Baffle Plates in Separator Inlet line

[MIANCH]

Hi,
We found baffle plates in production line before joining another production line. Production separator is 100 meter away from the tee joint. a sketch and photo of baffle plates are attached. can anyone please explain the purpose of these baffles plates. theory / concept of these baffles will be very helpful.

 

[LittleInch]

No drawing.

What exactly am I looking at here?

It looks vaguely like a strange varied tee, but a sketch would help a lot.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[RVAmeche]

Could it be some weird form of a barred tee for pigging?

 

[Heaviside1925]

OP,
I do not think I am fully understanding your question. At first, I thought your question of, "why are these plates here?" was asking, "what purpose do these plates serve installed in the tee?" but now, looking at the pictures closer, I think what you are asking is "Why are plates from a separator, 100 meters away, now lodged in this tee and what purpose do they serve in the separator?" I am considering this understanding of your question because the plates to not appear to be mechanically fastened in the tee and seem randomly stacked, so it looks like upstream debris that became lodged in the tee. Maybe I am the only one seeing this and if so, I apologize for any misunderstanding.

 

[MIANCH]

If you look attached sketch along with picture then you will note that there is two production manifolds each with 20" dia. one manifold is located about 2 km away from 2nd one. Joining in one point and then routed to production separator which 100 meter away. we don't have record of this installations as these manifolds were constructed in 1960s. During maintenance team they found and they asked the question for these baffle plates. I also don't know and my colleagues as well. this is reason posting this question here.

 

[3DDave]

No sketch is attached. All that is attached is a duplicate of the duplicated images.

 

[3DDave]

I would suggest forcing the camera flash for the next picture to see the extent of the plates.

 

[MIANCH]

Check now in the link

 

[3DDave]

 

[LittleInch]

I still don't know what I'm looking at.

Is this the end of a pipe or the tee?

Which pipe?

Good idea to turn the flash on.

It's a strange looking flange face or have you cut the pipe?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[MIANCH]

check valve was dropped for maintenance and they found baffles plates inside.

 

[LittleInch]

Now I've had a look on my main monitor and not my phone, that looks very much to me like an amatuerish attempt at a barred tee to allow pigs to travel along the main line from production manifold 2 towards the separator. Maybe they only used it for commissioning or testing? who knows?

Some look like they are hanging loose or have snapped off.

Even if you do pigging, I would cut them off and replace with a proper set of bars or if you don't, just cut them off. Or one day one of them will end up in your downstream valve or separator....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Heaviside1925]

OP,
Looking at your P&ID, I see your flow arrows and the orientation of your check valve. Is the orientation shown correctly?
LittleInch, I am not seeing any welds, maybe I'm blind. I do agree this likely occurred in commissioning, doing line blows and the whatnot and since that debris was too large to make the turn, it's now wedged in the tee. Evidentially not enough blockage where noticeable flow was restricted but if one of those pieces lets loose, you could have a lot of problems. (if that's what it is) Look like the line has been blown down and is clean, can you take the rest of the tee apart and see how far back those plates go?

 

[LittleInch]

Heaviside,

There's not much evidence of a weld, but they are there and seemingly been there for 60 yrs!!

Loosing bars has historically been a big risk.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[GD2]

Op,
Baffled Tees are common in oil and gas. The internal baffles act as barriers to redirect the flow in a controlled manner.This redirection helps prevent the swirling, eddies, and pressure drops that can occur when fluid encounters sudden changes in direction.

As the fluid flows through the baffle tee, it encounters the obstruction caused by the baffle plate. This obstruction disrupts the laminar flow and creates turbulent eddies and vortices. The turbulent flow increases the contact between the fluid and the wall of the tee, facilitating better mixing and preventing any stagnation or dead zones.

Imagine rocks that comes in the path of a flowing stream.

In oil and gas industry, it is used in separation, mixing and transportation.


GDD
Canada

 

[MIANCH]

GDD, Thanks, I reached to the same conclusion.