Phase Separation Chemicals

Maximize oil-water-solids-gas separation and enhance contaminant removal from hydrocarbon streams

There are many instances where liquids, solids, and gases mix within a refinery. In some of these processes, the tank or process vessel benefits from chemical assistance to separate the liquid, solid or gas phases. The most common applications where chemicals can assist with phase separation are raw crude tanks, desalters, FCC rundown tanks, recovered oil/slop tanks, and coke drums.

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Product Highlight
Features & Benefits
Case Studies
FAQs

Product Highlight

Phase separation chemicals

Veolia's phase separation product line is designed to assist in separating solid-liquid, liquid-liquid, and gas-liquid mixtures. We offer a variety of phase separation chemicals to help with the separation of liquid, solid, or gas phases.

Emulsion breakers

The largest segment of the phase separation product line is emulsion breakers specifically formulated for desalters and raw crude tank treatment in the Embreak product family. The Embreak product line includes primary demulsifiers as well as adjuncts such as crude stabilizers, wetting agents, pH modifiers and reverse breakers. Product selection is empirical and conducted with Veolia's proprietary laboratory testing equipment specifically designed to model the process environment.

Crude stabilizers

Veolia's Embreak patented chemical crude stabilizers are designed to help refineries process incompatible crudes with confidence. Unlike many traditional asphaltene stabilizers, these products are ashless and do not contain any metals that can contribute to equipment fouling. Combined with Veolia's proprietary testing method for crude incompatibility, these chemicals better prepare refiners to anticipate and respond to processing issues associated with blending opportunity crudes.

Metals removal

Veolia's Predator pH modification program can assist with extracting metals from metal naphthenates into the brine to minimize downstream fouling, off-spec products or catalyst poisoning. Veolia's patented Predator products have negligible issues with increased acid loading in overhead systems compared to other products on the market.

Amine removal

Veolia's Predator pH modification program can assist with extracting amines into the desalter effluent brine to minimize overhead corrosion from amine chloride salts. Veolia's Predator products have negligible issues with increases acid loading in the overhead system compared to other products on the market.

Iron removal

Veolia's Embreak products can assist in extracting solid particulates containing iron, such as iron oxide and iron sulfide, into the effluent brine. This can reduce iron to assist in meeting anode grade coke specifications or reduce downstream catalyze poisoning for refiners who have resid hydrotreaters of hydrocrackers.

Slurry oil settling aids

Process separation products are also employed in FCC units to assist with settling catalyst from FCCU slurry rundown. The lower ash content can upgrade the finished product from low-value bunker fuel oil to higher value carbon black feedstock. These products fall under the SolSet* product family

Antifoams & defoamers

The FoamTrol* and Max-Amine* product lines are designed to reduce or eliminate process foaming in coke drums or fractionators and foaming in amine treatment units.

Features & Benefits

Benefits demulsifying treatment

Veolia’s desalter programs are generally a combination of several types of demulsifiers or Embreak products designed to maximize desalter performance. Some features and benefits include:

Maximize throughput and increase production through improved dehydration
Improve product quality and operational reliability by maximizing salt removal and increasing amine extraction
Lower overall cost and energy consumption through improved dehydration and solids removal
Improve environmental, health, and safety regulatory compliance by minimizing the oil in the effluent brine
Reduce catalyst poisoning by extracting metals
Improve refiner's flexibility with processing low cost incompatible opportunity crude blends

Case Studies

Embreak chemistry saves refinery over $350,000 USD per year

A North American refinery was experiencing frequent brine quality issues in one of its crude units, with 10-20% oil in the brine leaving the desalter.

Refinery improves recovered oil quality & reduces costs with Veolia slop oil program

An APAC refinery processing 120,000 bbl/day of a complex crude diet was encountering frequent desalter upsets and oily desalter brine.

Veolia’s Embreak crude oil stabilizer technology enables aggressive blending of Canadian crude

A US refinery adopted an aggressive blending strategy of Western Canadian Select (WCS) and other heavy Canadian crudes to improve their profit margin and supply flexibility.

Veolia’s Embreak & Predator technologies enable increased FCC residuum processing & annual profits of over $10 million

A Gulf Coast refinery adopted an aggressive strategy of blending tight oils, including Eagle Ford (EF), to significantly increase its profit margin and supply flexibility.

Veolia technology helps refiner reduce desalter chemical treatment costs over $100,000 USD/yr. while processing opportunity crudes

A U. S. refiner, processing opportunity crudes (OCS, Barranca, Pedernales, Caripito-20), began experiencing very poor desalter performance, as the new crude slate was brought into the refinery.

BrineCLEAN* brine quality assurance program produces oil-free brine from challenging desalter within hours

A Mid-Continent refinery, processing significant volumes of heavy Canadian bitumen-based crude, was seeing detrimental performance impacts to its desalter and waste water treatment operations.

Desalter optimization delivers $900,000 in oil recovery for North American refinery

Upon becoming the refinery’s chemical solutions provider, Veolia focused on reducing the oil content in the desalter effluent water (brine).

What are demulsifiers?: Demulsifier chemicals, or commonly referred to as emulsion breakers, are used to separate water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions. Demulsifiers are ordinary non-ionic structures with an oleophilic (oil-loving) portion and hydrophilic (water-loving) portion. Demulsifiers will either associate with emulsion stabilizing surfactants and carry then away from the oil-water interfere or displace the surfactant at the interface.