EDDI Technology

Dynamic Desalting Equipment 
It is an advanced technology for the dehydration and desalting of heavy, extra-heavy and light crude oil with project-specific quality targets to be validated against the feedstock and operating conditions.

Characteristics

Modular arrangements with different flow, temperature and pressure settings to process heavy, extra-heavy and light crudes.

Operating philosophy: receive the crude, process it under controlled conditions, and deliver it to the project-specific quality target.

The process is designed without filters, membranes, or electrodes.

It does not use internal mechanical moving parts.

Plant footprint and throughput are engineering targets that require site-specific design and validation; the 2017 trial does not establish 100,000 BPD commercial capacity.

The system is designed with extensive instrumentation and automated process control.

The design may be evaluated as an alternative to conventional electrostatic desalting equipment, subject to a site-specific engineering study.


Potential design advantages

A continuous-flow configuration is proposed; the need for storage and separation equipment depends on the project design.

A closed-pipe process is intended to provide tighter operational control.

A dedicated module is designed to recover and remove solids from the crude before downstream processing.

Wash-water reduction and reuse are design objectives to be measured in each project.

Chemical consumption depends on the feedstock and operating conditions.

Electrical and thermal energy requirements must be established through project testing and engineering.

A residence time below 1.5 hours is a design target, subject to validation for the specific crude.

Produced-water handling and any discharge require testing and review against applicable regulations.

Application

EDDI is proposed for assessment in crude-conditioning projects at marine terminals and refineries.

The Problem

Crude from mature fields contain high levels of salinity and water. Feedstock variability can make dehydration and desalting challenging, so quality targets must be defined for each project.

The Solution

EDDI is designed to combine controlled pressure, temperature, and mechanical treatment to condition crude with elevated water and salt content. Product-quality targets must be defined and validated for each feedstock and project.

Economic considerations

Potential savings in energy, water, chemicals and installation must be demonstrated against a defined conventional baseline. No project economics or operating reliability are guaranteed by the published 2017 trial.

Proposed process for crude dehydration and desalting, subject to engineering validation.

TThe Dynamic Desalting Equipment (EDDI) is designed around three operating stages: Stage I, crude-oil lamination and splitting; Stage II, mechanical washing; and Stage III, salinity adjustment. Process simulations are used during engineering to evaluate the equipment’s design parameters.

These simulations allow engineers to assess flow, pressure, temperature, and viscosity across the intended operating envelope. The resulting data are analyzed to define candidate operating conditions for subsequent validation.

The EDDI design includes mechanical features at the inlet header and three-phase separator intended to reduce fluid velocity and change flow direction. This configuration is designed to promote solids separation so recovered material can be removed mechanically.