DETERMINATION OF BOTTOM WATER AND SEDIMENTS

DETERMINATION OF BOTTOM WATER AND SEDIMENTS

Aim: To determine the bottom water and sediments in crude oil.

Apparatus: oil test centrifuge machine, centrifuge tube, measuring cylinder, test tube rack.

Reagent: xylem

Sample: Crude oil

Significant/ Uses

•         It helps in the crude oil marketing industry to determine the exact percentage volume of crude oil buy or sold out, e.g. if you determine 5% of water in 1,000,000 barrel of crude oil, that means that the buyer will only pay for 95% of the 1,000,000 barrel of the crude oil (100% - 5% = 95%).

•       It helps the buyer to know the amount of tax he will pay to the country(The higher the purchase the higher the tax).

•      It helps the crude oil industry to determine the viability of the oil well, e.g. oil well that has above 30% 0f water is a dead well (not viable)

•       It also helps the oil industry to know when maintenance's of the oil pipe will take place, e.g. a well which contained high percentage of water will leads to corrosion of pipes. If such corroded pipes are not coated with anti-corroded substances, it may lead to explosion, leading to environmental hazards.

Theory/ Define:

The bottom water and sediments oil test centrifuge machine is used to determine the volume of water or the amount of sediments in crude oil sample

Instructional procedure for oil test centrifuge machine

•       Connect the oil test centrifuge machine to a power source.

•       For bottom sediment and water (BS&W) of petroleum/petroleum products first switch on the equipment.

•       Set the speed of the equipment at 1500RPM, the time at 15 minutes and the temperature at 60^0c using the knob.

•       Shake and pour 50ml of the sample into a centrifuge tube and add 50ml of the solvent (xylem or toluene) to the sample.

•        Shake the sample in the centrifuge tube vigorously.

•      Press the lid button to open the oil test centrifuge machine and place the sample in the centrifuge tube on the tube holder of the machine and close the lid.

•      Press the start button to commence the test, the machine will spin for the set 15 minutes at 1500RPMand 60^0c. When it spins for the 15 minutes it will automatically stop.

•       Press the lid button to open the machine, remove the centrifuge tube containing the sample and record the BS$W.

•     Decan the sample, clean the centrifuge tube, switch off the power source and clean the equipment.