NATCO TriVolt Electrostatic Dehydrators and Desalters

Effective treatment of medium and light crude oils

OIL

With over 40 years experience of

designing and supplying process
equipment to the worlds oil and
gas markets, Cameron is the premier
choice for supply of electrostatic
dehydrators and desalters.
Crude oil at the wellhead consists
of a wellstream containing oil,
dispersed water, dissolved salts, gas
and sediment in varying quantities.
Camerons unique experience is in
the design and supply of process
equipment to separate the wellstream
into its component phases and then
treat each phase.
Camerons process can remove
unwanted salts and water from the
crude oil stream, produce a stabilized
crude oil and condition the gas and
effluent water, allowing them to be
disposed of or used in other ways, for
example, fuel or reinjection.
A typical crude oil process train
would include three-phase separators,
dehydrators and desalters and possibly
heating to produce a stabilized
crude oil. The addition of Camerons
electrostatic dehydrators and/or
desalters-type TriVolt into the process
train allows for the production of a
stabilized crude oil which will meet the
end users specification with extremely
low water and salt content.

Design Expertise
Cameron can provide a wide range of
electrostatic dehydrators and desalters
to effectively and economically treat
the range of crude oils produced
today. By providing different vessel
sizes, different numbers and types
of power units together with several
different electrode grid arrangements,
Camerons custom designs meet
the most stringent performance
and code requirements.

60,000 bopd skid mounted NATCO TriVolt Desalter for AOC Hout Crude Project

Each TriVolt system is designed to

give a high performance for a given
electrode grid area, resulting in a
smaller, more cost effective pressure
vessel for a given oil throughput.
The TriVolt unit consists of three
parallel horizontal electrode grids
within the vessel with each layer
divided into three sections. Using
three single-phase AC power units
(each power unit using a different
phase) and cross-connecting the grids,
a balanced electrical load is achieved
and full utilization of the grid system
is assured in the unlikely event of a
bushing or power unit failure. The grid
spacing is optimized to give a high
voltage gradient and optimize this
deep field design. The TriVolt design
has the added security that if one
power unit should fail an electric field
is still maintained throughout the deep
field region. This means that the unit
can still operate to produce the same
specification oil, though at a reduced
throughput, or lower specification oil
at the same throughput.

Upgrades and Retrofits

Camerons technology can be applied
to upgrade existing systems, to
increase the capacity or improve the
performance without the addition of
new pressure vessels. This provides the
further benefit that systems can be
retrofitted and put back into service
within days and not months that
would be typically required to install
additional new units.
Cameron has designed and supplied
numerous packages that have doubled
the capacity of existing systems, while
raising separation efficiency and
significantly reducing chemical costs.
Cameron also has developed new
certified high-voltage assemblies and
entrance bushings, which also are
available for retrofits.

Sincor, Venezuela

Special power units

High voltage assemblies

TriVolt grid array

Process pressure
vessel

Sample cooler

High voltage
insulators
Crude oil outlet
Vent
Water inlet

Drain
Local control panel

Distributor header
Crude oil inlet

Mixing device

Effluent water
outlet

Camerons NATCO TriVolt Desalter

How AC Electrostatic Dehydrators/Desalters Work

The wet crude oil is fed into the dehydrators/desalters through
Camerons specially designed distribution headers and spreaders
which ensures even flow through the unit such that no section
of the unit is over- or underloaded and the longest retention
time for the crude oil inside the treater with no recirculation
inside the treater. This gives the maximum removal of free
water, and therefore dissolved salts, from a crude oil in the
fastest possible time, which in results in smaller and lower cost
vessels. The headers are positioned in the oil phase below the
electrical grid assembly that is the heart of the electrostatic
process. The wet crude oil flows evenly up through the grid
assembly and is subjected to an intense AC electrostatic field
created by the high voltage charge imposed on the grid
electrodes. The electrostatic field aids the small water droplets
to coalesce to form larger droplets and thus be able to separate
under gravity from the crude oil. The water droplets fall to
the oil water interface, below the inlet distribution headers,
and the separated water is discharged through a separate pipe
under level control. The dehydrated dry oil rises to the top of
the vessel where it is collected and discharged through the
crude oil outlet piping.
Cameron locates the electrical grids to ensure optimum
power consumption and maximize the residence time of the
crude oil, in the electrostatic field, thus allowing the water
droplets more time to coalesce and separate from the crude oil.
The arrangement of header positions, electrode layout and

interface level position has proven, in the field, the capability of

Camerons systems to handle and resolve fully emulsified crude
oils with water cuts in excess of 30%.
The high voltage imposed on the grids is achieved by
transforming the voltage of a standard AC supply up to a
voltage of 14,000 to 22,000 volts using power units and high
voltage connection assemblies electrically certified for use in
hazardous areas. The power unit electrical connections and the
unique electrode grid connections ensure a balanced electrical
load on all three phases of the electric supply. The power units
are specifically designed for dehydrating/desalting applications
where the grids may be short-circuited by excessive water slugs
in the crude oil. 100% reactance in the power unit ensures that
under such upset circumstances the units can stay on line safely,
until the upset is cleared, without shutting down the process.
Depending on the required quality of the crude oil and the
salinity of the feed, more than one stage of desalting may
be required. The Cameron desalting systems are capable of
reducing the salt content to as low as 1 ppm weight. Multistage
desalting systems have two or more desalting vessels in series.
The system works by introducing the fresh wash water into
the crude stream immediately upstream of the last vessel in
the system. The product crude exits this vessel and the effluent
water from this vessel is recycled and is mixed with the crude
entering the vessel immediately upstream in the system. This
is repeated with the effluent water from each vessel being
recycled to the upstream vessel.

L O CATI ONS
United States of America
11210 Equity Drive
Suite 100
Houston, TX 77041
USA
Tel 1 713 849 7500

United Kingdom
5 The Heights, Brooklands
Weybridge
Surrey, KT13 0NY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1932 452000

O TH ER L OC ATION S
Singapore
2 Gul Circle (Gate 2)
Jurong, Singapore 629560
Tel 65 6861 3355

www.c-a-m.com
2013 Cameron | TriVolt is a trademark of Cameron | Printed in USA | 10/13 AD01128P

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