Salt Settling Tendency in Paraffinic Crude from Sind Province

Abstract

Local crude from Sind Province is of paraffinic nature and therefore, tends to solidify above ambient temperatures in winter (18° to 20°C). Associated formation water containing high salts encapsulates in crude thus increasing average crude oil salt content. High salts in crude oil pose fouling problem in refineries. A study was carried out to overcome this problem. It has been established that if the crude oil is stored at 70°C in storage tanks then water encapsulation problem would be rectified in 6 to. 8 hours time and salt content in crude oil would reduce . from 70 PTB to less than 5 PTB. This tendency is further enhanced if demulsifiers are used in ppm level.