Patent Application
20130125842
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed herein relate generally to systems and their use for manipulating fluids, and relate specifically to heating, evaporating, condensing, separating, sterilizing and/or otherwise manipulating industrial fluids, including, but not limited to, industrial fluids associated with the oil and gas industries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Industrial operations, such as, but not limited to, oilfield operations, oftentimes require sources of heat for a variety of purposes, such as heating a fluid, evaporating a component from a fluid, condensing a fluid, separating a fluid according to its properties, and/or sterilizing or killing objectionable organisms in the fluid. In the past, industry has looked to both flame (or direct fired) and flameless systems to provide the energy for such systems.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,424,916 B2 entitled “Flameless Hot Oiler” is said to describe “[a] flameless heating system comprising: at least one engine, each engine including a coolant for removing heat from the engine and each engine producing exhaust; a loading means for loading the engine; a heat exchange system, the heat exchange system comprising: a heat exchange fluid; a pump for circulating the heat exchange fluid; at least one heat exchanger for transferring heat from the at least one engine coolant to the heat exchange fluid; and an exhaust heat exchanger for transferring heat from the exhaust of the at least one engine to the heat exchange fluid; a batch fluid; and a heat exchanger for transferring heat from the heat exchange system to the batch fluid, wherein heat is transferred from the engine to the heat exchange system, and from the heat exchange system to the batch fluid.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,262 entitled “Mechanical Liquid Vaporizing Waterbrake” is said to describe “[a] water brake which uses mechanical power to kinetically heat water to vapor or steam, and use thereof as a steam generator or cooling water conserving dynamometer or motion retarder. In the simplest embodiment, radial impeller vanes (5b) throw water against stator vanes (6e), whence the water rebounds to the impeller (5). The peripheral rebounding movement continues back and forth. Power dissipates as heat in the water causing the water to increase in temperature and to vaporize. The vapor, being lower in density and viscosity than is the water, flows to and out a central outlet (9) while the denser water is centrifugally separated from the vapor and retained in the peripheral rebounding motion. Water leaving as vapor is continually replaced through a cooling water inlet (8), allowing continuous operation over wide ranges of speed, torque, power and steam generation rates, both at steady state and at controlled rates of change.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,826 entitled “Apparatus For Generating Thermal Energy And Electrical Energy” is said to describe “[a]n apparatus for generating thermal and electrical energy includes an internal combustion engine connected to and adapted to drive a generator for providing electrical power and a brake for generating thermal energy. In one embodiment, a heat carrier flows through appropriate conduits for absorbing heat energy from the brake, from the combustion chamber of the engine, and from the engine exhaust gases and delivers the heat energy to a end-use heat exchanger, for example, a room or space heater. In a second embodiment, the engine exhaust gas flow is used to drive a gas turbine that, in turn, drives a compressor in a thermal cycle to provide additional heat transfer capability.”
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0185621 A1, published on Aug. 24, 2006 and entitled “Flameless Boiler,” is said to describe “[a] flameless boiler comprising generator means for generating heat in fluid circulated there through by shearing of the fluid; a prime mover drivingly connected to the generator means for shearing of the fluid; a supply reservoir for the fluid; a first pump for circulating the fluid from the supply reservoir to the generator means; and a pressure vessel in fluid communication with the generator means for receiving heated fluid there from, the pressure vessel having an outlet for drawing steam therefrom.”
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0224223 A1, published on Oct. 13, 2005 and entitled “Heating Apparatus for Wells”, is said to describe “[a]n apparatus for warming objects such as production conduits at a well site comprises an internal combustion engine driving a well pump. A heat exchanger shell is connected to an exhaust port of the engine, and has an output port. A circulating pump is driven by the engine, and a heating circuit is connected to the circulating pump such that liquid in the heating circuit is pumped from a pump output of the circulating pump through the heating circuit to a pump intake of the circulating pump. The heating circuit comprises a heat absorbing portion inside the heat exchanger shell arranged such that heat from the exhaust of the engine is transferred to the liquid therein, and a heating conduit arranged adjacent to a production conduit or other desired object such that heat from the liquid in the heating conduit is transferred to the object.”
The present disclosure is directed to improved systems and methods for heating and manipulating a fluid.
As a brief summary of one aspect of the inventions disclosed herein, and without limitation, a method for evaporating water is disclosed, comprising providing a closed-loop heating subsystem comprising a hydrocarbon-fueled heater, a fluid pump, a fluid reservoir and a first path through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, all configured to heat a first fluid to less than an atmospheric boiling point of the first fluid; providing an evaporation subsystem comprising a flash tank, a second path through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger and a condensing heat exchanger; pumping a second fluid through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first fluid to the second fluid in the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in the flash tank to evaporate at least a portion of water from the second fluid; drawing the second fluid vapor from the flash tank into the condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to liquid by transferring heat from the vapor; and utilizing at least a portion of the heat removed by condensing the vapor to evaporate additional water from the second fluid liquid.
As a brief summary of another aspect of the inventions disclosed herein, and without limitation, a method for evaporating water is provided, comprising providing a closed-loop heating subsystem comprising a hydrocarbon-fueled heater, a fluid pump, a fluid reservoir and a first path through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, all configured to heat a first fluid to less than an atmospheric boiling point of the first fluid; providing an evaporation subsystem comprising a flash tank operating at less than atmospheric pressure, a second path through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger and a condensing heat exchanger; pumping a second fluid through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first fluid to the second fluid in the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in the flash tank to evaporate at least a portion of water from the second fluid; drawing the second fluid vapor from the flash tank into the condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to liquid by transferring heat from the vapor; and utilizing at least a portion of the heat removed by condensing the vapor to evaporate additional water from the second fluid liquid.
As a brief summary of yet another aspect of the inventions disclosed herein, and without limitation, a method for evaporating water is provided, comprising providing a closed-loop heating subsystem comprising a hydrocarbon-fueled heater, a fluid pump, a fluid reservoir and a first path through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, all configured to heat a first fluid to less than an atmospheric boiling point of the first fluid; providing an evaporation subsystem comprising a flash tank operating at less than atmospheric pressure, a second path through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger and a condensing heat exchanger; pumping a second fluid through the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first fluid to the second fluid in the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in the flash tank to evaporate at least a portion of water from the second fluid; drawing the second fluid vapor from the flash tank into the condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to liquid by transferring heat from the vapor; utilizing at least a portion of the heat removed by condensing the vapor to evaporate additional water from the second fluid liquid; pumping a portion of the second fluid liquid in the flash tank to an evaporation chamber; spraying the portion of second fluid liquid into the evaporation chamber; and blowing air heated from condensing the second fluid vapor into the evaporation tower to evaporate a portion of water from the portion of second fluid liquid sprayed into the evaporation chamber.
