Experimental Determination of Fouling Characteristics of Malaysian Crude Oil

Malaysian crude oils used to pose very little fouling problems, however as
time progresses, the fouling problem became more and more prominent in the crude
oil. This project concentrates on chemical fouling resulting from running the
Malaysian crude oil in the Hot Liquid Process Simulator 320 (HLPS-320). Six
experiments were conducted by heating crude oil in the H LPS under N2 pressure of
3.4 MPa. The HLPS will run on varying bulk temperatures from 70°C to 100°C and
surface temperatures from 220°C to 260°C' at constant pressure and velocity. Results
from the experiment will be used in Excel spreadsheet to calculate fouling resistance
which was based on semi-log plot of Arrhenius equation. Initial fouling rates are
then compared for different bulk temperatures and surface temperatures. The
experiment results will then be titled to the calculated date trom the Ebcrt-Panchal's
model of threshold fouling. Results show that there is a strong correlation between
bulk temperatures, surface temperatures and the subsequent fouling rates.