Desalting

Oil Refining Technologies 1

4/19/2011

Mourad Hosni

Mourad.Hosni@hotmail.com
Desalting: is the initial step in oil refining. It includes 2 stages:

1- Removal of salts from crude oil

These salts are come in the form of
 Dissolved or
 Suspended crystals in water emulsified with the crude oil

Salt usually expressed as (NaCl).

2- Removal of suspended solids from crude oil:

These are usually: very fine sand, clay and soil particles, iron oxides, and
iron sulfides particles from piplelines or tanks.

Desalting is carried out by mixing the crude oil with (3-10) Vol. % fresh water at
temperatures from (100 to 150) oC.

Both ratios of water vol. and temperature depend on the crude oil density.

Salts are dissolved in water. Then water and crude oil are separated in a settling
vessel by:

1- Addition of chemicals to assist in breaking the emulsion

2- Developing a high potential electrical field across the settling vessel to
coalescence the salty water droplets more rapidly.

Either AC or DC fields are used with potentials from 12000 to 35000 volts to
promote coalescence.

About 90%of desalters use AC fields.

For most crude oils it is desirable to keep ph below 8.0, note that best dehydration
in desalters occur when ph is 6.0