Desalter emulsion separation by emulsion recycle

Inactive Publication Date: 2015-06-04
EXXON RES & ENG CO
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]According to the present invention, a fluid stream that includes the interface between the effluent water and fluid above is removed from the desalter. Additionally, this fluid can be recycled back to the crude feed into the desalter, preferably to be returned upstream of the mix valve that creates the water-in-oil emulsion before it is sent to the desalting vessel. The fluid that is withdrawn and taken to recycle includes fluid extracted from the boundary la

Problems solved by technology

Finely-divided solid particles in the crude may also act to stabilize the emulsion, and it has been found that solids-stabilized emulsions present particular difficulties.
The growth of stable emulsion layer reduces workable volume and may short the electric circuit and force unplanned and costly desalter shut down.
To mitigate the rag layer buildup in some cases, emulsion is withdrawn from the unit; alternatively or in addition, costly demulsifiers may be added to the oil phase upstream of the desalter although with limited success.
Additionally, processing crudes with high rag layer formation tendencies in current desalter configurations may cause poor desalting (salt removal) efficiency due to solids build up at the bottom of the vessel, and/or a solids-stabilized rag layer leading to erratic level control and insufficient residence time for proper water/oil separation.
Solids-stabilized emulsion layers have become a major desalter operating concern, generating desalter upsets, increased preheat train fouling, and deteriorating quality of the brine effluent and disruption of the operation of the downstream wastewater treatment facilities.
These feeds are, however, being introduced to refineries in greater quantities d

Method used

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  • Desalter emulsion separation by emulsion recycle
  • Desalter emulsion separation by emulsion recycle
  • Desalter emulsion separation by emulsion recycle

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

Water Separation in the Absence of Recycled Stable Emulsion

[0043]Adequate amounts of salt water (3% NaCl) and of a crude oil A were heated to 85° C. 50 ppm of a commercial demulsifier B was added to 90 mL of preheated crude oil and mixed well. 4 mL of the preheated salt water was added to the oil and blended for 10 seconds at half full power (i.e. 60V setting on a Variac) using a Waring™ blender to generate a water-in-oil emulsion. 75 mL of the emulsion was then poured into a transparent vessel of an Electrostatic Dehydration and Precipitation Tester (EDPT) from Inter AV Inc. which was preheated to 90° C. The vessel's cap was tightened and temperature was then increased to 120° C.

[0044]Voltages of 500, 1500, and 3000 V for duration of one minute were applied at 10, 21, and 33 minutes after the EDPT reached 120° C., respectively. A voltage of 3000 V was applied for one minute at 44, 55, and 66 minutes after the EDPT reached 120° C. The amount of the effluent water at the bottom of th...

example 2

Water Separation in the Presence of the Recycled Stable Emulsion

[0046]Adequate amounts of salt water (3% NaCl), crude oil A, and a stable emulsion designated ETr5 taken from a tricock of a commercial desalter that used crude oil A, were heated to 85° C. 50 ppm of a commercial demulsifier B was added to 90 mL of preheated crude oil and mixed well. 4 mL of the preheated salt water and 2 mL of the preheated stable emulsion was added to the oil solution and blended for 10 seconds at half full power using a Waring blender to generate a water-in-oil emulsion. 75 mL of the prepared emulsion was then poured in a transparent vessel of the Electrostatic Dehydration and Precipitation Tester (EDPT) from Inter AV Inc. preheated to 90° C. The vessel's cap was tightened and the temperature increased to 120° C. Voltages of 500, 1500 and 3000 V were applied for one minute at 12, 23, and 34 minutes after the EDPT reached 120° C., respectively. A voltage of 3000 V was applied for one minute at 45, 56,...

example 3

Water Separation in the Absence of the Recycled Stable Emulsion

[0049]Adequate amounts of deionized (DI) water and crude oil A were heated to 85° C. 50 ppm of commercial demulsifier B was added to 90 mL of preheated crude oil and mixed well. 4 mL of the preheated DI water was added to the said solution and blended for 10 seconds at half full power using a Waring blender to generate a water-in-oil emulsion. 75 mL of this emulsion was poured into a transparent vessel of the Electrostatic Dehydration and Precipitation Tester (EDPT) preheated to 90° C. The vessel's cap was tightened and temperature was then increased to 120° C.

[0050]Voltages of 500, 1500 and 3000 V were applied for one minute at 10, 21, and 33 minutes after the EDPT reached 120° C., respectively. A voltage of 3000 V was applied for one minute at 44, 55, and 66 minutes after the EDPT reached 120° C. The amount of the effluent water at the bottom of the vessel was measured at 5, 16, 27, 39, 50, 61 and 72 minutes after the ...

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Abstract

A petroleum desalting process in which fluid from interfacial boundary layer between the settled water layer and the settled oil layer or emulsion-water layer in the vessel is withdrawn from the desalter and recycled to the crude oil inlet of the desalter to improve separation of the oil and water phases.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 911,153 filed Dec. 3, 2013, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to petroleum desalters and their operation.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Crude petroleum normally contains salts that may corrode refinery units; salt is removed from the crude oil by a process known as “desalting”, in which hot crude oil is mixed with water and a suitable demulsifying agent to form a water-in-oil emulsion which provides intimate contact between the oil and water, transferring salt into the water. The salty emulsion is then passed into a high voltage electric field inside a closed separator vessel. The electric field forces water droplets to coalesce, forming larger water droplets. As the water droplet volumes increase, they settle to the bottom of the tank under gravitation. The desalted oil forms at the upper layer ...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): C10G31/08C10G29/20
CPCC10G29/205C10G31/08C10G33/04
Inventor CHERNEY, DANIEL PATRICKCALCAVECCHIO, PETERFLYNN, RICHARD W.PECZAK, PAWEL K.YEGANEH, MOHSEN SHAHMIRZADI
Owner EXXON RES & ENG CO
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