July 2017, Volume 4, Issue 07 J ETIR (ISSN-2349-5162)

Problems Occurring in De-Salter plant Of Crude oil

and its solution.
1
Sorathia Priya D., 2 Baldania Ashish D.
1
Lecturer (Chemical Engg.), 2 Assistant Professor (Chemical Engg.)
1
Govern ment polytechnic College, Chemical Engineering Depart ment, Near Aji dam, Bhavnagar road road, Rajkot 360001 ,
India. 2 L.E. College of Engineering, Chemical Eng ineering Depart ment, Morb i, India.

Abstract—Abstract- This work is about the solving of problems occurring in desalter plant of crude oil. One of the major causes of
desalter upsets is grid over-load. This is can be solved by detecting the presence of emulsions building upwards before they enter the
grids. Another major causes of desalter upsets is high water content crude being delivered to the desalter from the tank farm . The
primary function of the desalting system is the removal of inorganic chlorides and other water-soluble compounds from cru de oil. Also
averaged total hydrocarbon releases to refinery sewers range from 0.5% to 0.4% of the total crude charge. Unfortunately, refi ners are
losing valuable feedstock to the sewer and must spend nearly $10bbl to recover and reprocess lost hydrocarbons. The desalting system
is the largest contributor to wastewater; improving operating methods on this unit can reduce shutdowns and maintenance expenses.
Equally important, better operating practices can decrease organic loading on the wastewater treating unit. Several case histories
illustrate various source reduction methods to minimize hydrocarbon emulsion losses to sewer. The possible outcomes of these problems
are very necessary for De-S alter plant.

Index Terms—De-Sal ter pl ant, Refinery, Crude oil desalting (key words)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRO DUCTION (HEADING 1)

A paper contains process description of desalter plant, different problem occurring in plant due to some unfavorable condition
and their solutions. There many methods to solve the engineering problems occurring in desalter plant. In this we will focus on
AGA R SYSTEM to increase efficiency of desalter plant of crude oil.

In these systems (AGA R SYSTEM), mu ltiple probes are used to control the desalter and warn the operators of possible
problems by giving operations time to take corrective actions before upsets occur. Desalte r upsets if grid is over-load. The first
indications of Emu lsion Build-Up in the desalter are the decrease in Volts and increase in Amps on the Grids. By detecting the
presence of emulsions building upwards before they enter the grid will allow operators to take corrections before the grid begin to
overload.
If high water content crude being delivered to the desalter fro m the tank farm then also desalter upsets. The detection of high
water content crude before it arrives at the desalter allo ws operations to make adjustments to min imize the adverse effects of the
wet crude.

The desalting system is the largest contributor to wastewater; improving operating methods on this unit can reduce shutdowns
and maintenance expenses. Equally important, better operating practices can decrease organic loading on the wastewater treating
unit. Several case histories illustrate various source reduction methods to minimize hydrocarbon emulsion losses sewer.
Due to a mature and more competitive marketplace, operating companies are re-evaluating fundamental manufacturing
strategies. Consequently, the incentive to apply new technologies and improve operations is more compelling than ever before.
New measurement technologies, such as energy absorption, have steadily entered the marketplace to meet this need.
Source reduction is an area where innovative technology is being evaluated and used by many major oil and petrochemical
companies. The most effective way of reducing the hydrocarbon content in final effluent is to avoid contamin ant losses at their
source. Energy absorption (EA) technology has proven to be a useful tool when controlling the amount of hydrocarbons sent to
wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). EA can be applied for monitoring and controlling many separation processes . Additionally,
these new control systems help to relieve the pressure from tighter environmental restrictions by reducing the quantity of
hydrocarbons released to wastewater pretreatment systems.

Introduction of ONGC Desalter Plant:

The crude oil produced from north Gujarat has high salinity and high BS&W which is detrimental for refinery operation. In
order to reduce the salinity and BS & W of the crude to meet the refinery specifications, ONGC had set up a desalter plant at
Nawagam.
With the increasing regulations on effluent water and the ever increasing cost of producing a barrel of oil, the use of emulsion -
treatment plants has become an important practice in crude oil processing. Treatment of emulsions has always ranged from simp le
methods such as gravity settlement to highly sophisticated methods such as tri-volted desalting and dehydration systems. The
development of desalting systems has always been evaluated in terms of quantities of salt and water being removed. In a desalting
unit, when crude oil is heated as part of various desalting, dehydration or refining processes, the water may be driven off as steam.

