Patent Grant
9732590
This invention relates in general to the detection and containment of leaking gas and fluids from around wellheads. In particular, the present invention relates to the detection and containment of leaking gas and fluids from wellheads used in production and non-production wellheads or from fractured ground faults around wellheads used in oil and gas producing wells.
It should be noted that reference to the prior art herein is not to be taken as an acknowledgement that such prior art constitutes common general knowledge in the art.
Leaking wellhead gas and wellhead fluids are a major environmental problem in gas and oil fields with consequent great concerns now held for the carbon foot print created by each wellhead and the potential health risks to workers and local residents.
Often gases and fluids spill from the wellhead. Early containment practice of such spills consisted of digging a pit around the wellhead. Environmental and regulatory concerns effectively discouraged such practice, leading to the need for alternate means to contain gas and liquid spilled from the wellhead. To date, devices and methods used to contain excess gas and fluid spilled from a wellhead have suffered from several drawbacks. For example, such devices and methods generally obstruct the area around the wellhead thereby interfering with servicing and may include pans that require assembly at the well site or are cumbersome to install. Also, where pumping means are used to transfer contained gases or liquids away from the wellhead, such means involve electrical or internal combustion drives which, for safety reasons, must be located some distance away from the wellhead.
Numerous gas wells have been found to leak around the outer conductive pipe. In one test conducted by the Safety and Health Division of the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Queensland, Australia, May 2010, “58 wells were tested at one of the Queensland Surat Basin gas fields. Of those wells, 26 were found to be leaking, including one of which was well over the explosive limit, four that were at or over the 10% over the limit, and twenty-one that had minor leaks.” As a result of these test results, a new Queensland Government Code of Practice for detecting and managing gas emissions at CSG well sites was enacted. “Companies must now immediately fix leaks that fall over the reportable level, even those which may have a very low volume of gas and report those leaks to the Government's Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate.” Note the current number of gas wells drilled in Queensland as at March, 2013 is around 3,000 with another 40,000 planned to be drilled in Queensland gas fields.
World-first research from two scientists at Southern Cross University, New England, Australia, has found methane levels in the air and water in areas where coal seam gas mining has taken place are up to 10 times the methane levels found in unmined areas. Dr Isaac Santos and Dr Damian Maher, scientists attached to the Southern Cross University, Armidale, NSW, Australia, took thousands of air and water samples from gas fields near Tara in Southern Queensland, Australia and compared them with samples from the Northern Rivers region, New South Wales, where a number of coal seam gas wells have been proposed. They found methane levels in creeks around Tara, Queensland, Australia, were up to 10 times higher than in the Northern Rivers, New South Wales and up to three times higher in the atmosphere. Tara residents have been complaining of previously unknown illnesses. ABC Tue Dec. 18, 2012 10:20 am AEDT:—“A Western Downs community group in southern Queensland says more families are now reporting health problems they believe are caused by nearby coal seam gas (CSG) fields.” Another health concern is the presence of the radioactive gas “Radon” which can be present in coal seam gas.
Another potential form of contamination occurs from surface water around a wellhead due to leaching of contaminants either from the drilling operations, ie. fracking, or from accidental spillage during operation and maintenance of the wellhead, ie. oil, grease and well water.
Clearly it would be advantageous if a system and method for the detection and containment of leaking gas and fluids from around wellheads could be devised that helped to at least ameliorate some of the shortcomings described above. In particular, it would be beneficial to create a fugitive gas and effluent detection and collection system which overcomes one or more of the above problems thereby significantly mitigating both environmental and personal safety risks and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of each gas wellhead and/or provide the consumer with an effective risk management plan and commercial means to reduce the potential loss of commercial quantities of gas at some wellheads that would have been otherwise lost.
In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention provides a wellhead leak detection and collection system comprising a well site, the wellhead leak detection and collection system comprising: at least one collection member adapted to be placed adjacent a wellhead and adapted to receive fluid leaking from and around the wellhead conductive pipe and the wellhead; a flexible cover, covering at least the adjacent areas around the wellhead and the at least one collection member; and a fluid detector in fluid communication with the at least one collection member.
