PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Assistant teacher
Belinskaya Nataliya Segeevna
2015
PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Introduction
When crude oil enters the unit, it carries with
it some brine in the form of very fine water
droplets emulsified in the crude oil.
Desalting of crude oil is an essential part of
the refinery operation.
The salt content should be lowered to
between 5.7 and 14.3 kg/1000 m3.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Introduction
Poor desalting has the following
effects:
Salts deposit inside the tubes of
furnaces and on the tube bundles of
heat exchangers creating fouling,
thus reducing the heat transfer
efficiency.
Corrosion of equipment.
Salts carried with the products act as
catalyst poisons in catalytic cracking
units.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
The Presence Salts in Crude Oil
Salts in crude oil are
mostly in the form of
dissolved salts in fine
water droplets emulsified
in the crude oil.
This is called a water-in-
oil emulsion, where the
continuous phase is the
oil and the dispersed
phase is the water.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
The Presence Salts in Crude Oil
The water droplets are so small
that they cannot settle by gravity.
Furthermore, these fine droplets
have on their surfaces big
asphaltene molecules with the fine solid
particles coming from sediments, sands or
corrosion products.
The presence of these molecules on the
surface of the droplets acts as a shield that
prevents the droplets from uniting with each
other in what is called coalescence.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
The Presence Salts in Crude Oil
The salts can also be present in the form of
salts crystals suspended in the crude oil.
Salt removal requires
that salts be ionized
in the water.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Types of Salts in Crude Oil
magnesium chlorides
calcium chlorides
sodium chlorides
These chlorides, except for NaCl, hydrolyze
at high temperatures to hydrogen chloride:
CaCl2 + 2H2O → Ca(OH)2 + 2HCl
MgCl2 + 2H2O → Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl
NaCl does not hydrolyze.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Desalting Process
To remove salts from crude oil, water-in oil
emulsion has to be broken, thus producing a
continuous water phase that can be readily
separated as a simple decanting process.
The desalting process is
accomplished through
the following steps:
Water washing
Heating
Coalescence
Settling
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Water washing
Water is mixed with the incoming crude oil
through a mixing valve.
The water dissolves salt crystals and the
mixing distributes the salts into the water,
uniformly producing very tiny droplets.
Demulsifying agents are added at this
stage to aid in breaking the emulsion by
removing the asphaltenes from the surface
of the droplets.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Heating
The crude oil temperature should be in the
range of 48.9–54.4 ºC since the water–oil
separation is affected by the viscosity and
density of the oil.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Coalescence
The water droplets are so fine in diameter
in the range of 1–10 mm that they do not
settle by gravity.
Coalescence produces larger drops that can
be settled by gravity.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Coalescence
Coalescence is accomplished through an
electrostatic electric field between two
electrodes.
The electric field ionizes the water droplets
and orients them so that they are attracted to
each other.
Agitation is also produced and aides in
coalescence.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Coalescence
The force of attraction between the water
droplets is given by:
4
d
F KE d
2 2
s
E is the electric field
d is the drop diameter
s is the distance between drops centres
K is a constant
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Settling
According to Stock’s law the settling rate of
the water droplets after coalescence is given
by
Settling rate
k H 2O oil d 2
oil
ρ is the density
µ is the viscosity
d is the droplet diameter
k is a constant 14
PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
One-Stage Desalter
Figure 1. Simplified
flow diagram of an
electrostatic
desalter
A typical
desalter
contains two
metal
electrodes.
A high voltage is
applied between
these two
electrodes.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
One-Stage Desalter
For effective desalting the electric fields are
applied as follows:
A high voltage field called the “secondary field” of
about 1000 V/cm between the two electrodes is
applied.
The ionization of the water droplets and coalescence
take place here.
A primary field of about 600 V/cm between the water–
crude interface and the lower electrode is applied.
This field helps the water droplets settle faster.
