DYNAMICS STUDY OF MERCURY REMOVAL PROCESS FROM CRUDE OIL

• Main Author: Andhera Silangit, Catherine
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/85935
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Mercury is a hazardous substance that is present in crude oil. Mercury in crude oil can pose health hazards to workers and damage process equipment. One example of the damage caused by mercury occurred in Algeria, where there were local health issues around an oil refinery in 1973. Therefore, knowledge of mercury separation from crude oil is needed. Some studies have shown how to separate mercury from crude oil, but none have examined the dynamic characteristics of this process. This research specifically aims to study the dynamics of the mercury separation process from crude oil. Simulation-based research using Aspen HYSYS V.12 software. This research is a continuation of a reference process. Therefore, the process configuration and kinetic data used in this study are sourced from the referenced patent. The feed used is medium heavy crude oil. Sensitivity analysis for each equipment will be conducted after the steady-state model is built and observed to serve as a basis for observations in the dynamic model. The research results show that the efficiency of mercury separation from crude oil at a temperature of 172? and a separator pressure of 3 bar is 98.21%, with a final product mercury content of 5,92 ppb. The dynamic evaluation of disturbance variations demonstrated that variations in feed flow rate do not affect the mercury separation efficiency, whereas variations in operating temperature and pressure in the separator and stripper do affect the mercury separation efficiency. Perfect separation efficiency can be achieved without 100% mercury conversion by reducing the pressure in the separator.