A method of removing metals and amines from crude oil comprising adding an effective metal removing amount of one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids selected from lactic acid and malic acid and salts thereof to said crude oil; adding wash water to said crude oil; mixing said crude oil, acid and wash water to form an emulsion; and resolving said emulsion into an aqueous phase and crude oil having a reduced metals content.

A method of removing metals and amines from crude oil comprising adding an effective metal removing amount of one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids selected from lactic acid and malic acid and salts thereof to said crude oil; adding wash water to said crude oil; mixing said crude oil, acid and wash water to form an emulsion; and resolving said emulsion into an aqueous phase and crude oil having a reduced metals content.

The present invention provides a process for removing metal naphthenate from a crude hydrocarbon mixture comprising: —mixing said crude hydrocarbon mixture (1) comprising metal naphthenate with an acid (3) in the presence of water, wherein said acid converts said metal naphthenate to naphthenic acids and metal salts; —allowing said metal salt to partition into a water phase; —separating said crude heavy hydrocarbon mixture (5) comprising naphthenic acid and said water phase (6) comprising said metal salt; and —preferably pumping said water phase comprising metal salt to a formation.

A method of removing metals and amines from crude oil is provided. The method includes adding an effective metal removing amount of one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids selected from lactic acid and malic acid and salts thereof to the crude oil; adding wash water to the crude oil; mixing the crude oil, acid and wash water to form an emulsion; and resolving the emulsion into an aqueous phase and crude oil having a reduced metals content.

A method of removing metals and amines from crude oil is provided. The method includes adding an effective metal removing amount of one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids selected from lactic acid and malic acid and salts thereof to the crude oil; adding wash water to the crude oil; mixing the crude oil, acid and wash water to form an emulsion; and resolving the emulsion into an aqueous phase and crude oil having a reduced metals content.

A process for optimising the removal of calcium from a hydrocarbon feedstock in a refinery desalting process, the refinery desalting process comprising the following steps: (a) mixing one or more wash water streams with one or more hydrocarbon feedstock streams; (b) at least partially separating the wash water from the hydrocarbons in a refinery desalter; and (c) removing the separated water and hydrocarbons from the refinery desalter as one or more desalted hydrocarbon streams and one or more effluent water streams; the process optimisation comprising: (i) providing at least one x-ray fluorescence analyser at at least one point in the refinery desalting process; (ii) measuring the concentration of calcium at the at least one point in the process using the at least one x-ray fluorescence analyser; and (iii) optionally adjusting at least one process condition of the refinery desalting process in response to the calcium concentration measurement in step (ii). An apparatus comprises a desalter; a line through which one or more hydrocarbon feedstock streams are passed to the desalter; optionally a line through which one or more wash water streams are passed to the desalter; and one or more x-ray fluorescence analysers configured so as to measure the concentration of calcium in water or hydrocarbons at one or more positions within the apparatus.

A process for optimising the removal of calcium from a hydrocarbon feedstock in a refinery desalting process, the refinery desalting process comprising the following steps: (a) mixing one or more wash water streams with one or more hydrocarbon feedstock streams; (b) at least partially separating the wash water from the hydrocarbons in a refinery desalter; and (c) removing the separated water and hydrocarbons from the refinery desalter as one or more desalted hydrocarbon streams and one or more effluent water streams; the process optimisation comprising: (i) providing at least one x-ray fluorescence analyser at at least one point in the refinery desalting process; (ii) measuring the concentration of calcium at the at least one point in the process using the at least one x-ray fluorescence analyser; and (iii) optionally adjusting at least one process condition of the refinery desalting process in response to the calcium concentration measurement in step (ii). An apparatus comprises a desalter; a line through which one or more hydrocarbon feedstock streams are passed to the desalter; optionally a line through which one or more wash water streams are passed to the desalter; and one or more x-ray fluorescence analysers configured so as to measure the concentration of calcium in water or hydrocarbons at one or more positions within the apparatus.

A process for removing metals in a petroleum oil material. The process comprises causing the petroleum oil material to react with a removing agent which comprises a phosphoric acid ester. A microwave irradiation environment was created during the reaction to provide the required energy essential for separating such contaminations from the oil chemical network. The process of the invention is applied at ambient pressure and low temperature compared to the conventional metal removal processes. The process of the invention can be readily scaled up and integrated into an industrial facility.

A process for removing metals in a petroleum oil material. The process comprises causing the petroleum oil material to react with a removing agent which comprises a phosphoric acid ester. A microwave irradiation environment was created during the reaction to provide the required energy essential for separating such contaminations from the oil chemical network. The process of the invention is applied at ambient pressure and low temperature compared to the conventional metal removal processes. The process of the invention can be readily scaled up and integrated into an industrial facility.

In an aspect, a method is disclosed that includes contacting a composition with an aqueous solution to yield a mixture, where the composition includes one or more of animal fats, animal oils, plant fats, plant oils, vegetable fats, vegetable oils, greases, and used cooking oil, about 5 wt. % or more of free fatty acids, about 10 wppm or more of total metals, about 8 wppm or more phosphorus, about 20 wppm or more of nitrogen, and the aqueous solution includes ((NH.sub.4).sub.2H.sub.2EDTA, (NH.sub.4).sub.4EDTA, a monoammonium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a diammonium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a triammonium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a tetraammonium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, (NH.sub.4).sub.5DTPA, a combination of citric acid and Na.sub.4EDTA, a combination of citric acid and Na.sub.2H.sub.2EDTA, a combination of citric acid and a monosodium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a combination of citric acid and a disodium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a combination of citric acid and a trisodium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a combination of citric acid and a tetrasodium salt of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, a combination of citric acid and Na.sub.5DTPA, or a combination of any two or more thereof, where the method further includes centrifuging the mixture to yield a first treated composition, wherein the first treated composition has less total metals and less phosphorus than the composition.