Distillate Treating — Kerosene, Diesel and Jet Fuel
Specific technical parameters and treating chemistry details to be confirmed by Howe Baker engineering before publication.
Key Takeaway
Distillate treating processes remove water, contaminants and polar compounds from refined product streams including kerosene, jet fuel and diesel to meet product quality specifications. Electrostatic treating is one method used for water removal from distillate products, particularly where strict water content limits apply such as aviation turbine fuel (ATF/Jet A-1).
Why Distillate Treating is Required
Distillate fractions from crude oil distillation — including kerosene, jet fuel and diesel — contain trace amounts of water, polar compounds and other contaminants that must be removed before the products can meet their applicable quality specifications.
Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has particularly strict quality requirements including limits on water content, particulates and conductivity, as residual water can cause icing and fuel system issues in aircraft. Diesel and kerosene specifications similarly include water content and haze limits.
Electrostatic Treating for Distillate Products
Electrostatic treating units use an applied electric field to coalesce dispersed water droplets in the distillate stream, allowing them to settle by gravity and be separated from the product. The process is similar in principle to electrostatic desalting of crude oil but is applied to a lighter, less viscous hydrocarbon phase.
Distillate electrostatic treaters typically operate as the final water removal stage downstream of a water washing or solvent extraction step, where the treated product must meet a tight water specification.
Jet Fuel Quality Requirements
Jet fuel treating requirements are defined by international specifications including DEF STAN 91-091 (Jet A-1) and ASTM D1655. These specifications include limits on water reaction, particulate content and other parameters that are affected by the treating process.
The treating process and its operating conditions must be validated against the applicable specification for the product grade. Changes to the treating chemistry, operating conditions or feed stream properties require reassessment against the specification.
Specific product specifications and treating performance data to be confirmed by Howe Baker engineering for the applicable product grade and project before publication.
Integration with Hydrotreating and Merox Treating
Distillate electrostatic treating is often applied as a polishing step downstream of other treating processes. Hydrotreating removes sulphur and nitrogen compounds from distillate fractions. Merox or equivalent processes treat mercaptan sulphur compounds in kerosene and jet fuel streams.
The sequence and integration of treating steps is determined by the starting quality of the distillate fraction and the required product specification.
Howe Baker Distillate Treating Systems
Howe Baker designs and supplies electrostatic treating units for distillate products including kerosene, jet fuel and diesel. Engineering scope covers process design, vessel and internals design, transformer-rectifier specification and integration with upstream treating steps.
Common Questions
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