As global energy demand evolves, refineries face both significant opportunities and challenges in processing heavy crude oils. The attractive price differentials between heavy and light crudes present compelling economic advantages, but they come with considerable operational complexities. Refiners must navigate increased equipment fouling, higher energy consumption, and more complex emulsion handling scenarios. The presence of higher concentrations of asphaltenes and contaminants, particularly metals and solids, demands sophisticated processing strategies and robust chemical treatment programs.

Veolia worked to resolve a Gulf Coast refinery’s heavy oil processing issue by developing new emulsion breaker technology, focusing on enhancing crude oil dehydration and salt removal. In this webinar, Veolia’s R&D team will showcase their groundbreaking work using specialized testing equipment and advanced chemical formulations. Our field experts will also detail successful deployment strategies and outline measurable operational improvements that improved salt and BS&W removal by over 50% and saved the refinery over $1MM per year.

PRESENTERS:


Brian Benoit
Technical Director - Hydrocarbon Processing Industry
Brian is the HPI Technical Director at Veolia with over 35 years of industry experience. Brian currently leads the team of North American HPI Process Regional Engineers who provide troubleshooting expertise, operator/engineer training, and technical audits to help implement best practices for refinery process applications throughout the organization. Brian has in-depth experience in troubleshooting crude unit applications, specialized in opportunity crudes such as Eagle Ford. He has treated and audited over 35 crude units along the Gulf coast and has published and presented on the Challenges of Processing Opportunity Crude in multiple magazines, conferences and seminars. Brian holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University.


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Sylvain Fontaine
Senior Application Expert - Hydrocarbon Processing Industry
Sylvain is a Senior Application Expert for the hydrocarbon processing industry at Veolia. He provides global technical support to the refining industry with a focus on crude units, desalting, phase separation, antifoam and solid settling best practices, knowledge management, and technology development. Throughout his career, Sylvain has held various roles in research, technical & application support, sales, and sales management. His responsibilities included servicing, product line management, new product development, marketing, and field sales support for cooling & boiler water treatment, wastewater, emulsion breakers, antifoulants, and corrosion control chemistries to the refining industry. He holds a BSc (Biology) degree from Sherbrooke University in Quebec, Canada.


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Jenee Zaragoza
Associate Researcher - Phase Separation
Jenee is a researcher at Veolia with 15 years of extensive experience in the oil and gas industry. She has developed specialized expertise in refinery phase separation over the last nine years, advancing solutions for critical industry challenges. In her current role, she leverages advanced analytical techniques and laboratory methodologies to provide strategic technical recommendations, global product line support, and drive new product development initiatives. Her research contributions have led to new solutions for unique challenges such as renewable and heavy oil emulsion breaking. Jenee holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Science in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Houston – Clear Lake.


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