With fluctuations in the crude market from over-supply and negative prices to supply shortages and price wars, the diversity of crude is ever changing. And while it may be attractive to refinery purchasing, crude blending is often an overlooked after thought in relation to how certain process mixes can create unwanted operational challenges.
How to gain control of your crude distillation unit (CDU)
Sep 30, 2021 11:07:12 AM
Topics: nucleonic instrumentation, desalter optimization, Tracerco Profiler, insights, nucleonic instrument, desalter performance, instrumentation, real-time measurement, real-time insights, multiphase separation, crude distillation unit, process control, process optimisation, instrumentation control, crude unit, CDU
Optimizing Desalter Performance
Mar 11, 2019 4:44:31 PM
Optimizing Desalter Performance is Just One of Tracerco's Specialties We Proudly Provide.
Desalter vessels are a refinery’s first line of defense to reduce the amount of unwanted salts present in the feed inventory. Prior to crude oil entering a refinery processing stream it undergoes a water washing stage where the water used during this process is separated using Desalter vessels. In these vessels the oil and water mixture separate from each other using gravity and high voltage coalescing plates. The water phase contains the washed salts as well as other suspended solids. Desalting and separation prevents water and salts from entering the crude unit furnaces, distillation towers and other downstream equipment. Salts, sediment, and other solids will foul the process and can undergo chemical change to produce corrosive chemicals that cause damage to process metallurgy. It is therefore important to efficiently separate wastewater from crude feedstock within the Desalter vessels.
Tracerco Tru-Scan™ technology provides you detailed data on where the oil/water interface level is, determines if there is a significant “rag” or emulsion layer or detects how many solids are built up in the bottom of the Desalter. In addition to performing these applications our advanced tracer studies are used to provide residence times of the oil and water phases and distribution within the vessel. Further to our scanning and tracer technologies that can aid plant personnel in optimizing your process, our award winning Tracerco Profiler™ HTX instrument provides accurate phase measurement including oil, emulsion (rag), water and solids/sludge in real time. The installation of the Tracerco Profiler™ HTX can eliminate unplanned Desalter shutdowns, reduce chemical usage, increase fluid throughput and provide the capability to handle more challenging crude blends.
Read more to learn how Tracerco helped our customer determine what was actually happening within their Desalter.
Topics: desalting, Flow distribution, desalter optimization, desalter, desalter maldistribution, distribution study
Tracerco Insight Vol8 Ed2
Feb 28, 2019 9:09:35 PM
Tracerco Insight Vol. 8 Ed. 2 newsletter is now available.
The Tracerco Insight newsletter featuring some of our latest case studies illustrating how Tracerco was able to provide our customers the necessary data that allowed the operations staff to make informed decisions for troubleshooting and optimising their process. Read more to see what's inside the latest issue.
This issue contains the following articles:
- Optimizing Desalter Performance Is Just One of Tracerco's Specialties We Proudly Provide.
- Crude Vacuum Tower Wash Bed Optimization.
- Application Note - ThruVision™
- Manage and Control Your Turnaround Costs to Avoid Possible Surprises.
- New Product Announcement: PED-ER and PED-ER+
Read more on how to download the latest issue.
Topics: nucleonic instrumentation, Tru-Scan, process diagnostics technologies, gamma scan, monitor wash bed coking, tracer technology, Tracer Study, catalyst bed wash, desalter optimization, wash bed optimization, manage turnaround costs, Depropanizer scan tray damage, desalter, Tracerco Profiler, crude vacuum tower, turnaround critical path project, pre-turnaround scans