Sulzer Chemtech - Vertical Separators with Shell Swirltube™ Mist Eliminator Deck

World-Class Separation Technology

Vertical Separators with Shell Swirltube™ Mist Eliminator Deck

The Shell Swirltube™ deck is a multicyclone scrubbing device and ideally complemented with a Schoepentoeter™ and a coalescing mist mat or vane pack for preconditioning. These patented separation devices are known as:

Fig. 2a

Fig. 2b

Shell SMS™
SCHOEPENTOETER-MISTMAT-SWIRLDECK SEPARATOR

Shell SVS™
SCHOEPENTOETER-VANE PACK-SWIRLDECK SEPARATOR

Shell SMSM™
SCHOEPENTOETER-MISTMAT-SWIRLDECK-MISTMAT SEPARATOR

Shell SMMSM™
SCHOEPENTOETER-MISTMAT-MISTMAT-SWIRLDECK-MISTMAT SEPARATOR

More than 600 gas/liquid separators are successfully operated worldwide with Shell’s separation technology.

Working Principle

The Schoepentoeter™ separates the bulk liquid and solids from the gas. The resulting entrained small liquid droplets in the gas are coalesced by an Agglomerator, which is comprised of a knitted wire mesh or vane pack, and forms larger droplets. Finally the gas with larger liquid droplets passes through the Swirldeck (Fig. 2a/b) removing almost all remaining droplets from the gas. A Swirldeck consists of an array of Swirltubes™ in which the gas is brought into a strong rotation.

Fig. 3 The droplets are separated by the subsequent centrifugal action and are coalesced into a liquid film on the Swirltube™ inner wall (Fig. 3). This liquid film is purged out of the element by a combination of the rotating flow and the secondary gas flow. The separated liquid is collected in a protected trough and flows by gravity into the column sump through drain pipes.If maximum separation efficiency is required, the SMSM™ separator is used. A wire mesh mist eliminator is installed downstream of the Swirldeck and separates the residual liquid droplets entrained in the secondary gas.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Characteristics of Shell Separators

Recently, the new High Performance Separation Swirltube™ (HPST) has been developed which has an improved separation performance (removes all mist droplets >3µm at atmospheric conditions) and requires less building/installation height (Fig. 4).

Compact
High gas handling capacity up to 2.5 times more gas throughput than conventional mesh demisters.

SMS and SMSM:
high overall liquid removal efficiency (>98 % and >99 % respectively)
very high turndown ratio (factor 10).

SVS:
Less sensitive to fouling
high turndown ratio (factor 4)
SMMSM:
- high performance even in very critical separation processes with the presence of different fluids, such as condensate and glycol (e.g. in cold separators)
- offers the best performing gas/liquid separation technology on the market

Recommended use:

because of compactness, suitable for offshore industry or in general for high pressure conditions (Fig. 5). Leads to considerable vessel cost and weight savings.
for debottlenecking of existing separators
for high turndowns
SVS attractive for slightly fouling service and may be used where wire mesh mist eliminators may become plugged (i.e. waxy crudes).
for glycol contactors equipped with high capa-city Sulzer MellapakPlus® packing in order to limit the loss of glycol through entrainment even at high gas load factors.

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