WRTSIL VESSEL INTERNAL ELECTROSTATIC
COALESCER (VIEC)
Wrtsil is actively developing new
and innovative products to make oil
and water separation more efficient,
cost-effective, and environmentally
safe. Through Wrtsil know-how our
technology is designed to improve the
separation quality of oil and water.
The Wrtsil Vessel Internal
Electrostatic Coalescer (VIEC) is a field
proven solution for separation of water
from oil, improving production capacity,
eliminating emulsion issues, reducing
heating and chemical dosage demand as
well as space and weight requirements.
VIEC enables operators CAPEX
and OPEX savings as well as being a
preferred tool for de-bottle necking and
solving emulsion issues.
BENEFITS CONCEPT
Increase crude oil production capacity VIEC is a technology for enhancing liquid-
Reduce weight and space requirements liquid separation by using alternating high
Reduce cost of production fluid heating voltage electrical fields.
Reduce consumption of chemicals Modular construction consisting of
Improve heavy oil separation several electrodes, where each electrode
Guaranteed separator performance (total is electrically insulated and has its own
BS&W output) dedicated transformer for transforming a
low voltage feed to high voltage.
FEATURES Tolerates 100% water and 100% gas
Fully insulated electrodes and low without short circuiting or arcing, making
voltage penetration and feeding it ideally suited for use in any three-phase
Suitable for both new builds and retrofits separator to speed up separation of water
Installation through 18 - 24 manhole dispersed in oil and/or to resolve stable oil-
Field proven technology continuous emulsions.
UL and CE marked equipment

INCREASED PRODUCTION CAPACITY
VIEC will increase the coalescence rate of
water droplets in the oil phase and thus increase
droplet sizes in the water in oil emulsion. The
larger droplets settle faster and reduces the
required settling time for the oil phase in the
separator. This enables the separator to handle
larger production rate without reducing the oil
quality.
For existing facilities with planned tie-ins
which require increased separation capacity
VIEC can provide the required capacity
increase with minimum modifications and
CAPEX investments.
REDUCED WEIGHT AND SPACE REQUIERMENT
Utilization of VIEC enables reduced vessel
sizing and/or removal of process equipment
giving large CAPEX savings for new facilities.
For light oils VIEC can provide crude oil
specification for export without use of a
separate 2-phase electrostatic coalescer, thus
reducing the number of required separation
stages.
For crude oil de-salting VIEC can enable
removal of one de-salter (electro coalescer) by
introducing electro coalescence in the second
stage separator upstream of the wash water
injection point.
REDUCED FLUID HEATING
VIEC enables processing at higher viscosities,
thus reducing fluid heating requirements.
In many cases reduced heating can give
large OPEX savings. Further, lower process
temperature requires lower material grade
process equipment as well as less complicated
operation and reduced safety requirements.
The Wrtsil VIEC technology has been installed in more than 40 production/
REFERENCES test separators worldwide and is approved by most major owner/operators
FIELD/VESSEL DELIVERED OWNER
Troll C 2003 Statoil
FPSO Munin 2004 Bluewater
Al Shaheen 2005 Maersk Oil Qatar
Grane 2005 Statoil
Jubarte Field, FPSO P-34 2005 Petrobras
Marlim Field, FPSO P-35 2006 Petrobras
Fram East 2006 Statoil
Marlim Field, FPSO P-37 2006 Petrobras
Volve, Jack-up Rig 2006 Statoil
Heidrun TLP 2007 Statoil
Vincent Field, FPSO Ngujima-Yin 2007 Woodside
Gja 2007 Statoil
Valhall 2007 BP
Schiehallion 2008 BP
Badejo Field (Membro-Siri), FPSO Petrojarl Cidade de Rio das Ostras 2009 Teekay/Petrobras
Andrew 2009 BP
Ofon 2009 Total
Waimea, FPSO OSX-1 2011 OGX/OSX
Gudrun 2011 Statoil
Goliat 2011 ENI
Dukhan 2012 Qatar Petroleum
Eldfisk 2012 ConocoPhilips
Auger TLP 2013 Shell
Norne 2013 Statoil
Hebron 2013 ExxonMobil
Ivar Aasen 2014 Det Norske
Mariner 2014 Statoil
Gina Krog 2014 Statoil

REDUCED CHEMICAL CONSUMPTION

Implementation of VIEC will significantly reduce
the required demulsifier dosage resulting in
potentially large OPEX savings.

HEAVY CRUDE OIL SEPARATION

Due to the small density difference between
water and heavy crudes, and the high crude
viscosity, heavy crude oils are difficult to
de-hydrate. The tight water emulsions in the
heavy crude require higher temperatures, more
chemicals and longer settling times to separate Wrtsil VIEC Wall
from the oil.
VIEC provides a more cost efficient way to
de-hydrate heavy crude oils reducing heat and
chemical demand as well as enabling more
compact separation.

GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE
Wrtsil utilize an in-house laboratory for
executing VIEC screening studies on crude oil
samples from the actual field developments
evaluating VIEC utilization. Wrtsil VIEC Cassette Assembly Wrtsil VIEC Plate
Based on such screening studies Wrtsil will
provide a performance guarantee for the total
BS&W at the separator oil outlet.

WRTSIL is a registered trademark. Copyright 2015 Wrtsil Corporation.

Printed 02/2015 CA

Specifications are subject to change without prior notice.

oilinfo@wartsila.com
viec.no

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