Both the Petrochemical and Refining industries face mounting challenges in a fiercely competitive global environment, including the demand for more energy and less carbon usage, dwindling water supplies and environmental compliance pressures, coupled with the need to optimize returns in an ageing infrastructure. These industries require innovative solutions to deal with these challenges, in particular to tackle the industry’s environmental compliance requirements.
GE recently launched a new Embreak 2W2024 technology that is part of a proprietary heavy crude slate class of demulsifier chemistries that improves furnace performance by reducing both fuel gas use and emissions that impact on the environment.
In a recent study, a Gulf Coast refinery experienced poor dehydration when processing heavy blends of Maya and Merey. Water carryover was averaging 0.6% in the desalted crude as a result of minimal desalting residence time and high charge rates, causing a significant increase in water carryover.
The current desalter EB treatment program was replaced with Embreak 2W2024 at similar dosages. Results showed a decline in fuel usage per unit of charge for a 36-hour period around the time that the chemical treatment program was changed. This snapshot was confirmed by lab testing. The levels of water in the desalted crude were significantly reduced by 55% on average after the chemical change was made, allowing this refinery to realize $1MM in fuel savings. Additionally, salt remaining in the desalted crude was reduced by over 50%.
This technology has been tested across various crudes with the similar performance results. When compared to other demulsifiers, the percentage of oil in effluent water is significantly lower in applications using Embreak 2W2024 and its proprietary demulsifier family.
GE Water provides a broad solutions portfolio of process and water treatment chemicals, equipment and support services to the refining and petrochemical industries. GE has application expertise across the entire portfolio: antifoulants, emulsion breakers, corrosion inhibitors, process foam control, conversion control in visbreaking processes and finished product additives that are used in the major refining and/or petrochemical processes. GE also provides boiler, cooling tower and waste treatment solutions within the Hydrocarbon and Chemical processing Industries.
