Professional Documents
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Oil Treatment
(Dehydration)
Part of the
Petroleum Processing Technology Series
OPITO
THE OIL & GAS ACADEMY
POL
Petroleum Open Learning
Oil Treatment
(Dehydration)
Part of the
Petroleum Processing Technology Series
OPITO
THE OIL & GAS ACADEMY
Contents
Page
Training Targets
Introduction
What is an emulsion?
The Creation of an Emulsion
Emulsion Stabiltiy
Emulsions and the Problem of Salt
14
Visual Cues
training targets for you to
achieve by the end of the unit
test yourself questions to see
how much you understand
Contents (contd)
Section 3 Dehydration Systems and Equipment
Settling Tanks
32
Wash Tanks
Free Water Knockout
Heater Treaters
Electrostatic Treaters
Desalting
Pages
Visual Cues
training targets for you to
achieve by the end of the unit
test yourself questions to see
how much you understand
45
58
Training Targets
When you have completed this unit on Oil Treatment (Dehydration), you will be able to :
Explain how residual water in oil can cause problems with salt content.
Describe the construction and operation of wash tanks and free water knockouts.
Describe the construction and operation of heater treaters and electrostatic treaters.
Introduction
an emulsifying agent
resins
organic acids
metallic salts
silts
Emulsion Stability
The stability of an emulsion is a measure of its
resistance to being broken down into the separate
components of oil and water. We can refer to an
emulsion as being tight (difficult to break) or loose
(more easy to break). Whether the emulsion is tight
or loose depends on a number of factors and we
can look at some of these now.
O
il viscosity In a thick viscous oil, water
droplets cannot move around very easily.
This means that there will be less chance of
the droplets meeting each other. Even if the
droplets which form during emulsification are
relatively large, they will not be able to sink
through the oil and separate out. Therefore
the oil will be able to hold the water droplets
in suspension more easily.
Age
of the emulsion - When the water and
oil are first mixed together the emulsifying
agent is evenly distributed throughout
the oil. It takes time for the ernulslfier to
migrate to the interface between the oil and
the water droplets. So initially the emulsion
is relatively unstable. As time goes on and
the migration proceeds, the film is formed
around the water droplets. With increasing
time the film becomes thicker and tougher
making it more difficult for the droplets
to combine. This results in a more stable
emulsion.
b.
If a mixture of oil and water is violently agitated a tight emulsion will form.
c.
If, after agitation of oil and water in the presence of an emulsifying agent
small droplets of water are produced, the resulting emulsion will tend to be
a tight emulsion.
TRUE
FALSE
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 1.2 on page 58
Figure 1.1
10
11
12
Summary of Section 1
In this section we have been looking at emulsions in general, what they are and
how they are formed. I defined an emulsion as a mixture of two normally immiscible
liquids in which one of the liquids is dispersed throughout the other as small droplets.
It is stabilised by an emulsifying agent. I pointed out that in a water in oil emulsion
the water is the internal phase and the oil is the continuous phase. You saw that in
addition to the two immiscible liquids and an emulsifying agent being present, the
mixture must also be agitated for an emulsion to form.
We then went on to look at the way in which an emulsion is formed and I gave
an example of mayonnaise as a well known emulsion. In this case eggs form the
emulsifying agent. You saw what types of substances form emulsifying agents in the
oilfield and how the agitation occurs when reservoir fluids are produced.
We considered the difference between a tight and a loose emulsion and the various
factors which affect its stability.
Finally we looked at the problems of salt in crude oil. You saw that even if the residual
amount of water in oil is reduced to very low percentages, if the salinity of that water is
very high then there could be problems with the total amount of salt in the oil.
13
V
g
r
d1
d2
N
=
=
=
=
=
=
velocity
gravitational constant
radius of particle
density of continuous medium
density of particle
viscosity of continuous medium
F
irstly g the gravitational constant. This, as
its name states, is a constant and we can
do nothing at all about this
S
econdly r which is the radius of the particle,
in our case the water particle. We could try
to increase the radius of the particles by
causing the droplets to join together thus
increasing their size and hence their radius
F
inally N is the viscosity of the oil. To increase the speed of settling, this must be
reduced. We could certainly try to do that
14
Activity
This is simply an activity to get you thinking
about ways to decrease the viscosity of a
liquid.
Imagine working in the kitchen and having to
mix some treacle with dry ingredients in order
to prepare a particular dish. If you took the
treacle straight out of the tin it might prove
difficult to stir - it is thick or very viscous. What
could you do to make the treacle thinner?
One thing you might think about doing is to
warm up the treacle in a pan on the stove.
