Making heavy crude oil profitable The X-Series disc-stack centrifuges

Making heavy crude oil profitable 3 The need to exploit heavy crude oil reserves increases every year. However, processing heavy crude oil to levels that meet with pipeline specifications has always been a costly and timeconsuming process. Until now. The X-Series disc-stack centrifuges not only represent new equipment that will help to more efficiently utilize these reserves, but more importantly, they also represent a revolutionary new process for creating refinery-spec oil from heavy crude oil. Based on Alfa Laval’s expertise in separation processes and extensive experience in the oil industry,...

4 Making heavy crude oil profitable Immediate feedback on oil quality and the capability to fine-tune the process on the fly ensures you receive a saleable product every time. Always run on spec Heavy crude oil presents a number of separation challenges not found in other oil. Stable emulsions, particles, high viscosity and small density differences between the oil and water make separation difficult, with inconsistent outcomes. Using little or no production chemicals, an Alfa Laval X-Series centrifuge produces 5000–8000 G of centrifugal force to separate oil from water and ultra-fine solids...

Making heavy crude oil profitable 5 Smaller and more environmentally friendly Size does matter. Especially when it comes to offshore facilities. A typical X-Series five-module system has a footprint of only 60m2 and a throughput of nearly 125,000 bpd or 850 m3/h. It takes up about a fourth of the space and 10–20% of the wet weight of traditional methods while providing better, more reliable separation performance. In addition, disc-stack centrifuge technology requires little to no production chemicals (i.e., demulsifiers) or wash water, making the process, as a whole, more environmentally responsible....

6 Making heavy crude oil profitable More effective from the start Wet crude oil is fed through the feed inlet to the OPTIFLOW™ disc inlet, which gently accelerates the liquid while preventing shearing, droplet splitting and foaming. In addition, less gas becomes trapped in the liquid. Centrifugal force at work Purified oil moves towards the centre of the bowl and exits through a paring disc into the oil outlet pipe. Unmatched performance Liquid enters the rotating separator bowl and disc-stack, where particles and water separate outwards along the discs towards the periphery of the bowl. The...

Making heavy crude oil profitable 7

8 Making heavy crude oil profitable Savings throughout the process The X-Series centrifuges reduce many of the operational costs typically associated with heavy crude oil separation. The savings start with better quality crude oil, which doesn’t need to be sold at a discount. In addition, the X-Series centrifuges produce significant savings in operational costs. With their high separation efficiency, less heat needs to be supplied to the process, considerably reducing oil and gas consumption. Realize savings from: • Significantly reduced settling times • The reduction in the use of production...

Making heavy crude oil profitable 9 Squeezing oil from sand Using Alfa Laval’s centrifuge technology at the Athabasca Oil Sands Deposit, Syncrude Canada Ltd. is able to efficiently process the oil sands and separate the bitumen to refinery standards for upgrading. And by working closely with Syncrude, Alfa Laval has customized the centrifuge design over time, making it more effective and durable for Syncrude’s extreme environment. A frustrating situation Containing an estimated 1.6–2.5 trillion barrels of heavy crude oil, the largest single oil deposit on earth is located in Alberta, Canada,...

10 Making heavy crude oil profitable Nothing can shut down a facility quicker than not being compliant with environmental regulations. Our new process for heavy crude oil dehydration helps you achieve the highest levels of oil recovery while significantly reducing tailings treatment costs, produced water contamination, and CO2 emissions. The result is a more environmentally sound solution. Alfa Laval X-Series centrifuges save environmental resources by using dramatically less wash-water than traditional methods. And thanks to its high separation efficiency, it uses fewer – and in some cases no...

PLS00051EN 0709 About Alfa Laval Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of specialized products and engineered solutions. Our equipment, systems and services are dedicated to helping customers optimize the performance of their processes. Time and time again. We help our customers to heat, cool, separate and transport products such as oil, water, chemicals, beverages, foodstuffs, starch and pharmaceuticals. Our worldwide organization works closely with customers in almost 100 countries to help them stay ahead. How to contact Alfa Laval For up-to-date Alfa Laval contact information for all countries,...