Crude Oil Dehydration and Desalting Patents: Leaders, Trends 2026
- A single leader, then a steep drop-off. the top-ranked assignee holds 12 records against a fifth-place holder of just 1, across only 8 ranked companies in this dataset.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 6 records and fell to 0 by 2024 — a complete-year comparison, since 2025-26 filings are still being published.
- C10G and B01D dominate the claim space at 85.3% and 73.5% of the 34 records respectively, leaving control-system and analytical classes comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (6 records) with 2024 (0) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field.
What this landscape covers
Crude oil dehydration and desalting sits at the boundary of separation engineering and refinery feed conditioning: electrostatic coalescers, demulsifier injection strategies and wash-water ratio control all aim at the same problem — pulling water, salt and tight emulsions out of crude before it damages downstream equipment. This dataset draws on 34 published records matched against dehydration, desalting and coalescer terms cross-referenced with process-control language such as electric field gradient and residual salt content.
The scope is narrow by design: it isolates the surface-facilities separation step rather than the broader upstream production or refining literature, so the counts below should be read as a slice of a niche, not a market-wide census.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 34-record set: when the filings happened, and which IPC subclasses they touch. Because a single record can carry several classes, the composition shares add up to more than the record total.
Filing activity by year
Activity rose to a peak of 6 records in 2021, then fell to 0 by 2024 — the last year that can be read as complete. 2025 and 2026 are still filling in as publication catches up with filing, so read the tail as incomplete rather than as a decline.
IPC subclass distribution
C10G (hydrocarbon oils & refining) and B01D (separation processes) anchor the field at 85.3% and 73.5% of records. Chemical/physical processing (B01J, 32.4%) and water treatment (C02F, 20.6%) trail well behind, and control, analysis and measurement classes — G05D, G01N, G01R — each sit under 15%, marking where claim density is thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 34 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Crude Oil Dehydration and Desalting with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about crude oil dehydration and desalting and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited records and a representative filing
WO2022251082A1 — Process control systems and methods for simultaneous crude oil dehydration, desalting, sweetening, and stabilization with indirect recycle heating
Systems and methods for crude oil separations including degassing, dewatering, desalting, and stabilization, including separating crude oil into off-gas and partially degassed output; compressing the off-gas for indirect heating of that output; further indirect heating with compressed low-pressure gas; direct mixing with compressed atmospheric-pressure gas; and separating a low-pressure gas stream for reuse in heating.Abstract trimmed to the portion covering the core process steps.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4737265A | Water based demulsifier formulation and process for its use in dewatering and desalting crude hydrocarbon oils | 122 |
| 2 | US6860979B2 | Dual frequency electrostatic coalescence | 92 |
| 3 | US4551239A | Water based demulsifier formulation and process for its use in dewatering and desalting crude hydrocarbon oils | 69 |
| 4 | US5353237A | System for increasing efficiency of chemical treatment | 52 |
| 5 | US20040094421A1 | Dual frequency electrostatic coalescence | 26 |
| 6 | WO2004014512A2 | Dual frequency electrostatic coalescence | 14 |
| 7 | US20220380688A1 | Process control systems and methods for simultaneous crude oil dehydration, desalting, sweetening, and stabil… | 10 |
| 8 | US20220380687A1 | Process control systems and methods for simultaneous crude oil dehydration, desalting, sweetening, and stabil… | 8 |
| 9 | EP0174399A1 | Water based demulsifier formulation and process for its use in dewatering and desalting crude hydrocarbon oils | 7 |
| 10 | US20220402781A1 | Conserving fresh wash water in crude oil desalting and control using forward osmosis and desalter advanced co… | 5 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings — treat this table as a signal of influence on later work, not a ranking of current commercial importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-throughs of the same evidence, aimed at where to file and where not to.
One assignee dominates a short ranked list
Only 8 companies appear in the assignee ranking at all, and the leader's 12 records dwarf the fifth-place holder's single filing. That gap says the core coalescer and demulsifier claim space is occupied by one player, not that the field itself is crowded.
Activity peaked in 2021 and dropped to zero by 2024
The -100% swing from 2021's peak of 6 to 2024's 0 is a genuine complete-year comparison. It should not be read as the field cooling permanently — publication lag means 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and will revise upward.