As a brief summary of yet still another aspect of the inventions disclosed herein, and without limitation, a method for evaporating water is provided, comprising: providing a closed-loop heating subsystem comprising a hydrocarbon-fueled heater, a fluid pump, a fluid expansion tank and a first path through a primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, all configured to heat a first fluid to less than an atmospheric boiling point of the first fluid; providing an evaporation subsystem comprising a second path through the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a plurality of flash tanks, and a condensing heat exchanger; pumping a first portion of the second fluid through the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first fluid to the second fluid in the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the first portion of the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in a first flash tank operating at a first pressure less than atmospheric pressure to evaporate a portion of water from the first portion; drawing the fluid vapor from the first flash tank into a secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; pumping a second portion of the second fluid through the secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first portion of the second fluid to the second portion of the second fluid in the secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the second portion of the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in a second flash tank operating at a second pressure less than the first pressure to evaporate a portion of water from the second portion of the second fluid; drawing the vapor from the second flash tank into the condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to liquid by transferring heat from the vapor.
As a brief summary of yet another aspect of the inventions disclosed herein, and without limitation, a method for evaporating water is provided, comprising: providing a closed-loop heating subsystem comprising a hydrocarbon-fueled heater, a fluid pump, a fluid expansion tank and a first path through a primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, all configured to heat a first fluid to less than an atmospheric boiling point of the first fluid; providing an evaporation subsystem comprising a second path through the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, a plurality of flash tanks, and a third fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; pumping a first portion of the second fluid through the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first fluid to the second fluid in the primary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the first portion of the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in a first flash tank operating at a first pressure less than atmospheric pressure to evaporate a portion of water from the first portion; drawing the fluid vapor from the first flash tank into a secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; pumping a second portion of the second fluid through the secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; transferring heat from the first portion of the second fluid to the second portion of the second fluid in the secondary fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger; flashing the second portion of the second fluid into its liquid and vapor phases in a second flash tank operating at a second pressure less than the first pressure to evaporate a portion of water from the second portion of the second fluid; drawing the vapor from the second flash tank into the condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to liquid by transferring heat from the vapor; pumping a third portion of the first fluid through the third heat exchanger to transfer heat from the second flash tank vapor to the third portion of the second fluid; exposing the third portion of first fluid to atmosphere to evaporate a portion of water from the third portion of the second fluid; and returning the remainder of the third portion of the second fluid to a storage facility from which the first, second and third portions of the second fluid are drawn.
The Figures described below are provided as an aid to understanding the written descriptions provided herein of my inventions. Neither the Figures nor the written descriptions thereof are intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Rather, the Figures and written descriptions are provided to illustrate the inventive concepts to a person of skill in the art and to enable such person to make and use the inventive concepts.
One or more illustrative embodiments incorporating the inventions disclosed herein are presented below. Not all features of an actual implementation are described or shown for the sake of clarity. Persons of skill appreciate that in the development of an actual embodiment incorporating aspects of the present inventions, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's goals, such as compliance with system-related, business-related, government-related and other constraints, which vary by implementation and from time to time. While a developer's efforts might be complex and time-consuming, such efforts would be, nevertheless, a normal undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of this disclosure.
In general terms, I have invented systems and methods for heating and otherwise manipulating a fluid. Embodiments of my fluid heating systems may comprise opened-loop system or a closed-loop system in which the By “opened loop,” I mean that the fluid that is desired to be heated is the fluid that flows through the primary heating devices. By “closed loop,” I mean that the fluid that is desired to be heated flows through a heat exchanger to pick up heat from another fluid that that flows through the primary heating devices in a closed loop.
One embodiment of my fluid heating and manipulating inventions is a opened-loop system in which the fluid to be heated flows along a plurality of heat paths. For example, one heat path may comprise a rotary heating device coupled to a rotary kinetic energy generator, such as, but not limited to, an internal combustion engine, an external combustion engine or an electric motor. The fluid may be heated in the rotary heating device and delivered to a reservoir or accumulator. A second heat path may comprise a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger configured to transfer heat from the engine's water jacket to the fluid. A third heat path may comprise and air-to-fluid heat exchanger configured to transfer heat from the engine's exhaust to the fluid. All three paths may be combined to produce heated fluid. It will be appreciated that pumps and valving can be used to control the temperature of the fluid.
Another embodiment of my fluid heating inventions is a closed-loop system having a first fluid-to-fluid (such as liquid-to-liquid) heat exchanger that divides the heating system into a primary fluid section and a secondary fluid section. The primary fluid section may comprise a primary energy source, such as a rotary kinetic energy generator, preferable a diesel engine. The rotary kinetic energy is used to energize a rotary heating device. Regardless of the primary energy source, a primary or working fluid, such as, but not limited to, water or a water-based mixture, is circulated through the primary energy source to thereby heat the working fluid. In addition, all or a portion of the thermal energy from the primary energy source may be transferred to the fluid as well by one more heat exchangers. A secondary, or worked, fluid may be passed through the first heat exchanger to transfer energy from the working fluid to the worked fluid, thereby heating the worked fluid.
Any variety of rotary heating devices may be used for embodiments of the inventions disclosed herein. For example, a rotary heating device may comprise any of a number of known devices, such as, but not limited to, a water brake, a dynamometer, a cavitation heater (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,225), and a shear plate or friction heater. It is preferred that the rotary heating device for the closed-loops systems disclosed herein an instrumented water brake (e.g., a dynamometer), such as, but not limited to, Model TD3100 available from Taylor Dynamometer.
Yet another embodiment of my fluid heating inventions is a closed-loop system having a direct-fired boiler, such as a natural gas heater, as the primary energy source. Fluid heated in the boiler flows through a primary heat exchanger, such as a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger to transfer heat to the fluid to be heated, i.e., the worked fluid. Fluid leaving the primary heat exchanger may be accumulated in a reservoir prior to being re-heated in the boiler. Alternately, electrical energy may be supplied by a Diesel-Electric generator set, which is used to heat the fluid in an electric resistance heater or boiler.
Turning now to more specific embodiments of my inventions,
A first path is through valve 124a to the rotary heater 104 where torque from the engine 102 heats the fluid. The fluid leaves the rotary heater 204 and is collected in a tank 110 that is vented 112 to atmosphere. A main circulation pump 108 draws heated fluid from the tank 110 and returns it to system 100, generally. The tank 110 may have a fluid level control 111 adapted to control a flow valve 118 to regulate the level of fluid inside the tank 110.