Preferably, the fluid leaking from and around the wellhead may comprise both gas and liquid. The at least one collection member may be a porous conduit. The porous conduit may be a perforated pipe having holes sized to allow the transmission of the liquid and gas into the pipe. An example of a porous hose is the 3331HM dripping hose made by Holeman Industries and slotted agricultural (AG) pipe.
Alternatively, the porous conduit may be a porous hose, the porous hose being manufactured from an extruded porous rubber and/or plastic material. Preferably, a material such as an inert plastic DHPE (high density polyethylene) can be used.
Preferably, the system may comprise a plurality of porous conduits wherein the porous conduits may comprise a combination of one or more perforated pipes and/or one or more porous hoses. Each porous conduit may be positioned under the flexible cover around the wellhead and secured to the wellhead using adhesives and/or the like, with the conduits joined together in such a fashion so as to collect leaked gas or liquid from in and around the wellhead and the well site.
Preferably, the system further comprises at least one chamber designed to fit around the conductive pipe of the wellhead, wherein liquid and gases leaking directly from around the conductive pipe may be directed into a collective base collar of the chamber.
Preferably, a fluid collection trench may be located around the outside perimeter of the well site, the fluid collection trench being in fluid communication with the at least one chamber. The fluid collection trench and the at least one chamber may be connected via an S trap which is designed to allow liquids to flow to the fluid collection trench and to have a sealing liquid column that prevents the collected leaking gases from escaping to the fluid collection trench.
Preferably, at least one gas chamber may be located within the well site and with at least one sump in fluid communication with and spaced apart from the at least one gas chamber. Both gas and liquid may be directed to the at least one gas chamber and when the liquid in the gas chamber reaches a pre-determined level the liquid is transferred to the least one sump. The at least one sump and the at least one gas chamber may be connected via an S trap located in the at least one sump, the S trap is designed to allow liquids to flow to the at least one sump and to have a sealing liquid column that prevents the collected leaking gases from escaping to the at least one sump. The length of the S trap may be calculated from the gas over pressure reading for the well site.
Preferably, a fluid collection trench may be located around the outside perimeter of the well site, the fluid collection trench being in fluid communication with the at least one sump and the at least one gas chamber.
Preferably, the system further comprises gas and liquid pumps for respectively pumping gas and liquid from the at least one sump and at least one gas chamber, wherein the gas and liquid pumps may be located adjacent each other within the well site such that a common feed from a hydraulic power unit can be utilized, or from an on-site electric generator. Liquid collected in the at least one sump may be pumped from the sump via a liquid meter or liquid flow detector to a main waste pipe, wherein the liquid is then either pumped to a collection dam or waste liquid treatment plant. The treatment plant may be a reverse osmosis plant for removing salts and other fluid contaminants from the collected liquid.
Preferably, the liquid collected in the at least one sump may contain any one of high or low pH, total dissolved salts (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), chlorides, iron, manganese, sodium, strontium, lead, arsenic, sulphate, nitrate, bacteria, oil/grease, gross alpha radon, radium and other heavy metals that have leached from the coal seam beds below to around the wellhead.
Preferably, gas collected in the at least one gas chamber may be pumped via a metering valve and a flow detector valve to the main gas line of the well site. Alternatively, gas collected in the at least one gas chamber may be pumped to a main gas/liquid separator and then to the main gas line of the well site.
Preferably, the at least one sump may further comprise a foot valve, a non-return valve and a float valve, the foot and non-return valves are located in the pump line in the at least one sump and the float valve is located in the sump and controls the liquid pump.
