e nggcyclo pe dia.

co m

http://www.enggcyclo pedia.co m/2012/06/desalting-crude-o il-refinery/

Desalting of crude oil in refinery

Purpose of crude oil desalt ing
Crude oil introduced to ref inery processing contains many undesirable impurities, such as sand, inorganic salts, drilling mud, polymer, corrosion byproduct, etc. T he salt content in the crude oil varies depending on source of the crude oil. When a mixture f rom many crude oil sources is processed in ref inery, the salt content can vary greatly. T he purpose of desalting is to remove these undesirable impurities, especially salts and water, f rom the crude oil prior to distillation. T he most concerns of the impurities in crude oil: T he Inorganic salts can be decomposed in the crude oil pre-heat exchangers and heaters. As a result, hydrogen chloride gas is f ormed which condenses to liquid hydrochloric acid at overhead system of distillation column, that may causes serious corrosion of equipment. To avoid corrosion due to salts in the crude oil, corrosion control can be used. But the byproduct f rom the corrosion control of oil f ield equipment consists of particulate iron sulf ide and oxide. Precipitation of these materials can cause plugging of heat exchanger trains, tower trays, heater tubes, etc. In addition, these materials can cause corrosion to any surf ace they are precipitated on. T he sand or silt can cause signif icant damage due to abrasion or erosion to pumps, pipelines, etc. T he calcium naphthanate compound in the crude unit residue stream, if not removed can result in the production of lower grade coke and deactivation of catalyst of FCC unit

Benef it s of Crude Oil Desalt ing

Increase crude throughput Less plugging, scaling, coking of heat exchanger and f urnace tubes Less corrosion in exchanger, f ractionators, pipelines, etc. Better corrosion control in CDU overhead Less erosion by solids in control valves, exchanger, f urnace, pumps Saving of oil f rom slops f rom waste oil

Desalt ing process

T he desalting process is completed in f ollowing steps: Dillution water injection and dispersion Emusif ication of diluted water in oil Distribution of the emulsion in the electrostatic f ield Electrostatic coalescence Water droplet settling Crude oil passes through the cold preheat train and is then pumped to the Desalters by crude charge pumps. T he recycled water f rom the desalters is injected in the crude oil containing sediments and produced salty water. T his f luid enters in the static mixer which is a crude/water disperser, maximizing the interf acial surf ace area f or optimal contact between both liquids. T he wash water shall be injected as near as possible emulsif ying device to avoid a f irst separation with crude oil. Wash water can come f rom various sources including relatively high salt sea water, stripping water, etc. T he static mixers are installed upstream the emulsif ying devices to improve the contact between the salt in the crude oil and the wash water injected in the line. T he oil/water mixture is homogenously emulsif ied in the emulsif ying device. T he emulsif ying device (as a valve) is used to emulsif y the dilution water injected upstream in the oil. T he emulsif ication is important f or contact between the salty production water contained in the oil and the wash water. T hen the emulsion enters the Desalters where it separates into two phases by electrostatic coalescence. T he electrostatic coalescence is induced by the polarization ef f ect resulting f rom an external electric source. Polarization of water droplets pulls them out f rom oil-water emulsion phase. Salt being dissolved in these water droplets, is also separated along the way. T he produced water is discharged to the water treatment system (ef f luent water). It can also be used as wash water f or mud washing process during operation. A desalting unit can be designed with single stage or two stages. In the ref ineries, the two stages desalting system is normally applied, that consists of 2 electrostatic Coalescers (Desalter).