Battery · Surface Facilities
Heater Treater
A vessel that uses heat to separate the oil and water emulsion so the oil meets pipeline or trucking requirements.
What it does
Heat lowers the oil viscosity and helps the treating chemical break the film around the water droplets; a coalescing section and settling do the rest. The right balance of heat and demulsifier is found by evaluation.
Basics
| Shapes | Vertical or horizontal |
| Vertical units | Shorter residence time |
| Works with | Heat and demulsifier |
| Standard | API Spec 12L |
Common failures
- Oil leaves out of spec for water
Troubleshooting
- Symptom
- Water in the treated oil rises
- Likely cause
- Not enough heat or wrong chemical dose
- What to check
- Review treating temperature and bottle test the demulsifier