Preferably, the flexible cover may comprise an impervious material. Alternatively the flexible cover may comprise any or more of the following: a) a poly-fabric; b) a polyethylene based poly-fabric; c) a plastic or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet/foil material; d) an impervious sprayed polyurethane sealant onto a geo-fabric or woven/knitted mat sheet; e) an impervious liner with a porous lining on the bottom; or f) an impervious liner with a porous lining on the bottom and on the top. For example, Canvacon E 5000, a polyethylene based polyfabric sold by Gale Pacific Limited. Another example is an inert high density polyethylene membrane such as Layfield's Enviro Liner 6000HD material. Another example of a sprayable polyethylene based poly-fabric is Eraspray ESM900a sprayable polyethylene based modified polyurea product sold by ERA Polymers Pty Ltd.
A skilled addressee will understand that any suitable flexible cover may be used such as plastic sheet/foil material, PVC sheeting/foil, impervious fabrics, sprayable polyurethane and/or the like.
Alternatively, the flexible cover may comprise a multi-layer construction comprising a bottom geo-fabric sheet, a top geo-fabric sheet, with the two geo-fabric sheets separated by a mesh sheet. The flexible cover may comprise an impervious liner with a porous lining on both the bottom and top of the impervious liner, wherein soil contamination is minimised by the installation of a woven/knitted/spun fabric on the top and on the bottom, giving a three layer construction on each side of the impervious liner comprising an impervious liner, a porous fabric and a soil retention fabric.
Preferably, the porous lining may be positioned around the wellhead and the at least one collection member such that any liquid/gas leaking from the ground can flow through and along the porous lining to the at least one collection member. The porous lining may comprise a spun fabric such as a spun geo-fabric, or a woven/knitted fabric.
Preferably, the flexible cover may be wide enough to enclose the adjacent area to the wellhead such that any surface backfill puts pressure on the flexible cover to keep it in place relative to the wellhead.
Preferably, the flexible cover may be a poly-fabric and is placed around the wellhead such that adjacent sides of the flexible cover overlap and were the flexible poly-fabric cover overlaps are sealed with a sealant or welded. Perimeter edges of the flexible cover and the porous linings may be folded over into a perimeter drainage channel, the perimeter drainage channel is lined with similar flexible material as the flexible cover, in such a manner that allows any fluids draining from under the flexible cover to be collected and drained to a perimeter collection sump.
On top of the flexible cover, a similar porous lining may be installed, with a woven porous top cover to minimise soil contamination of the outer porous layer, on top of the porous lining a back fill of crushed gravel or soil is laid on top to protect the flexible liner/cover from UV sunlight deterioration and to allow vehicle traffic over the flexible cover for work and maintenance of the wellhead. The geo-fabric and the mesh actually forms a conduit over the whole underside of the membrane for gas to be transported to the porous gas gathering (AG pipe) lines. The materials are laid out as a “sandwich” with geo-fabric/mesh/geo-fabric either side of the membrane joined together by welding or gluing on site or in the factory.
A benefit of this is that the overlap assists in sealing the flexible cover in at least one direction. Typically any backfill will assist in sealing the overlap of the flexible cover. Preferably the flexible cover is attached to itself where it overlaps, by gluing or welding of joining materials.
Where the wellhead is not in the centre of the membrane, the membrane is cut to fit around the wellhead, then mechanically sealed to the conductive wellhead pipe by stainless steel clamps and sealed with sealant to form a gas tight seal, The membrane is sealed around the wellhead by welding or by a mechanical joining sealing system consisting of solid sheets bolted together with gas sealant and bolts.
Preferably, the bottom of the at least one gas chamber may be open and lined with a layer of gravel to allow liquid from the surrounding ground around the wellhead to enter the at least one gas chamber. The side of the gas chamber is perforated with a series holes to allow any collected fugitive gas to enter the gas chamber. The perforated sides of the gas chamber are covered with geo-fabric to prevent soil contamination of the gas chamber.
As a consequence, the present invention has incorporated an alternative collection system that may or may not involve burning off the collected fugitive gases.
