Pretreatment of Crude Oil by Ultrasonic-electric United Desalting and Dewatering

A technology of ultrasonic-electric united desalting and dewatering of crude oil is studied. The ultrasonic setup is designed to form a standing-wave field, which is more efficient for agglomeration of water particles. The desalting and dewatering results of the ultrasonic-electric united process are compared with those of the electric process. For high salt-contenting crude oil （40-70 mg·L ^-1）, the salt content is still above 10.0 mg·L^-1 after crude oil has been treated by two-stage electric desalting process in refinery, which cannot meet the need of refinery. Ultrasonic-electric united process is a novel technology for treating the high salt-contenting oil. On the optimal operating conditions of the ultrasonic-electric united process, the salt content of crude oil can be reduced from 67 5 mg·L^-1 to 3.97 mg·L ^-1 by one-stage ultrasonic-electric united process, and the water content falls below 0.3% （by volume）. The results show that the ultrasonic-electric united process is more effective than the electric process in high salt-contenting oil desalting. This technology should be useful in the refinery process.

Study on leakage recharge mechanism of confined fresh water aquifer with semi-permeable membrane in Tianjin plain area

The Group Ⅱ fresh groundwater bearing aquifers in the eastern plain of Tianjin underwent long term exploitation. This study shows that the area with greater water-level declining is associated with more rapid stratigraphic compaction and consolidation. In the study area, the salty groundwater in the un-exploited overlying aquifers have the same dynamic characteristic of synchronization but different amplitude with the Group Ⅱ aquifers, showing that they have a close relationship. Cross-sectional study indicated that surface water, salty groundwater and underlying fresh groundwater belong to an integral water resources system. The compacted clay layers have the feature of semi-permeable membrane under alkaline condition. The infiltration of surface water is driven by the differences of osmotic pressure of salty water in each layer. When the water level difference between the Group Ⅱ aquifers and overlying salty aquifers is greater than osmotic water pressure difference, the salt water layer will desalinate downward and eventually, decreasing the water level of the upper aquifers, turning phreatic water amount supposed to evaporate to leakage recharge. Therefore, stopping mining groundwater in the Group Ⅱ aquifer will lead to other new environmental geology disaster.

Mass transfer coefficient in the eductor liquid-liquid extraction column

In this research gasoil desalting was investigated from mass transfer point of view in an eductor liquid–liquid extraction column(eductor-LLE device).Mass transfer characteristics of the eductor-LLE device were evaluated and an empirical correlation was obtained by dimensional analysis of the dispersed phase Sherwood number.The Results showed that the overall mass transfer coefficient of the dispersed phase and extraction efficiency have been increased by increasing Sauter mean diameter(SMD)and decreasing the nozzle diameter from 2 to 1 mm,respectively.The effects of Reynolds number(R_(e)),projection ratio(ratio of the distance between venturi throat and nozzle tip to venturi throat diameter,Rpr),venturi throat area to nozzle area ratio(R_(th-n))and two phases flow rates ratio(R_(Q))on the mass transfer coefficient(K)were determined.According to the results,K increase with increasing Re and RQ and also with decreasing Rpr and R_(th-n).Semi-empirical models of drop formation,rising and coalescence were compared with our proposed empirical model.It was revealed that the present model provided a relatively good fitting for the mass transfer model of drop coalescence.Moreover,experimental data were in better agreement with calculated data with AARE value of 0.085.

Towards Energy Conservation in Qatar

Qatar energy consumptions are among the highest in the world, and can easily serve double the present population. Energy conservation is a must, as the energy resources are finite, and their consumptions are increasing at alarming rates. The country depends on desalted seawater, which consumes extensive amounts of energy, and is produced by using the least energy efficient desalting system. The desalination process is vulnerable to many factors, and strategic water storage needs to be built. The high energy consumptions are ruining the air and marine environments. Several suggestions are introduced to conserve energy in the Cogeneration Power Desalting Plants (CPDP), by moving to replace the Multi Stage Flash (MSF) desalting system by the energy efficient Seawater Reverse Osmosis System (SWRO);fully utilizing the installed power capacity to desalt water in winter, when electric power load is low, and during summer non-peak hours for strategic water storage;and modifying the simple Gas Turbines (GT) Power cycle plants to GT combined cycle to raise the Electric Power (EP) generation efficiency (to about 50%).

Upstream Operations in the Oil Industry： Rigorous Modeling ofan Electrostatic Coalescer

This paper deals with a first-principle mathematical model that describes the electrostatic coalescer unitsdevoted to the separation of water from oil in water-in-oil emulsions, which are typical of the upstreamoperations in oil fields. The main phenomena governing the behavior of the electrostatic coalescer are denscribed, starting from fundamental laws. In addition, the gradual coalescence of the emulsion droplets isconsidered in the mathematical modeling in a dynamic fashion, as the phenomenon is identified as a keystep in the overall yield of the unit operation. The resulting differential system with boundary conditionsis then integrated via performing numerical libraries, and the simulation results confirm the available lit-erature and the industrial data. A sensitivity analysis is provided with respect to the main parameters. Themathematical model results in a flexible tool that is useful for the purposes of design, unit behavior predic-tion. performance rnoniroring, and ontimization.

Dynamics of Soil Moisture and Salt Content After Infiltration of Saline Ice Meltwater in Saline-Sodic Soil Columns

Saline ice meltwater can be used for irrigation and leaching of salts in salt-affected soil regions.A laboratory experiment was conducted using soil columns to investigate the redistribution of soil moisture, salt and sodium adsorption ratio(SAR) in saline-sodic soil under the infiltration of saline ice meltwater.Soils were treated using saline water of three irrigation volumes(1 600, 2 400 and 3 200 mL) at four salinity levels.These four salinity levels included salt free(0 g L^(-1)), low salinity level(1.4 g L^(-1)), moderate salinity level(2.7 g L^(-1)) and high salinity level(4.1 g L^(-1)).The prepared saline water was frozen into ice, and then the ice was put on the surface of soil columns.After 96 h, the infiltration rate and soil moisture content of saline ice treatments were greater than those of salt-free ice treatments, increasing with the increase of ice salinity.Infiltration of saline ice meltwater increased soil moisture content in the upper layers for all treatments.Both salt contents and SAR values in the upper soil layers decreased in all saline ice treatments and were lower than those in salt-free ice treatment.However, this trend was reversed in the deeper(below 20 cm) soil layers.The highest desalting rate and lowest SAR were observed in high-salinity treatment under three irrigation volumes in the 0–15 cm soil layer,especially under irrigation volume of 2 400 mL.These results indicate that saline ice(0–20 cm) meltwater irrigation is beneficial to saline-sodic soil reclamation, and the best improvement effect would be achieved when using high-salinity ice under optimal irrigation volume.