The Indirect Water bath Oil Heater package, is used to heat up the crude oil.
The hot crude oil then will be sent to the Customer Dehydrating and Desalting Unit.
Forain water bath heater is installed between the Oil Heat Exchange section and the Dehydrator Degasser in order to heat the received Crude Oil.
The Indirect Water bath Oil Heater package consists of one heater unit with maximum capacity
of 12 MW.
The main components are:
1. Heat exchanger: the heat exchanger is a device which transfers heat from hot water to Crude Oil. The exchanger consists of a tube bundle immersed in the water bath, the tubes contain the Crude Oil to be heated.
2. Water bath: the shell of the WBH is completely filled with water that will be heated by the burners. Flame pipe and smoke pipe tube bundle are completely immersed in the water, to transfer the heat to the water.
3. Expansion tank for the increased water volume due to the thermal. Automatic water filling line is provided.
4. Chimney: it is the pipe that provides ventilation to atmosphere for the hot flue gas produced by combustion. It is self-supported and assembled on the heater shell. The hot flue gas reaches the chimney after passing through the final part of the combustion chamber and is conveyed through the inversion chamber inside the smoke pipes.
5. Forced draft burners: they are placed outside the heater shell and are directly connected to the combustion chamber. The burner is the equipment designed to burn the fuel gas that generates the heat required by the process.
6. Fuel gas system: it is the system that dehydrates the fuel gas and reduces the gas pressure to be suitable for the operation of the burners.
Operating Principle
The Indirect Water bath Oil Heater is based on the heat transfer from a hot water bath to the flowing crude oil.
Once the burner has started, the flame inside the combustion chamber generates the flue gas conveyed in the smoke pipes that heat the water.
The water transfers the heat to the crude oil that flows through the tube bundle of the heat exchanger.
As the flame does not heat the crude oil pipes directly, the heater is called Indirect Water Bath Oil Heater.
The Indirect Water bath Oil Heater functions are performed, checked and controlled by a Control Panel BMS, for a smooth and safe operation.
Here are two images before the inspection carried out by our technicians with the customer’s technicians at the beginning of the work, and the following when the work is completed.