The one-stage desalter achieves 90% salt removal.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Two-stage desalting
Figure 2. Two-stage desalting
99% salt removal is possible with two-stage desalters.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Two-stage desalting
A second stage is also essential since
desalter maintenance requires a lengthy
amount of time to remove the dirt and
sediment which settle at the bottom.
Therefore, the crude unit can be operated
with a one stage desalter while the other is
cleaned.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Desalter Operating Variables
For an efficient desalter operation, the
following variables are controlled:
Desalting temperature
Washing water ratio
Water level
Washing water injection point
Demulsifier injection rate
Type of washing water
Pressure drop in the mixing valve
Desalter pressure
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Desalting temperature
The settling rate depends on the density
and viscosity of the crude.
Since increasing the temperature lowers the
density and viscosity, the settling rate is
increased with temperature based on the
crude gravity.
Typical desalting temperature can vary
between 50 and 150 ºC.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Washing water ratio
Adding water to the crude oil helps in salt
removal.
Hence, increasing the wash water rate
increases the coalescence rate.
Depending on the desalting temperature, a
minimum value should be use.
For example, crude oil having 31.2 API gravity
requires 7–8 vol % water addition relative to the
crude rate.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Water level
Raising the water level reduces the settling time
for the water droplets in the crude oil, thus
improving the desalting efficiency.
However, if the water level gets too high and
reaches the lower electrode, it shorts out the
desalter.
Since the primary electric field depends on the
distance between the lower electrode and the
water–crude interface, it is always better to keep
the level constant for stable operation.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Washing water injection point
Usually the washing water is injected at the
mixing valve.
However, if it is feared that salt deposition
may occur in the preheat exchangers, part or
all of the washing water is injected right after
the crude feed pump.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Demulsifier injection rate
Demulsifiers are basic copolymers with one end
being hydrophilic (loves water and attaches to the
surface of the water droplet), and the other end
being hydrophobic (loves the oil and is directed to
the oil side).
When these compounds are adsorbed on the droplet
surface, they stabilize the droplet.
The demulsifier is added to the crude after the feed
pump or before the mixing valve at levels between
3 and 10 ppm of the crude.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Type of washing water
Process water in addition to fresh water is used for
desalting.
The water should be relatively soft in order to
prevent scaling.
The water should be slightly acidic with a pH in the
range of 6.
It should be free from hydrogen sulphide and
ammonia so as to not create more corrosion
problems.
Therefore, distillation overhead condensates and
process water from other units can be used after
stripping. 25
PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Pressure drop in the mixing valve
Mixing the washing water with crude oil is
necessary in order to distribute the water and
dissolve any suspended salts crystals.
The pressure drop across the mixing valve
determines the mixing efficiency.
On the other hand, the mixing process
produces finer (smaller diameter) droplets
which tend to stabilize the emulsion and
make water separation more difficult.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Pressure drop in the mixing valve
Therefore, there is a compromise in selection
of the appropriate pressure drop across the
mixing valve.
A pressure drop between 0.5 and 1.5 bar
(7.4 and 22 psi) is used.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Pressure drop in the mixing valve
Therefore, there is a compromise in selection
of the appropriate pressure drop across the
mixing valve.
A pressure drop between 0.5 and 1.5 bar
(7.4 and 22 psi) is used.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Desalter pressure
The operation of the desalter requires that the crude
be in the liquid phase during desalting.
A typical pressure of 12 bar (176 psia) is necessary
to achieve this purpose.
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PROFESSIONAL COURSE IN ENGLISH
“FUNDAMENTALS OF PETROLEUM REFINING”
Unit 5. Crude Oil Desalting
Conclusion
When the process control variables are properly
adjusted, a 90% salt rejection can be achieved.
With a two stage operation the salt rejection can
reach 99%.
Any remaining salts are neutralized by the injection
of sodium hydroxide which reacts with the calcium
and magnesium chloride to produce sodium
chloride.
CaCl2 + 2NaOH → Ca(OH)2 + 2NaCl
NaCl does not hydrolyze to the corrosive hydrogen chloride
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