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The salts in the water, however, do not leave with the steam. They crystallize and may either remain suspended in oil or form scale
within heat-exchange equipment. Entrained salt crystals may deactivate catalyst beds and plug processing equipment. Because of
these potential problems, refineries usually reduce crude oil salt content to very low levels prior to processing. To reduce the
amount of desalting required at the refinery, some oil purchasing contracts specify maximu m salt content as well as maximum
water content. A typical salt specification would be 10 Pounds per Thousand Barrels (10.0 PTB).

To satisfy such purchase specifications, producers may be required to perform some oil desalting. Among the many reasons
desalting, dehydration units are installed to avoid transporting high viscosity liquids, ‘‘water-in-oil’’ emulsions, which require more
pumping energy. Furthermore, salts and water are removed in day-to-day operation for three reasons: corrosion, scale
accumulation, and lowering of activity of catalysts.
Desalter plant, Nawagam was commissioned in Jan 1995 to process highly saline crude to meet the refinery requirement of 15
PTB of salinity and 1% of BS& W. Desalting means removing salt fro m crude oil by adding less salty water. The less salty wate r is
relatively fresh than the highly salty formation water produced with the crude. Adding of this, so called fresh water dilutes and
lowers the salt concentration of the formation water remaining in the crude to an acceptable level. The less salty water adde d into
crude is known as wash water or dilution water. The desalter Complex consists of existing Desalter units, floating roof, storage
tanks and proposed desalter units. There are three desalter trains available at Nawagam for processing of 12000-13000 m3/day of
crude oil. The desalter plant has been designed to reduce water content from 5% to 1%. Presently the water content of the crude at
inlet varies from 6-13% and after processing the water content of the crude oil in the outlet of desalter vessel varies from 0.58% to
1.5%.

After the dismantling of the admin istrative prince mechanism the water content in the dispatch crude o il should not exceed
0.2%. Hence the project, up gradation of facilities at Nawagam envisages additional processing facilit ies to limit water cont ent and
salinity in the crude oil to comply with the requirement of post APM scenario. In addition, the setup gradation of firefighting
facilities and DCS control system for the total plant are also envisaged in the project.

Materials & Methods

Electrical treatment (Electrostatic coalescing):

It is the most effective method that provides a strong driving force for removing salt water fro m Crude oil.
The natural composition of the water droplet itself is the basis of this theory. The water droplet is made up of many polar
mo lecules. Each water mo lecule has one part oxygen and two parts of Hydrogen. Oxygen has a negative end and hydrogen a
positive end. These polar forces are arranging a shape very much like a bar magnet and easily responds to an applied electric al
force field.

Method of dehydration
When the producer water in crude is very salty as in our case th en, straight dehydration is not the only solution and so the crude
has also to be desalted.
Dehydration: means removing of salt water fro m crude oil to at least 0.1%. This accomp lished by gravitational method through
3 phases’ separators, well tanks and desalter vessels.
Desalting: means removal of salt from crude oil by adding less salty water. The less salty water is relatively fresh than the
highly salty formation water produced with the crude. Adding of this, so called fresh water dilutes and lowers the salt concentration
of the formation water remaining in the crude to an acceptable level. The less salty water added into crude is known as wash water
or dilution water. The formation water produced with the Kuwait i crudes normally contains salts in range of 150,000 to 200,000
ppm.

The main objecti ve of install dehydration/-desalting plant……

To maintain field production potential
Clean up drilled and worked over wells
To provide an effective controlling method that will allo w a better reservoir production distribution.
Allow produce wet wells caused by injection of help recovery.
To increase the final recoverable receives.

Types of emulsion normally, there are two types of water in oil emu lsion
Tight emulsion:
Small water droplets spread in the crude oil, this violent mixing of water in o il can be caused by submersible pumps big
differential pressure drop at well head or at mixing valve in the desalter plant. Tight emulsion is very easy to make but dif ficult to
break one because it requires higher operating temperature, higher chemical injection rates and higher efforts.
Loose emulsion:
Formed of large water droplets and it caused by moderate and sufficient mixing and it is not difficult to treat.
Main Functi on of desalter:
The main function of the desalter plant is to separate emulsified water and oil. For this, following steps are taken in order:

