Optimal Control Strategy and Experimental Investigation of Gas-Liquid Compact

The deployment of the new technology of gas-liquid compact separators such as Gas Liquid Cylindrical Cyclone (GLCC  1 ) requires dedicated control systems for field applications. The control strategy implementation is crucial for process optimization and adaptation, especially when GLCCs are operated at wide range of liquid and gas flow conditions. In this study, a unique and simple control strategy, which is capable of optimizing the operating pressure and adapting to liquid and gas inflow conditions, has been developed. Detailed simulations and experimental investigations have also been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed control systems. The significant advantages of this strategy are: the system can be operated at optimum separator back pressure; the system can adapt to the changes of liquid and gas flow conditions; and the strategy can be easily implemented using simple PID controllers available in the market. This provides the oil and gas industry a simple, robust compact separator control technique which has the potential for offshore and subsea applications.