An increasing interest in acidic fractions in crude oil was prompted by the corrosion problems that these compounds caused during oil refining process. This corrosion is associated with the total acid number (TAN). With the anticipated growth of acidic crudes in the market, a new technology for removal of the acidic fractions was introduced. Petronas Penapisan Melaka Light Crude (B) with TAN values of 2.52 was studied. The ammoniated polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as the deacidifying agent in this study with a concentration range of 100-2500 mg/L. Data indicated that the optimal content of ammoniated polyethylene glycol in crude B was 1500 mg/L, and PEG with molecular weight of 2000 was the most promising co-solvent with the reagent/oil ratio being 0.4:1 (wt/wt). A reaction time of 5 min with a suitable reaction temperature of 40°C and optimal stirring time of 5 min were sufficient to achieve the goal for crude oil B. The TAN was lowered to 0.28 for crude oil B. The percentage of acid removal for crude B was 78. An increase in the concentration of basic chemical reduced the TAN value for crude oil B to less than 1.
RETROFITTING DESIGN OF HEAT EXCHANGER NETWORKS USING ASPEN-HYSYS: A CASE STUDY OF CRUDE OIL REFINING PROCESS