In one form but not necessarily the broadest form, the present invention is designed to capture fugitive leaked gases around a wellhead and prevent them escaping to the atmosphere. Coal seam methane gas is twenty-two times more polluting than carbon dioxide. The reduction of the carbon foot print is enhanced by pumping the fugitive leaked gas back into the gas discharge pipe which collects the well head gas for transport to a gas treatment plant and compressor station.
Another form of this invention is designed to capture fugitive leaked gases from around a wellhead and prevent them escaping to the atmosphere. The fugitive gases may then be burnt off to minimise the carbon foot print and environmental impact.
Another form of this invention is designed to capture fugitive leaked wellhead effluents, much of which contains high or low pH, total dissolved salts (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), chlorides, iron, manganese, sodium, strontium, lead, arsenic, sulphate, nitrate, bacteria, oil/grease, gross alpha radon, radium and other heavy metals that have leached from the coal seam beds below to around a wellhead. Leaked well effluents are collected in a sump and pumped to the well effluent waste pipe which is pumped to a collection dam and waste water treatment plant, such as a reverse osmosis plant to remove all salts and other fluid contaminants.
Another form of this invention is designed to capture, as a result of rainfall, contaminants (i.e. oils, greases and spilt effluent liquids) within the enclosure which will drain into the perimeter trench for collection to the sump and thereafter such oils, greases and effluent liquids are subsequently pumped into the separator for treatment: Thus further damage and pollution by dangerous contaminants which would otherwise emanate from the well site to local waterways and land will be minimised if not eradicated; the gas company will meet its environmental obligations and satisfy the requisite Environmental Protection Authority requirements; and the integrity of any organic farming and grazing practices and land owner's accreditation will be preserved.
In another embodiment, the at least one fluid collection member may be a plurality of fluid collection members including one or more porous conduits and/or one or more sumps. This can be beneficial to help in collecting smaller ground leaks.
The flexible cover may be typically coloured to provide a visual indication when the area around the wellhead is being excavated (e.g. to act as a warning).
Preferably in one form of the invention: the flexible cover comprises an impervious liner with a porous lining on the bottom.
The fluids from the perimeter sump can be pumped back into the wellhead take-off pipe, thus minimising any pollution by contaminating effluents released to the environment.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given hereinafter and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to be limitative to the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only.
The following description, given by way of example only, is described in order to provide a more precise understanding of the subject matter of a preferred embodiment or embodiments.
With reference to
The presence of fugitive gas in the central gas collection chamber 21 can be tested for pressure and concentrations at outlet pipe 33 via screw cap 34. The captured fugitive gases are pumped with the pump 35 from gas exist pipe 33 into the main exist gas/fluid pipe 13. A non-return valve 36 is positioned between the pump 35 and the pipe 13. There is no carbon footprint or atmospheric contamination due to the normal burning of fugitive gases in a flaring pit. The water in the coal seam below is pumped up the central drilled pipe 11 with the wellhead pumps driven by the top motor 12. The flexible cover 15 is gas/fluid impervious and is sandwiched between bottom porous fabric layers 16, 17 and top porous fabric layers 18, 19. The bottom porous fabric layers 16, 17 act as a conduit for captured fugitive gases that will travel up and be collected into the central gas chamber 21. The top porous fabric layers 18, 19 act as a conduit for any surface contaminations that may have been spilt around the wellhead 10. The top porous fabric layers 18, 19 are covered with a porous covering of crushed gravel 28 which will protect the fabric layers from U.V. light damage and allow machinery to move over the wellhead pad for well maintenance.
The surrounding area around the wellhead 50 is covered with formed earthworks sloping out to the perimeter collection trench 60. The sloping earthworks are covered by a flexible cover 90 comprising a series of gas conductive fabric in layers 91 to form fugitive fluid and gas seals around the wellhead 50, the gas chamber 70 and the sump 80.
