Many manufacturing processes produce hydrocarbon waste that contain varying amounts of water. Some of these industries are: Refining, Chemical Manufacturing, Steel, Metal Finishing, Pharmaceutical
As oil becomes heavier and more viscous, it is more and more difficult to get the oil to flow into the well bore where it can be pumped to the surface. This heavy Canadian oil is often referred to as bitumen and has an API gravity ranging from 8—14.
Produced oil contains water in highly variable amounts. Heater-treaters heat the produced fluid to break oil/water emulsions and to reduce the oil viscosity. The water is then typically removed by utilizing gravity to allow the free water to separate from the oil.
Common techniques for foam detection include: DP gauges, capacitance probes, guided wave radar, electromagnetic radiation, neutron-backscatter, sonic echo devices, flow meters, and sight glasses. Most of these do not offer early foam detection.
By contacting hydrocarbon with mercaptan rich caustic, a very stable emulsion may form in the UOP Merox process. This causes significant quantities of caustic to carry over with the product.
Storage tanks containing hydrocarbon feedstocks, intermediates and finished products will, over time, accumulate a water layer in the bottom of the tank (exceptions are water-soluble hydrocarbons such as alcohols and ethers). Standard industry practice is to periodically drain the water from storage tanks so that the water does not adversely impact specifications of the hydrocarbon.
The Agar Foam Detector can detect the presence of foam far earlier than a ΔP cell, pressure gauge or other technologies. The probe can initiate or increase the anti-foam chemical injection rate causing the foam to dissipate.
The Agar Foam Detector can detect the presence of foam far earlier than a ΔP cell, pressure gauge or other technologies. The probe can initiate or increase the anti-foam chemical injection rate causing the foam to
dissipate. As a result, the anti-foam chemical feed rate is optimized, reducing the operator’s overall chemical costs.