scope:

1 Scope

This specification covers minimum requirements for material, design, fabrication, and testing of vertical and horizontal emulsion treaters. The jurisdiction of this specification terminates with each pressure vessel as applicable: the emulsion treater with firetube(s) and, if used, the heat exchanger(s) and water siphon. Pressure vessels covered by this specification are classified as natural resource vessels by API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspection Code. An emulsion treater is a pressure vessel used in the oil producing industry for separating oil-water emulsions and gas, and for breaking or resolving emulsified well streams into water and saleable clean oil components. Emulsion treaters are usually equipped with one or more removable firetubes or heat exchange elements through which heat is applied to the water and/or emulsion to aid the emulsion breaking process.