Method and separator for cyclonic separation of a fluid mixture

Abstract

A method for cyclonic separation of gaseous and liquid fractions from a multiphase fluid mixture comprises: providing a cyclonic separation vessel () having a bottom section (), a top section () and a tubular midsection (), which is co-axial to a central axis (); injecting the multiphase fluid mixture into the vessel via an inlet conduit () which has a substantially tangential orientation relative to said central axis (); inducing the fluid mixture to swirl within said tubular mid-section () of the vessel at such a speed that liquid and gaseous fractions are separated by cyclonic separation and gravity forces induce the liquid fraction to drop to the bottom section () of the vessel; —removing the gaseous fraction from the interior of the top section of the vessel via a gas outlet conduit () which has an entrance opening which is located at or near the central axis (); removing the liquid fraction from the interior of the bottom section () of the vessel via a plurality of liquid outlet openings () that are located at different vertical levels and through which liquid is discharged into a liquid outlet conduit () such that liquid components with different densities are mixed into a substantially homogeneous liquid fraction and the formation of high density and low density liquid slugs in said conduit () is mitigated.