E OilGas Upstream Wellhead Desander Cyclones en

SUEZ oil and gas systems
D.03
Wellhead
Desander Cyclones
Introduction
Sand & solids occur in many oil and gas well streams as a
consequence of typical production techniques. The use of
hydraulic fracturing of shale or tight oil and gas reservoirs
increases the presence of loose solids in the formation,
and many of these solids are carried to the surface in the
well stream. Flowing wells operate under a wide variety of
operating conditions and may include oil, gas and water in
variable combinations.
These solids can be removed from different locations
within the process train, although removing these solids at
or near the Wellhead (upstream of the process facilities)
offers a number of advantages:
• Protects equipment from erosion damage

• Prevents solids build up in vessels and pipelines
• Prevents sand damaging valve seats
• Overall risk reduction to on-going production
• Reduces the need for vessel entry
Description
SUEZ’s range of CYCLONIXX® Wellhead Desander

Cyclones offers a solids-separation technology Shell Mangahewa CYCLONIXX® Wellhead Desander Package
Location: New Zealand
specifically aimed at multi-phase well streams. Our
Wellhead Desanding technology is suitable for all
Wellhead gas / liquid ratios from 100% liquid to 100% gas.
CYCLONIXX® Wellhead Desander Cyclones are custom
engineered to fit each application, and provide a wide
operating envelope to meet changing conditions common
in multi-phase well streams. SUEZ – Oil & gas systems
(incorporating Process Group)
Operating Principles Australia - Korea - Middle East - Singapore - USA
Desander Cyclones are pressure-driven separators that www.processgroupintl.com
require a pressure drop across the Desander Unit to cause
separation of the solids from a gas, oil or water stream. Represented by:
The ratios of oil, water and gas can vary across a wide
spectrum of operating conditions.
In gas streams, pressure drops across the Wellhead
Desander Unit can be very low (eg: <5 psi / 0.35 Bar) and
separation efficiencies can be very high due to the low gas
viscosity (compared to liquids).
D.03
Wellhead
Desander Cyclones
The inlet stream (containing solids) enters the Desander Materials

Cyclone through a tangential inlet section under pressure,
SUEZ has developed a range of specialised materials for
where it is forced into a spiral motion by the Cyclone’s
the Desander Cyclone Liner that form part of our
internal profile. The internal cone shape causes the
premium TUNGSTONE® range. Materials include
spinning fluids to accelerate, which generates high
Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide and Tungsten Carbide.
centrifugal forces, causing the denser solids particles to
move to the outer wall of the Cyclone, while the Water/ The TUNGSTONE range of materials offer supreme
Oil/Gas is displaced to the central core. erosion resistance in aggressively erosive environments,
while operating across a wide range of pressures and
The de-sanded Water/Oil/Gas in the central core section
temperatures.
reverses direction and is forced out through the central
Vortex Finder at the top of the Cyclone. Equipment Design
Solids continue to spiral down along the outer wall of Where the solids are required to be removed at the
the conical section inside the Cyclone to the Underflow wellhead, the Wellhead Desander must be designed to
nozzle, where they exit into a collection chamber within the same pressure rating as the wellhead. These are
the pressure containment vessel. The solids pass down typically rated to 5,000 - 20,000 psi rated.
into solids Accumulator vessel located underneath the
Wellhead Desander Vessel. The Wellhead Desander Vessel and piping materials can
be manufactured from a range of materials from Carbon
The Wellhead Desander Cyclone remains on line at all Steel to Nickel Alloys to suit to process requirements.
times. Solids are batch dumped in a specificsequence
from the Solids Accumulation Vessel into a collection bin. Applications
Technical
CYCLONIXX Wellhead Desanding Cyclones are applicable
Factors influencing multiphase Desander Cyclone design for:
and selection:
• Increasing production above previous limits
• Inlet solids (size range and concentration) • Frac Sand/Proppant removal from Shale Gas/Oil
• Required particle size removal (micron) • Well clean-up operations
• Temperature/Viscosity of the well fluids • Well start-up operations
• Liquid, Solids & Gas density • Under-balanced drilling operations
• Flowrates of the well streams
• Available pressure drop
Product Range & Materials
Sizes
The CYCLONIXX range of Wellhead Desander Cyclones
covers a wide range of Cyclone sizes to suit process
requirements. These sizes (based on inlet diameter of the
Desander Cyclone Liner section) typically range from 50 -
400 mm. Solids sizes are typically <3 mm diameter, but
larger solids can be accommodated within our designs.
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E OilGas Upstream Wellhead Desander Cyclones en

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SUEZ oil and gas systems

• Protects equipment from erosion damage

SUEZ’s range of CYCLONIXX® Wellhead Desander

The inlet stream (containing solids) enters the Desander Materials

Product Range & Materials

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