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Processing of oil by steam addition

a technology of oil addition and oil, applied in the direction of dewatering/demulsification with chemical means, separation processes, borehole/well accessories, etc., can solve the problems of slow process and particularly difficult problems, and achieve the effects of reducing electrical energy consumption, reducing resistance to flow, and lowering the viscosity of crude oil

Active Publication Date: 2019-05-23
PHILLIPS 66 CO
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is about a process for reducing energy consumption when pumping crude oil from a remote tank to a refinery. This is done by adding steam to the crude oil as it flows through a pipe, which heats up the crude oil and reduces its viscosity, making it easier to pump. The invention is also about a process for removing salt from the crude oil, which can be beneficial for refining. This is done by injecting liquid water into the crude oil and then using high-speed mixing to break up the water droplets and enhance their contact with the salt particles, which then dissolves and forms new brine droplets. The resulting mixture is then separated from the crude oil, carrying the salt particles with it. The process does not involve mixing uncondensed steam bubbles into the crude oil.

Problems solved by technology

However, the refinery operator wants as little water taken up into the refinery from the desalter system as possible.
Unfortunately, this can be a slow process, especially when the droplets are very small and tend to settle very slowly.
This problem is particularly challenging for more viscous and denser crude oils.

Method used

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  • Processing of oil by steam addition
  • Processing of oil by steam addition

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Embodiment Construction

[0062]Turning now to the detailed description of the preferred arrangement or arrangements of the present invention, it should be understood that the inventive features and concepts may be manifested in other arrangements and that the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described or illustrated. The scope of the invention is intended only to be limited by the scope of the claims that follow.

[0063]Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art desalter system 10 is shown for removing salt from crude oil being brought in from crude oil storage facilities and delivered to the operational portion of a refinery. For illustration purposes, the crude oil is shown to be stored in a large storage tank 12. Crude oil is drained from a lower portion of the tank 12 through a line 13 an fed to a charge pump 14 which directs the crude oil from the storage facilities through a conduit 15 and ultimately to a first refining vessel 40 in a refinery. As noted above, crude oils with different cha...

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Abstract

The invention relates to injecting steam into crude oil in two separate desalting steps to remove salt by transferring the salt into the condensed water from the steam and gravity separating the water from the crude oil. Steam transfers salt from crude oil via a different transfer mechanism. In the invention, salt is also removed via an intermediate step of adding water with harshly mixing the added water with the crude oil between the gravity separation of the first steam desalting step and before steam is added in the second step.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]None.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]None.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]This invention relates to improving the efficiency of refining crude oil and especially to removing salt from crude oil in a refinery.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]Refineries typically obtain crude oil from a number of sources having different characteristics such as viscosity, density, sulfur content, salt and other impurities, etc. Each of these crudes are delivered to a refinery via pipelines, ships and other crude carriers and stored in large tanks until the refinery is ready to refine it. Typically, a refinery works to blend various crudes in preferred proportions recognizing that each of the various crudes have different levels of their constituent components, both good and bad, in an attempt to optimize the utility of the various systems with that specific refinery. One of the first operations in the refinery for processing...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): E21B43/24C10G33/04B01D17/04
CPCB01D17/045C10G33/06B01D17/041C10G33/04C10G31/06C10G31/08C10G2300/1033C10G2300/208
Inventor LAWSON, KEITH H.WILLMAN, DEREK H.
Owner PHILLIPS 66 CO
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