As the treacle gets hotter it will start to flow
more easily. It gets thinner or its viscosity is
reduced.
15
Activity
All you need to perform this activity is a plastic ball point pen a piece
of woollen cloth and a source of running water e.g. the kitchen tap.
R
un the water from the tap as a small, thin continuous stream. Make
sure that the stream is not breaking up into droplets.
H
old the blunt end of the pen against the stream of running water.
Observe what happens to the stream.
N
ow rub the end of the pen against the piece of woollen cloth a few
times. (The blunt end of the pen not the metal ball point end).
H
old the end of the pen close to the stream of running water again
and observe what happens.
16
17
Although the application of heat and the application of electricity are both commonly used in
dehydration they are rarely used by themselves. In order to assist in the process or to speed
it up, chemicals are invariably injected into the emulsion. We can look at this now but before
we do, try the following Test Yourself question.
b)
D
ecreasing the difference in density between water and oil in an emulsion
would assist in allowing the water to settle during treating.
c)
d)
Electric dipoles in water molecules are normally arranged with their negative
ends all pointing in the same direction.
TRUE
FALSE
REASON
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 2.1 on Page 59.
18
Figure 2.4
19
Figure 2.5
The demulsifer makes the particles water wet. it
has one end which is strongly attracted to the solild
particle and forms a coating on the particle. The other
end is strongly attracted to the water and will carry
the particle in the water. This means that when the
water droplets coalesce and sink, the soild particles
will be carried out of the oil and can be disposed of
with the water.
You can deduce from all this that the demulsifier has
several jobs to do. It would be almost impossible to
find a single chemical which could accomplish all
these actions. Therefore, Demulifiers are cocktails
of chemicals which are blended to give the best
possible results for the type of emulsion being
treated.
20
Demulsifler Selection
Just as there are many different types of crude oil
there can be many different types of emulsions
formed. To obtain optimum dehydration the most
effective demulsifier for each type of emulsion must
be selected. What is effective in one field may not
work in another. In fact, the addition of the wrong
type of demulsifier could aggravate the situation
and cause the emulsion to become more stable.
The selection of the demulsifier depends on a
number of factors, including:
The temperature
Equipment
The following list of equipment needed for the test
is fairly straightforward, however I have given a
brief description of the items which you may not be
completely familiar with.
21
Test Procedure
Main Test
22
23
b.
g.
h.
Record the start of the settling time and allow the samples to settle.
i.
j.
After agitating immediately place the bottles in the water bath where the temperature
has been adjusted to that of the settling temperature in the field.
You will find the correct answers in Cheak Yourself 2.2 on page 59.
24
Injection of Chemicals
Where is the best place to introduce the demulsifier
into the emulsion ? The answer to this question
is that there is no single best chemical injection
location. Each process system must be carefully
evaluated to determine the most effective point
of injection. We can look at a typical system and
identify some possibilities.
Activity
The following drawing Figure 2.6, is a simplified
layout of a typical production process. Study
the drawing for a few minutes and mark on it
the points where you think we could inject the
demulsifying chemical.
Figure 2.6
25
The drawing shows the flow of fluids from the reservoir through
the separators. In such a system there are several locations
which seem to be suitable as chemical injection points. I would
suggest the following :
26
27
The actual point is often a compromise which depends on the type of operation. Sometimes a few
wells would be treated downhole or at the flowline
with additional injection at a single point in the main
header. The character of each wells production
must be determined so that the wells which contribute most to the emulsion problem can be selected
for downhole treatment.
28
Water Washing
Settling
This process is a mechanical means of reducing the water content of a destabilised emulsion. In such a
system the emulsion is introduced to, or made to pass through, a large body of water. As it does so, each
water droplet in the emulsion may be absorbed by contact with this large volume. This is referred to as
water washing. For most effective absorption, the wash water should be exactly the same water as the
droplets. In fact the wash water is often free water which has already been removed from the emulsion. In
a water washing facility the emulsion flows under a baffle in the treating vessel thus ensuring that it passes
through the wash water. Figure 2.10 illustrates this.
29
b.
The speed at which a suspended particle would fall through a continuous medium can be described by
c.
and a
h.
An injection
equation.
end.
. the water droplets become
occurs.
the particles.
mandrel in the tubing string.
is designed to ensure that mixing is as complete as possible between the chemical and emulsion.
LIST OF WORDS
POLARISED, QUILL, NEGATIVE, ELECTRODES, HEADER, VISCOSITY, STOKES, WETTING,
POSITIVE, ELECTROSTATIC, BOTTLE TEST, FLOCCULATION, POCKET.
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 2.3 on Page 59.
