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Desalting Updated

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46 views30 pages

Desalting Updated

Uploaded by

vsneha2514
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DESALTING PROCESS

CH 9029 – PETROLEUM REFINING AND PETROCHEMICALS

Dept of Chemical Engineering.

A.C.Tech, Anna University.


CRUDE SALINITY

Most wells produce oil with some degree of salt

Sodium chloride is the majority salt , but associated with


variable amount of alkaline earth salts.

Salinity comes from reservoir water or from infiltration.

Depends upon the structural position of the well and the


physical characteristics of the reservoir rock

CH 9029 PRPC
TYPES OF SALTS

Mainly chlorides with following approximate breakdown by


weight per cent
NaCl – 70-80
MgCl2 – 10-20
CaCl2 – 10

Salts are either in the form of crystals or ionized in the water


present in the crude.

CH 9029 PRPC
DRAWBACK OF SALTS

Foul preheating exchangers

More consumption of utilities

Alkaline earth chlorides are hydrolyzed with the generation of


hydrogen chloride , causes corrosion in the overhead
equipment of topping units.

High salt content in atmospheric residue

CH 9029 PRPC
MAJOR REASONS FOR DESALTING

• Crude oil purchasers specify maximum permissible contents of


sediments and water, S& W formerly called basic sediment &
water. Typical limits vary from 0.1-3wt%
• High gravity oil command higher price. Water lowers the
degree API gravity and reduces the selling price of crude.
• Shipping emulsified oil wastes the transportation costs.
• Viscosity of the crude oil increases with increase in water
content.

CH 9029 PRPC
MAJOR REASONS FOR DESALTING

• Mineral salts present in oilfield waters corrode production


equipment, tank cars, pipelines, storage tanks.

Any method of removing water, salt, sediments and other


impurities from crude oil is called oil treating.

CH 9029 PRPC
DESALTING

In many chemical processes, efficient removal of a dispersed

water phase from a continuous oil phase is highly desirable.

Currently, there are several available methods such as,

Chemical demulsification, gravity or centrifugal settling,

retention time, heat treatment and electicity

CH 9029 PRPC
DEMULSIFIERS/pH

Use of chemical demulsifiers can modify the water/oil


interfacial properties, thus allowing water droplets to coalesce
more easily into larger droplets.
However, additional problems are encountered in the removal
of the demulsifiers from the aqueous and oil phases.
The pH effect can be utilised to separate oil-in-water
emulsions, but it is usually not effective in breaking water-in-
oil emulsions

CH 9029 PRPC
DESALTING

Centrifugation, an effective method for some emulsions, has a


high operating cost.
Heat treatment can reduce the viscosity of the oil, thus
allowing any water droplet to fall more rapidly through the oil
phase, and to help in the separation of any entrained gas in the
crude oil. However, heat treatment and chemical treatment are
rather expensive, and heating has a tendency to result in high
fuel consumption.

CH 9029 PRPC
SETTLING METHOD

CH 9029 PRPC
DESALTING

The slow rate at which liquids may be naturally separated in


many water-in-oil type dispersions has important
consequences in many commercial operations .
For example, Water-in-oil type emulsions are readily formed in
the production of crude oil, causing problems at different
stages of the production.
Corrosion of pipes, pumps and other processing equipment,
the complications due to increased emulsion viscosity resulting
from finely dispersed water droplets in the crude oil and the
deactivation of catalysts by water droplets are consequences of
the presence of water . Furthermore, the cost of transporting
water in pipeline or tanker, and the extra processing equipment
required to produce quality crude oil add to the production
CH 9029 PRPC
cost.
ELECTROSTATIC COALESCENCE

An electrostatic coalescing vessel is made up of a tank


equipped with electrodes, at least one of them is earthed and at
least one other electrode is suspended by an insulator, to which
an electrical potential is applied.
Several possible mechanisms for electrocoalescence have been
identified based on the attraction of opposite charges due
mainly to polarisation effects, and net charges if they are
present.
The resultant bigger droplets settle more rapidly to the bulk
interface. Several types of electric field have been
demonstrated to be effective for electrocoalescence, such as
AC fields , pulsed AC fields, DC fields and pulsed DC fields.
CH 9029 PRPC
ELECTRO DESALTING MECHANISM

The crude is washed with water and the washing water is


separated out by electrostatic desalting.

Desalting includes three consecutive steps :


1. Diffusion of crude salts in water (by washing)

2. Coalescence of water droplets ( Heating and coalescence)

3. Settling (by gravity)

CH 9029 PRPC
WATER CRUDE EMULSION

CH 9029 PRPC
CRUDE DESALTING AND TOPPING

CH 9029 PRPC
DIFFUSION OF SALTS
• The desalination treatment requires the addition of water
to the crude oil in order to form an emulsion of H2O
droplets dispersed in the oil.
• The water dissolves the salts contained in the crude,
hence the greater the water dosage, the lower is the salt
content of the output.
• Nevertheless, an excess of washing water can lead to
crude being drawn into the water and vice versa.
• Water and crude normally mixed through a mixing valve
placed at desalter inlet

CH 9029 PRPC
DIFFUSION OF SALTS

A typical amount is 5-8% of H2O by volume with respect to


the input crude oil.
The formation of the water/oil emulsion is assisted by the
presence of a mixing valve which, by means of a pressure drop
normally between 0.5 and 3 bar, ensures a close oil/water
contact.
The ideal value of this pressure drop is dependent on a number
of factors, such as the type of crude oil, the operating
temperature of the desalter, the oil/water mixing velocity, the
presence of emulsifying agents in the crude and the quality of
the washing water.

CH 9029 PRPC
COALESCENCE

The water crude emulsion is made up of continuous phase


(crude ) and dispersed phase .
Asphaltenes and finely divided solids are adsorbed on the oil-
water interface forming a film. This stabilizes the emulsion.
The difficulty in coalescence is due to asphaltene and presence
of foulant and sediments on other hand.
Coalescence is induced by electrostatic field. And the agitation
is created by the electrical field.

CH 9029 PRPC
COALESCENCE

Additionally demulsifying agents are used to complete the


action of the electrical field.

CH 9029 PRPC
SETTLING

CH 9029 PRPC
DESALTING

Caustics are added to desalting water to neutralize acids and


reduce corrosion.

Caustics are also added to desalted crude in order to reduce the


amount of corrosive chlorides in the tower overheads.

They are used in refinery treating processes to remove


contaminants from hydrocarbon streams.

CH 9029 PRPC
RATE OF SEDIMENTATION OF WATER, IN A TYPICAL
LIGHT CRUDE, AS A FUNCTION OF THE DIAMETER OF
THE DROPLETS

CH 9029 PRPC
CROSS SECTIONAL VIEW OF AN ELECTROSTATIC
DESALTER

CH 9029 PRPC
ELECTROSTATIC DESALTER WITH ONE STAGE

CH 9029 PRPC
ELECTROSTATIC DESALTER WITH TWO STAGES

CH 9029 PRPC
WATER CRUDE
EMULSION FEED TO A
DESALTER (DIFFERENT
SCHEMES)

CH 9029 PRPC
DESALTER CONTROL PARAMETERS

a. Level of water – crude interface

b. Desalting temperature

c. Ratio of washing water

d. Washing water injection point

e. Type of washing water

f. Pressure drop in the mixing valve

g. Type and ratio of demulsifier

CH 9029 PRPC
CH 9029 PRPC
CH 9029 PRPC
CH 9029 PRPC

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