Core refining and separation classes are saturated
C10G and B01D between them touch the large majority of the 34 records, meaning core dehydration and separation mechanics are heavily claimed. Control (G05D), analytical (G01N) and measurement (G01R) classes each sit under 15% of records, marking thinner ground.
Filing here is almost entirely solo
Only one co-assignee pairing shows up across the dataset, linking two Saudi-affiliated entities. Outside that pair, assignees are filing independently rather than through joint ventures or cross-licensing structures visible in the record.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to crude oil dehydration and desalting, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is active and where the next filing might land
The ranked leaders sit alongside a long tail of single-filing entrants. Momentum in the latest year is thin across the board, which is consistent with a field past its filing peak but still open at the edges.
A single dominant filer
The top-ranked assignee's 12 records set it apart from the rest of the 8-company ranking, spanning coalescer and desalting process claims. Its filing pace has cooled in the latest year, per the momentum data, but its existing portfolio still anchors the core claim space.
New activity is thin and shifting
Recent-year momentum shows most ranked assignees at zero, with a Chinese university-affiliated filer recording the sole latest-year filing. That is a small signal, but it is the only sign of fresh activity in an otherwise quiet recent stretch.
Saudi Aramco entities are the only collaborators on record
The single co-assignee pair in this dataset links two Saudi Arabian Oil Company-affiliated entities, suggesting internal cross-filing rather than external partnership. No other collaborative filing pattern is visible across the remaining assignees.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| China University of Petroleum (East China) | 1 | — |
| National Tank Company | 0 | — |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) | 0 | — |
| ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company | 0 | — |
| Indian Institute of Technology Bombay | 0 | — |
| Aramco Services Company | 0 | — |
| ORYX ENERGY CO | 0 | — |
| HART PAUL ROBERT | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated core and a thin, still-forming edge. Two directions are worth pursuing from here.
Map the control-and-sensing edge
G05D, G01N and G01R classes each cover under 15% of records, well below the C10G/B01D core. That is where a first claim on real-time salt or interface-layer sensing would face the least prior art.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack the leader's next move
With the top assignee holding 12 records but showing no latest-year filings in this data, watching for its next publication will show whether the 2021 peak was a one-off push or the start of a slower steady pace.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on crude oil dehydration and desalting patents
One assignee leads the ranked list with 12 records, well ahead of the rest of the 8 companies that appear in this dataset's ranking, where fifth place holds only 1. That gap indicates a single company built an early, broad position in coalescer and demulsifier process claims rather than the field being evenly contested. It does not mean the company controls the whole technology area, since the ranking only reflects the 34 records matched by this specific search.
Filing peaked at 6 records in 2021 and fell to 0 by 2024, a complete-year comparison that shows a real slowdown from the peak. However, 2025 and 2026 figures are not yet reliable because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so recent-looking gaps will partly fill in as more records publish. Treat the 2021-to-2024 drop as the dependable read, not the apparent flatness after it.
C10G (hydrocarbon oils and refining) and B01D (separation processes) dominate, covering 85.3% and 73.5% of the 34 records respectively. Chemical and physical processing under B01J appears in 32.4% of records, and water treatment under C02F in 20.6%. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these figures overlap and add to more than 100%, but the pattern is clear: the mechanical separation and refining core is dense, while control and measurement classes are comparatively open.
The under-claimed branches sit in control and analytical classes — G05D, G01N and G01R each cover under 15% of the 34 records, far below the C10G/B01D core. Specific sub-areas worth checking include real-time residual salt sensing, electric field gradient control loops and wash-water ratio feedback systems. These are adjacent to the dense core rather than unrelated to it, so a first claim there still needs to be drafted around the existing coalescer and demulsifier patents.
WO2022251082A1, filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, covers an integrated process for crude oil degassing, dewatering, desalting and stabilization that reuses compressed off-gas for indirect heating steps. It is a systems-and-methods claim over a specific sequence of separation and heat-recycling steps, not a claim over dehydration or desalting broadly. Anyone working on integrated recycle-heating architectures for crude conditioning should review its claim scope closely, but standalone demulsifier chemistry or coalescer hardware work sits outside its specific process sequence.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.