Flow Separator And Flow Separator Method
OwnerIan Atkinson, Gary Oddie +1inventors
InventorsIan Atkinson, Gary Oddie, David Scott
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Abstract
Disclosed is a flow separator, typically for use in separating liquid from gas in a flowing mixture of liquid and gas, e.g. water, oil and gas in a hydrocarbon well production fluid pipeline, the separator having a swirl generator disposed at the inlet to a cylindrical separation chamber and the separation chamber having an elongate liquid extraction slot formed along its wall, such that in operation the swirling flow centrifugally pushes the liquid towards the wall of the separation chamber to exit the separation chamber through the extraction slot into a collection chamber which may allow the return of the extracted liquid back into the main flow using a U-shaped tube.
Claims26
A flow separator for separating liquid from a flowing mixture of liquid and gas having:
- an inlet for the flowing mixture;
- swirl promotion means;
- a first outlet for separated liquid;
- a second outlet for the remaining flow;
- a separation chamber with an extraction aperture for extracting the liquid to be separated;
- and
- a collection chamber communicating with the first outlet and arranged to collect the separated liquid extracted through the extraction aperture from the separation chamber;
- wherein, in use, the swirl promotion means promotes a swirling flow of the flowing mixture in the separation chamber and an internal surface of the separation chamber guides the swirling liquid to be separated to the extraction aperture, which is located along the swirl path of the liquid to be separated.
A method for measuring the flow of a flowing mixture of liquid and gas components in a flow conduit using a flow separator, the flow separator having:
- a separation chamber;
- a collection chamber communicating with the separation chamber via an extraction aperture in the wall of the separation chamber,
- the method including promoting swirling of the flow in the separation chamber so that the liquid in the mixture is urged towards the internal surface of the separation chamber which guides the swirling liquid to the extraction aperture, located along the swirl path of the liquid to be separated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.