INFORMATION

INCREASING
NATIONAL

THE

DEGREE

ECONOMIC

OF C R U D E - O I L

DESALTING

-- AN I M P O R T A N T

TASK*

G. I. Kaz'min

It is well known that the extent to which crude-oil feedstocks are desalted will influence the technoeconomic
indices of petroleum refineries. The use of thoroughly desalted crudes with residual salt contents below 3 to 5 m g /
liter will ensure a marked reduction in corrosion and in the amounts of deposits in the process equipment; it will
also increase the run length (before maintenance is needed) for equipment and for the unit as a whole and will i m prove the product quality, especially that of fuels, feedstocks for catalytic processes, petroleum asphalts, and electrode coke.
Each year, it is becoming increasingly important, both here and abroad, to increase the degree of desalting of
refinery crude-oil feedstocks. This comes about not only because of the increased requirements for petroleum product purity, but also because of the universal trend toward large process units and high-capacity equipment, for which
shutdown and overhaul are extremely expensive. The question of increasing the degree of crude oil desalting is
closely related to technical progress in the petroleum refining industry, and in fact is an integral part of such progress.
The development of measures to improve the technology of crude oil desalting so as to ensure salt contents
not greater than 5 rag/liter in the crude-oil feedstocks was the subject of an expanded session of the Petroleum Refining Section of the Scientific-Technical Council of Minneftekhimprom SSSR [Ministry of the Petrochemical Industry of the USSR] and the Petroleum Refining Section of the Central Board of the Scientific-Techuical Society of
the Petroleum and Gas Industry (TsPNTO NGP). Together with the director-workers of the Technical Office and
Glavneftekhimpemrabotka [Main Office for Petrochemical Processing] of Minneffekhimprom SSSR, those others taking part in the work of the conference were leading specialists of Gosplan SSSR [State Planning Committee of the
Council of Ministers of the USSR], Minnefteprom SSSR [Ministry of the Petroleum Industry of the USSR], and also
Minneftekhimprom AzSSR and Glavneftekhimprom [Main Office for the Petrochemical Industry] of the Council of
Ministers of the UkrSSR. Among the conference participants were specialists working on problems of crude-oil desalting in petroleum refineries and combines, in scientific-research, design, and construction engineering institutes,
and in production associations of Minneftekhimprom SSSR, Minnefteprom, and Minkhimmash [Ministry of Chemical
Machinery Building], as well as specialists of MINKh i GP im. I. M. Gubkina [I. M. Gubkin Moscow Institute of the
Petrochemical and Gas Industry]. In all, 97 persons took part in the work of the conference, including 57 who were
directly engaged in production.
The session was opened by the deputy chief of the Technical Office of Minneffekhimprom SSSR, chairman of
the Petroleum Refining Section of TsPNTO NGP, Candidate of Technical Sciences V. S. Akimov, who in his opening
address noted the great national economic significance of high-quality preparation of crude oil for processing and
the need to solve this complex and important problem by the combined forces of three departments - Minneftekhimprom, Minneffeprom, and Minkhimmash.
A paper, "Status of Crude Oil Pretreatment and Measures for Increasing the Degree of Crude Oil Desalting in
Refineries," was presented by Doctor of Technical Sciences D. N. Levchenko (VNII NP) JAil-Union Scientific-Research
Institute for Petroleum Processing]. The speaker noted that considerable success has been achieved in domestic refineries during the past few years in crude-oil pretreatment ; the salt contents have been brought down to 1g-25 rag/
* Summary of closing joint session of Scientific-Technical Council of MNKhP SSSR [Ministry of the Petrochemical
Industry of the USSR] and TsPNTO NGP [Central Board of the Scientific-Technical Society of the Petroleum and Gas
Industry], April 20-21, 1972~ in Ryazan.
Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 10, pp. 59-61, October, 1972.