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Chemical dosing:
To separate oil and water fro m each other different chemicals are added to break emulsifications. These chemicals are called
demulsifier and the process is known as demulsification. Demulsifier are added before the feed pump which is actually a
centrifugal pump. So whatever amounts of demulsifier is added in the crude oil are well mixed. After feed pump process water
(0.5%) is added
Heat Exchangers:
Feed is heated by heat exchanger heat with the hot product from the desalter vessel to temperature 63 deg C. Demulsifiers wor k
better at higher temperatures. So the treated crude which is very hot is used as shell side and the untreated crude at the tu be side is
used in shell and tube heat exchanger. The exchanger very effectively heats up the crude oil and raises its temperature fro m 30 C to
63 C.
Heater:
This temperature of 650C is not enough for effective for demulsification of oil and water. For raising the temperature further it
is sent to heater where it is fired by fuel gas. The feed heaters are flue gas recycle type. Its temperature rises from 650C to 900C
Economizer:
Fro m heater heat is recovered in economizers. And again this energy or heat is used to fire the fire-tube in heat exchanger.
Desalter Vessel:
The hot feed oil is mixed with wash water in mixing valve to ensure thorough mixing and sent to desalter. Oil & salty water in
the incoming feed are separated by electrostatic means in the desalter. It contains a system of electrostatics grid which is very
effective in removing water fro m oil. On application of high voltage electric field, the water droplets in the oil coalesces and settle
down due to density difference, taking along with them other solid particles present in the feed. It has two outlets for draining. The
product crude is taken out from the top of the desalter and is cooled to 50 deg C by exchanging heat with the feed in feed he ad
exchangers.
Product water is taken out and sent to the waste water treatment plant. The water is drained through outlets contains 100ppm of
oil. This small amount of oil is further recovered when it is sent to ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) or WWTP (Waste Water
Treatment Plant).

Variables affecting the performance of desalting:

Desalter process is achieved by various combination of treatment such as:
Gravity separation
Chemical treat ment
Heating
Washing with water (dilution)
Mixing wash water (agitation)
Electrical treatment (electrostatic coalescing)

Gravity separation:
Most desalting-dehydration equipment relies on gravity to separate water droplets from the continuous oil phase. Gravity
difference is the active element in this process; the produced=formation water droplets are heavier than the volume of oil they
displace. The produced water usually carries some salts and solids coated predominantly with a thin film of o il or just freely
flowing along the emulsion stream (Lohne, 1994).
The removal of free water or unemulsified water fro m crude oil, the free water when given opportunity i.e. residence time and
enough space, It readily separates by gravitational method. The gravity settling out of this free water is mainly accomplishe d in
separators, wet tanks and desalter vessels.
Chemical Treatment:
Emu lsions can be further treated by the addition of chemical stabilizers. These surface -active chemicals adsorb to the water-oil
interface, rupture the film surrounding water drops, and displace the emulsifying agents back into th e oil. Breaking the film allo ws
water drops to collide by the natural force of molecular attraction, forming a large droplet which is easily separates from o il and
settles down faster. Time and turbulence aid diffusion of Demulsifiers through the oil to th e interface. Experience has shown that
the mechanism of the chemical process is not explicable by any simple theory. Nevertheless, there is a rule of thumb learned in the
field that states that the lower the water percentage in an emulsion the more difficu lt it is to treat.
Chemicals:-There are 4 types of chemicals main ly using desalter plant.
a. Demulsifier chemical
b. Oxygen scavenger
c. Scale inhib itor
d. Coagulant chemical
a. Demulsifier
Demulsifier chemical is injected into water-in-oil emu lsion to break and remove a thick film of emulsifying agents around water
droplets. The dosage ppm of Demu lsifier is 20pp m.
b. Oxygen scavenger:
It is injected into wash water system to remove free oxygen to prevent oxygen corrosion. The dosage ppm of oxygen scavenges
is 64pp m.

