PROGRAM'S BACKGROUND

This program covers the different types of separation equipment typically encountered in oil and gas production facilities. Fractionation equipment and produced water treating equipment are not covered in this program. Candidates will learn where the different types of separation equipment are used based on operating conditions and separation performance requirements. Frequent references will be made to how the various types of separation equipment are incorporated into real production facility process flow diagrams.

The content of this program is both comprehensive and wide ranging. It will begin with a discussion of the fundamentals of the desalting process including crude oil quality impact, the operating variables, key equipment, various design options and major process variables. Once the fundamentals are established, discussion moves into the topics of unit operations, monitoring, and process troubleshooting.

The process for the desalting and dehydration of crude oil wherein, the crude oil is washed in one or several stages using fresh or recirculated hot water containing a demulsifier, the crude oil is also passed through a coalescence stage, and a settling stage aimed at obtaining a salt content to meet crude oil specifications. Maintaining smooth operation of crude oil desalting units is both critically important and quite difficult. Since there are so many significant variables to control, desalter operation must constantly be adjusted to maintain optimum performance with the ever changing sources of crude oil.

PROGRAM'S OBJECTIVES

This Program’s Attendees Will Be More Able To Know About:

›       Separator design

›       Principles of separation

›       The different types of separation equipment utilized and where they are used

›       The separation performance capabilities of the different types of equipment

›       How to size the different types of separation equipment

›       New developments in separation equipment design

›       How to troubleshoot and debottleneck separation equipment

›       How to calculate the wall thickness and estimate the weight of separators

›       The instrumentation and controls used on separation equipment

›       Desalting and dehydration

›       Salt contamination

›       Measurement of salt related parameters

›       Desalting systems schemes

›       Emulsion treating theory

›       Nature and formation of emulsions

›       Emulsions stability & emulsion breaking

›       Viscosity water percentage

›       Droplet size in emulsions

›       Gravity setting & chemical reaction

›       Deo emulsifiers, deformers, scale habiter & heating reaction

PROGRAM'S ATTENDEES

›       Process and Facilities Engineers

›       Senior Operating Personnel

›       Main Gathering Center Coordinators

›       Process General Supervisors & Supervisors

›       Production Personnel

›       Crude unit and waste water Process Engineers

›       Process Operators

›       Maintenance Staff

›       Plant operations Engineers

›       Desalter Operators

›       Personnel providing service to the petroleum refining industry

PROGRAM'S OUTLINE

FLUID PROPERTIES & PHASE BEHAVIOR

›       Phase separation processes

›       Gas and liquid separation equipment

›       Slug catchers

›       Conventional separators (horizontal and vertical)

›       Scrubbers

›       Filter separators and coalescing filters

SEPARATOR INTERNALS

›       Inlet devices

›       Mist extractors

›       Baffles, weirs, etc.

EMULSIONS

›       Oil treating and desalting equipment

›       Mainly electrostatic coalescers

MECHANICAL DESIGN ASPECTS

›       Pressure vessel codes

›       Wall thickness and vessel weight estimation

›       Material selection

›       Relief requirements

›       Operating problems and control

›       Benefits of crude oil desalting

IMPACT OF CRUDE OIL QUALITY ON DESALTER PERFORMANCE

›       Introduction to desalting

›       Crude oil impurities: water, salt and solids

›       Impact of organic acids, Asphaltene

›       Desalting heavy and opportunity crudes

›       Tank age dehydration

FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRICAL DESALTING

›       Wash water addition

›       Rate and wash water quality

›       Mixing/contact

›       Mix valves

›       Static mixer

›       Coalescence

›       Stoke s law and electrical voltage

›       Performance control variables

›       Dehydration efficiency vs. salt removal efficiency

TYPES OF DESALTING SYSTEMS

›       Single stage dehydrator

›       Single stage desalter

›       Two stage desalter

›       Three stage desalter

›       Typical operating conditions and performance

DESALTER COMPONENTS

›       Process vessel

›       Distribution system

›       Electrodes and transactors

›       Mud wash

›       Level control devices

DESALTER DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

›       Vessel size

›       Number of stages

›       Transactor size and power consumption

›       Crude properties

FACTORS THAT AFFECT DESALTER OPERATION & PERFORMANCE

›       Crude oil feed rate and quality

›       Temperature/viscosity/density relationships

›       Electrical field intensity

›       Wash water rate, quality and flow configuration

›       Emulsion formation (pumps, exchangers, valves, mixers)

›       Control of water level and emulsion layers

›       Demulsifier technology and addition rate

›       Mud washing and brine recycle

TYPES OF DESALTING APPLICATIONS

›       Heavy crude desalting

›       FCC feed desalting

›       Distillate treating

THE EMULSIONS DEFINITIONS

›       Definition

›       Physical chemistry of emulsions

›       Homogenization

›       Surface tension

›       Heat transfer

›       Colligative properties

›       Scale up effects

›       Micelles

›       HLB IV. evaluation and testing

›       Emulsion stabilizing methods

›       Stability

›       Liquid crystals

›       Efficacy

›       Spreading

›       Safety

CRUDE OIL EMULSION

›       Water plus crude equals emulsion

›       Advantages (easier to extract, easier to transport)

›       Drawbacks

›       Problems in refinery

›       Problem: separate water from the crude oil

›       Solution: use demulsifier molecules (polymeric surfactant)

›       Constraints: use of chemical (type and concentration)

›       Environmental reasons

›       Need: test the efficiency of the additives (demulsifiers)

EMULSION CONCEPTS

›       Designing emulsions

›       Where to start

›       How to get a specific feel

›       Ingredients

›       Emulsifier behavior

›       Emulsifier location and phases

›       Polymeric emulsifiers

›       Emulsions without emulsifiers

MAKING EMULSIONS

›       Formulating methods

›       Ingredient

›       Mixing

›       Homogenization

›       Heat transfer

›       Scale up effect

EVALUATION & TESTING

›       Stability

›       Efficacy

›       Safety

›       Preservation

›       Claim substantiation

›       Use of the microscope

DEHYDRATION OF CRUDE OIL

›       Forms of water associated with produced oil.

›       Water oil emulsions.

›       Treatment of wet crude oil

DEHYDRATION OF NATURAL GAS

›       Water content of natural gas

›       Hydrate control in gas production

›       Dehydration systems

›       Glycol dehydrator design

›       Desalting of crude oil

OIL SEPARATION

›       Introduction to oil separation

›       Process flow and process description

›       Gas oil separation equipment

›       Operation and monitoring of GOSP

›       One phase separation

›       Two phase separation

›       Three phase separation

ADDITIONAL DETAILS