Chemical methods of petroleum drying

The chemical drying methods are widely employed in the modern petroleum industry for petroleum drying. The fundamental principle of such methods is the destruction of the water in petroleum emulsions by using chemical additives. Many types of such additives have already been developed in the industry. The efficiency of chemical petroleum drying depends substantially on the type of additive used. The choice of an effective additive, in turn, depends on the type of emulsion that is to be destabilized. In each case, the choice of additive is made after the petroleum is analyzed in special laboratories. 

Drying and separation carried out inside the petroleum oil well  

Petroleum drying carried out directly in separation tanks where additives are added to the tank that is filled with petroleum. 

The first two methods have many advantages and are more effective than the third method. 

Filtration that is based on the selective adsorption of different substances is employed for the separation of unstable emulsions. The material of the filter layer can be dry sand glass aspen, maple, poplar and other types of non-resinous wood and metal particles. Glass fiber, which is usually well moistened with water and not with petroleum is used quite often. Petroleum drying by filtration is applied very seldom because of low productivity as well as the need to change the filter material frequently. 

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