CRUDE OIL

DESALTING

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CRUDE OIL
DESALTING

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 Crude Oil Desalting: Salts are distributed in crude oil as brine (Nacl)
Defects of Salts are:
-Cause plugging of heat exchangers tubes.
-Cause deposits in pipe still tubes (furnaces)
and consequently cause .
-Decrease in heat transfer coefficient.
-Create pressure drop which affects on
pumps.
Salts may reach up to 260 PTb each 100 PTb cause
deposits of about 3 ft/day .
Salts should be removed before distillation tower where
these salts liberate HCL gas which cause many
corrosion problems .
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DR.Hemdan

 Problems of oleophobics
-Corrosion due to hydrolysis of salts .
-Increase consumption of NH3 to
neutralize HCL
-Erosion .
-Plugging of Equipment and fouling .
-Trace metals in distillates which acts as
catalyst poisoning
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Crude desalting is the first processing step in a refinery .

The objectives of crude desalting are :
1-the removal of salts and solids
2- the formation water from unrefined crude oil before
the crude is introduced in the crude distillation unit .
3-removal of suspended solids from the crude oil.
4-Reduced equipment fouling and corrosion and
5-longer catalyst life
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DR.Hemdan

DR.Hemdan

SINGLE-STAGE DESALTER

Demulsifier

Feed Oil

Desalted
Crude

Heat
Exchangers

Desalter
Mix
Valve

Water
Effluent Water
..

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Two-Stage Desalter Example

Desalted Crude
(0.5 PTB, 0.2% BS&W)

1st Stage Crude Outlet

(5.0 PTB, 0.2% BS&W)

2nd Stage Desalter

1st Stage Desalter

Mix
Valve

Mix
Valve

Crude Charge
(100 PTB, 1% BS&W)

5.8% Effluent Water

5.0%

Figure 2

2nd Stage Effluent Water

is 1st Stage Wash Water
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5.0% Wash Water

Counter-current flow
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MULTI-STAGE DESALTING
SERIES: Maximize Desalting Efficiency
10ppm
salt out

1
Stage
Heat
Exchangers
st

100ppm
salt in
Feed
Oil
Water

Mix Valve

2nd
Stage

Desalted
Crude
1ppm
salt out

Mix Valve

Effluent
Water

Overall Efficiency = (100 - 1) / 100 = 99%

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MULTI-STAGE DESALTING
PARALLEL:
Maximize Throughput

Desalted
Crude
Mix Valves

Heat
Exchangers
Feed Oil
Water

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Effluent Water

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 Pure water and NaOH is added to the

desalter
Some deemulsifier may be added to break
forces between salts and the oil
In electrostatic precipitator applied voltage
up to 30KV
Salt drops coalesce together and form
larger drops which separated down to the
bottom of desalter
Salt removal reach to about 90%
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 It is necessary to adjust the pH of the brine to

obtain a value of 7 or less.
If the pH of the brine exceeds 7, emulsions are
formed because of the presence of sodium
naphthenate and sodium sulfide.
For most crude oils, it is desirable to keep the
pH below 8.
Better dehydration is obtained in electrical
desalters when they are operated at a pH of 6.
The pH is controlled by the addition of acid to
the incoming or recycle water.
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 The trend toward running heavier crude

oils has increased the importance of
efficient desalting of crudes. Until recently,
the criterion for desalting crude oils was
10 lb salt/1000 bbl (expressed as NaCl) or
more, but now many companies desalt all
crude oils.

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 Salt in the crude oil is in the form of

dissolved or suspended salt crystals in
water emulsified with the crude oil.
The basic process of desalting is to wash
the salt from crude oil with water.
Problems occur are:
1-inefficient and economical water/oil mixing,
2-water wetting of suspended solids, and
3-separation of oil from wash water
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 The separation of oil and washwater i.e

desalter performance is affected by :
1-the gravity
2-viscosity
3-pH of the crude oil
4-the ratio of water/crude used for washing.
5-temperature
6-pressure drop
7-chemicals additions
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 Desalting is carried out by emulsifying the

crude oil with 3 to 10 vol% water at a
temperature of 200-300F. Both the ratio of
water to oil and the operating temperature
are functions of the gravity of the crude oil.
Typical operating conditions are :

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Trouble shooting

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