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liter, and in some refineries to 10 mg/liter and lower. However, these achievements are now inadequate, considering the policy that has been strictly defined for us, that of a transition to the use of large process units, high-capacity equipment, and the related need for a substantial increase in the length of operating cycles between repair turnarounds. It has been calculated that the savings by processing crudes that are thoroughly desalted (to 5 rag/liter)
may amount to about 200 million rubies in 1975.
The speaker noted that one of the main obstacles to increasing the degree of desaiting in the refineries is inadequate pretreatment of the crude oil in the oil fields, which leads to an increase in emulsion stability, overconsumption of costly demuisitiers, an increase in the amount of salt water rejected to the surface water supply, and
other unacceptable consequences when such etudes are dehydrated and desalted in refineries. In most refineries,
the crude oils come in with formation-water contents of 1-2% and salt contents of 600-2500 mg/liter. According
to the approved (but not yet effective) specification GOST 9965-62, crude oils passing from the oil fields to the refineries must not contain more than 0.2% water or 40 mg/liter salt. Let us remember that in foreign countries
(USA, Canada, Western Europe) the crude oil entering the refinery as a rule has a salt content not greater than 50
mg/liter.
A paper on the subject "Improvement of Eleetrodesaiting Unit Operation" was presented by N. V. Bergshtein
(VNII NP). He noted that most of the existing refinery ~LOU's [electric desalting units] use modern equipment and
efficient demulsitiers, and that the dehydration is performed at a rather high temperature (85-100~
During oilfield-to-refinery transport of a well pretreated crude oil containing a certain amount of a high-efficiency demulsitier, no emulsion aging takes place; such crudes can be desalted in a refinery ~LOU unit without using any additional demulsifier. This was demonstrated recently by tests run in the Novo-Gor'kii and Novokuibyshevsk retineries.
However, there are a number of shortcomings in ~LOU operation: (a) little attention is given to improving the contacting of crude oil with wash water after the last desalting stage; (b) the operation of the individual stages of desalting is not controlled in many refineries, and their efticiencies are not determined; and (c) there is no adequate
automation of the process nor of the control operation.
Of considerable importance is the selection of the optimal degree of mixing of crude oil with water and demulsitier; also of importance are such measures as increasing the electric field strength, automating the drainage
of water from the electrodehydrators, etc. In the last stage, it is desirable to have a lower velocity of crude oil
movement and to dehydrate the crude to an essentially water-free condition.
A paper presented by Ya. I. Pinkovskii (VNIIneftemash) [All-Union Scientific-Research Institute for Petroleum
Machinery] gave a comparative characterization of foreign and domestic horizontal electrodehydrators and showed
that our equipment is the equal of the foreign in construction and in technological [process] indices. It was also
shown convincingly that electrodehydrators should be installed not only in refineries but also in the oil fields, since
this is the most practical route for achieving a high degree of crude oil desalting in the near future with minimum
expenditure of resources.
The chairman of Minnefteprom [Ministry of the Petroleum Industry], Candidate of Technical Sciences N. M.
Baikov, in his presentation spoke of the great difficulties involved in developing a great number of new oil deposits,
particularly in uninhabited or sparsely populated areas in Siberia and Kazakhstan. He noted that Minnefteprom in
recent years has carried out important work in improving the pretreatment of crude in the oil fields. However, in
his opinion, any further increase in the degree of crude oil dehydration, down to a residual content of formation
water below 1-2% with a corresponding reduction in salt content, is not apt to be feasible in the next few years.
Prof. V. P. Tronov (TatNIPIneft) [Tatar Scientific-Research and Design Institute for the Petroleum Industry]
in his presentation produced very convincing data on the effectiveness and advantages of in-line demulsification of
crude oils and of injecting the demulsifier into freshly produced emulsion. He made a strong ease for the injection
of additional demuisifier into the crude before it enters a transmission pipeline; this would ensure a further breakdown of the remaining emulsion.
In the preparation of M. Z. Mavlyutova (BashNIPIneft) [Bashkir Scientific-Research and Design Institute for
the Petroleum Industry], note was taken of the need to remove saline formation water as completely as possible in
the oil fields, in order to avoid further salt contamination of the water in rivers and other natural reservoirs. In order to obtain high-quality pretreatment of crude in the oil tields, material incentives must be offered in the form of
a price differential for sucla etudes. M. Z. Mavlyutova stated that their institute had developed a crude/water mixer that could be controlled; she discussed its design features and advantages.
Docent V. I. Loginov reported on a mathematical treatment of the results of ~LOU [electric desalting unit]
operation, aimed at increasing the efficiency of crude oil desalting, that had been earned out by MINKh i GP im.
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I. M. Gubkina, together with the Moscow refinery and VNIPIneft JAil-Union Scientific-Research and Design Institute for the Petroleum Industry]. Indices were obtained for the reconstruction of existing desalting units.
