Can we inject caustic at upstream of De-Salter instead of downstream?

What will be the

consequences?

Answers

Luis Marques, Galpenergia, luis.marques@galpenergia.com

The rule is to inject downstream of desalters the same amount of OHNA as the salts of outlet stream at a
maximum of 21 PPM of OHNA to avoid caustic embrittlement downstream of caustic injection. The quills
condition of OHNA injection must be checked to be sure of a good injection mixture.
Amiya Kumar lahiri, Consultant, lahiri04k@rediffmail.com
In crude distillation caustic addition has two objectives:
1. pH of desalter is to be maintained between 8.0 to 6.0. Depending on the pH of water used, either caustic
or acid is added upstream of desalter. The caustic added is drained out from the desalter. Overdosing of
caustic upstream, adversely affects desalter operation.
2. Caustic is also added to control overhead corrosion of distillation column. Here caustic helps in
converting MgCl2 & CaCl2 to NaCl, thus reducing amount of HCL in the column over head stream. Caustic
for this purpose has to be added downstream of the desalter. Caustic added upstream of desalter would not
be available for reacting with Ca / Mg - chlorides.
Berthold Otzisk, Kurita Europe GmbH, Berthold.Otzisk@kurita.eu
If caustic is injected in front of the desalter the potential is very high to stabilise the temporary emulsion in
the desalter. This can create significant desalting problems. Very high amounts of caustic would be needed to
form more NaCl salts, leaving with the desalter effluent.
Most of the chlorides are already removed with the desalter effluent. As a rule of thumb a single stage
desalter should give a performance of >90% salt efficiency or <10ppm chloride salts after desalting. These
salts are a mixture of NaCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2. For economic reasons it makes more sense to inject the
caustic after desalting to form more NaCl.
The ACF technology is an alternative to using caustic. The liquid ACF product can be injected after the
desalter and will reduce the chloride concentration in the crude overhead accumulator significantly.
Egbert van Hoorn, Hocon B V, Egbertvh@hotmail.com
I suppose that you mean upstream in relation to the crude oil.
The major problems have already been outlined in the two previous answers.
The water used in the desalter is often partly coming from a sour water stripper, particularly if an FCC unit
is present in your refinery. The aim is to remove phenols from the SWS effluent.
Some refineries benefit from injecting caustic in the SWS feed. This can help to liberated fixed amonia.
Amonia in the SWS can be fixed by strong acids present in the water.
In those cases, some caustic injection in the SWS feed will help.
The target pH of the effluent is however 8. This caustic dosing should be very moderate, else you encounter
the emulsion problems already indicated in the desalter.
Eric Vetters, ProCorr Consulting Services, ewvetters@yahoo.com
Caustic upstream of the desalter can react with naphthenic acids to form sodium naphthenates. These
naphthenates will promote emulsion stability and make desalter operation more difficult. The salt form of
the naphthenic acid will be more water soluble than the acid itself, leading to increased COD loading on the
waste water plant. Unreacted caustic will go out with the desalter brine, making it unavailable to suppress
HCl formation like caustic injected downstream of the desalter does. At least one chemical supplier claims to
like desalting in a high pH environment like would be created by injecting caustic upstream of the desalter,
but most do not like to operate in this fashion due to the desalting problems it causes.
keith bowers, B and B Consulting, kebowers47@gmail.com
One can possibly add caustic to the crude ahead of the desalter, but it might cause emulsion problems. If
your crude has naphthenic acid or other organic acids, the caustic will react with them to make SOAP. I
suggest you consult with the vendor of your desalting chemicals and other antifoulants and corrosion
inhibitors in your operation before 'trying' the caustic upstream of the desalter.