AGAR CORPORATION

Process Measurement & Control Solutions

ADVANTAGES OF OIL/WATER SEPARATION USING

CONCENTRATION CONTROL vs. INTERFACE CONTROL

Free Water Knock-Outs, Desalters and Dehydrators are just Fig. A - Ideal Conditions
some of the applications in the oil industry where it is necessary
to separate water and oil.

The density differences between water and oil causes water to drop
to the bottom of a separation tank, and oil to rise to the top. When
a desired amount or level of water has separated, it is removed
through a water draw‑off dump valve.

In some applications, costly emulsion‑breaking chemicals,

electrostatic precipitation and/or fire tubes are required to assist
the separation process.

EMULSIONS
Emulsions are the most serious problem in oil/ water separation.
Fig. B - Small Emulsion Pad
SIZE
Emulsion build‑up is caused by mixing valves, crude properties
(surface tension, viscosity, density), contaminants, vessel
temperature, and retention time. Emulsion droplets are mutually
cohesive and tend to form a growing pad.

DIRECTION
To avoid dumping oil with the free water, it is necessary to control
emulsions such that they can only build above a control point. In
other instances it might be desirable to force the emulsions to build
below the control point.

TRADITIONAL CONTROL METHODS

& THEIR PROBLEMS
Traditional methods of controlling the separation process involve the use of a Sight Glass, Float, and/or a Capacitance
Probe.

IDEAL WORLD
Fig. ‘A’ shows these instruments working under ideal conditions. A 100 bbI vessel contains 60 bbl water and 40 bbI oil,
separated with a distinct interface. (This situation rarely occurs in the real world, where we would expect to see an emul­sion
layer as shown in Fig. ‘B’).

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All Agar Corporation Instruments are covered by one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 4,503,383; 4,774,680; 5,099,697; 5,101,163; 5,101,367;
5,263,363; 5,503,004; 5,551,305; 5,589,642; 5,741,977, RE 36,597. Other patents pending in the USA and other countries.
 FLOAT ERRORS
Fig. ‘C’ shows what happens when the mixture extends
upwards to the top of the vessel. If the mixture is in the
water continuous phase, it will be dense enough to buoy up
the float. If the float controls dumping, then hydrocarbons
will unintentionally be dumped along with the free water.
Fig. C - Large Emulsion Pad
THE SOLUTION:
CONCENTRATION CONTROL
The AGAR ID‑201 gives a current output proportional to
water content over the full scale of 0‑100%. This enables
operators to answer the two hardest questions in the industry:
“How big is the emulsion pad?” and “In which direction is it
growing?”
It also enables operators to control their interfaces accurately,
in the desired direction, and make informed decisions as to
the types and quantities of emulsion‑breaking techniques
they should use.

Fig. ‘D’ shows a typical AGAR probe installed at an angle

of 45°. When used to control the dump valve, for example,
it opens the valve when it detects 80% water, and shuts
the valve when it detects 70% water. This ensures that the
emulsion develops above the control point and allows only
clean water to be dumped. The second probe (“ALARM”)
can have a lower set point and will activate an alarm, or an
emulsion‑breaking device such as a chemical pump if the
emulsion rises too high.

CAPACITANCE PROBE ERRORS
A profiling capacitance probe estimates the overall % water
in the vessel. It cannot give information to the operator on
the size or behavior of the emulsion pad. The vessel in Fig.
‘B’ has an oil continuous emulsion pad, but the capacitance
probe shows no change in the water interface from ‘A’.
Reversing the positions of the two probes and setting the
control to 10‑20% water would allow the operator to force
the emulsion to build below the control point, leaving only
dry product in the separators.

Fig. ‘C’ demonstrates another problem with

capacitance probes. They cannot measure oil in
a water continuous mixture, and a high water-cut
near the top of the vessel causes capacitance
probes to read full scale.

Fig. D - Present Methods/Solutions

(Concentration Detection)

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ER No. 5485: ACI-A-7.2-DOC-008 Rev 01