Abstract

SAAVEDRA BOLIVAR, Daisy Ximena; QUIROGA BECERRA, Haydée  and  LAVERDE CATANO, Dionisio. Evaluation of hydrochloric acid formation from hydrolysis of inorganic salts in crudes with naphthenic acids content. Rev. ion [online]. 2015, vol.28, n.1, pp.7-17. ISSN 0120-100X.

Formation of Hydrochloric Acid in overhead system of atmospheric distillation unit resulting from the hydrolysis of inorganic salts such as Magnesium Chloride (MgCl₂) and Calcium Chloride (CaCl₂) mainly has been a major problem of corrosion in this section for petroleum industry. This paper shows the formation of Hydrochloric Acid in Colombian crudes with different content of inorganic salts and the salt concentration was between 1.87 to 2.62kg of salt/159m³ of crude oil (4.12 to 5.78 pounds of salt /1000 barrels of crude oil) temperatures used were between 150 - 350°C. Concentration of naphthenic acids present in each oil was taken into account as a way to assess their possible influence on the formation of hydrochloric acid. Crudes were processed in a visbreaker pilot plant at atmospheric pressure. The rates of formation of HCl, obtained from the mass balance showed evolution ranges in the order of 96.2 - 100% for Magnesium Chloride and 3.1% Calcium Chloride. It was observed that in the crude used hydrochloric acid evolution was mainly due to the normal process of hydrolysis of salts.

Keywords : Inorganic salts; salt hydrolysis; crude oil; naphthenic acids; corrosion in overhead system.

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