COOLING METHANOL VAPOUR CHAMBER FOR FUEL GAS

CHAMBRE DE REFROIDISSEMENT A VAPEUR DE METHANOL POUR GAZ COMBUSTIBLE

English Abstract

A fuel gas cooling chamber includes a housing body and a fuel gas inlet is
provided on the housing body.
The fuel gas inlet couples to a fuel gas source, and a downspout is coupled to
the fuel gas inlet. The
downspout directs fuel gas received from the fuel gas source via the fuel gas
inlet into a methanol bath
contained within the housing body. A fuel gas outlet on the housing body above
a maximum level of the
methanol bath allows gas vapours that come from the methanol bath to vent out
of the housing body.

French Abstract

Une chambre de refroidissement pour gaz combustible comprend un corps de logement et une entrée de gaz combustible sur le corps de logement. Lentrée de gaz combustible se couple à une source de gaz combustible et un tube de descente est couplé à lentrée de gaz combustible. Le tube de descente dirige le gaz combustible reçu de la source de gaz combustible par lentrée de gaz combustible dans un bain de méthanol contenu à lintérieur du corps de logement. Une sortie de gaz combustible sur le corps de logement au-dessus dun niveau maximal du bain de méthanol permet aux vapeurs de gaz qui sortent du bain de méthanol dêtre évacuées du corps de logement.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A fuel gas cooling chamber comprising:
a housing body;
a fuel gas inlet on the housing body, the fuel gas inlet coupling to a fuel
gas source;
a downspout coupled to the fuel gas inlet, the downspout directing fuel gas
received from the fuel
gas source via the fuel gas inlet into a methanol bath contained within the
housing body; and
a fuel gas outlet on the housing body above a maximum level of the methanol
bath, the fuel gas
outlet allowing gas vapours that come from the methanol bath to vent out of
the housing body.
2. The fuel gas cooling chamber of claim 1, wherein:
the housing body is a vertically positioned cylinder; and
the fuel gas outlet is positioned on a top end of the vertically positioned
cylinder.
3. The fuel gas cooling chamber of any one of claims 1 to 2, further
comprising a fill port and a drain
on the housing body allowing the methanol bath to enter and exit the housing
body.
4. The fuel gas cooling chamber of any one of claims 1 to 3, further
comprising pipe connectors on
each of the fuel gas inlet and the fuel gas outlet for connecting to one or
more external pipes.
5. The fuel gas cooling chamber of claim 4, further comprising insulation
around the external pipes
adjacent the housing body.
6. A method of pre-cooling fuel gas, the method comprising:
providing a methanol bath contained within a fuel gas cooling chamber;
receiving incoming fuel gas from a fuel gas source at a fuel gas inlet on the
fuel gas chamber;
directing the incoming fuel gas into the methanol bath within the fuel gas
cooling chamber; and
directing gas vapours that come from the methanol bath to vent out of the fuel
gas cooling chamber
via a fuel gas outlet.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fuel gas cooling chamber is shaped as
a cylinder, and the method
4

further comprises:
vertically positioning the cylinder; and
positioning the fuel gas outlet on a top end of the cylinder.
8. The method of any one of claims 6 to 7, further comprising providing a
fill port and a drain on a
housing body of the fuel gas cooling chamber to allow the methanol bath to
enter and exit the fuel
gas cooling chamber.
9. The method of any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising connecting
one or more external pipes
to pipe connectors on each of the fuel gas inlet and the fuel gas outlet.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising installing insulation around the
external pipes adjacent
the housing body.

Description

CA 2882509 2017-03-02
Patent
KRU0000CADOO
COOLING METHANOL VAPOUR CHAMBER FOR FUEL GAS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains generally to improving fuel gas quality in the oil and
gas industry, primarily in
the colder climates.
Fuel gas freezing up, and or hydrates in the fuel gas systems continues to be
an ongoing problem within
the oil and gas industry and plagues companies with the high costs involved to
repair/unthaw lines once
frozen, and the lost production revenues while the site is down.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross section of a cooling methanol vapour (CMV) chamber
according to an
exemplary embodiment;
FIG. 2 illustrates a first side view of the CMV chamber of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 illustrates a second side view of the CMV chamber of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
We have spent several years developing the cooling methanol vapour (CMV)
chamber and starting testing
three years ago on a location where the product tank heaters would not stay
operational, due to fuel gas
lines freezing. The site we tested the CMV chamber on could not keep the tank
heaters going for 24 hrs
without freezing off, even though the fuel gas was run through gas scrubbers,
and coalescent filtration.
After installing the CMV chamber, the heaters remained operational through the
next 4 months, problem
free. We removed the CMV chamber during the summer months, to protect the
concept from being
reviewed by other workers. The test location was operated by us and therefore
we were able to ensure
the unit was not viewed by other workers.
As we saw an immediate success with the CMV chamber we decided to further test
the unit, and re-
installed a revised (larger) CMV chamber on the same location the following
winter. The difference this
time was we ran all heat trace systems, tank heaters, and a pumpjack from the
CMV chamber. This site
was very prone to fuel gas freezing off to the driver, due to the long fuel
gas line that ran to the pumpjack.
The pumpjack was located at a remote site, which is the reason for the long
fuel gas line.
Historical data from the well proved that there was a high average of downtime
during the winter months,
1

