb mole SP feed →
⎛ lb mole SP oil ⎞⎛ lb mole STO oil ⎞ nL1nL2
⎜ L1
n ⎟⎜ L2
n ⎟
⎝ lb mole SP feed ⎠⎝ lb mole SP oil ⎠
Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
4. Evaluate gas-oil ratio from steps 1,2,3 as follows:

⎛ n g1 lb mole SP gas ⎞ ⎛ 380.7 scf SP gas ⎞

R SP = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ×
⎝ n L1 n L2 lb mole STO oil ⎠ ⎝ lb mole SP gas ⎠

⎛ lb lbmole STO oil ft 3 ⎞

⎜⎜ ρ sto 3 5.615 ⎟⎟
⎝ ft M STO lb STB ⎠

2138 ng1 ρsto SCF SP gas

RSP = RSP [= ]
nL1nL2 MSTO STB
Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
4. Evaluate gas-oil ratio from steps 1,2,3 as follows:

2138 ng1 ρsto

RSP =
nL1nL2 MSTO
Similarly for the stock tank
R = RSP + RST
lb mole ST gas
ng2
lb mole SP oil
lb mole STO 2138 ng2 ρsto
nL2 RST =
lb mole SP oil nL2 MSTO
Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
5. Evaluate the oil density at reservoir conditions
using the reservoir compositions, you get a
pseudo liquid density and next (adjust for p and T,
provided p < pb)

zi ⇒ ρ po ⇒ ρoR
6. Evaluate the oil formation volume factor using
quantities evaluated in stages 1, 2, 3, and 5.
 Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
6. Evaluate the oil formation volume factor using
quantities evaluated in stages 1, 2, 3, and 5.
lb res oil
M oR
res bbl lb mole res oil
=
lb mole res oil ⎛ lb res oil ⎞ ⎛ cu ft res oil ⎞
⎜ ρ oR ⎟ ⎜ 5.615 ⎟
⎝ cu ft res oil ⎠ ⎝ res bbl ⎠
res bbl/lb mole res oil
B ob =
STB/lb mole res oil

⎛ lb STO ⎞⎛ lb mole SP oil ⎞⎛ lb mole STO ⎞

⎜ MSTO ⎟⎜ nL1 ⎟⎜ nL2 ⎟
STO ⎝ lb mole STO ⎠⎝ lb mole res oil ⎠⎝ lb mole SP oil ⎠
=
lb mole res oil ⎛ lb STO ⎞⎛ cu ft STO ⎞
⎜ ρSTO ⎟⎜ 5.615 ⎟
⎝ cu ft STO ⎠⎝ STB ⎠
 Separator Calculations
† Procedure for 2 stage separators (cont.)
6. Evaluate the oil formation volume factor using
quantities evaluated in stages 1, 2, 3, and 5.

M oR ρSTO
Bob =
res bbl/lb mole res oil Bob =
STB/lb mole res oil MSTO ρoR nL1nL2
Calculations
† Let’s see from our excel file
„ Separator-calculations.xls
„ Download from webct site