Process Measurement & Control Solutions

ADVANTAGES OF OIL/WATER SEPARATION USING

CONCENTRATION CONTROL vs. INTERFACE CONTROL

Free Water Knock Outs, Desalters and Dehydrators are a few

A - IDEAL CONDITIONS
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 drawoff valve.

In some applications, costly emulsionbreaking chemicals,

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

EMULSIONS B - SMALL EMULSION PAD

Emulsions are one of the most serious problems in oil/ water
separation.

SIZE
Emulsion buildup is caused by mixing valves, crude properties
(surface tension, viscosity, density), contaminants, vessel
temperature, and retention time. The emulsion pad is dynamic
- growing and shrinking continuously.

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 AND 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 tank 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.)

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 FLOAT ERRORS
Fig. C shows what happens when the mixture extends
upwards to the roof of the tank. 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(HC)
will unintentionally be dumped along with the free water.
C - LARGE EMULSION PAD
THE SOLUTION:
CONCENTRATION CONTROL
The AGAR ID201 gives a current output proportional to
water content over the full scale of 0100%. 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 levels accurately,
in the desired direction, and make informed decisions as to
the types and quantities of emulsionbreaking 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

CAPACITANCE PROBE ERRORS
A profiling capacitance probe estimates the overall % water
in the tank. It cannot give information to the operator on the
size or behavior of the emulsion pad. The tank in fig. B has
an oil continuous emulsion pad, but the capacitance probe
shows no change in the water interface from A.
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 emulsionbreaking device such as a chemical
pump, if the emulsion rises too high.
(Reversing the positions of the two probes and setting the
control to 1020% 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 tank causes
capacitance probes to read full scale.

D - Present Methods/solutions
(Concentration Detection)

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ER No. 5024; SL0006 Rev -