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Cyclotech's Wellhead Desanding Cyclone technology has been developed to remove coarse solids particles from multi-phase wellhead streams. This allows problematic solids to be removed from the wellstream upstream of the process train, and even upstream of the production choke. At this point in the process the sand is often clean as it is typically water-wet in the reservoir. Separated sand can either be collected in an Accumulator vessel located beneath the Wellhead Desanding Cyclone, which can periodically be isolated, vented and flushed out, or can be educted away continuously from the bottom of the Wellhead Desanding Cyclone in situations where the pressure drop through the sand disposal system is not too high.
Cyclotech initiated a Joint Industry Project to develop, build and test Wellhead Desanding Cyclone technology in 1994. The project was supported by BP, Chevron, LASMO, Shell International and Statoil and the work lead to Cyclotech supplying what is commonly held to be the first installation of this type of equipment to Expro North Sea for use on the Shell Brent Delta platform.
The key elements of the application of the technology centre around determining the range of volumetric flowrate and phase composition expected from the well or combination of wells in question. Once these ranges have been determined to a satisfactory level of confidence, the nature of the multi-phase flow regime can be determined which in turn dictates the sizing basis for the Wellhead Desanding Cyclones.
Other factors which influence cyclone design are the instantaneous sand concentrations in the fluids from the well and the particle size distribution of the produced sand.
Cyclotech has built all these factors into its Wellhead Desanding Cyclone design model to allow optimisation of Wellhead Desanding Hydrocyclones for the widest possible range of separation applications:
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Well Clean-Up |
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Cold Well Start Up |
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Under-balanced Drilling |
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Production Systems |
Cyclotech's Wellhead Desanding range runs from 150mm (6") diameter to 400mm (16") diameter units comprising cyclone inserts located inside pressure housings providing the means to replace or re-size inserts easily. With produced sand being typically in the range 70 to 300 microns, effective separation can usually be achieved with inserts of 200mm (8") to 300mm (12") diameter. Separation performance in terms of specific particle size is dependent on fluid characteristics and composition.
Inserts are typically manufactured from hardened stainless steel, but can also be provided in duplex stainless steel and ceramic lined. For operation upstream of the choke, pressure housings up to API 5,000 are available as standard, although API 10,000 designs are feasible. For operation downstream of the choke design pressures up to ANSI 2500# equivalent are available.
contact us if:
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You are proposing to install a Wellhead Desanding Cyclone. |
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You have sand accumulation problems in your separation train. |
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You have choke erosion problems. |
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You are proposing to install a subsea processing system. |
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You are involved in well clean-up operations. |
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You are involved in under-balanced drilling operations. |
Complete the questionnaire
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