Leading manufacturer of ceramic components, Morgan Advanced Materials, has launched new robust hydrocyclone parts for efficient sand control and desanding in the harsh oil and gas industry. The ceramic components are hard wearing and offer a long service life, reliably protecting downstream equipment and enabling users to save costs associated with maintenance and replacement parts.
The company's Deranox 975 alumina has high mechanical strength and has been specially designed for wear applications. Deranox 975 also offers high thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance, enabling it to give high performance in harsh environments.
Hydrocyclones are used in upstream oil production to separate solids from water or liquid hydrocarbon streams. They prevent the build-up of sand in separators and pipelines, which protects sensitive items such as export pumps and heat exchangers.
"Hydrocyclones need to be robust to withstand severe abrasion caused by the rotational flow of the abrasive sand," says Yannick Galais, commercial manager, Morgan Advanced Materials. "Our ceramic parts are being increasingly used for their high mechanical strength and durability in harsh environments and they are ideal for highly erosive applications."
Morgan Advanced Materials has the ability to manufacture high quality components with complex geometries and tight tolerances, enabling customers to effectively separate particles down to five microns in size.
The hydrocyclone components are custom built in multiple sections and can be manufactured in a range of sizes from 0.5m to 1.2m. Metal end caps can be bonded to the ceramic for ease of installation. The components can be laser marked for traceability and customer identification.
The hydrocyclone parts are assembled in a vessel which has no moving parts. They work by way of a pressure difference which generates centrifugal forces and causes rotational motion of the fluid. When the liquid-solid mixture is injected in the vessel a cyclone flux is created under pressure.
The liquid-solid mixture is forced through an apparatus at the top of the ceramic hydrocyclone part and the rotational motion causes dense sand particles to separate from the less dense liquid. The solid particles "fall down" the tube and the liquid is "forced up" the tube into a separate cavity.
Morgan Advanced Materials offers bespoke components in a variety of high purity alumina materials for wear and electrical applications. For example, materials such as Deranox 970 are ideal for use in connectors in high pressure gas compressors for maximizing gas extraction. The material features high dielectric strength which enables it to withstand high electric field strength and stresses often found in the connectors."
In addition, Morgan Advanced Materials' site in Rugby, UK, manufactures ceramic/metal brazed assemblies which provide high mechanical strength and good high voltage insulation. The brazed assemblies are hermetic and able to maintain ultra high levels of vacuum and joint integrity at elevated temperature in harsh environments.