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c. Scale inhibitor:
It is injected into both wash water system and wet oil system in order to prevent formation of scale deposits. The dosage ppm of
scale inhibitor is 20-30pp m.
d. Coagulant chemical:
It is infected into wash water treatment unit at the floatation inlet line. Its purpose is to break oil in water emulsion.
Heating:
Heat causes a decrease in viscosity, thickness, and cohesion of the film surrounding water drops. Heat also reduces the
continuous phase (oil) viscosity, helping water drops to move freely and faster for coalescing. Controlling the temperature during
operations is a very delicate job. Any excessive heat might lead to evaporation, which results not only in a loss of oil volu me, but
also in a reduction in price
Washing with water (Dilution water):
Salts in emulsion sometimes come in solid crystalline form. So, the need for freshwater to dissolve these crystal salts arises and
dilution with freshwater has become a necessity in desalting equal to dehydration processes. Freshwater is usually injected before
heat exchangers to increase the mixing efficiency and to prevent scaling inside pipes and heating tubes. Freshwater is inject ed so
that water drops in emulsions can be washed out and then drained off, hence the term ‘‘wash water.’’ T he addition of less salt water
into wet crude is very important and helps to dilute its highly salt water content. When wash water is well d istributed in cr ude, it
helps to join together smaller droplets and speedup this separation from the crude. The quan tity equal to ratio of freshwater injected
depends on the API gravity of the crude, but, generally, the injection rate is 3_10% of the total crude flow, (al-Kandari, 1997).
Mi xing wash water (Agitation):
High shear actions form emu lsions. Similarly, when dilution water (freshwater) is added to an emulsion, one needs to mix them
in order to dissolve the salt crystalline and to aid in coalescing finely distributed droplets. Mixing works in three steps: (1) helps
smaller drops to join together, (2) mixes chemical equal to demulsifier with the emulsion, and (3) breaks the free injected volume of
wash water into emulsion-sized drops and evenly distributes it. So wash water must be distributed in every direction inside the wet
crude in order to let wash water do.

Results & Discussion

Effect of Wash Water Dilution Ratio:
At the beginning of water injection, the W=C efficiency was higher than S=R efficiency. This can be explained by the presence
of some salt in the crystalline form. The free water was being washed out, hence increasing the W=C efficiency, but leaving salt
crystalline flowing out with the product crude. As the dilution water injection increased, more salt dissolved in the water. The
efficiency of S=R imp roved, crossing the water cut efficiency at 3% water injection rate and then stepped up as the water rate was
increased. The W=C efficiency, however, started to deteriorate as the water injection rate increased. This is due to a phenomenon
known in the petroleum field as the ‘‘reverse emulsion’’ incid ent. It appears that as the continuous phase, being oil here, gets more
diluted, a higher dissolving rate of salt crystalline is reached, thus improving salt removal efficiency but increasing the water phase.
To improve the efficiency of W=C, the wash water injection must be operated at the optimum point. Beyond that point,
experience has shown that excessive water may lead to deterioration in the pH range of the water volume as a whole. Ranges of pH
above or below 7.0 may cause severe problems in emulsion breaking and precipitation of hydrocarbon solids (e.g., naphthalene)
into the water continuous phase (Agar, 2000). Eligibly et al. (1999) stated that at lower values of pH (3 -10) of emu lsion, surfactants
dissolve readily in the oil phase forming stable water-in-oil emu lsions. In contrast, at pH values 11-13, they noted that surfactants
dissolve in the aqueous phase, creating stable oil-in-water emulsions. Furthermore, dilution maximizes the density difference
between water drops and the oil phase. The dilution mechanism is also used to minimize the viscosity of the oil, thus improving the
overall efficiency of a desalting-dehydration process
Effect of Chemical Dosage:
The second parameter investigated was the effect of the dosage of the demulsifier (Servo CC 3408) in pp m on the overall
efficiency of the desalting-dehydration process. As the demulsifier was added, both the S=R and W=C efficiencies increased,
reached a maximu m, and then decreased at higher chemical dosage. The demulsifier acts to neutralize the effect of the emulsifying
agents, freeing more water drops from the surrounding interfacial film. The excessive use of this demulsifier can decrease th e
surface tension of water droplets and actually create a more stable emulsion, which is difficult to treat. It is worth noting here that
chemical injection is usually applied in practice on a trial and error basis. The operator injects a certain quantity of chemical, sees
the effect on efficiencies, and then adjusts the quantity injected accordingly.

Effect of Heating:
Heating is another important factor used in the desalting-dehydration process. When an emulsion is subjected to heating, the
rise of temperature will increase thermal motions to enhance the collision rate. As the temperature increases the viscosity (including
interfacial viscosity) will be reduced, thus increasing the likelihood of water drop coalescence. It should be noted that the reported
results are based on experiments conducted in an open vessel. Currently most desalting in refineries is done in closed electrostatic
desalter at 100 to 500 C, No dehydration due to evaporation occurs in these units.

