Crude Oil Dehydration and Desalting

Dr. Vikas Mahto

Professor
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad

The presence of water in the crude oil must be limited as the salty water can cause severe
corrosion in tankers, pipeline, and refining equipment
equipment.. Salts cake out inside equipment, cause
poor flow and plugging, reduce heat transfer rates in exchangers. In addition, some mineral salts
can poison expensive catalysts. Therefore the salt concentration in the crude oil must be limited.
The salt content in the crude product is typically specifi
specified at 10 – 30 PTB (Pounds per thousand
barrels)
Crude oil dehydration and desalting are performed in electrostatic coalescers. Usually for
deep dehydration and desalting, a two stage process is used where the entrained produced water
is removed in the first
st electrostatic coalescer. This is followed by the second “desalting” stage,
where wash water is injected upstream, and removed in the coalescer. The number of stages
required depends on the produced water quantity, the inlet salt concentration and the salt
sa
specification required in the product crude. The electrostatic coalescers must be located after
crude degassing is completed, and sufficient pressure maintained to prevent vaporization in the
unit.

Figure 1.. Typical Dehydrator and Desalter Arrangeme

Arrangement
Dehydration Stage
Crude oil from gravity based separators normally contains up to 2% produced water. When the
product specification calls for a BS & W less than 0.5 %, electrostatic coalescer is commonly
used. In dehydration stage by electrostatic coalescer, up to 10% water in inlet oil reduces to less
than 0.2% volume water in oil after coalescing.

Crude oil dehydration in electrostatic coalescer is performed based on the following principles:
 Destabilization of oil-water emulsion. This is accomplished by chemical injection and/or
heat treatment. The addition of a chemical in proper type and right amount will reduce
interfacial tension between the continuous (oil) phase and the dispersed (water) phase.
The addition of heat to ensure the fluid temperature reduces the emulsion viscosity to 25
Cp or less, for adequate movement of the water droplet.
 Coalescence of water droplets. This is achieved by introduction of electric field into the
oil–water emulsion. When the emulsion passes through the electric field, the water
droplets are electrically charged, and then dipole will be created. Dipole attraction
between water droplets causes the coalescence of droplets.
 Sedimentation to separate the two phases. The allowance of adequate settling time for the
coalesced particles to separate.

The coalescer is completely filled with liquid: water at the bottom and oil on the top. Inside
electrodes form an electric field to break surface bonds between conductive water and isolating
oil in an oil water emulsion. The coalescer field plates are generally steel, sometimes covered
with dielectric material to prevent short circuits. Field intensity and frequency as well as the
coalescer grid layout are different for different manufacturers and oil types.
Figure 2 shows typical electrostatic coalescer with the internals

Figure 2.. Typical Electrostatic Coalescer with Internals

Electrostatic coalescer is popular offshore because the space and weight can be minimized. This
type of treater can reduce chemical co
consumption.
nsumption. Electrostatic coalescing allows the treating
process to operate at lower temperatures than those of conventional treaters. The use of lower
temperature reduces fuel costs. For cold weather operation, it may be necessary to use heating
element in this unit.

Desalting Stage
The desalting process is similar to the dehydration stage in electrostatic coalescer. The difference
is the injection of less saline diluent water and the use of a mixing valve for crude / diluent water
contact. Desalting is a process whereby fresh water is mixed with the crude oil. The fresh or low
salinity water dissolves crystalline salt in the oil or dilutes the entrained produced salt water.
When the oil is dehydrated, any entrained water left in the oil will be less salty, thus reducing the
crude oil’s salt content (PTB) to specification. This is the basic approach used by all field
desalting system. Typically, desalters are designed to handle maximum inlet water content of
10% with the crude, although it is possible to des
design
ign the desalter for 15% water cut.
Water for Desalting
The required wash water for desalter is usually 4% to 8% by volume of the crude charge stream.
The flow rate depends on quality of the crude oil being processed. For offshore application, the
wash water is a fresh water which normally produced from a desalination unit.
The water pressure must be high enough to enable injection upstream of the mixing valve or pre-
heat exchanger. The portion of wash water injected upstream of the crude preheat exchangers
should enter on the discharge of the crude charge pump. Injection into the pump suction can lead
to a creation of very stable emulsions, especially in the case of using a multi-stage pump.

Mixing Valve
Mixing valve is located immediately upstream of the desalter. The valve is provided to ensure
good contact between wash water and the crude oil. The valve should be designed properly to
achieve high mixing efficiency but avoiding a tight emulsion of oil and water. Normally 25 psi
pressure drop across the mixing valve and desalting unit is specified. The desalter vendor should
be consulted for the pressure drop requirement, since for some crude oils this value may be
reduced.

Desalter Operating Pressure

It is not essential for desalter operation that pressure be controlled. However, for efficient
operation, pressure variations of short duration should be avoided. The pressure should be
maintained at a level adequate to suppress vaporization. The operating pressure of the desalter is
normally specified at 1 bar above the total vapour pressure of the crude oil and water at the
maximum operating temperature in the desalter.