A second fluid heating path has a portion of the fluid passing through restriction 124b and into a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 414 adapted to transfer heat from the diesel engine 102, such as from the water jacket coolant, to the worked fluid. Fluid heated in exchanger 114 is combined with fluid from the rotary heater 104 as illustrated in
Turning now to
The rotary kinetic energy generator 202 may comprise any of a number of rotary prime movers, such as, but not limited to electric, pneumatic or hydraulic motors, and internal or external combustion engines. It is preferred that rotary generator 202 be a conventional diesel or natural gas engine, such as, for example, a 750 hp diesel engine. It will be appreciated that the amount of horsepower generated by the prime mover 202 will control the amount of heat generated by the system 200.
The rotary heating device 204 is preferably a water brake, and most preferably a water brake dynamometer, such as Model TD3100 available from Taylor Dynamometer.
The output shaft 203 of the rotary generator 202 may be coupled to the rotary heater 204 in known fashion. For example, flex joints or other coupling mechanisms (not shown) may be used as needed to couple the rotary generator 202 to the rotary heater 204. One benefit of using a water brake dynamometer as the rotary heating device is that it may be directly coupled to the flywheel or output shaft of an internal combustion engine.
The outlet side of the rotary heater 204 may be coupled to a reservoir or tank 210. Based on the operating characteristics of the rotary heater 204, the tank 210 may be pressurized, evacuated or un-pressurized. For the present embodiment using a water brake dynamometer as the rotary heater 204, it is preferred that tank 210 be un-pressurized and vented 212 to atmosphere, thereby operating at atmospheric conditions. A fluid circulation pump 208, such as a centrifugal pump, is adapted to circulate or pump the fluid, i.e. the working fluid, through the system 200.
Working fluid may be circulated from the tank 210 to a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 214 adapted to transfer heat from the rotary generator 202 to the working fluid to further heat the fluid. For example,
It will be appreciated that while
A controllable valve or other flow restriction device 218 may be located on the inlet side of the rotary heating device 204 In the embodiment shown in
Also shown in
It will be appreciated that heating system 200 may be used to heat fluids of all types by flowing such fluid (the “worked” fluid) through primary heat exchanger 206 as illustrated in
Moving on to
It is preferred that rotary generator 302 be a conventional diesel or natural gas engine, such as, for example, a 600 hp diesel engine and that the rotary heating device 304 be a water brake dynamometer, such as, but not limited to, Model TD3100 available from Taylor Dynamometer.
The output shaft 303 of the rotary generator 302 may be coupled to the rotary heater 304 in known fashion. For example, flex joints or other coupling mechanisms (not shown) may be used as needed to couple the rotary generator 302 to the rotary heater 304. One benefit of using a water brake dynamometer as the rotary heating device 304 is that it may be directly coupled to the flywheel or output shaft of an internal combustion engine.
The outlet side of the rotary heater 304 may be coupled to a reservoir or tank 310. Based on the operating characteristics of the rotary heater 304, the tank 310 may be pressurized, evacuated or un-pressurized. For the embodiment of
The working fluid 301 may pass through a heat exchanger 316, such as an air-to-fluid heat exchanger, to transfer energy from the engine's exhaust gases 317 to the working fluid 301. As a matter of system design left to those of skill in the art, the engine's exhaust 317 may pass entirely through the heat exchanger 316, or may be apportioned such one portion passes through the heat exchanger 316 and the remainder passes through a conventional muffler or exhaust system (not shown). It is preferred that exhaust gas heat exchanger 316, and any additional or supplement heat exchangers, be located between the discharge side of the rotary heater 304 and the primary heat exchanger 306. Heated working fluid 301 is circulated from heat exchangers 316 to primary heat exchanger 306 and from there back to the rotary heating device 304 to complete the closed working fluid heating loop.
A controllable valve or other flow restriction device 318 may be located on the inlet side of the rotary heating device 304 In the embodiment shown in
It will be appreciated that most, if not all, internal combustion engines suitable for use with the embodiment described in
Also shown in
Alternately, the rotary heating device 304 may be replaced with an electrically heated boiler or tank (not shown). In such embodiment, the engine 302 would drive the electrical generator 324 or other electrical generator to provide the electrical energy for at least the electrically heated tank. In all other material respects, such alternate embodiment could be fashioned similarly to the embodiment shown in
It will be appreciated that the fluid heating system 300 may be used to heat fluids of all types by flowing such fluid 322 (the “worked” fluid) through primary heat exchanger 306 as illustrated in
In contrast to the system 200 shown in
System 300 may be instrumented as desired, and as illustrated in
In
The water brake 404 is directly coupled to the flywheel or output shaft of the diesel engine 402. The inlet of the water brake 404 is coupled to a controllable valve 418 to control the amount of closed-loop fluid, i.e., working fluid 401, allowed into the water brake 404 at any given time. The water brake 404 heats the working fluid 401 therein and discharges the heated working fluid to the tank 410. For the embodiment of
Working fluid 401, which is preferably a glycol and water mixture, is drawn from the tank 410 by pump 408 and the working fluid that is that is not passed through valve 418 to the water brake 404 is directed to exhaust gas heat exchanger 416 where it is further heated by the engine exhaust gas 417. Heated working fluid 401 is then pumped from the exhaust gas heat exchanger 416 into the primary heat exchanger 406, which is preferably a frame-and-plate, fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger.
Also shown in
Having now described the heat transfer system 403 illustrated in
To accomplish this heating of a another fluid, i.e., the worked fluid 422, system 400 also comprises an open system 436 comprising an inlet pump 430 and an engine jacket heat exchanger 426 fluidly coupled to the primary heat exchanger 406. The discharge side of the primary heat exchanger 406 comprises instrumentation 438, such as but not limited to, temperature transducers, flow rate transducers, mass flow rate transducers and others; controllable valves 440, manual valves 442 and discharge pumps 444, as desired or required for a particular purpose.
Because the diesel engine 402 preferred for use in this embodiment described in
It will now be appreciated that heating system 400 may be used to heat fluids, i.e., a worked fluid 422, of all types by flowing such fluid 422 through primary heat exchanger 406 as illustrated in
The fluid 502 is pumped through one side/portion of a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 506. In
Fluid 502 heated by this first closed-loop section to temperature T2 is pumped to a second fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 512. Heat exchanger 512 is configured to transfer heat from another fluid (working fluid #2) heated by a rotary heating device 514, such as a water brake, to the fluid 502. The water brake 514, preferably a TD3100 Taylor dynamometer, is driven by an internal combustion engine (not shown), such as a 700 hp diesel engine. The working fluid heated by the water brake is pumped 516 to an atmospheric reservoir or accumulator 518. Controllable valve 520 controls the volume of working fluid entering the water brake 514 and, therefore, the temperature T6. After passing through heat exchanger 512, the worked fluid 502 is heated to temperature T3.
