Abstract
IN a paper on the "Elimination of Water from Wet Crude Oil obtained from Bituminous Sand by the Hot Water Washing Process", by K. A. Clark and D. S. Pasternack of the Research Council of Alberta, University of Alberta, Edmonton (Reprinted from Canadian Chemistry and Process Industries, 1947), the authors deal with this problem from two angles, by continuous settling at atmospheric pressure and settling under pressure with evaporation ; they have carried out much laboratory work towards its solution. In the first case, wet crude oil from the separation plant is mixed with a diluent (either 'topped' crude oil with S.G. 0·85 or kerosene with S.G. 0·82) and subjected to continuous settling in a suitable laboratory plant (illustrated). A ratio of diluent to crude oil of 0·7 and settling temperature 180° F. results in reduction of water content from 40 to 11·5 per cent. It is found that boiling and frothing of wet diluted crude oil before feeding to the continuous settler improves settling of water by causing coalescence of finely dispensed water, hence increase in volume of water ultimately settling out. The authors emphasize that continuous settling of diluted crude oil is not the complete answer to total elimination of water and that a subsequent operation is required to reduce the amount of finely dispersed water to limits acceptable to a refinery. Concerning mineral matter normally associated with the crude oil, it is pointed out that sand and silt readily settle out ; but finely divided clay matter is carried within the finely dispersed water, possibly acting as a stabilizer, and this does not settle out, presumably because the emulsion will not break down under the conditions obtaining.
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Elimination of Water from Wet Crude Oil. Nature 162, 483 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162483b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162483b0