The fugitive gas/effluent recovery system includes a central gas collection chamber 70 with a number of porous pipes 61, 62, 63 connected from under the flexible cover 90. A sump 80 is located at or near one side of the well site in fluid communication with the gas collection chamber 70 and the fluid collection pipes 65. The gas collection porous pipes 61, 62, 63 are laid above the effluent/fluid slotted collection pipes 65, with porous pipes 61, 62, 63 and slotted collection pipe 65 laid beneath the flexible cover 90. The effluent/fluid slotted collection pipes 95 drain directly into the sump 80. The sump 80 is connected to the gas collection chamber 70 by pipe 82. The pipe allows the transfer of fluid or effluent received in the gas collection chamber 70 to the sump 80. A suction pipe 72 connected to the fluid pump 81 allows the sump 80 to be connected to the separator 52 for transfer of the fluid/effluent to the water mains 54 or a dam (not shown). The water can also be transferred to an external water treatment facility such as a reverse osmosis treatment plant. It should be appreciated by the skilled addressee that a number of other water treatment plants could be devised to further treat the fluid from the well site.
Typically the top slotted or porous pipe 61 is laid into the gravel 101 so that it is partially exposed to enable gas 75 collected under the flexible cover 90, which forms an impervious membrane, to enter the slots in the pipe 61 and thereafter be transported to the central gas chamber 70. Similarly gas pipes 62, 63 are laid directly from the gas chamber 70 to around the wellhead 50. There are a number of these gas gathering pipes 61, 62, 63 installed under the flexible cover 90 which are directed to the central gas chamber 70 resulting in the gas pressure under the flexible cover 90 being minimised and equalised and thereby minimising the chance of localised uplifting of the flexible cover 90 due to localised over-pressure
The gas chamber 70 has cover 76 closing one end of the chamber the other end 74 is open but covered with a layer of gravel 73. The top cover 76 is welded to the gas chamber forming a gas tight seal. The gas chamber 70 is protected by a safety explosion venting/pressure relief membrane (not shown) fitted into the top of the lid or cover 76. For example, a safety explosion venting/pressure relief membrane produced by Fire Protection Pty Ltd. The open end 74 allows the effluent fluids 83 to seep through the gravel 73 in the direction of arrows 69 and enter into the bottom of the gas chamber 70. A layer of effluent liquid 83 is contained within the bottom of the gas chamber 70 and is drawn out of the gas chamber 70 through the effluent/liquid pipe 82 and into the sump 80. Surrounding the top of the gas chamber 70 is a gravel fill 101 which slopes down and away from the gas chamber 70 to the outer perimeter trench 60. The layer of gravel 101 is placed on top of the flexible cover 90. In this embodiment the flexible cover 90 comprises membrane 94 and a geo-fabric and mesh layers 95 on either side of the membrane 94. Another layer of gravel 101 is placed immediately below the flexible cover 90 and above the natural ground 102. A gathering gas line 77 passes out through the top cover 76 of the gas chamber 70 to connect the gas pump 71 to allow the gas 75 to be pumped from the gas chamber 70 to the separator 52. The gas chamber 70 includes perforated holes 104 in the sides of the gas chamber 70. The perforated holes 104 allow the gas 75 located under the flexible cover 90 to enter into the gas chamber 70.
Both the gas pump 71 and the liquid pump 81 are located adjacent to each other in order to utilise a common hydraulic feed from the hydraulic power unit 56 to drive both pumps. Alternatively, if a gas/petrol/diesel driven power unit 56 is used in place of the hydraulic power unit a common drive from the unit is utilised to drive both the gas pump 71 and the liquid pump 81. Located in close proximity to the gas pump 71 is a gas flow meter or gas detector (not shown). As the skilled addressee would know there are a number of options for the measurement or detection of gas flow. For example, gas flow can be measured in volumetric or mass flow rates, such as liters per second or kilograms per second. Typically when gases are transferred for their energy content, such as the sale of natural gas, the flow rate may also be expressed in terms of energy flow, such as GJ/hour or BTU/day. The energy flow rate is the volume flow rate multiplied by the energy content per unit volume or mass flow
An S-trap 86 is utilised in the sump 80. Because of its shape, the trap retains a certain amount of fluid within the S-trap 86. The fluid/water/effluent 83 in the S-trap 86 creates a seal that prevents gas 75 from passing from the effluent pipe 82. The S-trap 86 includes a filler pipe which has a removable cap 89 and allows the fluid inside the S-trap 86 to be maintained at a required level. Maintaining the water seal is critical to the S-trap 86 operation; traps can and do dry out, and poor venting can siphon or blow water out of the traps. The maximum pressure of the gas chamber 70 is set by the length of the water column in the “S” trap and is calculated to prevent over pressurising of gases under the membrane. The filler pipe passes through the top cover 100 of the sump 80. At the other end of the sump 80 a concrete base 88 closes off the bottom of the sump 80. Venting holes are drilled into the top lid 100 of the sump 80 for the relief of any discharged gases.
