Hydrodynamics and separation performance analysis of inline, swirl tube separator for natural gas- water separation for potential offshore application

The application of an inline, swirl tube separator for gas-liquid separation on
offshore facilities has been gaining interest in recent years. This is due to the
advantage of space and weight savings as well as the prospect of better separation
performance in comparison to conventional separation equipment. However, the
availability of data and analysis on the hydrodynamics and separation performance
of an inline, swirl tube separator is very scarce, especially at high pressure condition
and high gas mass flow rate. The use of representative fluid other than hydrocarbon
results in under prediction of the separation performance of the separator under
actual operating condition.