Degassing & Dehydration

In a producing oilfeld the uid obtained at the
wellhead is submitted to degassing and
dehydration operations .

In the frst operation the gases evolved by

releasing the pressure o the uid are recovered,
stripped o the less volatile components, and
either sent to consumer centers as natural gas
or used to repressurize the oilfeld.

 The stripped liuid components are mar!eted as

stabilized natural gasoline.
 

Dehydration and desalting of

crude
 The second operation aims to
completely eliminate the water that
appears in the uid orming stable
emulsions, and the removal o
water"soluble inorganic salts
associated with the water which, i
let in the oil, would give rise to
serious corrosion problems in the
course o refning operation.
 

#ll crude contain moisture and salts to

varying degrees.

$ater is li!ely to occur in emulsion orm

when the crude are naphthenic or sulurous.

(No harm may be expected to the

distillation column due to the presence of
moisture , as there is always steam in
distillation. However , crude has to be
dehydrated to remove the salts).
 

$ater being good solvent or these salts the

removal is very much e%ective in the orm o brine.

 all o the e'isting salts, chlorides o calcium and

magnesium distinguish themselves in playing an
invincible role in overhead corrosion .

 These salts in presence o steam at ()*"+** *

easily hydrolyze generating hydrochloric vapors.

 These vapors cause corrosion to euipments

 

#ny crude that contains more than )

!gs -(*lbs o total salts e'pressed
in terms o sodium chloride per
thousand barrels may be regarded
as salty crude.

Dehydration o crude is practiced in

two stages, frst at the site and later
at the refnery.
 

#t the site -oil feld  / salt is removed by

( settling or
+ by adding chemicals or
0 by ombination o these two.

rude possessing emulsiying characteristics are

not responsive to settling method1 these demand
demulsiying agent to increase the coalescence o
water drops.

-2oda ash, sodium hydro'ide, salt o atty acids

petroleum sulonates which assist coalescence o
water droplets.
 

#nother mechanical method is used

i.e. coalescence, means it is the
process by which two or more
droplets, bubbles or particles merge
during contact to orm a single
daughter droplet, bubble or particle.

# typical diagram o a coaleser is

given below/
 

# good amount o water should be available

in crude or such treatment 1 lac! o water
demands the resh additions to about +* 3 .

#ter adding the chemicals and water to the

desired e'tent the crude mi'ture is allowed to
stand 4)"5* o at () !gs6cm+  in huge tall
tan!s.

Demulsiying chemicals , i necessary are

added in very small amounts. 7etention time
is about 85 hours.
 

7esin, asphalts, organic acids, and

solids which are produced with the oil,
and aid in the ormation o a tough flm
around the droplet, thus isolating each
separate water droplet rom the other.

 The flm which isolates the water

droplets rom the other must be
bro!en beore coalescence ta!e place
 

 The fnal phase o the coalescence

process is the collision o these small
water droplets under the inuence