A Quick Look at

Desalting

Desalting

Salt content is normally reported as (sodium

chloride) pounds per thousand barrels of crude oil
(PTB).
The range can vary from 0 to 1000
The salt content of raw crude is between 10-200
PTB.
Crude can also be contaminated by seawater
during transportation, which may get emulsified.
Almost 95 % of total salt is found in the BS & W
of crude.
The salt occurs in the form of highly concentrated
brine droplets dispersed throughout the crude

These droplets are extremely small and are

difficult to contact with the fresh water added to
the crude.
The desalting process consists of diluting this high
salt content brine with incoming fresh water to
produce low salt content water.

This is done by emulsification of water for better

dispersion and contact with brine

The particle size is reduced to 1-10 micron

diameter by passing the liquids at high velocity
through orifice (mixing valve at upstream of
desalter).

Methods of Desalting

The two most typical methods of crude-oil desalting,

chemical and electrostatic separation, use hot water as
the extraction agent.
In chemical desalting, water and chemical surfactant
(demulsifiers) are added to the crude, heated so that
salts and other impurities dissolve into the water or
attach to the water, and then held in a tank where they
settle out.
Electrical desalting is the application of high-voltage
electrostatic charges to concentrate suspended water
globules in the bottom of the settling tank.
Surfactants are added only when the crude has a large
amount of suspended solids. Both methods of desalting
are continuous. A third and less-common process
involves filtering heated crude using diatomaceous
earth.

Impurities-Type
De emulsification is done by passing the liquid
through electrical field, which helps in coalescing
the small particles for gravity settling
Sometimes de emulsifier is added to achieve this.
Impurities that can be removed by electrical
desalting are generally classed as
Oleophobic (lacking and affinity for oil)

like salts; 10-1000 PTB

water 0.1-2%vol and
sediment 1-500 PTB.

Impurities-Type
Second class of impurity is known as
Oleophilic impurity (having a strong affinity
for oil),
these can not be removed by desalting.
They are:

Sulfur compounds 0.1-5 wt. % as sulfur

Organo Metallic compounds (Nickel, Vanadium,
Iron, Arsenic, etc) 5-400 PPM as metal
Naphthenic acids 0.3-0.4 vol. %
Nitrogen compounds 0.05-15 vol %
Non acidic oxygen compounds (Resin, cresols,
etc.) 0 2 wt%.

Water and salts- its effects

Generally a water content of less than 2 vol% is

acceptable for crudes.

This water is nothing but brine, which has a

higher concentration of salts, compared to
seawater

The total salt content of the crude depends upon

both the amount of brine present and the
concentration of salts in brine.

Presence of water poses problems like settling

and sludge formation in tanks
Sludge contains a high percentage of oil, and it
takes up considerable storage space.

Water and salts

In analyzing crude oils for salts, the most

important is presence of chloride.
Chlorides are considered to be responsible
for the corrosive atmosphere produced as
a result of the chloride salt hydrolysis.
Hydrolysis is also affected by presence of
non-chloride impurities

like sulfates and bicarbonates.

Non chloride constituents cause scaling

and plugging of equipment.

Salt - other problems

Apart from hydrolysis, other problems of salts are
Salt deposits in exchangers and furnaces

Contamination residual products such as asphalt

and fuel oil

Causes less on stream time and reduces heat

transfer.

inorganic salts tend to remain in bottoms

FO contamination can cause clogging of burners,
deposition of slag on furnace tubes and brickwork.

Secondary effects on various petroleum fractions

Less salt Less treating is required for overhead

products, better color of products,

Finally

Single stage desalting removes 90% of

salts

Two stage desalting removes 99 % of salts

C
R
U
D
E

Desalter-1
E-101
20%

Desalter2

Preflash

Pr Contrl
11 kg/cm2

E102 A-H

Desalter1

Mixing
Valves

TC
LC
1300C

LC

Treatment

Process
Water