Fluid 502 heated by the first and second closed-loop sections to temperature T3 is pumped to a third fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 522. Heat exchanger 522 is configured to transfer heat from yet another fluid (working fluid #3) heated by an engine exhaust heat exchanger 524, such as a finned tube air-to-fluid heat exchanger, to the fluid 502. It will be appreciated that the exhaust gasses from any internal combustion or external combustion engine may be used by heat exchanger 524 to heat the working fluid. In
The working fluid heated by the exhaust heat exchanger 524 is pumped 526 to the third fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 522 to raise the temperature of the worked fluid 502 to its final temperature, T4. Working fluid exits the heat exchanger 522 and flows into an atmospheric reservoir or accumulator 528. Controllable valve 530 controls the residence time of the working fluid in the heat exchanger 522 and, therefore, the temperature T7.
While the system 500 illustrated in
An embodiment of the system 500 illustrated in
Turning now to
It will now be appreciated that
A fluid heating system, such as those described above, may form a subsystem of a larger system, such as a fluid concentrating system, a fluid evaporating system, a fluid separating system, and/or a fluid pasteurizing system, as discussed below. Any person of skill having benefit of this disclosure will know how to interchange the various subsystems disclosed herein to achieve a desired design goal. In addition, the fluid heating systems described herein may be also used simply to heat fluids, such as, without limitation, for paraffin flushing or for an oil well “kill” truck.
Turning now to fluid evaporation systems and methods, such systems may comprise a flash tank in which the heated worked fluid is separated into vapor (e.g., steam) and liquid portions. The steam portion may be passed through an air-to-fluid heat exchanger to transfer heat from the steam to the air. The heated air may then be used to evaporate some or the entire liquid portion of the worked fluid.
The fluid to be evaporated 716 (i.e., the worked fluid), such as produced water, is introduced to a tank 718 by any convenient means. It is preferred that the tank 718 have a level control device 717 to control the amount of fluid 716 supplied to the tank 718. The liquid phase of the fluid 716 is pumped by a circulation pump 720 to the rotary heating device 710. It will be appreciated that the pump system 120 may include one or more filters, filtration system or other discrimination devices adapted to remove particulate matter from the fluid 716. The type and efficiency of the filtration system may be selected based on the operational requirements of the rotary heating device 710 or other heating system 702 component. In other words, particulate matter may be removed as required to prevent damage to heating system 702 components. As the fluid 716 is pumped through the rotary heating device 710, the device 710 heats the fluid 716, such through as cavitation. Heated fluid 722 is returned to the tank 718 The return conduit preferable includes a valve, orifice plate or other type of restriction device 724 to create sufficient backpressure in the heating section 702 to maintain sensible heat in the fluid 722.
As heated fluid 722 enters the tank 718 it may flash, with a portion of the fluid 722 becoming steam and with the remainder being liquid. The steam portion 726 of the fluid 722 is communicated to a heat exchanger 728, which is preferably a finned tube air-to-fluid condenser adapted to remove heat from the fluid 726. It is preferred that a demister 727 be used to ensure that the fluid 726 is clean vapor. As the fluid 726 condenses, it collects and can be extracted from the heat exchanger 728 by known means as condensate 730.
As shown in
Evaporation section 704 may comprise one or more evaporation chambers 750. As illustrated in
Heated air 736 is forced into and through the chamber to contact the liquid fluid 754. The heated air 736 causes a portion of the liquid 754 to evaporate and exit the chamber 752 as heated moist air 756. That portion of the fluid 154 that does not evaporate collects in the bottom of the chamber 752. Because this collected fluid likely has some degree of particulate contamination, it is desirable to agitate or stir the fluid, such as by fluid circulation. In a preferred embodiment, a circulation pump and filter system 758 is used to both agitate the fluid that collects in chamber 752 and to filter out the particulate contaminate 760, which can be disposed of as required and allowed.
Also shown in
As discussed above, evaporation section 704 comprises a fluid level control, preferably associated with chamber 762, so that the system 700 is controlled to allow most of the fluid 754 entering evaporation section 704 to be evaporated. Chamber 762 also includes a reduced water blow down valve 776 that allows extraction and disposal of concentrated or reduced water, such as that portion of fluid 754 this is not evaporated.
Having now described an embodiment of fluid evaporation system 700, it will be apparent that the invention has multiple synergistic attributes and functionalities. For example, using the engine 712 exhaust gases 766 to evaporate a portion of the fluid 722 also cleanses to a certain degree the exhaust gases that are returned to the environment. In addition, it should be noted that the fluid 754 to be evaporated is the working fluid as well.
A specific construction of the produced water evaporator system described above was designed to use a 36-inch diameter Shock Waver Power Reactor fabricated under license from Hydro Dynamics, Inc. The SPR was coupled to a 600 horsepower natural gas engine having a fuel consumption of 4,300 cubic feet per hour. The system was designed to accept up to 7,250 pounds of produced water per hour (approximately 14.5 gallons per minute). The system 100 was designed to evaporate approximately 80% of the produced water input or 5,800 pounds/hour, and to create approximately 1,450 pounds/hour of reduced (unevaporated) water for disposal. The system 100 was also calculated to produce about 1,500 pounds/hour (approximately 3.0 gallons per minute) of condensate or distilled water. The finned tube condenser was designed to have aluminum fins on carbon steel tubes having about 6,800 square feet of surface area and adapted to exchange about 3,337,565 BTU/hour. The heating section was designed to operate at about 250° F. at about 35 psig. An orifice or other restriction, such as valve 724, adjacent the flash tank is useful to maintain these operating conditions. The flash tank was designed to operate at about 220° F. at about 10 psig. The condenser was designed to output air heated to about 200° F. at a velocity of about 10 feet per second.
