Three-phase separators are pressure vessel that are designed to separate and remove the free water from a mixture of crude oil and water. The term of “three-phase separator” is normally used when there is a large amount of gas to be separated from liquid, therefore the size of the vessel is determined by gas capacity equation.
In addition of three-phase separator, there is term called “free-water knockout”. “Free-water knockout” is generally used when the quantity of gas is relatively small compared to the quantity of oil and water. Therefore, the dimension of vessel is determined by oil-water separation equation. Read More