Horizontal three-phase separators engineered to split well effluent into oil, gas, and water streams — with weir and interface-level control internals sized for stable oil-water disengagement.
A 3-phase separator does everything a 2-phase separator does — inlet momentum reduction, gravity settling, and mist elimination — then adds a second liquid-liquid separation stage to split the oil and water phases from each other. That second stage lives or dies on one thing: stable control of the oil-water interface level. A weir, bucket-and-weir, or interface-level controller keeps that boundary where the design intends it, so oil doesn't carry into the water leg and water doesn't carry into the oil outlet.
Fintelius engineers every 3-phase separator around the full retention-time picture — gas residence, oil residence, and water residence sized independently — then selects weir geometry and interface instrumentation to hold a stable boundary across the full range of expected water cut.
Every separator follows the same disciplined path through the shop, whatever its weir configuration.
Gas, oil & water rates and expected water cut are used to size gas capacity and independent oil/water retention time.
Weir, bucket-and-weir, or interface-controller design is selected to match expected water cut variability and turndown.
Shell is rolled and fitted with the inlet diverter, weir plates, coalescing internals, and mist eliminator.
Welds are radiographed and ultrasonically tested; thick-walled sections undergo post-weld heat treatment.
The complete vessel is hydrostatically tested, coated, and prepared for shipment as a skid or standalone unit.
Oil spills over a fixed overflow weir once it reaches a set level, while water is drawn from beneath — simple and robust for stable, low-variability water cuts.
Adds an oil bucket ahead of the weir to buffer surges and protect against slugs of water carrying into the oil outlet — preferred where water cut fluctuates.
A displacer or capacitance-type interface level controller signals automated dump valves directly — no fixed weir, so the boundary can be actively held across a wide water-cut range.
Each internal component does one job in the sequence — skipping a stage compromises everything downstream of it.
Breaks incoming fluid momentum and initiates gas release by disrupting surface tension at the point of entry.
Provides residence time and, where fitted, coalescing plates to accelerate oil droplet growth and water settling.
Physically separates the oil and water compartments, holding a controlled interface level between the two liquid phases.
Displacer or capacitance-type instruments continuously monitor the oil-water boundary and signal dump valves to maintain it.
Wire mesh or vane-pack demister removes entrained liquid from the gas phase before it exits the vessel.
Adequate upstream straight-run piping allows flow to develop uniformly before entering the separator, reducing turbulence-driven upsets.
Plate rolling and head forming to the design diameter, length, and wall thickness set by combined gas and dual-liquid retention sizing.
Weir plates, oil buckets, and splash baffles fitted and leveled inside the shell to the process design elevation.
Inlet, gas outlet, oil outlet, water outlet, relief, drain, and instrumentation nozzles with reinforcement pads.
Level-controlled dump valves on both oil and water outlets, tied to interface and level instrumentation.
Corrosion-resistant alloy cladding and H₂S-safe design for sour, high-water-cut production streams.
Stress-relief heat treatment for thick-walled shell and head sections per code requirements.
Weld integrity verification across all shell and nozzle welds before hydrostatic test.
Adjustable metering across variable flow rates and surface sampling points for produced-fluid quality checks.
Skid-mounted, field-portable configurations for well testing and frac flowback service.
Primary separation of wellhead effluent into sales-quality oil, gas, and produced water streams.
Portable three-phase separators supporting well-test measurement of oil, gas & water rates for reservoir evaluation.
Handling variable, high-water-cut flowback streams following hydraulic fracturing operations.
Bulk separation at central gathering facilities ahead of oil treating, water disposal & gas processing.
H₂S-safe construction protecting personnel and equipment in corrosive, sour-service production streams.
Controlled produced-water separation supporting environmental discharge and disposal requirements.