Separator Design & Sizing API 12J Complete Course

Size a separator from first principles, select internals and diagnose carryover - two-phase, three-phase and API 12J
What you'll learn

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Size a two-phase separator using the Souders-Brown equation to set vessel diameter from gas capacity
Select the K value correctly for the demister type you have specified, rather than defaulting to a textbook figure
Size the liquid section from residence time and hold-up to establish level settings and vessel length
Design a three-phase separator with a water leg, interface control and an emulsion band allowance
Select inlet devices and demisters that deliver the separation the sizing calculation assumed
Determine slug volume from the flowline and specify surge capacity that protects downstream equipment
Diagnose liquid carryover and gas carryunder from operating data to find the actual cause
Assess foam, sand and emulsion problems and identify which originate upstream of the separator
Specify level, interface and pressure instrumentation that will survive produced fluid service
Carry out an internal inspection and judge whether internals damage explains lost performance
Requirements

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No prior separator or vessel experience is required - the principles are built from first principles
Any engineering or technical background is enough to follow the course
Comfortable with basic algebra - every sizing calculation is worked step by step, so a calculator is enough
No software or licence needed. The methods are taught independently of any simulation package
Helpful but not essential: familiarity with P&IDs or upstream process plant
Description

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This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.
A separator has two jobs. Gas leaves the top, liquid leaves the bottom. Get the sizing or the internals wrong and it does neither properly - and the compressor downstream finds out first.
Separators are the most numerous vessel type in upstream oil and gas, and among the least well understood. Most engineers can point at one. Fewer can size it, and fewer still can work out why an existing one has stopped performing.
In this course you will learn how to do all three.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TO DO
By the end of this course you will be able to
● Size a two-phase separator using the Souders-Brown equation, selecting a K value that reflects the demister you have actually specified
● Size the liquid section from residence time, hold-up and surge requirements, and set the level positions that follow
● Design a three-phase separator including the water leg, interface position and emulsion band allowance
● Select inlet devices, demisters, coalescers and vortex breakers, and explain what each one is doing
● Determine slug volume from the flowline and decide whether surge capacity or a slug catcher is the answer
● Diagnose carryover and carryunder from operating data rather than by guesswork
● Specify the level, interface and pressure instrumentation that survives this service
● Carry out an internal inspection and judge whether the internals are the cause of lost performance
HOW THE COURSE IS TAUGHT
● Every sizing method is worked by hand, step by step, so you can see what the software is calculating
● No licence or package required - the methods transfer to whatever your employer has, and you will be able to tell when an output is wrong
● Worked examples throughout for gas capacity, liquid capacity and three-phase sizing
● Every presentation is included as a downloadable PDF, so you keep the slides as a desk reference after the course
● Built around real operating problems - carryover, foam, sand, emulsion - rather than textbook cases
WHAT IS COVERED
● Separation mechanisms - gravity settling, momentum change, coalescence and centrifugal separation, and which dominates where
● Configuration selection - horizontal, vertical and spherical, two-phase and three-phase, and the drivers behind each choice
● Gas capacity sizing - the Souders-Brown relationship, K value selection and vessel diameter
● Liquid capacity sizing - residence time, hold-up, surge volume and length to diameter ratio
● Slug handling - slug volume from the flowline, surge capacity and slug catcher configurations
● Internals - inlet devices, mesh pads, vane packs, cyclonic demisters, plate packs, weirs and vortex breakers
● Mechanical design - the ASME VIII interface, nozzle sizing, supports and access
● Materials and corrosion - produced fluid service, sour requirements, erosion at the inlet
● Instrumentation and control - level, interface and pressure measurement, and the gas blowby scenario
● Troubleshooting - carryover, carryunder, foam, sand and emulsion, each with a diagnostic sequence
● Internal inspection - what to look for and what the findings mean
WHO THIS IS FOR
This course is built for engineers who have to make a decision about a separator rather than admire one.
● Process engineers sizing separators on upstream, gas processing or refining projects
● Mechanical and equipment engineers turning a process duty into a vessel specification
● Operations and production engineers diagnosing a separator that has stopped performing
● Inspection engineers assessing internals condition at turnaround
● Graduate engineers entering upstream or gas processing for the first time
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
I am a Chartered Engineer (CEng MIMechE) with over fifteen years in oil and gas, energy and industrial infrastructure, across a range of projects and disciplines.
For more than five years I have also been teaching. Close to twenty thousand engineers have taken my courses, which hold an average rating of 4.26 across the catalogue.
I build these courses because I am genuinely interested in how engineering works and why it fails, and because most technical subjects are taught far worse than they need to be. My aim every time is to produce the course I would have wanted when I first met the subject - practical, honest about what actually matters, and free of the padding that wastes your time.
Requirements

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No prior separator experience is required. Everything is built from first principles for engineers, and comfort with basic algebra is enough.
START NOW
Enrol today and you will be able to size a separator, specify its internals and diagnose one that is underperforming - with every presentation as a downloadable PDF, lifetime access and every future update included.
Who this course is for

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Process engineers sizing separators on upstream, gas processing or refining projects for the first time
Mechanical and equipment engineers who receive a process duty and must produce a vessel specification
Operations and production engineers diagnosing a separator that has started carrying over
Inspection and integrity engineers assessing internals condition and damage at turnaround
Project and FEED engineers reviewing vendor separator proposals and datasheets
Graduate and early-career engineers entering upstream oil and gas or gas processing
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