The sump 80 is typically located to one side of the well site. However it will be appreciated that the location of the sump 80 may vary from site to site. In
The sump 80 may be manufactured from any suitable material which can safely retain the effluent or fluid from an oil or coal seam wellhead 50. For example, a high density polyethylene (HDPE) or any polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. HDPE is known for its large strength to density ratio and is commonly used in the production sumps and other plastic products.
As described above a suction pipe 72 connected to the fluid pump 81 allows the sump 80 to be connected to the separator 52 for transfer of the fluid/effluent to the water mains 54 or a dam (not shown).
Also shown in
As shown in
As the fluid leaking from and around the wellhead 50 may comprise both gas 75 and liquid 83 a slotted pipes 61, 62, 63, 65 may be utilised as the main collection member within the well site. Alternatively a porous conduit may also be used, such that the porous conduit consists of a perforated pipe having holes sized to allow the transmission of the liquid 83 and gas 75 into the pipes 61, 62, 63, 65. An example of a porous hose is the 3331HM dripping hose made by Holeman Industries. It should be appreciated that any number of different types of pipes or porous hoses may be used to collect the fugitive gas and liquid from around the well site. For example, any one of porous conduits 61, 62, 63, 65 may be a porous hose, the porous hose being manufactured from an extruded porous rubber and/or plastic material. Likewise any combination of porous hoses or slotted or perforated pipes may be positioned under the flexible cover 90 and located in any number and any configuration around the well site. As such hoses and conduits located around the well site are connected together by adhesives or the like to form a network of underground collection pipes. The collection pipes 61, 62, 63 are sealed and secured to the gas chamber 70 and the sump 80 by adhesives or other fixing devices such as pipe clamps. Therefore the conduits 61, 62, 63 are joined together in such a fashion so as to collect leaked gas 75 from in and around the wellhead 50 and the well site. Likewise the pipes 65 are joined together in such a fashion so as to collect leaked effluent/liquid from around the site for transfer to the sump 80.
The present invention has been described in relation to a flexible cover 90 consisting of a number of gas conductive layers or a layer sandwich. In the present embodiment the flexible cover 90 comprises a membrane 94 and on either side of the membrane 94 are a geo-fabric and mesh layer 95. It will be appreciated that the number of layers and the constructions of those layers can be provided in a number of different options. Therefore the constructions of the flexible cover 90 has been described above it should be noted that an skilled addressee would recognise the variances and combinations of construction of the flexible cover 90. It should also be appreciated that the flexible cover 90 can be designed to fit any shape or configuration required for any existing well site or any new well site and may be manufactured in the factory or fabricated on-site by the installer.
Another example of the flexible cover 90 which can be used in conjunction with the present invention consists of three distinct layers. A first multi-layer sheet comprising a top layer of geo-fabric material, a middle plastic reinforcing mesh and a bottom layer of geo-fabric material, a second or middle layer comprising an enviro liner such as Layfield's Enviro Liner 6000HD and a third multi-layer sheet the same as the first layer. This combination or sandwich of layers forms a flexible cover 90 that will withstand mechanical damage from equipment installed on top of the finished well site surface.
