CRUDE OIL

DESALTING

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CRUDE OIL DESALTING

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 Crude Oil Desalting: Salts are distributed in crude oil as brine (Nacl) Defects of Salts are: -Cause plugging of heat exchangers tubes. -Cause deposits in pipe still tubes (furnaces) and consequently cause . -Decrease in heat transfer coefficient. -Create pressure drop which affects on pumps. Salts may reach up to 260 PTb each 100 PTb cause deposits of about 3 ft/day . Salts should be removed before distillation tower where these salts liberate HCL gas which cause many corrosion problems .
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DR.Hemdan

 Problems of oleophobics -Corrosion due to hydrolysis of salts . -Increase consumption of NH3 to neutralize HCL -Erosion . -Plugging of Equipment and fouling . -Trace metals in distillates which acts as catalyst poisoning

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Crude desalting is the first processing step in a refinery . The objectives of crude desalting are :
1-the removal of salts and solids 2- the formation water from unrefined crude oil before the crude is introduced in the crude distillation unit . 3-removal of suspended solids from the crude oil. 4-Reduced equipment fouling and corrosion and 5-longer catalyst life
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DR.Hemdan

DR.Hemdan

SINGLE-STAGE DESALTER
Desalted Crude Desalter
Feed Oil Water Effluent Water
..

Demulsifier

Heat Exchangers Mix Valve

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Two-Stage Desalter Example

1st Stage Crude Outlet (5.0 PTB, 0.2% BS&W)

Desalted Crude (0.5 PTB, 0.2% BS&W)

1st Stage Desalter

2nd Stage Desalter

Mix Valve Crude Charge (100 PTB, 1% BS&W) 5.0%

Mix Valve 5.8% Effluent Water 5.0% Wash Water Counter-current flow
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Figure 2

2nd Stage Effluent Water is 1st Stage Wash Water

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MULTI-STAGE DESALTING
SERIES: Maximize Desalting Efficiency
1st
Stage Heat Exchangers Mix Valve Mix Valve Effluent Water 10ppm salt out

2nd Stage

Desalted Crude 1ppm salt out

100ppm salt in Feed Oil Water

Overall Efficiency = (100 - 1) / 100 = 99%

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MULTI-STAGE DESALTING
PARALLEL:

Maximize Throughput
Mix Valves Heat Exchangers Feed Oil Water

Desalted Crude

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Effluent Water

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 Pure water and NaOH is added to the desalter Some deemulsifier may be added to break forces between salts and the oil In electrostatic precipitator applied voltage up to 30KV Salt drops coalesce together and form larger drops which separated down to the bottom of desalter Salt removal reach to about 90%
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 It is necessary to adjust the pH of the brine to obtain a value of 7 or less. If the pH of the brine exceeds 7, emulsions are formed because of the presence of sodium naphthenate and sodium sulfide. For most crude oils, it is desirable to keep the pH below 8. Better dehydration is obtained in electrical desalters when they are operated at a pH of 6. The pH is controlled by the addition of acid to the incoming or recycle water.
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 The trend toward running heavier crude oils has increased the importance of efficient desalting of crudes. Until recently, the criterion for desalting crude oils was 10 lb salt/1000 bbl (expressed as NaCl) or more, but now many companies desalt all crude oils.

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 Salt in the crude oil is in the form of dissolved or suspended salt crystals in water emulsified with the crude oil. The basic process of desalting is to wash the salt from crude oil with water. Problems occur are:
1-inefficient and economical water/oil mixing, 2-water wetting of suspended solids, and 3-separation of oil from wash water
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 The separation of oil and washwater i.e desalter performance is affected by :

1-the gravity 2-viscosity 3-pH of the crude oil 4-the ratio of water/crude used for washing. 5-temperature 6-pressure drop 7-chemicals additions
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 Desalting is carried out by emulsifying the crude oil with 3 to 10 vol% water at a temperature of 200-300F. Both the ratio of water to oil and the operating temperature are functions of the gravity of the crude oil. Typical operating conditions are :

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Trouble shooting

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