Improving level control in desalters to aid in use of opportunity crudes MULTIPHASE LEVEL MEASUREMENT

Introduction Refineries are a complex set of various operating units designed to process crude oil into refined products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuels and feedstocks for thousands of different products that people use every day. In order to maximize operating margins, refiners rely on pushing the units to maximum throughput. To do this safely and effectively, they must have very good control of the process. Some processes in the refinery industry are a challenge for even the best and most experienced engineers. As Lord Kelvin once said, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”...

Differential Pressure DP is an economical way of measuring levels in tanks and vessels and it is the second most common use of pressure measurement behind flow measurements. DP levels use Pascal law to determine level by relating the level, pressure and density of the fluid, simply stated, P = ρ * h, where P = pressure (pascals, Pa), ρ = density of fluid (kg/m³) and h = height of the column of fluid (meters, m). You can solve for h by rearranging Pascal law, h = P / ρ (Meribout, Al Naamany & Al Busaidi, 2011, p. 2). For example, a tank with 2 m of water will exert a pressure of 2000 mmH2O or...

Nuclear Density Profiling Systems Operating companies are starting to rely more on nuclear density profile systems since they can give the operators a view into the desalter itself. A larger global refiner once stated “I understand the nuclear density profiler system is more expensive to install but I know it works a 100% of the time no matter what type of crude we are processing, whereas the other technologies might only operate correctly 85% of the time. This 15% difference cost us more than the price of the nuclear density profile system.” There has been a trend in the large major oil refiners...

EmulsionSENS Berthold’s multiphase level measurement system EmulsionSENS consists of radiometric density devices at different elevations through the measurement span (see arrangement “internal sources and external detectors” Figure 1 and Figure 6) and optional evaluation units LB 478. Such an arrangement allows accurate measurement of the density at each of these positions and provides a density profile of the fluids as they separate inside the vessel. This difference in density of the fluids is the main principle of the separation vessel. The density is calculated in each individual detector...

COMMITTED TO TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP Outstanding long-term stability A reliable measurement is vital for the operation of a process and is therefore, our highest priority. Berthold’s detectors operate consitantly irrespective of changes in ambient temperature. Even drastic temperature shifts, e.g. from winter to summer don’t influence the measurement drift. Due to various patented technologies for detector stabilization and the use of cosmic radiation as an external reference source, the detectors output has an accuracy of under 0.001% per °C temperature change. Apart from employing these cutting-edge...

Berthold Technologies stands for excellent know-how, high quality and reliability. The customer is always the focus of our solution. We know our business! Using our varied product portfolio, our enormous specialized knowledge and extensive experience, we develop suitable solutions together with our customers for new, individual measurement tasks in a wide variety of industries and applications. Berthold Technologies is specialised in radiometric process measurements for 70 years. This is our core competence with state-of-the-art and cutting edge products and solutions covering a vast range of...