The evaporator chambers were designed as a fiberglass tank having four successive sections. In the first evaporative section, it was contemplated that liquid from the flash tank would be sprayed into the chamber at about 150° F. TO 220° F. (depending, for example, on whether a fluid 716 preheater is used) in the presence of about 200° F. air. Two successive chambers were designed to spray unevaporated liquid from the prior sections across the heated air flowing through the chambers. The third section was similarly designed. The last section utilized the heat energy from the engine exhaust gases to aid further evaporation of the fluid. After passing through the four chambers, the heated air, laden with moisture from the fluid, was expelled from the system. As described above, reduced, unevaporated water, which is likely laden with particulates, such as salts of sodium, magnesium and/or calcium, chlorides, sulfates and/or carbonates, may be expelled from the evaporation chamber 750.
It will be appreciated that whether to use the heat energy from the engine exhaust and whether to use one or multiple evaporation chambers or process sections is a matter of design choice based upon numerous design criteria well within the capabilities of those of skill in this art having benefit of this disclosure.
The modifications disclosed in
The second evaporation chamber 862 is a “dirty” chamber in that engine exhaust gases 866 are used in conjunction with air 834 heated by engine radiator 814 to evaporate fluid 864. It is believed that the modifications disclosed in
Illustrated in
Closed-loop heating subsystem 902 comprises a rotary generator 908, preferably a natural gas or diesel engine, coupled to a rotary heating device 910, preferably a water brake dynamometer. The rotary heater 910 is plumbed in closed-loop fashion to a tank 912 that is vented to the atmosphere, a circulation pump 914, such as a centrifugal pump, an engine exhaust gas 960 heat exchanger 916, engine jacket heat exchanger 907 and a primary heat exchanger 918. It will be appreciated that the heating subsystem 902 may comprise any of the heating subsystems described with reference to
Also shown in
Also illustrated in
The transfer of heat in heat exchanger 940 causes the fluid vapor to condense to liquid, which is collected in a condensate receiver 944. It is preferred that the condensate receiver 944 be equipped with a fluid level control adapted to control a condensate pump 946. The level control and pump 946 may be configured to maintain a relatively fixed fluid level in condensate receiver 944. It will be appreciated that condensed fluid 948, for example water, may be used for various purposes as needed (e.g., for desuperheating purposes) or disposed of as allowed.
Returning to the heat exchanger 940, heated air 942b exits the heat exchanger 940 and a portion is forced through the engine jacket heat exchanger or radiator 907, where the air 942b picks up additional heat. This heated air 942c along with the remainder of the air 942b is forced through one or more evaporation chambers 950. Evaporation chamber 950 may be considered a “clean” chamber insofar as the heated air 942c is relatively clean, typically having only natural contaminants, such as dust, pollen and the like.
A fluid pump 952, such as a variable positive displacement pump, is coupled to the flash tank 904 so that collected fluid, i.e. liquid, is pumped to evaporation chamber 950. It is preferred that spray nozzles or other types of misting or spraying devices be used to spray or mist flash tank 904 fluid inside chamber 950. In a preferred embodiment, one or more spray nozzles are located adjacent an upper surface of the chamber 950. Also in the preferred embodiment, heated air 942c is forced to flow substantially normal or perpendicular to the sprayed fluid to thereby evaporate at least a portion of the liquid. It will be appreciated that suitable baffles or other contact surfaces can be installed in chamber 950 to minimize or eliminate condensed fluid from exiting chamber 950 with heated moist air 942d.
Unevaporated fluid collects in the chamber 950 and a circulation pump 954 may be used to recirculate this fluid through the chamber for additional evaporation. Additionally, if desired, the fluid can be passed through a filtration or separation system 956 to remove particulates 957 from the fluid. It is preferred that separation system 956 comprises a hydrocyclone. Excess fluid from system 956 can be returned to the chamber 950 for evaporation. Recovered particulates 957 can be disposed of as allowed, or if a market exists for such recovered particulates, for example, for gypsum, sold.
If only one evaporation chamber 950 is utilized, it is preferred that chamber 950 comprise a fluid level control device adapted to control fluid pump 952, preferably a positive displacement pumps such as those offered by Moyno, to maintain the fluid flow and evaporation through chamber 950 at a desired level.
Optionally, an additional evaporation chamber 958 may be utilized as desired. This evaporation chamber 958 may be described as a “dirty” chamber in that exhaust gasses from rotary generator 908 (e.g., natural gas or diesel engine) may be used to further evaporate fluid.
Exhaust gasses 960 from the heat exchanger 916 are introduced, along with warm, moist air 942d, if desired, into chamber 958. Chamber 958 may be designed similarly to chamber or chamber 950. Fluid to be evaporated may be drawn from chamber 950 and sprayed or otherwise contacted with air 942d and gasses 960 to evaporate at least a portion of the fluid. Chamber 958 may likewise comprise a circulation pump 962 and filter/separation system 964, as desired. It will be appreciated that an additional benefit of “dirty” chamber 958 is that it can be used to scrub or clean the exhaust gasses 960 prior to discharge into the environment.
It will be appreciated that system 900 can be designed and operated to evaporate all of the fluid input into the system or only a portion of the fluid inputted. For those systems where less than complete evaporation is desired or required, evaporation chamber blowdown may be extracted and disposed of as allowed and required. For systems utilizing scrubbing of the exhaust gasses, disposal of at least a portion of the blowdown will likely be required.
Concerning
Additionally,
In the embodiment shown in
An embodiment of an evaporator system utilizing aspects of the present inventions was designed for produced water having total dissolved solids of about 9,000 parts per million. A 600 horsepower natural gas engine with a fuel consumption of 4,300 cubic feet per hour was selected as the prime mover. The system was designed to accept up to 7,135 pounds of produced water per hour (approximately 14.3 gallons per minute). The system was designed to evaporate approximately 100% of the produced water input or 7,135 pounds/hour, and to create approximately 2,651 pounds/hour condensate for use or disposal. The system was calculated to produce about 1,500 pounds/day of solids for disposal. The finned tube condenser was designed to have aluminum fins on carbon steel tubes having about 6,800 square feet of surface area and adapted to exchange about 3,337,565 BTU/hour. The heating section was designed to operate at between about 150 and 180° F. at about atmospheric pressure. The flash tank was designed to operate at about 130 to 170° F. at about 25 inches of mercury (vacuum). The condenser was designed to output air heated to about 130° F. at a velocity of about 60,000 cfm.
As will now be appreciated,
Concerning the fluid heating system 1202, this subsystem is similar to the fluid heating system illustrated and described in
As illustrated, the fluid evaporating system 1200 of
The fluid evaporating system 1200 also comprises an evaporating subsystem 1203. In subsystem 1203, pressurized and metered fluid 1220 is circulated to primary heat exchanger 1210 where the fluid 1220 is heated by the working fluid from heating subsystem 1202. Heated fluid 1220 is passed through an orifice or valve 1226 adapted to create a pressure differential across the device 1226. The fluid 1220 is flashed into tank 1228 where it is separated into its vapor and liquid phases. The flash tank 128 is preferably operated under negative atmospheric pressure of about 6.4 psia (i.e., a vacuum of about 17 inches of mercury). A vacuum system 1230, such as a liquid ring pump, may be used to maintain the system vacuum.
