Conversion of Inorganic Chlorides into Organochlorine Compounds during Crude Oil Distillation: Myth or Reality?

In
this communication, we reinterpreted the experimental findings
offered by Wu et al. about the presence and distribution of organic
chlorides in crude oil distillates (Wu, B.; Li, Y.; Li, X.; Zhu, J. Distribution and identification of
chlorides in distillates from YS crude oil. Energy Fuels 2015, 29, 1391−1396, 10.1021/ef502450w and Wu, B.; Li, Y.; Li, X.; Zhu, J.; Ma, R.; Hu, S. Organochlorine compounds with a low boiling point in desalted crude
oil: Identification and conversion. Energy
Fuels 2018, 32, 6475–6481, 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b00205). The results proposed by Wu et al. were examined employing a mass
balance approach. From our preliminary analysis, we concluded that
crude oil distillation may induce (significant) conversions of inorganic
chloride into organic chlorides. Such an alteration in chlorine speciation
could be relevant for managing corrosion issues in oil refineries.