Playa del Rey Three Phase Vessel Upgrade

A natural gas distribution utility client’s Playa del Rey water treating facility (Tank Farm) provides treatment services critical to the reliability of natural gas and electricity systems in Southern California. The client planned to increase the plant capacity from 4,500 to 11,000 barrels of liquid per day, improving wastewater quality to reduce disposal costs, and improving hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas scrubbing to reduce chemical costs.

Cannon provided engineering services for installing a Free Water Knock Out (FWKO) three-phase separator vessel and interconnecting process piping tie-ins. This single vessel, functioning as a three-phase separator for water, oil, and gas compounds, replaced the existing two-phase separators. Cannon’s structural services included design of new foundations for equipment, new supports for piping, and evaluations and modifications to existing multi-level steel framed utility corridors.

The three-phase separator is more efficient and will help split oil and brine into different tanks for additional processing. The scope also involved replacing the oil and brine pipelines with a new fit-for-purpose specification material from the new separator to the downstream tanks.