The vapor phase of fluid 1220, such as steam at about 172° F., is passed through a heat exchanger 1270, which may be a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger. Heat exchanger 1270 functions to transfer heat from the first evaporation stage to the second evaporation stage. In the second stage, pressurized and metered fluid 1220 is circulated to heat exchanger 1270 where the fluid 1220 is heated by the steam from the first evaporation stage. Heated fluid 1220 is passed through an orifice or valve 1272 adapted to create a pressure differential across the device 1272. The fluid 1220 is flashed into tank 1274 where it is separated into its vapor and liquid phases. The flash tank 1274 is operated under atmospheric pressure less than the operating pressure of tank 1228 (first stage tank), e.g., at about 3.2 psia (i.e., a vacuum of about 23.5 inches of mercury). A vacuum system 1276, such as a liquid ring pump, may be used to maintain the system vacuum.
The vapor phase of fluid 1220, such as steam at about 135° F., may be passed through a heat exchanger 1278, which may be an air-to-fluid heat exchanger. The steam, or a portion thereof, is condensed by heat exchanger 1278 and passed to a condensate receiver 1234, which, preferably is operated under vacuum to remove any volatile components. Any such volatiles may be feed as fuel to the heating subsystem 1202. A condensate pump may be used to remove the condensate, e.g., distilled water, from the condensate receiver. Similarly, the steam entering heat exchanger 1270 is condensed and may be collected in receiver 1234.
Referring back to flash tanks 1228 and 1274, concentrated liquid accumulates in each tank and may be circulated by pumps 1224. A metering and detecting system may be used to assess, determine or calculate one or more properties of the concentrated fluid. For example, a system can be implemented to determine the temperature, density, specific gravity, conductivity, flow rate or other property or characteristic of the concentrated fluid. An extraction system 1241, such as a variable speed pump may be adapted to extract the desired concentrated fluid from the system 1200 when it has the desired properties. A metering device may be used to determine the amount of concentrated fluid removed from the system.
Also, as illustrated in
It will now be appreciated that the system illustrated in
Oftentimes, an amount of fluid to be evaporated or processed will be stored in large volumes in an open pit or other storage device or tank. Usually such storage device will be open to atmosphere, such that the fluid will exist at ambient temperature and ambient pressure. An additional stage of evaporation may be achieved by replacing the air-to-fluid condensing heat exchanger, such as, but not limited to, condenser 1278 in
It will also be appreciated that the evaporator systems can be used to remove (by evaporation) fluid from the worked fluid to effectively concentrate the worked fluid. The concentrated fluid can be extracted from one or more of the evaporation chambers. It will also be appreciated that it may not be desirable to concentrate certain worked fluids (e.g., a diluted well completion fluid) by forcing heated ambient air through the fluid. Particles entrained in the air, such as dirt, dust, pollen, or exhaust gasses may contaminate the worked fluid.
My inventions can be adapted to create a fluid concentrator subsystem may comprising a flash tank in which the heated worked fluid is separated into vapor (e.g., steam) and liquid portions. The steam portion may be passed through an air-to-fluid heat exchanger to condense the steam back to liquid. The condensed liquid may be removed from the worked fluid thereby concentrating the worked fluid.
Turning now to
It also will be appreciated from this disclosure that an opened-loop fluid concentrating system may be designed by, among other things, eliminating the primary heat exchanger 1304, 1404. For example, the opened-loop fluid evaporating system of
Returning to
The flash tank 1312, 1412 is preferably operated under negative atmospheric pressure of about 0.9 to 2.5 psia (i.e., a vacuum of about 25 to 28 inches of mercury). A vacuum system 1314, 1414, such as a liquid ring pump, may be used to maintain the system vacuum. The vapor phase of fluid 1305, 1405, such as steam, is passed through a heat exchanger 1316, 1416, which may be a fluid-to-fluid or air-to-fluid heat exchanger. Heat exchanger 1316, 1416 functions as a condenser to condense the fluid vapor to its liquid phase. The condensed fluid 1317 is collected in a reservoir 1318, 1418. Alternately, the condensate can be used to preheat the incoming fluid 1305, 1405. It is preferred that reservoir 1318, 1418 be equipped with a level control system that controls a condensate pump 1320, 1420. It will be appreciated that the condensate that is produced by system 1300, 1400 is relatively clean and may be used for a variety of purposes or discarded as allowed. Referring back to flash tank 1312, 1412, concentrated liquid fluid 1342, 1442 accumulates in the tank and may be withdrawn by a fluid extraction and metering system 1322, 1422 as described below with respect to
In addition to being coupled to opened-loop or closed loop heating subsystems, such as those described above with reference to
The fluid concentrating system 1500, 1600 comprises a flameless heater subsystem 1501, 1601, such as those described above with respect to
The fluid concentrating system 1500, 1600 also comprises a concentrating subsystem 1503, 1603. In subsystem 1503 and 1603, fluid to be concentrated 1520 (aka, the “worked” fluid) is preheated in heat exchanger 1522, which is adapted to transfer heat from the condensed fluid, as will be described below, or from the engine 1502 water jacket as described previously. Pressurized and metered fluid 1520 is circulated to primary heat exchanger 1518 where the fluid 1520 is heated by the working fluid from heating subsystem 1501. Heated fluid 1520 is passed through an orifice or valve 1526 adapted to create a pressure differential across the device 1526 of about 30 psid. The fluid 1520 is flashed into tank 1528 where it is separated into its vapor and liquid phases. The flash tank 1528 is preferably operated under negative atmospheric pressure of about 0.9 to 2.5 psia (i.e., a vacuum of about 25 to 28 inches of mercury). A vacuum system 1530, such as a liquid ring pump, may be used to maintain the system vacuum.
