Gunbarrel tanks

The last piece of the separation train may be called a gunbarrel tank and is a vessel that allows gravity and time to allow the oil/water emulsion to separate. The oil is taken off the upper portion of the tank and the water is withdrawn from the bottom. This water, called produced water, is either disposed off, or reinjected into the formation. 

Gunbarrel Tanks with Internal and External Gas Boots... 

The gunbarrel tank, sometimes called a wash tank, is the oldest equipment used for multi-well onshore oil treating in a conventional gathering station or tank battery. Gunbarrel tanks are very common in heavy crude applications such as in Sumatra and East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and in Bakersfield, Cahfomia. 

In contrast, the facilities of the 2 other operators consisted of 89 conventional tank batteries. Production from approximately 270 wells produced into conventional separation and heat treating equipment and then to gunbarrels and settling tanks for clean oil processing. Clean oil was transferred... 

Because gunbarrels tend to be of larger diameter than vertical heater-treaters, many have elaborate spreader systems that attempt to create uniform (i.e., plug) upward flow of the emulsion to take maximum advantage of the entire cross section. Spreader design is important to minimize the amount of short-circuiting in larger tanks. 

Heaters are vessels used to raise the temperature of the liquid before it enters a gunbarrel, wash tank, or horizontal flow treater. They are used to treat crude oil emulsions. The two types of heaters commonly used in upstream operations are indirect fired heaters and direct fired heaters. Both types have a shell and a fire tube. Indirect heaters have a third element, which is the process flow coil. Heaters have standard accessories such as burners, regulators, relief valves, thermometers, temperature controllers, etc. 

The speed of chemical action is important since the volume-to-throughput ratio is usually lower than a gunbarrel or settling tank. 

Design Procedure for Vertical Heater-Treaters and Gunbarrels (Wash Tanks with Internal/External Gas Boot)... 

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