(103b) Calcium Removal from Heavy Crude Oil Using Aqueous Solution Containing a Calcium Removal Agent

Due to the growth limitation of light crude oil production, refinery companies are showing interest in heavy crude oil containing the high contents of S, Ca, organic acids, and metals. The market price of heavy crude oil is much lower than that of light crude oil and the discount rate depend on the impurity contents (averagely 10 ~ 25%). Thus, as increasing the handling capacity of heavy crude oil, economic feasibility improved.

Ca is one of the major impurities in heavy oils, occurring several problems during the refining processes such as fouling in pipe systems and heat exchangers and the deactivation of catalyst.  Calcium naphthenate (CaNA), combined with the Ca cation and the anion of naphthenic acids, is difficult to remove because of complex and various molecular structures of naphthenic acids.

In this study, calcium removal from heavy crude oil was conducted using aqueous solution containing a calcium removal agent. The effect of operating variables on the Ca removal efficiency was experimentally studied. Batch type of electric coalescer was employed for the demulsification of the oil samples. The Ca concentration in the oil samples were analysed using inductively coupled plasma (ICP).