Desalting

Field or Refinery: A higher level of desalting performance

Hundreds of installations in oilfields NATCO Dual Polarity® Desalters: the Dual Polarity® Desalter works for all
worldwide provide the foundation for The best of AC and DC drop sizes to increase both through-put
NATCO’s desalting expertise. The NATCO Dual Polarity® Desalter and salt removal:
Dual Polarity® desalters have increasingly combines both AC and DC fields. The DC
been selected to handle every type of field is established by connecting both • Large droplets coalesce in the AC
crude in the field and in refineries from plates to the same terminal of the AC field outside the plates.
North and South America, to Europe and transformer through diodes with each • Small droplets in the DC field pick up
Asia. NATCO Electro-Dynamic® Desalters plate charged during half of the AC cycle. a charge from the nearest electrode
in refineries have achieved remarkable The charge is maintained between cycles and accelerate towards the oppositely
results even when processing some of the by capacitive storage. This patented charged plate, colliding with other
world’s most difficult crudes, as the cases design also creates an AC field between drops, coalescing, and settling out.
below illustrate: the edges of the plates and the oil/water • Overall salt removal and through-put
interface, and between the plates and are significantly increased. And this is
• A two-stage AC desalter processing walls of the vessel. With its unique design, not the whole story.
29° API crude could achieve salt
levels of only 203 PTB; a NATCO
Electro-Dynamic® Desalter retrofit
improved desalting to 0.5 PTB.
• High-solids Chinese crude oils that
previously could not be satisfactorily
processed using AC technology were
desalted to less than 1 PTB with the
NATCO Electro-Dynamic® Desalter.
• A two-stage AC desalter was only
able to control chloride ion content
in the overhead condenser water to
30–40 PPM. A NATCO Electro-
Dynamic® Desalter reduced levels to
less than 10 PPM.

Issue 7 09.02 Page 3011-A1


Electro-Dynamic® Desalting:
The ultimate solution
The Electro-Dynamic® Desalter (‘EDD’) is
NATCO’s premier desalting system,
combining Dual Polarity with four additional
NATCO innovations:
Composite electrodes, electrostatic
mixing, programmed voltage profile, and
countercurrent flow. These four features
make it possible to carry out multiple stage
desalting within a single unit for unprece-
dented desalting efficiency.
ELECTROSTATIC FIELDS
HIGH VOLTAGE GRADIENT DISPERSION
Electrostatic mixing:
Capturing all the droplets
Optimum field strength changes with drop
size. Large water drops coalesce in weak
fields, but small drops require fields so
strong that large droplets are shattered.
NATCO’s Electro-Dynamic® Desalter solves
this problem by using electrostatic mixing to
sweep across field strengths and mop up
droplets of all sizes. Each mixing cycle lasts
3–5 seconds, and typical water droplets may
undergo 10–15 cycles before completely
settling out.
The results are:
• Electronically controlled, highly efficient
mixing
• Optimal contact between entrained brine
water
• Effective coalescence for water droplets
of every size
• Multistage mixing and coalescence with a
single desalting unit
Issue 7 09.02
Desalting
NATCO Composite plates: Successful The transformer protects itself from
desalting even for crudes of overheating, and the voltage spikes preserve
unusually high water content most of the coalescing power of the field.
Very wet crudes may cause electrical arcing
that instantly discharges an entire steel plate The results are:
array and halts desalting. Patented NATCO • Superior coalescing power, even with
Composite Plates solve this problem. elevated water content
Constructed of a unique graphite/ fiberglass • Continuous desalting in conditions where
material, these plates resist electrical flow fluctuating crude feeds would severely
across their surfaces. When an arc strikes, it hamper ordinary desalters
discharges only a small area of the
Composite Plate, while the rest of the plate Countercurrent flow: Multistage
keeps working. operation within a single unit
NATCO takes multistage mixing one stage
The result: further with counterflow dilution, achieving
• High throughput desalting even for true multistage desalting in a single vessel.
crudes containing up to 30% water Instead of being mixed with crude ahead of
• Continued efficient operation even in the desalter, coarse drops of dilution water
typical upset conditions flow down from an overhead distributor
• Minimum ‘slippage’ of untreated crude while oil flows up. Electrostatic mixing
through the electrostatic field during countercurrent flow through the
• Reduced sensitivity to interface sludge electrode array provides extremely efficient
layers contact. As a result, the Electro-Dynamic®
Desalter:
The Load Responsive Controller and
Pulsed Dual Polarity: Microprocessor • Is as efficient as two or three conventional
control for optimal operation desalters
A desalter’s electrical field works best if • Requires smaller amounts of dilution
‘tuned’ for each crude – and when crude water – as little as 2–3%
feeds change, it’s difficult to maintain • Recycles dilution water, reducing water
consistent desalting and prevent upsets. In usage still further
the past, refiners tried different transformer • Generates minimum volumes of waste-
taps and hoped for the best. Now the water for disposal
NATCO Load Responsive Controller (LRC)
makes it easy to change voltage as the
crude state changes.
In conventional systems, the transformer
compensates by lowering output voltage,
which reduces performance. The NATCO For more information on NATCO Desalting or other
NATCO Group products contact:
LRC with Pulsed Dual Polarity compensates
for wetter crudes by providing full power NATCO Group Head Office
Houston, USA
voltage spikes whose duration and Tel: +(1) 713 683 9292
frequency depend on crude conductivity. Email: sales@natco-us.com
NATCO Canada
Calgary, Canada
Tel: +(1) 403 236 1850
Email: sales@natco.ab.ca
EDD COMPOSITE ELECTRODE CONFIGURATION
LOAD OIL NATCO Japan
RESPONSIVE OUTLET
Tokyo, Japan
CONTROLLER
Tel: +(81) 33288 1901
DILUTION
Email: natco1@natcojapan.com
WATER
HEADERS Axsia Group
Gloucester, England
COMPOSITE Tel: +(44) 1452 833800
ELECTRODES
Email: asbl@axsia.com
Axsia Howmar
EMULSION
SPREADER Camberley, England
Tel: +(44) 1276 681101
Email: ahl@axsia.com
OIL/WATER WATER
INTERFACE OUTLET
www.natcogroup.com
Page 3011-A2