Effect of Mi xing Time:

Mixing is used in a desalting-dehydration process to promote further dispersion of dilution water and demulsifier -chemical with
the emulsion. It is also used to help smaller water droplets coalesce, enhancing the S=R efficiency and, in particular, affec ts the
W=C efficiency. Initially, the W=C efficiency increased slightly above the S=R efficiency with increasing mixing t ime. Both
efficiencies increased up to the point of 5 min, when W=C efficiency began to deteriorate. The reason for such deterioration is due

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to the phenomenon of emulsion type inversion when an emulsion suddenly changes type, from water-in-oil to water-in-oil-in-wat er.
This process was almost invariably observed in the beaker tests after emulsions had been stirred for a sufficiently long time . The
time required for a stable emulsion to invert depends on the stirring speed, temperature, the surfactant species, and its concentration
(Sun and Shook 1996). Although many papers and studies have explored this subject, the exact mechanism of inversion remains
unclear.
It can also be observed that at a long mixing time, as more salt quantities melt and are collecte d at the bottom of the test beaker,
the S=R efficiency improves. Elig ibly et al. (1999) also reported similar observations. TPL (1992) also reported that too low
pressure drops (short mixing time) across the mixing valve of a desalting -dehydration process will cause a decrease in S=R
efficiency. That is due to a less intimate contact between dilution water and crude.

Effect of Settling Ti me:

The settling time factor was experimentally investigated using a centrifuge at a fixed speed of 1000 rp m. The rela tive
centrifugation force (g force) was 223.6. The time was varied from 1 to 5 min. Figure 6 shows a dramatic increase of S=R and
W=C efficiencies. The settling time factor was varied here from 1.0 min to 5.0 min. basically, the two efficiencies follow th e same
pattern when settling time is applied. The S=R efficiency shows a sharp increase at the first three levels (1.0_3.0 min) and then a
leveling off towards the end points (4.0_ 5.0 min). The W=C efficiency increases as a result of the increase of gravity difference
between oil and water. It can also be observed from Figure 6 that at higher settling times (4.0_5.0 min), the efficiency reac hed a
maximu m value of 65.0%. The asymptotic behavior in W=C efficiency is due to reaching a point at which the water d roplets are
too small to settle out. This can be attributed to their relatively high specific surface. A specific concentration of chemic al-
Demulsifier or more mixing times is required for further settling. This is due to the type of emulsion that is being tested; more than
40.0% of the water droplets are considered too small to release from the thin films surrounding them. Those thin films create what
is known as a tight emulsion: an emulsion that contains very small droplets (less than 10.0 microns) that are hard to settle out.

Combi ned Effects:

Mixing times in the range of 12.0_15.0 min at 55_C g ive a W=C less than 3.0%. The figure clearly shows that increasing the
temperature while fixing the mixing time would not improve the W=C final value for the o il and demulsifier studied. This is true
because at higher temperatures, the decrease in viscosity is counterbalanced by the effect of chemical=demulsifier on the typ e of
emulsion.
When the W=C value is plotted against chemical dosage (ppm), Figure 8 shows the reverse situation at the same two values of
temperature, 55 and 70_C. The mixing time is fixed here at 1 min but the final values of W=C behaved in an opposite way. If an
excess of chemical-demulsifier is used under the lower temperature, 55_C, the W=C value becomes independent of chemical
dosage. In the opinion of many researchers (e.g., Schramm, 1992) this independent behavior is due to the development of
mu ltilayer’s of emu lsions that are not affected by any change of chemical dosage.

Conclusion
By using AGAR SYSTEM in desalter plant, ONGC can save $ 89,044,170.21 which spent to separate crude from waste water
in WWTP and again sent separated crude oil to desalter plant. Also refinery spent $10 bbl to recover & reprocess lost hydroca rbon.
So AGA R SYSTEM helps to save $ 890441702.1. And installation cost of AGAR SYSTEM is $ 1,722,200. Hence after 10 year
ONGC can get profit of $ 87,321,970.21.
Therefore, project is feasible. A GAR SYSTEM can be used in desalter plant to get high profit.

Table of Content
Character Value

Specific grav ity (60ᵒ/60ᵒ) 0.864

Reid vapour pressure ( Psia) 10.5

Pour point (ᵒF) Less than-30

Average API gravity at 60_F 31.7
Viscosity (Cs) at 70_F 17.4
100_F 10.5
130 F 6.79
160 F 4.8
Average sulphur content (% by wt) 2.7
Asphaltenes (wt %) 2.23

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R EFERENCES
[1] G Agar. (2000). Agar’s solution to desalting systems. http:www.agarcorp.com=AppNote3.htm System 3
[2] Kuwait Oil Company, Production Personnel Development Division, Production and Export Operations Group. (1987). Dehyd ration-
Desalting Principles
[3] Schramm, L. L. ed. (1992). Emulsions Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry, 1_45, 51_74, 295_312, 313_338,
341_382, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
[4] www.ongcindia.com
[5] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_and_Natural_Gas_Corporation
[6] www.ongcvidesh.com/

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