This document discusses the process of bleaching crude oil. It contains three key points: 1) Bleaching is a process used to remove impurities from crude oil using adsorbents like bleaching earth or activated carbon. It works via adsorption of contaminants onto the adsorbent surfaces. 2) Fuller's earth and acid-activated bleaching earth are commonly used adsorbents that contain minerals like bentonite and montmorillonite which give them adsorptive properties. 3) Using a combination of bleaching earth and trisyl adsorbents can save a refinery over $500,000 annually in reduced adsorbent costs, oil losses,

1. Submitted by:-
Anay N Kacharia
T.Y. Btech. – Oils

3. ..We need to take a look at a Bottle of
Crude Oil
WHAT‘S IN
THE OIL?
METALS
WAXES GUMS
ANTI-OXIDANTS
... And
There are FATTY ACIDSS
UNWANTED
NUTRIENTS.. OIL
PRODUCTS!
COLOUR STABILISERS
VITAMINS PEROXIDES
LIPIDS
TOCOPHEROLS
SOAPS ODOUR
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4. Crude Oil
Physical Refining Chemical Refining
Degumming Degumming
Gums
Alkali
Bleaching Soap neutralization
Stock
Bleaching
Deodourization
Deodourization
Refined Neutralised ,
Fatty acid Bleached Bleached ,
distillates deodourized Deodourized oil
oil

5. • What is bleaching ?
• Why is bleaching really done ?

6. • It is based on ADSORBTION
• it is Represented by an equation developed
by a great scientist Freundlich
log(x/m) = logK + nlogc
• Process will continue till Thermodynamic
equilibrium is reached

7. • Temperature should be maintained
between 90-110 degree Celsius.
• Contact Period of 20 – 30 min.
• Bleaching is performed under
reduced pressure
• Type and amount of bleaching Agent
highly influence the process parameters .

8. 2 major processes include –
• Batch process

9. A : Bleacher A1 : Oil inlet
B : Barometric condenser B1 : Oil adsorbent outlet
C : Vacuum pump C1 : Steam inlet
D1: Condensate outlet
E1 : Bleaching Material inlet F1: Water Inlet

10. • Continuous process
: Crude Oil Inlet 1: Continuous bleacher
B: Oil-Earth suspension to be filtered 2: Earth tank
C: Bleached oil inlet 3: Earth dosing unit
D: Bleached oil outlet 4: Mixer
E: Water Inlet 5: Earth-oil pump
F: Steam Inlet 6: Heat Exchanger
7;Cooling unit 8;Condenser; 9;pump

11. • Fuller’s Earth-
• It is a natural clay which is very adsorbtive
• Mainly consists of minerals that belong
to the aluminium silicate family
• Main component is bentonite

12. • For most bentonites
necessary surface area and
pores need to be created
• Activation is done with acid
• Main component of bentonite
is montmorillonite

13. • Acid activated Bleaching Earth-
• Its Catalytic property is self explained by the acid
status.
• Its maximum importance comes with its property
of degradation of peroxide
• Results in the formation of trans fatty acids

14. • Activated Carbon -
•Can be derived from a variety of coal
• Contain micropores, mesopores & macropores
• It has a large adsorbent surface in a relatively small
volume.

16. A closer look at Bleaching
VACUUM VACUUM
BE 1,4% TRISYL 0,1% BE 0,8%
Bleaching
Vessel full
SO
(eg: Palm Oil) WHAT?
100°C 100°C THATS
WHAT!
FROM REFINERY To DEO FROM REFINERY To DEO
FILTER FILTER
BLEACHER BLEACHER
40% Oil/60%BE
For a 200Kmt refinery, this
Using TriSyl with BE
will save $330K . .
Just by tweaking
. .
will result in ~$840K oil loss! BASED ON Adsorbent
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ACTUAL CASE Combinations!

17. Schematic TriSyl Schematic ABE
Massive Internal Low External
Surface Area Surface Area
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19. Economic Model: TriSyl/BE Combination
Actual Case: TriSyl®/Spent/fresh BE/ Three Filters/92m2
Unigra Italy THEORETICAL ECONOMIC MODEL: Actual Case
TriSyl® - Physical Refining of Palm Oil/600 tons per day
ABE TriSyl® +ABE
TONS OIL PRODUCTION ANNUALLY 200000 200000 200000
DOSAGE ABE% 1,40 0,10 0,80
TONS ADSORBENT CONSUMED ANNUALLY 2800 200 1600
PRICE ABE KG/$ 0,36 1,00 0,36
% OIL LOSS ON FILTER CAKE 40 40 40
H2O CONTENT ON ADSORBENT % 10 60 10
TONS DRY ADSORBENT ANNUALLY 2520 80 1440
TONS OIL LOSS ON FILTER CAKE ANNUALLY 1680 53 960
PRICE CRUDE OIL $/KG 0,500 0,500 0,500
TONS FILTER CAKE DISPOSAL ANNUALLY 4200 133 2400
DISPOSAL COSTS $/KG 0,015 0,015 0,015
$ TOTAL ADSORBENT COST 1008000 200000 576000
$ OIL LOSS ON FILTER CAKE
$ TOTAL DISPOSAL COST
840000
63000 $600K!
26667
2000
480000
36000
TOTAL COSTS/SAVINGS 1911000 In total
by
228667 tweaking
1092000
TOTAL $ SAVINGS ANNUALLY WITH TriSyl® 590333
Adsorbents!
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