Author(s)

YOUNGJU KIM, NAMSUB WOO, SANGMOK HAN, HYUNJI KIM, KYUNGSEH LEE, JEHA SHON, JAEWON LEE

Abstract

The implementation of subsea separation and liquid boosting is becoming a common development scheme for the exploration of deep water fields. Subsea separation is an attractive and economic solution to develop deep offshore fields producing fluid without hydrate or wax. The subsea separation system should be reliable to ensure successful operation in a wide range of 3-phase flow regime, without the need for developments. A subsea separator can avoid or simplifying costly surface platforms of floating vessels, as well as being an efficient tool to enhance hydrocarbon production. One solution of interest is the separation and re-injection of water at the seabed to avoid bringing the water up to the surface facility. In this study, multiphase flow characteristics inside in-line type subsea separation systems are investigated for the design of a subsea separation system. The separation efficiency of the subsea separator is determined through experiments that are the liquid-gas phased separation. Also internal swirl element (ISE) modelling of the separator was optimized. The analysis results were utilized to improve the reliability and efficiency of the subsea separation system.

Keywords

in-line type separator, multiphase flow simulation, numerical analysis