The eLearning Center for B.F. Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Overview

This course covers the process of electrostatically treating water-in-oil emulsions in order to coalesce, separate and remove the water from the oil. The produced water associated with oil recovered from beneath the earth is not a marketable product and can corrode and foul downstream production equipment. While much of the produced water can be removed using conventional separation equipment, the breaking of water-in-oil emulsions often requires a more aggressive treatment, such as centrifugal force, sonic treatment or high voltage electrostatics. This course will focus on the use of high voltage electrostatic methods to accelerate water droplet coalescence and separation.

The course material is the technical paper "The Practiced Art of Emulsion Resolution in Electrostatic Processes" by Gary W. Sams - NATCO, Director R&D and Moshen Zaouk - NATCO, Chief Chemist. The referenced technical paper is reproduced by permission of NATCO Group.

The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of ten (10) questions at the end of the course to obtain PDH credits.

Specific Knowledge or Skill Attained

This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:

  · Common methods used to break emulsions
  · The impact of production history on the nature and stability of an emulsion, including lift techniques, shear energy, pressure cycles, thermal cycles and water cuts
  · The impact of the crude characteristics on emulsion stability
  · The impact of the water characteristics on emulsion stability
  · Electrostatic treatment methods, including A/C, D/C and pulsating voltage

State Board Acceptance

This course can be used by professional engineers to fulfill PDH requirements mandated by state and provincial licensing boards. Decatur Professional Development is an approved provider of continuing education in all states that pre-approve course providers. In all other states that mandate continuing education for engineers, it is the individual engineer's responsibility to determine the suitability of activities for PDH credit. The state boards typically accept online* courses that cover technical, managerial** or ethical content and which are relevant to the practice of engineering. The course must have a clear purpose or objective with a content that will maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge of the licensee's field of practice. For questions about your mandatory PDH requirements, visit the website of your state licensing board.

*Online courses are accepted by all state licensing boards that mandate continuing education. Other than New York (which limits online courses to 18 PDH) and Iowa (which limits online courses to 6 PDH), there are no limits placed by other states on the number of hours that can be earned through online continuing education. Consult with your state licensing board if you have any questions about the acceptability of online courses.

**The New York State Board of Engineers does not accept general office management courses, but will accept project management courses that are offered by an approved provider and that are technical in nature and contribute to the engineer's professional practice.

Please Note: Continuing Education credits for this course are awarded as PDH (Professional Development Hour Credits).