Desalting technology

Desalting technology receives industry acclaim

A new technology that promises greater efficiency in salt removal and crude/water separation will be honored at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. ProSep’s ProSalt technology is one of 14 recipients of the OTC Spotlight on New Technology Award, which recognizes innovative technologies that provide significant benefits to offshore E&P.
Desalting is a critical step for crude-oil refining processes, since both free and emulsified water contain salts that can cause severe corrosion problems in equipment. Conventional crude-oil desalting processes use static mixers such as globe valves to mix the crude with injected fresh water. This mixing method often requires high quantities of wash water and treatment chemicals, and results in relatively low mixing efficiency, according to ProSep. In addition, there may be a significant pressure drop across the static mixer, raising the risk of poor crude/fresh-water separation.
The ProSalt system replaces the conventional static mixer with a flanged unit that incorporates an inline injection/mixer assembly. This assembly generates a homogeneous phase flow across the pipe cross-section, and experiences a much lower pressure drop than other mixing methods. There is also greater control of shear forces.



Graphic demonstrating how ProSalt produces a more uniform droplet size distribution at separable droplet sizes and high exposure area at acceptable pressure drop.

The result is a more homogeneous distribution of water droplets of separable size and enhanced oil/water separation due to a smaller emulsion being formed. The system also provides increased treatment capacity, reduced wash water volumes, and lower installation costs.
ProSalt systems have been successfully operated for customers in Norway and Mexico, and most recently for Saudi Aramco’s Shegdum 4 Gas-Oil Separation Plant. At this location, the technology has reportedly reduced consumption of wash water by 20 to 40% and provided a reduction in pressure drop of 40 to 70%. Additional process improvements have included a reduction in demulsifier consumption, lower residence times in the separator, and increased crude desalting capacity.
“Exploration and production environments are becoming increasingly challenging. Developing efficient and compact technologies is key to addressing growing industry needs,” said Jacques L. Drouin, President and Chief Executive Officer of ProSep. “The OTC award validates how proprietary technologies such as ProSalt allow clients to increase their production capacity while achieving economic and environmental objectives.”