Soluciones para procesos de refinería · Estudio de caso
Northshore CC8289: Demulsifier changeover on two crude units
A refinery evaluated one oil-soluble demulsifier on heavy viscous and low-pour crude. At 8–10 ppm, Northshore CC8289 brought average desalted salt to 1.01 and 1.00 mg/L in June 2025. The customer’s acceptance reports document both the improvement and a dehydration shortfall on the heavy-crude unit.
Solicitar el estudio de caso completoContexto operativo y objetivo
A refinery runs two atmospheric–vacuum crude units side by side on different slates: one on heavy viscous crude at 3,800 t/d, the other on low-pour crude at 3,600 t/d. Both use two-stage electrostatic desalters. The specification required desalted salt ≤ 3.0 mg/L on every sample y ≤ 2.0 mg/L on at least 80% of samples, with desalted water ≤ 0.45% on more than 90% of samples in any month, at a demulsifier dose of no more than 10 ppm.
On the incumbent program, the heavy unit’s reported averages were 1.53 mg/L salt and 0.41% water; the low-pour unit’s were 1.99 mg/L and 0.36%. Cestoil proposed Northshore CC8289, an oil-soluble demulsifier, for both units and ran parallel industrial trials. Salt results were compared with each unit’s last full month on the incumbent: April 2025 for the heavy unit and March for the low-pour unit. For water, the heavy-unit report gives a pre-trial average without naming the month.
The trial used fixed crude rates and nominal wash-water and interface settings. Interface levels were 35 ± 10% and 30 ± 10% on the heavy unit’s first and second stages, and 40 ± 10% on both stages of the low-pour unit. The report also records wash-water interruptions on the heavy unit, discussed below. Acceptance was assessed on June 2025, the second full month on CC8289.
Producto y aplicación supervisada
CC8289 was injected upstream of the desalters. The low-pour unit switched on 24 April 2025 at 10 ppm; the heavy unit switched on 1 May at about 8 ppm. Both doses were within the tender ceiling.
Reported wash-water settings were 5 t/h on the first-stage vessels and 3 t/h on the heavy unit’s second stage. Salt and water were analyzed on desalted-crude samples through 30 June 2025. Product consumption over the trial was 3.29 t for the low-pour unit and 2.23 t for the heavy unit.
Resultados comunicados
Salt approximately halved on the low-pour unit and fell by a third on the heavy unit. Average desalted salt decreased from 1.99 to 1.00 mg/L on the low-pour unit and from 1.53 to 1.01 mg/L on the heavy unit. On both units, 100% of June samples were at or below 2.0 mg/L, exceeding the 80% requirement and meeting the separate 3.0 mg/L limit.
Salt in desalted crude
IncumbentCC8289 · June 2025
Average water content decreased on both units. Desalted water fell from 0.36% to 0.22% on the low-pour unit and from 0.41% to 0.29% on the heavy unit. The low-pour unit’s June pass rate at ≤ 0.45% water was 96.7%, exceeding the requirement of more than 90%.
Water in desalted crude
IncumbentCC8289 · June 2025
The heavy unit had one acceptance shortfall. Its June dehydration pass rate was 86.3%, below the requirement of more than 90%. The report attributes the shortfall to nighttime swings in heavy-crude water content, during which operators sometimes stopped desalter wash-water injection to maintain unit stability. It records a pass rate of 93.1% with those periods excluded. That adjusted figure does not replace the full-month result.
The low-pour unit’s report concludes that CC8289 outperformed the incumbent demulsifier; the heavy-unit report makes no comparative verdict. Both reports close with acceptance sheets signed by production operations, quality inspection, procurement and the deputy general manager.
Valor operativo
The reports provide no monetary figure. They assess the application in process terms: desalted salt and water, dose limits and downstream operating concerns. On those terms, both units recorded lower average salt and water at doses within the tender ceiling.
For another unit, an economic evaluation can examine overhead chloride load, neutralizer and corrosion-inhibitor consumption, and crude-tower and heat-exchanger run length alongside the demulsifier dose and cost. These are evaluation inputs; the trial reports do not quantify savings in those areas.
Aplicación de los hallazgos
For a demulsifier changeover, document wash-water rates, interface levels and crude rate so that the baseline and treatment periods can be compared. Use the immediately preceding full month on the incumbent where the feed and operating records support that comparison, and judge acceptance on a full month rather than the changeover weeks.
Log the operating circumstances behind every out-of-range dehydration result. This trial’s heavy-unit shortfall coincided with reported wash-water interruptions. Review both the complete monthly result and any explicitly defined adjusted analysis; the before-and-after comparison does not isolate every operating influence from chemical performance.
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Request the full illustrated case study and share your crude slate and throughput, the last full month of desalted salt and water records, the current demulsifier and dose, and the desalter stages, wash-water rate, interface control and mixing-valve pressure drop.
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Source: Customer acceptance reports for two atmospheric–vacuum crude units at the participating refinery, covering industrial trials in April–June 2025 against March/April 2025 salt baselines, as summarized in Cestoil case study CS-CDU-CC8289-2026A, v1.0. All operating figures are reported by the customer. Percentage changes are rounded from the reported values. Performance reflects the specific trial conditions and may vary with feed quality and operating conditions.