The vapor phase of fluid 1520, such as steam, is passed through a heat exchanger 1532, which may be a fluid-to-fluid or air-to-fluid heat exchanger. Heat exchanger 1532 functions as a condenser to condense the worked fluid vapor to its liquid phase. The condensed worked fluid is collected in a reservoir 1534 and, as mentioned above, may be passed through preheater 1522 to preheat the fluid 1520 (and to cool the condensate). As shown in
Referring back to flash tank 1528, concentrated liquid fluid accumulates in the tank 1528 and may be circulated by pump 1524. A metering and detecting system 1540 may be used to assess, determine or calculate one or more properties of the concentrated fluid. For example, system 1540 can be adapted to determine the temperature, density, specific gravity, conductivity, flow rate or other property or characteristic of the concentrated fluid. An extraction system 1541, such as a variable speed pump controlled by system 1540 may be adapted to extract the desired concentrated fluid from the system 1500. A metering device may be used to determine the amount of concentrated fluid removed from the system.
A valve or other flow-restricting device 1538 may control the amount of incoming fluid 1520 allowed into the subsystem 1503, which valve may be controlled by a fluid level device in flash tank 1528. In other words, additional fluid is allowed into subsystem 1503 to maintain a desired level of fluid in flash tank 1528. As fluid is extracted from the subsystem 1503 through valve 1542, the liquid level in tank 1528 decreases thereby allowing more fluid 1520 into the system. To the extent it is desired to cool extracted concentrated fluid, such fluid may be used, for example, to preheat incoming fluid 1520.
Also illustrated in
As with other systems described herein, it is preferred, but not required that the worked fluid be limited to temperatures below its atmospheric boiling point. Thus, it is preferred that the systems be operated under vacuum. However, this is not required and is left to the design considerations of the particular system being implemented.
In general, the system 1900 heats a fluid, such as, but not limited to, oil well fluids, to a temperature above 161° F. by passing the fluid through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger that is coupled to a heating subsystem. The heated fluid may then be flashed into its liquid and vapor forms through an orifice into a holding tank, where the liquid is held for at least about 15 seconds and preferably longer. It is preferred, but not required, that the tank be operated under negative pressure (i.e., a vacuum) to, among other things, remove oxygen and other gasses from the liquid. The vapor phase may pass through a demisting hood in which entrained liquid is separated and returned to the tank. The vapor (e.g., steam) may be passed to a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger that functions to transfer heat from the vapor to the incoming fluid stream. The condensed vapor may be captured in a condensate receiver. After the degassed liquid portion has been held in the tank for 15 seconds or more at 161° F. or higher, the liquid portion may be removed and pumped through another fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger that may also function to transfer heat from the vapor to the incoming fluid stream and concomitantly cool the degassed, pasteurized fluid. Although the vapor portion and the degassed liquid portion may be used to heat (or preheat) the incoming fluid, the majority the heating may occur in the fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger that that is coupled to a heating subsystem, such as any of those previously described with reference to
In this fashion, system 1900 is able to concentrate, pasteurize, degas and/or de-oxygenate a fluid, to prevent or minimize growth of objectionable aerobic and anaerobic organisms in the fluid.
Without limitation, the specific embodiment shown in
The working fluid in the closed-loop heating subsystem 1902 is preferably a 50/50 mixture of water and glycol. The heater 1904 may heat the working fluid to temperature T1, which may be, for example, 210° F. The heated working fluid is pumped 1908 through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 1910 to transfer heat from the working fluid to the worked fluid. Working fluid exits the heat exchanger 1910 and enters an atmospheric reservoir or accumulator 1914. Pump 1908 draws working fluid out of the reservoir 1914 and feeds it back to heater 1904. A temperature transducer T1 cooperates with controllable valve 1906 to control the temperature of the working fluid.
The fluid 1903 to be pasteurized (aka the “worked fluid”) enters system 1900 at pump 1950, which may be, among other things, a conventional centrifugal pump. A controllable valve 1952, such as a globe valve, may be positioned after the pump 1950 to control the temperature of the worked fluid exiting the heat exchanger 1910. As shown in
Typically, the worked fluid 1903 will enter the system 1900 at temperature between about 40° F. and 80° F. It is preferred, but not required that the incoming worked fluid 1903 be pre-heated. One source of energy for a pre-heater is the pasteurized worked fluid. As shown in
Similarly, as will be discussed in more detail below, the vapor portion of the worked fluid from the flash tank 1928 can be used to preheat (or heat) further the incoming fluid by passing the vapor (e.g., steam) through a condensing heat exchanger 1932. For example, the vapor portion of the worked fluid may exit the flash tank at a temperature of about 162° F. and transfer some of its thermal energy in heat exchanger 1932 to the worked fluid, raising its temperature to about 142° F.
Regardless of the number of preheating stages used and regardless of the temperature of the incoming fluid, the worked fluid is primarily heated in fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 1910 which thermally couples the incoming worked fluid 1903 to the heating subsystem 1902. The temperature of the worked fluid exiting the primary heat exchanger 1910 may be controlled by inlet valve 1952, which may be controlled based on the temperature of the exiting worked fluid. As discussed above, it is preferred that the temperature of the worked fluid exiting the primary heat exchanger 1910 is above 161° F. and preferably is about 172° F. It has been found that at temperatures above about 175° F., scaling of the internal surfaces of the heat exchangers and flash tank may occur. Once the worked fluid is at temperature, it is flashed into its vapor and liquid portions through orifice 1956 and into flash tank 1928. A baffle 1958 may be located in flash tank 1928. The liquid portion of the worked fluid 1903 settles in the bottom of the flash tank 1928 as shown in
It will be appreciated that holding the worked fluid in flash tank 1928 at a temperature of about 172° F. for a period greater than 15 seconds will effectively pasteurize the worked fluid and kill all or substantially all of the aerobic and anaerobic objectionable organisms that may exist in the fluid.
In addition, it is preferred that the flash tank 1928 be operated at a sub-atmospheric pressure, such as, but not limited to 18 inches of vacuum. By operating the flash tank under a vacuum, oxygen and other gasses will be removed from the liquid portion of the worked fluid, along with the vapor portion of the worked fluid. It will be appreciated that by depleting or decreasing the amount of oxygen in the worked fluid, objectionable organisms may be destroyed and/or the ability of objectionable organisms to grow in the worked fluid will be minimized. The liquid may be agitated in known manner, as necessary, to achieve maximum de-oxygenation of the fluid.
As previously discussed, the vapor phase of the worked fluid and any gasses removed from the liquid portion of the worked fluid will pass through demister hood 1966 in which any entrained liquid will be separated from the vapor and returned to the flash tank. Thereafter, the vapor (e.g., steam) may be passed through a condensing heat exchanger to condense the vapor to its liquid form (e.g., distilled water) and concomitantly transfer heat to the incoming fluid. The exit of the condenser 1932 may be coupled to a condensate receiver and vacuum pump 1968.
