Application of the ALRW-DDPG Algorithm in Offshore Oil–Gas–Water Separation Control

Abstract

With the offshore oil–gas fields entering a decline phase, the high-efficiency separation of oil–gas–water mixtures becomes a significant challenge. As essential equipment for separation, the three-phase separators play a key role in offshore oil–gas production. However, level control is critical in the operation of three-phase gravity separators on offshore facilities, as it directly affects the efficacy and safety of the separation process. This paper introduces an advanced deep deterministic policy gradient with the adaptive learning rate weights (ALRW-DDPG) control algorithm, which improves the convergence and stability of the conventional DDPG algorithm. An adaptive learning rate weight function has been meticulously designed, and an ALRW-DDPG algorithm network has been constructed to simulate three-phase separator liquid level control. The effectiveness of the ALRW-DDPG algorithm is subsequently validated through simulation experiments. The results show that the ALRW-DDPG algorithm achieves a 15.38% improvement in convergence rate compared to the traditional DDPG algorithm, and the control error is significantly smaller than that of PID and DDPG algorithms.