CRUDE OIL

CONDUCTIVITY

NALCO ENERGY
SERVICES
A.C. POTTER
February 8, 2007
 DESALTING PROCESS

Desalted
Heat Crude
Exchangers

Crude Oil
Mix
Valve
Water
Effluent Water

..

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 CRUDE OIL DESALTER

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 STOKE’S LAW

KD 2 (ρ w − ρ o )
V=
μ
V = Settling Velocity
K = A Constant
D = Diameter of Water Droplet
ρw = Density of Water
ρo = Density of Oil
μ = Viscosity of Oil

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 ELECTRICAL FIELD

-- +
-
-- --
++ ++
+
Electrostatic
Induced Charge Attraction
--
- - ---
++ ++

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 ATTRACTIVE FORCE

CV 02 D 6
F =
d4

F = Attractive Force
C = A Constant
V0 = Voltage Gradient
D = Droplet Diameter
d = Distance Between Drops

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 ELECTRICAL SUPPLY

Transformer Secondary
Line Voltage KVA Voltag
Rating
e
12-36 KV
Taps

800-3,000 Volts 8-24"

Inch Grids
Spacing

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 TRANSFORMER CHARACTERISTICS

AC Transformer Response

Voltage

Amperage

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 CRUDE CONDUCTIVITY

Crude Oil Resistance (Ohm-cm)

West Texas 3.0
Arabian Light 1.5
Arabian Heavy 1.1
INCREASING
Alaskan North Slope 1.0
CONDUCTIVITY
Maya 0.95
BCF 17 0.9
Lloydminster B 0.6
Source: Howe Baker Engineers

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 DILUTION EFFECTS

7000000
CONDUCTIVITY PICOSIMENS/METER

6000000
Crude oil
+ Toluene
5000000

4000000

3000000

2000000
Crude oil
1000000

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

TEMPERATURE oC Toluene

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 BLEND EFFECTS

ARAB HVY / DOBA CRUDE BLENDS

CONDUCTIVITY PICOSIMENS/METER

1400000

20% DOBA IN
1200000 ARAB HVY

1000000 10% DOBA IN

ARAB HVY
800000

600000
DOBA
400000

ARAB HVY
200000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

TEMPERATURE oC

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 DESALTING OPERATION

INSTALLED TRANSFORMER CAPACITY KVA

Crude
Blend “C”
Crude
Blend “B”

Crude
Blend “A”

DESALTER OPERATING
TEMPERATURE oC

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 EFFECTS ON VOLTAGE

• CONDUCTIVITY

TEMPERATURE
WATER IN CRUDE
CONTANIMANTS
CRUDE OIL
COMPOSITION
PRODUCTION
ADDITIVES

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 CRUDE CONDUCTIVITY

• TEMPERATURE
–INCREASES CONDUCTIVITY

• WATER IN CRUDE OIL

–INCREASES CONDUCTIVITY
–DESALTER DESIGNED FOR % QUANTITIES

• CONTANIMANTS
-CONDUCTIVE SPECIES (eg: Metals)

• CRUDE OIL
–COMPOSITION (?)
–FORMATION RELATED (?)
–ADDITIVES USED (?)

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved

 DESALTING OPERATION

CRUDE QUALITY PARAMETERS

FOR DESALTING OPERATION

• SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF CRUDE SLATE

• WATER CONTENT OF CRUDE SLATE
• VISCOSITY OF CRUDE SLATE
• CHLORIDE CONTENT OF CRUDE SLATE
• SOLIDS CONTENT OF CRUDE SLATE
• CRUDE CONDUCTIVITY CRUDE SLATE

©Copyright 2007 Nalco Company. All rights reserved