New Desalting Units for Southern Oilfields

Development of two new oil desalting units in Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad Province in the southern oil regions will increase Iran’s oil output capacity by 15,000 barrels per day, managing director of Gachsaran Oil and Gas Production Company said. 

“The two projects entail construction of Gachsaran-3 desalting plant with a capacity to process 110,000 bpd as well as Bibi Hakimeh-1 plant with a 55,000 bpd capacity,” Houshang Seidali was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Underscoring policies to raise crude production capacity and quality, Seidali noted that the units will go on stream in the near future.

The initiative is related to a variety of goals, namely efficient desalting, enhancing quality of production, protecting oil resources and addressing environmental issues.

"Iran has achieved the technology to desalinate crude oil using electrostatic methods," Mohammadreza Moghaddam, research and technology director at the Oil Ministry said, adding that the method will enhance the quality of Iranian crude.  

Crude oil comprises varying amounts of water and inorganic salts and sediments when extracted. The presence of salts, especially chlorides, corrodes oil processing equipment.  Therefore, desalting has been used to reduce fouling in the crude distillation unit and to reduce corrosion in crude processing facilities.

Electrostatic separation methods are frequently used with crude oil containing about 0.5 to 12% water. Electrostatic method involves injection of high voltage electricity to desalinate crude, deputy head of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Amirabbas Hosseini said.