Installation of the GEA Crude Oil Treatment System as a stand-alone treatment system.
Increasingly heavy crude oils pose great challenges for (further) processing due to their unfavorable properties: A high viscosity and density and a high asphaltene content, as well as possibly higher acid and sulfur contents, an increasing proportion of impurities and a low API degree reduce the quality of the crude oil and often require large amounts of water and energy in conventionally designed processes. The consequences are an impairment of both performance and economy.
Treatment systems with GEA crude oil desalting Centrifuges operate at high g-force (4,000 - 6,000 x g). Impairments to the conductivity of crude oil due to increased asphaltene content and rising water cuts play a subordinate role for the centrifuges and have a much smaller influence on their performance. GEA centrifuges can efficiently treat crude oils with an API gravity of up to 12° in a 1- or 2-stage process setup.