30
Summary of Section 2
In this section I have taken you through the
principles of emulsion treating in a logical
manner. We started by having a look at Stokes
equation which is written as :
V=
2g r2 ( d2 - d1 )
9N
31
Settling Tanks
All treating systems involve settling.
In some situations a simple settling
tank used in conjunction with chemical
injection could be all that is necessary.
In this case the tank must be big enough
to allow sufficient retention time for the
water droplets to sink to the bottom.
A typical example of such a system is a
tank farm at a shore terminal. Here the
total production from an offshore field is
transported via a subsea pipeline to very
large tanks at the terminal. Although the
tanks are principally used for storage,
because of the amount of time that the oil
remains in the vessels, settling can take place.
Figure 3.1
32
Wash Tanks
Figure 3.2
water washing
settling
33
34
This vessel is basically a horizontal 3 phase separator. The incoming fluids impinge on an inlet diverter
where initial separation of gas from liquids takes
place. The liquids fall to the bottom of the vessel
and the diverter ensures that they pass through a
water layer which is maintained in the vessel. Thus
the liquids are water washed. The separated free
water plus any water which has been washed out of
the emulsion settles into the water layer. The level
of the water layer is maintained by an interface level
controller, operating a level control valve in the water
outlet line. The oil and emulsion flows over a weir into
the oil accumulation section from where it is taken
under level control to the emulsion treating facility.
The treating facilities we have just been looking at
are fairly simple systems. We can now go on to look
at something a little more complicated. Before we do,
try the following Test Yourself question.
Terms
Wash Tank
Free Water
Knockout Drum
Both
Neither
Inlet diverter
Gas Equaliser
Spreader
Water Layer
Weir
Conductor Pipe
Injection Quill
Water Level Control Valve
You will find the correct answer in Check Yourself 3.1 on Page 60.
35
Heater Treaters
We can now move on to a treatment facility which
uses the application of heat to assist in the process.
The heat may be applied prior to treating the
emulsion in a simple wash tank. In this case the
heating could be carried out in a heat exchanger
similar to the one shown in Figure 3.4.
separation section
heating elements
mist extractor
coalescing section
spreader
oil collector
36
Flow, which is a mixture of oil, some gas, emulsion and free water enters the separation section of the treater,
where initial separation takes place. Any gas in the fluids is flashed off at this point and flows to the gas outlet
line. Before leaving the vessel the gas passes through a mist extractor. This is a device which ensures that
any small droplets of liquid which may have been retained in the gas stream are removed. A common type
of mist extractor is in the form of a knitted wire mesh. The droplets of liquid impinge on the mesh, form larger
droplets then fall into the liquid below. Figure 3.6 shows a simplified version of a mist extractor.
37
38
Electrostatic Treaters
Electrostatic treaters are very similar in construction
to the heater treater we have just been looking at.
The main difference is that they incorporate high
voltage AC and / or DC electrostatic field in the
coalescing section. Figure 3.7 illustrates a typical
electrostatic treater. Study this for a while and note
the differences between this and the heater treater.
39
Desalting
As I pointed out in Section 1, crude oil which is
contaminated with salt is unacceptable to a refinery.
In production systems where salt in oil is a problem,
something must be done to desalt the oil. Often the
dehydration process of chemical injection coupled
with heater treaters and / or electrostatic treaters will
be sufficient to accomplish the desalting. In some
cases however, it may be necessary to inject fresh
water into the emulsion. This will dissolve the salt so
that it can be removed together with the water in a
treating vessel.
The desalting system which I have used to illustrate
such a process, utilises a pre-heater, a fresh water
storage tank, a fresh water injection pump and an
electrostatic desalter/dehydrator. It is the type of
system commonly found at a terminal where a fired
pre-heater is used.
Look at Figure 3.8 on the next page, which shows
this system as a simple block diagram.
40
41
heater shell
42
Wash Tank
Heater Treater
Electroststic Treater
Mist Extractor
Spreader
Equalising Line
Weir
Electrodes
Conductor Pipe
Heating Element
Transformer
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 3.2 on Page 61.
43
Summary of Section 3
We began this section by considering some basic equipment used for treating emulsions. Firstly, I pointed out that a simple settling tank could be used,
and illustrated this by showing you a tank farm system.
We then looked at facilities used to wash an emulsion. The simple wash tank was explained in detail and you saw that the breaking of the emulsion
is achieved in two parts i.e. water washing and settling. I also showed you a variation of the wash tank which is used to remove any free water prior to
emulsion treating. The vessel doing this is called a free water knockout drum.
