09-07-2014

GE develops new chemical crude stabilizer solutions for refineries

GE today announced two new products to help refineries process incompatible crude oil blends. Unlike many traditional asphaltene dispersants, GE’s new EmBreak* 2167 and EmBreak 2168 crude stabilizers are ashless and do not contain any metals that could contribute to catalyst contamination or equipment fouling.

These new oil-based crude stabilizers are a part of GE’s patent-pending technology that can be used specifically in refinery desalters and other oil and water separation equipment. They are part of GE's family of EmBreak emulsion breakers, which offer a full suite of products that span the entire range of crudes, delivering superior desalter performance and potentially reducing total costs of operation.

Traditional asphaltene dispersants can contain metals, such as phosphorous or calcium, which can act as a catalyst to foul downstream equipment. Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces that impedes the function of the equipment. GE’s new EmBreak 2167 and 2168 crude stabilizers are ashless, do not contain metals and outperform existing phosphorus and calcium-based compounds tested by GE. Being ashless and metal free is a benefit to downstream units and prevents fouling and poisoning.

“Being able to process discounted crude oils depends on the other crudes that they are blended with, and that is where EmBreak 2167 and 2168 come into the picture. GE developed a testing methodology to predict crude oil incompatibility and created innovative chemical crude stabilizer solutions to help successfully process these incompatible crude oils,” said Buzz Barlow, global general manager, hydrocarbon process—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.

GE’s new crude stabilizers help refineries more effectively anticipate and respond to processing issues associated with opportunity crudes and their incompatibility. Incompatible crudes blends may precipitate asphaltenes or other heavy molecular weight aliphatics resulting in uncontrolled emulsions, which can cause poor effluent brine quality as well as deteriorating salt and solids removal efficiency. Some of the processing issues and risks associated with opportunity crudes include:
* Poor salt removal efficiency—higher corrosion of asset risk.
* Poor effluent brine quality—regulation risk as well as higher reprocessing costs to separate oil, water and solids.
* Poor solids removal efficiency—higher fouling risk and potential erosion of downstream equipment.
 
GE’s new Embreak 2167 and 2168 coupled with GE’s innovative testing capability can help refineries more effectively anticipate and respond to processing issues associated with opportunity crudes.