Having now described the basic layout of the embodiment shown in
The system 1900 functions as a chemical-free purification system for highly contaminated industrial fluids, such as raw water intended to be used as frac water. The system 1900 effectively removes/kills bacterial contaminates, free oxygen and the majority of grease and oils. It virtually eliminates the need for massive quantities of expensive and toxic biocides and oxygen scavengers.
Field testing of a prototype has demonstrated results of effectively reducing total live bacterial cell count from contaminated water at 369,100 cells per ML to under 500 cells per ML, without using chemical treatment agents; reducing dissolved oxygen from 12 PPM to under 1.5 PPM; and reducing grease and oils from 831 mg/ml to 2.4 mg/ml, and incinerates hydrocarbons in the process.
The system 1900 can be designed to heat frac fluids 20° F. at 12 bbl per minute. Higher heating rates are achievable, up to about 60° F., but at lower flow rates. The countercurrent, cold and heated fluid flows allow the system to heat fluids at high temperatures for bacterial elimination and then transfer the heat to the incoming cold fluid. The system functions economically and is cross-exchanged for energy efficiency. Total energy cost for natural gas and grid power rate is estimated at approximately $0.05/bbl. Using generator power and propane, costs to operate are approximately $0.15 per bbl. Further, up to three systems can be operated in parallel from a single control station by a single operator.
The system 1900 of
The pasteurizing system 1900 illustrated in
The engine water jacket heat exchanger 2015 may be a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, such as a plate and frame heat exchanger. One flow path is coupled to the diesel engine 2002 water jacket and engine radiator 2034. A second flow path couples the diesel engine 2002 water jacket and the water jacket heat exchanger 2015. It will be appreciated, as shown, that controllable (or manual) valves may be placed in the flow paths to force the water jacket coolant to flow solely through the engine radiator 2034, or to also flow through the water jacket heat exchanger 2015. It will be understood that when coolant flows through the heat exchanger 2015, heat may be transferred to the incoming fluid 2011. Alternately, when the heat exchanger 2015, is bypassed, the incoming fluid 2011 will not be pre-heated by heat exchanger 2015.
The engine exhaust 2013 may also be used as a source of heat to preheat or heat incoming fluid 2011. As shown in
Primary heating of the fluid 2011 occurs in primary heat exchanger 2006. Electricity 2007 from the generator 2005 powers the boiler 2009. The boiler 2009 heats the working fluid in the heating subsystem to a predetermined temperature T1 and then directs the heated fluid to a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger 2006, such as a plate and frame heat exchanger, to heat the incoming fluid 2011. Cooled working fluid exits the heat exchanger 2006 and flows to a tank 2010. For the embodiment of
It will now be appreciated that system 2000 may be used to circulate a fluid 2052 into a tank (not shown) by running the diesel engine 2002 and generator 2005 to power incoming fluid pump 2019. Circulation of fluid 2011 can include, optionally, heating of the fluid as described above. Additionally, system 2000 can be used to inject high-pressure fluid 2054 into a well or other structure. High pressure injection of fluid 2054 can include, optionally, heating of the fluid as described above.
As illustrated in
It will be seen from
In addition, as described for the evaporation systems illustrated in
Another portion 2108 of the water 2102 may be passed to a pasteurization system 2120, such as any one of the systems described and illustrated in
Thus, the systems 2100 illustrated in
My inventions have been described in the context of preferred and other embodiments and not every possible embodiment of the invention has been described. A person of skill in this art having the benefit of this disclosure will now be able to mix and match various aspects of the embodiments described herein to accomplish a particular task. A person of skill will also be able to take the teachings of this disclosure and rearrange components within an embodiment or take components from other embodiments to create new embodiments, all without departing form the spirit of my inventions or the scope of the appended claims. For example, and without limitation, a person of skill having benefit of this disclosure will appreciate and understand that any of the heating subsystems described and illustrated in
It will be appreciated that the fluid transporting conduits used with embodiments of the present invention may comprise piping, tubing and other fluid communications means of conventional and unconventional design and material. For most systems described herein it is preferred that the piping material be carbon steel, when possible. Of course, the operating environment may dictate the material that is used. The circulation pumps may be of any conventional or unconventional design, but for the produced water embodiment described herein, it is preferred that the pumps be hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical or direct drive (e.g., engine PTO) centrifugal pumps. Metering or positive displacement pumps, such as, but not limited to, Moyno pumps, may be used at various locations throughout the system as desired or required by the specific implementation. Detection or determination of system properties or characteristics, such as, but not limited to, pressure, temperature, density, flow rate, or Total Dissolved Solids, may be acquired through conventional instrumentation and data acquisition techniques, including manual techniques, as are well known to those of skill in the art.
Modifications and alterations to the described embodiments are now readily available and apparent to those of skill in the art. The disclosed and undisclosed embodiments are not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the inventions conceived of, but rather, in conformity with the patent laws, I intend to protect all such modifications and improvements to the full extent that such falls within the scope or range of equivalents of the following claims. If a word or phrase used in a claim does not appear in reference to a figure herein, and such word or phrase has no specialized meaning in the relevant art, then any such word should be construed according to its ordinary and customary meaning and any such phrase should be construed according to the ordinary and customary meaning of each word in the phrase.
This continuing application is based on, claims priority to and benefit of the following applications, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes: 1) U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/510,485, filed on Jul. 22, 2011(pending) and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/484,210, filed on May 9, 2011(pending); 2) U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 13/069,363, filed on Mar. 22, 2011(pending); U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/638,984 filed on Dec. 10, 2009 (pending), which is a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/615,331 filed on Nov. 10, 2009 (abandoned); a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/934,645 filed on Nov. 2, 2007 (abandoned); a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/764,270 filed on Jun. 18, 2007 (abandoned); a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/748,475 filed on May 14, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,367 issued on Nov. 10, 2009; a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/741,570 filed on Apr. 27, 2007 (abandoned); and a continuing application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/738,644, filed on Apr. 23, 2007 (abandoned). 3) U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/316,362 filed on Mar. 22, 2010 (expired); U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/249,841 filed on Oct. 8, 2009 (expired); U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/883,178 filed on Jan. 3, 2007 (expired); U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/864,160 filed on Nov. 2, 2006 (expired); U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/800,495 filed on May 15, 2006 (expired); U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/795,983 filed on Apr. 28, 2006 (expired); and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/749,413, filed on Apr. 24, 2006 (expired).
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61484210 | May 2011 | US | |
| 61510485 | Jul 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13069363 | Mar 2011 | US |
| Child | 13467551 | US | |
| Parent | 12638984 | Dec 2009 | US |
| Child | 13069363 | US |
