Trending approaches on demulsification of crude oil in the petroleum industry

The complicated nature of crude oil emulsions is part of the major setbacks associated with the postulation of methods for phase separation and demulsification in the oil industry. Despite the increasing efforts in generating efficient and dependable demulsification methods, the majority of emulsions cannot be shattered in reduced times. This review examines the trending techniques of crude oil demulsification in the petroleum industry. Several approaches have been examined to discover the best method of demulsification. Hence, this reports reviewed the past studies on the emulsion, formation of oil emulsions, methods of demulsification, characteristics of demulsifier, mechanism of demulsification, kinetics in demulsification, operating parameters influencing the demulsification processes, the structure of demulsifier, and formulations that are involved in the demulsification. The formulations of crude oil demulsification have been investigated to unveil adequate demulsifiers for crude oil. Therefore, demulsification approaches have several applications due to wider varieties of crude oil, separation equipment, brines, chemical demulsifiers, the method in which demulsifiers is been formulated, and product specifications.

Modeling And Optimization Study of PEMFC Fueled With Ammonia Reforming Gas

The storage of high-purity hydrogen has been a technical challenge limiting the large-scale application of fuel cells. Ammonia is an ideal hydrogen storage carrier with a storage mass density of up to 17 wt% and can be easily liquefied for storage and transportation, but ammonia requires complex separation equipment to re-generate high-purity hydrogen, which greatly reduces its advantages in hydrogen storage. Therefore, the development of direct ammonia reforming gas fuel cells, which can avoid complicated pure hydrogen separation equipment, has a very meaningful impact and can greatly expand the application of fuel cells. In this paper, we study the modeling simulation of ammonia reforming gas-fueled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based on the preliminary experiments, and the concentration-dependent Butler-Volmer electrochemical model is used to simulate the ammonia reforming gas-fueled PEMFC. Firstly, the concentration-dependent Butler-Volmer electrochemical model was improved by adding a correction factor for the concentration difference polarization based on the characteristics of the experimental data to obtain a correction factor of 1.65 based on the experimental data; secondly, the effect of the anode channel length on the fuel cell performance was investigated. The results show that: firstly, the improved concentration-dependent Butler-Volmer electrochemical model can better match the experimental results; secondly, the anode channel length has less effect on the maximum power density and hydrogen concentration in the exhaust gas, and the current density gradient increases with decreasing anode channel length, but the fuel flow resistance decreases. The results of the study can provide a reference for the simulation study of PEMFC using ammonia reforming gas as fuel.

EQUIPMENT TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS SARS-COV-2. RESEARC OF SEPARATION ELEMENTS

The aim of the work is to develop separation elements for photocatalytic and ultrasonic equipment for air purification for infectious safety of buildings from coronavirus SARS-COV-2. The equipment is designed for air volume G = 50… 150 m3 / hour, should reduce the degree of microbial contamination of the air to the required level (capture particles of 0.1 μm) and help reduce the risk of airborne diseases. Project considers solving an important scientific and technical problem of creating and development of photocatalytic and ultrasonic heat and mass transfer separation equipment for air clean from dust and viruses (coronavirus SARS-COV-2). The separation technologies and the devices employing them are able to perform purification from particles with the size exceeding 0.10 μm with the efficiency up to 99 %. Combination of this methods will help to develop photocatalytic and ultrasonic heat and mass transfer separation equipment for air clean from dust, viruses and to prevent coronavirus SARS-COV-2 spread.

Wet Gas Formation and Carryover in Compressor Suction Equipment

In gas processing, boosting, and gathering applications, gas-liquid separator equipment (typically referred to as a scrubber) is placed upstream of each reciprocating compressor stage to remove water and hydrocarbon condensates. However, field experience indicates that liquids are often still present downstream of the separation equipment. When liquids are ingested into the reciprocating compressor, machinery failures, some of which are severe, can result. While it is generally understood that liquid carryover and condensation can occur, it is less clear how the multiphase fluid moves through equipment downstream of the scrubber. In this paper, mechanisms responsible for liquid formation and carryover into reciprocating compressors are explored. First, the effects of liquid ingestion on reciprocating compressors reported in the open literature are reviewed. Then, the role of heat and pressure loss along the gas flow path is investigated to determine whether liquid formation (i.e., condensation) is likely to occur for two identical compressors with different pulsation bottle configurations. For this investigation, conjugate heat transfer (CHT) models of the suction pulsation bottles are used to identify regions where liquid dropout is likely to occur. Results of these investigations are presented. Next, liquid carryover from the upstream scrubber is considered. Multiphase models are developed to determine how the multiphase fluid flows through the complex flow path within the pulsation bottle. Two liquid droplet size distributions are employed in these models. Descriptions of the modeling techniques, assumptions, and boundary conditions are provided.

Recovery of copper through concentration processes from ashes produced by WEEE pyrolysis

The process of recovering metals from electronic waste has become an important topic in recent years. In this work, the recovery of electrolytic copper from the ashes produced during the pyrolysis process of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was sought. Three gravimetric separation equipment were used: Wilfley table, JIG screen, and mechanical screen. This last method was used with and without previous grinding processes. The ashes were initially characterized by XRD to determine the phases present. The initial concentration of the ashes was carried out by physicochemical classification. The results obtained show that the JIG sieve separation processes obtained the best performance, reaching a percentage of about 87% of recovery of the metal present within the WEEE ashes during 16 minutes. The application of a vertical gravimetric separation system on material samples with a fairly wide density difference allowed an optimal separation system for the metallic material and the produced ash. On the other hand, the application of screens in the recovery of the metal obtains values much lower than those obtained by JIG sieve.

OPTIMIZATION OF A PETROLEUM FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION COLUMN USING DISTOP CALIBRATION AND STATISTICAL METHODS

Distillation columns are important separation equipment that comprise most of the investment needed in a petroleum refining plant. Utilities and energy demands, though, are a concerning factor in the current economic and environmental scenario. The present work proposes a methodology to optimize the energy consumption of a crude oil distillation column using the Distop Calibration technique that allows faster convergence than the Tray-to-Tray method. The methodology presented involves process simulation, sensitivity analysis, factorial design, and the use of response surface methodology. Results show that it is possible to achieve significant gains by changing feed temperature and rectifying vapor flow, causing a relevant reduction in energy consumption. Hence, the methodology can be used as an optimization tool to increase energetic efficiency.

Simulation and improvement of the separation process of synthesizing vinyl acetate by acetylene gas-phase method

Vinyl acetate, as an essential organic chemical raw material, can be used to produce polyvinyl acetate, polyester vinyl alcohol, and other products. The existing classical vinyl acetate production process has the problems of low product purity and excessive heat load. In this study, in the classical design of the process, acetylene is separated first, and then acetaldehyde is removed with the formation of an azeotrope between ethylene acetate and water. Meanwhile, considering the solubility of acetaldehyde in water and insolubility of vinyl acetate in water, the process was optimized to separate acetic acid after removing acetylene, so as to avoid the azeotrope formation of vinyl acetate and water. The nonrandom two-liquid-Hayden–O’Connell thermodynamic hybrid model was used to simulate the classical process and improved process (IP). Finally, the reflux ratio and theoretical tray number of the main separation equipment of IP were optimized to get the better parameters. The simulated results show that the purity of vinyl acetate increased from 99.1% to 99.8%, the cooling energy consumption was reduced by 16.83%, and the thermal energy consumption was reduced by 6.18%. At the same time, the equipment investment was also decreased.