Crude desalting

Salt in the crude stream presents serious corrosion and scaling problems and must be removed. Salt is dissolved within the remnant brine of the crude oil. Desalting removes both salt and the residual free water. Though the refinery is the most economical place for desalting, pipeline requirements often necessitate field desalting.

Challenge

Level instrumentation is integral to single and two-stage desalting systems, multiple orifice plate mixers, and the settler tank of a chemical desalter. Interface level control keeps free water from hitting the desalter electrodes and prevents expensive damage. The Interface level should be kept constant otherwise electrical field changes will disturb electrical coalescence.