HEATER TREATER

WRITTEN BY JERRY RATZLAFF ON 17 FEBRUARY 2016. POSTED IN VESSEL

A heater treater is a pressure vessel that uses heat and residence
time to separate clean, dry oil from incoming fluids.  It usually is
located immediately downstream of the Free Water Knockout during the
oil dehydration process.   The heat allows for easier separation of the
oil and water and also allows solid particles such as sand and
corrosive products to settle out.   The quality of the effluent oil is
measured with a bulk sediment and water (BS&W) probe.

There are two separate sections in a heater treater, the heating

section and the treating section.  The heating section is where fluid is
received and heat is applied.  Heat can be applied with a burner or
steam coils.  The heat causes the viscosity of the oil to drop and flow
through the water phase easier.

At the boundary of the heating section, there is an internal weir which

directs flow to the treating section.  In the treating section, a lowered
oil viscosity and residence time cause the oil to separate from the
water.

Gas from the process stream collects in the top portion of

the vessel and exits the vessel through a nozzle designed to hold back
pressure on the vessel.

Water from the stream exits through the bottom of the vessel.  The
water is then sent to further processing to remove any additional bulk
sediment or trace oil particles.  Following this, the water may be
filtered and softened for use in steam generation or water injection.  

Oil is collected from a weir box near the top of the vessel.  Oil
discharge may be flow controlled by a control valve or might dump
with assistance of an on/ off control valve.  At this point, the oil should
of sufficient quality for sale and it either transferred directly to a LACT
Unit or a holding tank.

 
Schematic View of a Heater Treater
Advantages
1. For heavier crudes (API
Gravity 10 and below), where
the density of the oil is near
the density of water, heating
the emulsion causes the
density difference between the
oil and water which promotes
separation.
2. Applying heat causes the
viscosity of the continuous oil
phase and increases the rate
the remaining water settles out
of the oil.
3. Convection caused by the
heating increases the
likelihood of remaining water
droplets coalescence.
4. Currents caused by the
heating can assist in the
distribution of chemicals used
to help with separation.
5. Keeping the temperature
above the cloud point keeps
the paraffins from solidifying.
TYPES OF HEATER TREATERS
Disadvantages
1. Heating causes the lighter, more
volatile to vaporize out of the crude oil
into the gas phase.  This is
disadvantageous for two reasons.  First,
this can result in a perceived volume loss
when the light ends evaporate from the
fluid and will result in an API Gravity
Reduction & volume shrinkage. 
Secondly, a gas blanket consisting of
volatile hydrocarbon gasses could form
and self ignite if the temperature gets too
high.
2. Unless there are heat or fuel sources
readily available, operation of the heater
treater can get expensive, especially as
fuel costs increase.
3. Direct fired heater treaters are
complex pieces of equipment and require
instrumentation, controls and safety
devices to be installed and working
together to ensure a stable safe process. 
Typical pieces of equipment on a heater
treater are dump valves, back pressure
valves, temperature and pressure
transmitters.
Heater treaters can be either direct fired or indirect fired.  The
orientation of the pressure vessel can be horizontal or vertical.  The
main difference between a horizontal and vertical orientation is
residence time.  A horizontal heater treater has longer residence time
than a vertical one.

DIRECT HEATER
A direct fired heater treater is designed such that the transfer of heat is
accomplished by direct contact of the fluid with the firebox/ fire-tube. 
Direct fired heater treaters are more efficient than indirect fired heater
treaters. With a direct fired heater treater, care must be taken to
ensure that the fluid level never drops below any portion of the fire
tube.  If the level drops below the top of the firebox/ fire-tube the heat
generated by the burner cannot be dissipated as quickly by the fluids
and could cause self-ignition of the gas blanked.  For this reason, the
heated section of a heater treater is usually fluid packed.

INDIRECT HEATER
An indirect fired heater treater is one where the heating element
heats the water or another heating medium and the heating medium
is then used to transfer heat to the process stream.  An indirect fired
heater treater might be used if the production stream is sandy.  Sand
falling out of the emulsion can collect on the fire-tube and cause
overheating (hot spots) of the tube.  

In general, an indirect fired heater is less efficient than a direct fired

heater because heat from the burner needs to be transferred to the
heating medium which is then transferred to the process stream.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
SAND & SEDIMENT
Solid particles such as sand and sediment will separate from the
emulsion and will collect at the bottom of the heater treater.  Over
time, solidsaccumulation will cause the capacity of the treater to
become diminished.  Just as importantly, if particulate collects on the
fire tubes, it will create hotspots and cause failure of the fire tube.  
Vessel design is very important to mitigate issues caused by sand. 
Water jets can be used in conjunction with sand drains to remove
accumulated sand.  Other design features can help keep clean the
heater treater by using currents caused by the heating process.

SIZING
A heater treater should be designed for a certain amount of
residence time. This would be dictated by the API gravity, inlet
temperature, flow rate, emulsion tightness and specifications required
of the outlet stream.  For example, sale quality oil (3% BS&W) will
need to spend more time in the heater treater than oil that is not sale
quality.

PRESSURE RELIEF
All pressure vessels should have some pressure relief device to
guarantee that the internal pressure does not exceed design
requirements.  Ensure that the pressure relief valve does not get
plugged up with sand or sediment.  To mitigate against this, locate
the relief device near the top of the vessel.