The flexible cover 90 is sealed onto the gas chamber 70 with sealant and/or a pipe clamp 32 to form a gas seal around the gas chamber 70. Likewise the flexible cover forms a fluid or liquid seal around the perimeter trench 60 and or sides of the sump 80.
In another arrangement and as illustrated in
In accordance with the present invention the fluid detector in fluid communication with the fluid collection AG pipes 61, 62, 63 is a gas detector device which detects the presence of various gases within an area as part of a safety system. This type of equipment is used to detect a gas leak and interface with the remote terminal unit to the central control system so a process can be automatically shut down. Gas detectors can be classified according to the operation mechanism (semiconductors, oxidation, catalytic, infrared, etc.). The present gas detectors are fixed gas detectors and are located in and around the well site. For example, a gas detector may be located in the gas chamber 70, in or under the flexible cover 90, within the slotted or perforated collection pipes 61, 62, 63.
Installation & Operation
The present invention of a wellhead leak detection and collection system will now be described in relation to the installation and use of the system.
A. Initial Well Site Preparation and Well Drilling:
1. TOP LAYER:—Fluid Conductive Layer (GSE FabriNet Geo-composite comprising):
2. CENTRE LAYER:—Impervious Membrane (Layfield's Enviro Liner 6000HD Material); and
3. BOTTOM LAYER:—Gas/Fluid Conductive Layer (GSE FabriNet Geo-composite):
The installation of the system will then be complete and the gas company can then proceed to install the balance of the well completion infrastructure
G. Conclusion
System is a 3 Stage System:
Stage 1—Collection/Recovery and measurement of fugitive gases (which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere) thereby enhancing the commercial value of each gas well where the system is implemented.
Stage 2—Collection and measurement of effluent liquids leaking from around the wellhead which would otherwise pollute surrounding land
Stage 3—Collection of well site surface water and any spilt contaminants
Advantages
The present invention has been designed to capture and contain both fugitive leaked gases and wellheads effluents around a wellhead thereby significantly mitigating both environmental and personal safety risks and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of each oil or gas wellhead and/or provide the consumer with an effective risk management plan and commercial means to reduce the potential loss of commercial quantities of gas or oil at wellheads that would have been otherwise lost.
Another important advantage that the present system is the benefit to the CSG/oil companies:
It will be realized that the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example only and that all other modifications and variations as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.
In this specification, adjectives such as first and second, left and right, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one element or action from another element or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order. Where the context permits, reference to an integer or a component or step (or the like) is not to be interpreted as being limited to only one of that integer, component, or step, but rather could be one or more of that integer, component, or step etc.
The above description of various embodiments of the present invention is provided for purposes of description to one of ordinary skill in the related art. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to a single disclosed embodiment. As mentioned above, numerous alternatives and variations to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art of the above teaching. Accordingly, while some alternative embodiments have been discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent or relatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art. The invention is intended to embrace all alternatives, modifications, and variations of the present invention that have been discussed herein, and other embodiments that fall within the scope of the above described invention.
In the specification the term “fluid” shall be understood to include a substance, as a liquid or gas or a combination of both, that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change its shape. The term “fluid” may also extend to include plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids.
In the specification the term “comprising” shall be understood to have a broad meaning similar to the term “including” and will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. This definition also applies to variations on the term “comprising” such as “comprise” and “comprises”.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013901265 | Apr 2013 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2014/000398 | 4/11/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014/165921 | 10/16/2014 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5573349 | Paoluccio | Nov 1996 | A |
| 6095718 | Bohnhoff | Aug 2000 | A |
| 20050158123 | Ianniello | Jul 2005 | A1 |
| 20120219746 | Powell | Aug 2012 | A1 |
| 20130089376 | Nolt | Apr 2013 | A1 |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report and Written Opinion from PCT/AU2014/000398 dated Jun. 24, 2014. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160069162 A1 | Mar 2016 | US |
