Achieving maximum well efficiency and minimizing operational downtime are critical goals in oil and gas production. The design and functionality of your separator play vital roles in meeting these objectives. Standard separation solutions may fail to address the specific challenges of a particular well stream. To combat this, RBI offers customizable separator internals designed to enhance site operability.

At RBI, we specialize in engineering separators with internals tailored to your unique production needs. The right combination of components can improve separation efficiency and extend the operational life of your equipment.

  • Incorporating a sacrificial inlet or a specially designed inlet deflector protects against corrosion from high-velocity production streams. The inlet protects the vessel’s integrity through cathodic protection, a method of protecting metal structures such as steel tanks and piping from corrosion. The inlet gradually corrodes or “sacrifices” itself and thus protects the tank.

  • Quieting baffles help to calm turbulent flow. Baffles can be installed either horizontally or vertically, depending on the separator design. Baffles are designed with a specific open area that forces the well fluid stream to flow through them, which dissipates energy and calms the flow. The baffles spread the incoming flow more evenly across the separator’s cross-section, which is crucial for effective separation. This calming effect makes the interface between liquids more stable and easier to separate using downstream equipment like a weir. The baffles have no moving parts, offering a low-maintenance add-on.

  • Sand dams or sand traps can be added to protect the separator from sand particles.

  • Weir buckets effectively manage oil and water and control fluid levels.

  • A vortex breaker is a device used to prevent the formation of vortices, or swirling patterns of fluid flow, in equipment or piping systems. Vortexes can occur when fluid flows through a bend or restriction in the vessel or pipe and can cause problems such as increased turbulence, reduced flow efficiency and increased wear and tear on the pipes and other components.

  • A spill-over baffle can provide more precise control over the separation process.

  • To ensure the highest quality output, mesh pads and advanced vane packs, which are both mist eliminators, can be installed to coalesce and remove fine liquid droplets from the gas stream. Mesh pads or demister pads work to collect and coalesce mist into larger droplets that drain by gravity.

  • Vane packs are a series of corrugated plates that redirect the gas flow and collect and coalesce droplets that then drain into special channels.

By tailoring components from the inlet to the outlet, RBI assists operators in designing production equipment to meet the site’s needs. Internal customization leads directly to greater well efficiency, easier operability for your team and a significant reduction in costly shut-in time for maintenance and repairs.

Request a quote for a production separator with internals customized to meet your site needs.