CRUDE OIL DESALTING The desalting of crude oil is a process that does not have a high profile, but is vital to the operation of the modern petroleum refinery. Desalters provide more protection to costly refinery equipment than any other single piece of process hardware. Refining Process Services and Nalco Company, Energy Services Division, have developed this program to provide an in-depth, yet practical review of both the art and science of crude oil desalting. Maintaining smooth operation of crude oil desalting units is both critically important and quite difficult. Since there are so many significant variables to control, desalter operation must constantly be adjusted to maintain optimum performance with the ever-changing sources of crude oil. The program's content is both comprehensive and wide-ranging. Sessions begin with a discussion of the fundamentals of the desalting desalti ng process including crude oil quality impact, the operating variables, key equipment, various design options and major process variables. Once the fundamentals are established, discussion moves moves into the topics of unit unit operations, monitoring, and process troubleshooting. An experienced group of industry professionals has been assembled for the presentation of this program. The speakers are Mr. Dennis Haynes of Nalco Company, Energy Services Division, Mr. Tom Collins of the Petreco Process Division of Cameron, and Mr. Tony Potter, a consultant to Nalco Company. Program participants will have the opportunity to obtain a broad working knowledge of desalter operations, to gain insight into advancements in the field, and to interact with others working in this area. The program is ideal for personnel involved in refinery process process engineering, plant operations, and technical service. Process engineers from design and construction companies as well as those providing services to the petroleum refining industry should also find this program beneficial.
PROGRAM OUTLINE 1. BENEFITS OF CRUDE OIL DESALTING General Overview 2. IMPACT OF CRUDE OIL QUALITY ON DESALTER PERFORMANCE Introduction to Desalting Crude Oil Impurities: Water, Salt and Solids Impact of Organic Acids, Asphaltenes Desalting Heavy and Opportunity Crudes Tankage Dehydration
3. FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRICAL DESALTING Wash Water Addition Rate and Wash Water Quality Mixing/Contact + Mix Valves + Static Mixer Coalescence + Stoke's Law and Electrical Voltage Performance Control Variables Dehydration Efficiency vs. Salt Removal Efficiency 4. TYPES OF DESALTING SYSTEMS Single-Stage Dehydrator Single-Stage Desalter Two-Stage Desalter Three-Stage Desalter Typical Operating Conditions and Performance 5. DESALTER COMPONENTS Process Vessel Distribution System Electrodes and Transactors Mud Wash Level Control Devices 6. DESALTER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS Vessel Size Number of Stages Transactor Size and Power Consumption Crude Properties 7. COMMERCIAL DESALTER DESIGNS Petreco/Edge NATCO 8. FACTORS THAT AFFECT DESALTER OPERATION AND PERFORMANCE Crude Oil Feed Rate and Quality Temperature/Viscosity/Density Relationships Electrical Field Intensity Wash Water Rate, Quality and Flow Configuration Emulsion Formation (Pumps, Exchangers, Valves, Mixers) Control of Water Level and Emulsion Layers Demulsifier Technology and Addition Rate Mud Washing and Brine Recycle 9. TYPES OF DESALTING APPLICATIONS Heavy Crude Desalting FCC Feed Desalting Distillate Treating
10. DESALTER TROUBLESHOOTING Oily Effluent Poor Dehydration and/or Desalting Workshop 11. ECONOMICS IMPACT
PROGRAM SPEAKERS Tom Collins is Technical Sales Manager for the Petreco Process Division of Cameron in Houston, Texas. He has over 28 years of experience in the area of desalting. His current responsibilities include technical sales for refining in the western hemisphere, process review, desalter design considerations, performance requirements, troubleshooting, training, and optimization. He started in the Technical Service Department for Petreco in 1980, servicing desalters worldwide, and has spent his entire career in the field of desalting. He has authored and co-authored papers on desalting for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and has presented desalting theory at NPRA Question and Answer Sessions. Dennis Haynes is an Industry Technical Consultant for Nalco Company, Energy Services Division in Sugar Land, Texas. He has over 18 years of experience in the hydrocarbon processing industry. He is responsible for technical support, program development and application optimization for the company’s refinery process chemical programs used in crude management. He has experience in refineries in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific area. Dennis holds a BS degree in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia. Tony Potter is a consultant for Nalco for crude oil treatment. He has 38 years of experience in specialty chemical applications for processes in a multitude of industries. He worked for Betz Laboratories, Inc., Exxon Chemical, and Nalco Company. For 27 years he worked in the field of desalting, providing technical training, program evaluation, customer presentations, start-up assistance, and ongoing desalter system optimization and troubleshooting. Tony has assisted refineries around the world in improving desalter system performance. His expertise is specifically in crude oil desalting operations, product development, and operational training. He holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University.