V. N. Olefir (UkrSSR) spoke on the status of crude oil pretreatment in refineries of the Ukraine, and ~. P.
Ruvinskii (AzSSR) discussed the situation in crude oil desalting in Azerbaidzhan instalIations
N. I. Pavlov (Ryazan branch of SKB ANN [Special Design Office for Automation of Petroleum Processing and
Petrochemistry]) reported interesting work on ~LOU automation, and A. K. gfimova (BashNII NP) [Bashkir ScientificResearch Institute for Petroleum Processing] reported on corrosion inhibitors that are under development. The chairman of the Omsk refinery, G. N. Lavrent'ev, reported that the refinery is obtaining crude from the ~LOU units with
salt contents of 8-12 mg/titer, while the West Siberian crude entering the refinery has salt contents of 150-250
mg/liter.
Other interesting reports on experience in ~LOU operation were presented by V. Ya. Bakaushin 0Ryazan refinery), G. V. Konyaev (Novo-Gor'kii refinery), A. D. Makarov (Perm refinery), G. E. Vasil'ev (Novo-Yarosiavl refinery), M. Sh. Idrisova (Novo-Ufa refinery), A. V. Plaksin (Novokuibyshevsk refinery), V. M. Manishevich (Fergana
refinery), V. S. Kechko (Polotsk refinery), B. N. Denisov (Volgograd refinery), A. P. Sereda (Moscow refinery), R. S.
Khairakamov (subbranch "Bashneff~), and others.
Candidate of Technical Sciences Ya. G. Sorkin (Gosplan SSSR) in his presentation noted the major and complex work of Minneffeprom in increasing oil production over the past ten years. Definite progress has also been
made in improving the crude oil pretreatment in the oil fields. However, this is now inadequate. In terms of the
national economy, removal of the bulk of the salt from crude oils in the oil fields will result in major savings.
Minneffeprom SSSR is releasing major resources to increase oil production, of which only 2.5% is designated for
oil-field crude pretreatment. But even these resources are not being used as directly prescribed. Salt contamination of rivers and reservoirs is most alarming, as it damages the national economy. It may be hoped that the combined efforts of the two ministries will resolve this question in a positive manner and within a short time.
The author of this review article (Minneftekhimprom SSSR) reported data from operating experience in crude
oil desalting in the USA and in Canada. He emphasized that in those countries considerable attention is being given
to the problem of crude oil pretreatment before refining, both in the oil fields and in the refineries; as a result, the
water contents of the raw erudes entering the refineries from the oil fields rarely exceed 0.5%, and the salt contents
are 50 rag/liter average and 150 mg/liter maximum. This situation, together with other measures that are effected
in these countries, makes it feasible to operate process units without shutdown for periods up to two or three years.
The concluding report was given by the chief of the Fuels Branch of Glavneftekhimpererabotka of MNKhP
SSSR, R. A. Aliev, who noted that the refineries have carried out major work in crude oil desalting. He expressed
the hope that this conference will promote a still greater improvement in this direction in refinery operations.
As a result of exchange of opinions, the participants in the session worked out specific measures for further
improvement in the technology of raw-crude desalting; these found expression in a resolution that was approved by
Minneftekhimprom and coordinated with TsPNTO NGP; this resolution has been distributed to all interested departments, organizations, and installations.
This resolution in particular charges VNII NP JAil-Union Scientific-Research Institute for Petroleum Processing] and the All-Union Association "Neftekhim" [Petrochemistry] with the responsibility for studying and generalizing the most advanced experience of refineries in crude oil desalting, and, not later than the fourth quarter of 1972,
to distributing this material to all installations of this branch of industry; VNII NP has been charged with completing the development of a laboratory procedure for analysis of crude oil and starting to put this method into service
in 1972; and SKB ANN [Special Design Office for Automation of Petroleum Processing and Petrochemistry] has been
charged with introduction of an automated on-stream analyzer for the determination of small concentrations (from
0 to 10 mg/liter) of salts in crude oil. !n addition, SKB ANN has been charged with accelerating the completion of
work on the development of an automatic interface level control for electrode-hydrators, and with organizing the
mass production of automatic drain systems, with the view of complete satisfaction of the demands of the oil refining and producing industries.
The conference participants adopted a resolution to address a request to Gosplan SSSR [State Planning Committee of the USSR] and Minkhimprom [Ministry of the Chemical Industry] on increasing the production of high-efficiency domestic demulsifiers so as to meet the entire demand of the oil production and refining industry by 19731974, and also to address a request to Gosstandard [State Committee for Standards] that the GOST specification for
crude oil should be put into effect at the earliest possible moment.

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The conference approved the initiative of Glavneftekhimpererabotka and TsPNTO NGP in conducting a competition in 1972-1973 on the theme "Introduction into the Industry-Branch Installations of the Most Effective Flow
Plans and Procedures for Crude Oil Pretreatment Before Refining."
The next conference on crude oil desalting is planned for early 1974.

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