Heater treaters vessels came next and we
looked at a typical treater vessel containing the
following elements :
separation section
heating elements
mist extractor
coalescing section
spreader
oil collector
44
45
46
47
You will find the correct answer in Check Yourself 4.1 on page 62
48
49
Inlet
b)
c)
FWKO drum
f)
Crude pump
g)
h)
i)
j)
Pre heater
k)
Dehydrators
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 4.2 on Page 62.
50
Electrostatic
Dehydrators
The crude enters this part of the process
from the water bath heater. Identify this
point on the drawing of this part of the
system in Figure 4.4.
The first thing you will see as you
trace the flow is an injection point for
water. This water is the reject water
from the second stage dehydrator.
It is injected at this point to help reduce
the salinity of the incoming water in the
emulsion and to water wash the emulsion.
Although the water used here is itself salty,
it is less saline than the incoming water.
The water is injected through nozzles
which ensure that it enters the main flow
as fine droplets. These droplets must
then combine with the water in the
emulsion which requires some form
of agitation. A mixing valve takes care
of this. The valve is a differential pressure
control valve (DPCV 01). Its controller
(DPC 01) maintains a pressure droplet
across the valve and this, together with
the plug and seat profile of the valve itself, provides
the necessary surface and energy for the agitation to
take place.
Figure 4.4 : Electrostatic Dehydrators
51
52
53
Upstream of the 1st stage dehydrator there is an injection point for reject water which comes from the
b)
The injection water and water in the emulsion require agitation. This is taken care of by a mixing
valve which is a
c)
valve.
before joining the oil entering the 2nd stage
dehydrator.
d)
e)
from the
as its heating medium.
You will find the correct answers in Check Yourself 4.3 on Page 63.
54
55
You will find the correct answer in Check Yourself 4.4 on Page 64.
56
Summary of Section 4
In this section I have taken you through a typical dehydration and desalting plant. It is an entirely hypothetical plant which is not intended to
represent any existing installation. It has simply been used to illustrate the principles which we discussed in the preceding sections.
In this plant we saw that the initial separation of water was accomplished using a three stage separation process. The first stage removed free
water which was used as wash water in the third stage or free water knockout. All the water removed in the FWKO drum was taken to a produced
water clean up facility prior to disposal.
The crude oil and remaining emulsion was then heated in a pre-heater and a water bath heater before entering the first stage of a two stage
dehydration and desalting process. These vessels were electrostatic units. Prior to the first stage the reject water from the second stage was
added to the feed. This helped to dilute the salt content of the produced water. The reject water from the first stage was combined with the water
from the FWKO drum and sent to disposal via the produced water clean up facility.
Before entering the second stage dehydrator, dilution water was added to the feed. This water can be obtained from water wells and heated by the
reject stream from the first stage in a heat exchanger located upstream of the injection point.
In the second stage dehydrator, the crude stream was finally treated to achieve the correct specification. The treated crude was then used as a
heating medium in the pre-heater prior to being sent to storage facilities from where it would be transported to the purchaser.
57
a.
False Mayonnaise once formed is very
stable and is difficult to break down.
surface area =
d2
b.
c.
True.
d.
True.
58
a)
True
a.
b)
b.
The speed at which a suspended particle would fall through a continuous medium can be
described by STOKES equation.
c)
True
c.
d)
e)
True
d. If an emulsion is passed through an electric field between two ELECTRODES the water
droplets become POLARISED.
e.
When water droplets gather together we could say that FLOCCULATION occurs.
f. A demulsifier helps to remove solid particles from the emulsion by WETTING the particles.
g.
A chemical injection valve could be situated in a side POCKET mandrel in the tubing string.
h.
a, d, e, b, i, c, j, h, f, g
59
Wash Tank
Inlet Diverter
Free Water
Knockout Drum
Spreader
Water Layer
Weir
4
4
Injection Quill
Water Level Control Valve
Niether
Gas Equaliser
Conductor Pipe
Both
4
4
60
Wash Tank
Mist Extractor
Spreader
Equalising Line
Weir
Heater Treater
Electrostatic Treater
Electrodes
Conductor Pipe
Heating Element
Transformer
4
4
4
4
4
61
a, b, g, c, e, d, f, i, j, h, k
62
Upstream of the 1st stage dehydrator there is an injection point for reject water which comes from
b)
The injection water and water in the emulsion require agitation, This is taken care of by a mixing
c)
Dilution water is passed through a HEATER before joining the oil entering the 2nd stage
dehydrator.
d)
It would be dangerous if the oil level dropped and uncovered the ELECTRODES
in the dehydrator.
e)
The dilution water heater uses WATER from the 1st STAGE DEHYDRATOR as its heating
medium.
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64