A Novel Modeling and Experimental Study of Crude Oil Desalting using Microwave

Abstract

In this study a novel experimental procedure for the crude oil desalting process using microwave field is designed and a mathematical model is developed to predict the global coalescence rates and the evolution of the saltwater separation under the influence of the microwave field. The results of the model are validated by experimental data and a good qualitative agreement between the model predictions and experimental results is observed. Using the model, the effects of microwave residence time, volumetric energy density, and amount of fresh water injection have been studied. The results show that the novel microwave mathematical model can be used in designing the microwave oil desalters.

Applying ultrasonic fields to separate water contained in medium-gravity crude oil emulsions and determining crude oil adhesion coefficients

“…10 reveals that the percentage of water separated from the crude oil sample 030 (high salt), is slightly higher than for the crude oil sample 020. This trend is similar to that observed in microwave experiments that have also shown that the segregation of emulsion water droplets from crude oil occurs more readily if the crude oil’s salt content is higher [65] .…”

“…This model assumes that the water droplets in crude oil are dependent upon and related to an empirically-derived function β related to adhesion coefficients. Previously published studies on crude oil samples have applied a drop-pair model to assess the displacement of water droplets in crude oil samples tested with microwave and ultrasonic irradiation [65] . In those experiments, the irradiation time in the microwave chamber was 15 s [66] , while in the experiments conducted for this study the ultrasonic irradiation time was between 1 and 5 min.…”

“…In those experiments, the irradiation time in the microwave chamber was 15 s [66] , while in the experiments conducted for this study the ultrasonic irradiation time was between 1 and 5 min. A comparison can be made of the adhesion coefficients calculated from the results of the experiments conducted in microwave systems [65] and the results of the ultrasonic experiments presented here for the same crude oil samples. The adhesion coefficients calculated from the population-balance model for water droplets in crude oil were determined separately in this study for tests conducted in both microwave and ultrasonic fields.…”

“…Table 1 , Table 2 , Table 3 ) represent the inputs to the population-balance model. The numerical value of the value of β in the adhesion coefficient function is then obtained by minimizing the error between the amount of water separated in terms of mole density and the experimental values obtained by applying a differential evolution (DE) optimization model [65] , [67] . By applying the MatLab curve fitting algorithm, formulaic relationships were obtained expressing adhesion coefficient function β for each crude oil sample tested in terms of coefficients A and B according to Eq.…”

Demulsification techniques of water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions in petroleum industry

“…The advantages of microwave heating technology help it to be applied as a standalone pathway for demulsification of emulsions in petroleum industry, by eliminating or minimizing the consumption of chemical demulsifiers [242,243]. Microwaves generate electromagnetic waves with wavelength range of 1 mm to 100 cm and frequencies between 300 GHz and 300 MHz, enabling them to deliver far higher reaction productivities than traditional heating methods at a specific temperature or even at lower temperatures in a variety of applications, including inorganic or organic synthesis, food processing, environmental chemistry, analytical chemistry, and polymerization [238,244].…”