CA 2882509 2017-03-02
Patent
KRU0000CADOO
all from fuel gas freezing issues. Steamer bills were in excess of $4000 per
month, plus man power for
overtime, and an average loss of production of 10m3 of oil per month for an
average of 5 months per
year. The loss production with an average of $60 netback per bbl, was $3600
per month, or $18,000
annual revenue loss.
We installed the CMV chamber at the beginning of December, and left the gas
flowing through the CMV
chamber for the duration of that winter. We had a 100% runtime, and not once
did the site go down as a
result of fuel gas issues. We modified the unit further and ran it the
following winter as well with the
same excellent results, however the modifications reduced the amount of
maintenance on the unit, and
made it easier, more user friendly for the well operators. The CMV chamber has
been removed from the
location to protect the integrity of the invention and to ensure it was not
going to be viewed by others.
Other than the inventor/co-inventor, there was only one site operator that was
involved in the testing, and
he agreed to and signed a confidentiality agreement. It was important to
include him in the testing of the
unit so we could get an unbiased opinion of the CMV chamber.
How it Works:
CMV stands for: Cooling, Methanol Vapour chamber.
FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.3 are schematics that show the CMV chamber 100 in
detail. The gas comes into
the CMV chamber 100 downstream of an existing fuel gas scrubber. The CMV
chamber 100 gets
mounted outside of the building wall 102, which helps in the cooling of the
gas. The concept of this is to
pre-cool the gas so there is not such a drastic temperature drop from the fuel
gas scrubber to the item the
gas is operating. One of the leading causes of hydrates is pressure and
temperature changes. By pre-
cooling the fuel gas helps reduce the chances of freezing. The gas goes into
the CMV chamber 100 and
is re-directed directly into the methanol 104 in the CMV chamber 100, there is
a downspout 106 that
directs the gas into the methanol 104. The methanol 104 helps strip further
impurities ("wetness") from
the gas that may have resulted from the cooling process. The methanol gas
vapours 108 that come from
the methanol bath 104, now can vent out the top 110 of the CMV chamber 100 and
the result is a much
cleaner, drier, gas.
The CMV chamber 100 includes a housing body 112 with a fuel gas inlet 114 on
the housing body 112.
The fuel gas inlet 114 is coupled to a gas source 116. A downspout 106 is
coupled to the fuel gas inlet
114, and the downspout 106 directs gas received from the gas source 116 via
the fuel gas inlet 114 into
a methanol bath 104 contained within the housing body 112. A fuel gas outlet
110 is provided on the
2

CA 2882509 2017-03-02
Patent
KRU0000CADOO
housing body 112 above a maximum level 118 of the methanol bath 104, and the
fuel gas outlet 110
allows gas vapours 108 that come from the methanol bath 104 to vent out of the
housing body 112.
As shown in FIGs. 1-3, the housing body 112 is a vertically positioned
cylinder, and the fuel gas outlet
110 is positioned on a top end of the vertically positioned cylinder. The CMV
chamber 100 further
includes a fill port 121 and a drain 120 on the housing body 112 allowing the
methanol bath 104 to enter
and exit the housing body 112. Pipe connectors 122 on each of the fuel gas
inlet 114 and the fuel gas
outlet 110 allow connecting to one or more external pipes 124, and insulation
is provided around the
external pipes 124 adjacent the housing body 112.
A method of pre-cooling fuel gas includes providing a methanol bath 104
contained within a fuel gas
cooling chamber 100. The method further includes receiving incoming fuel gas
from a fuel gas source
116 at a fuel gas inlet 114 on the fuel gas chamber 100, and directing the
incoming fuel gas into the
methanol bath 104 within the fuel gas cooling chamber 100. The method further
includes directing gas
vapours 108 that come from the methanol bath 104 to vent out of the fuel gas
cooling chamber 100 via a
fuel gas outlet 110. The fuel gas cooling chamber 100 may be shaped as a
cylinder, and the method
further comprises vertically positioning the cylinder and positioning the fuel
gas outlet 110 on a top end
of the cylinder. The method may further include providing a fill port 121 and
a drain 120 on a housing
body 112 of the fuel gas cooling chamber 100 to allow the methanol bath 104 to
enter and exit the fuel
gas cooling chamber. The method may also include connecting one or more
external pipes 124 to pipe
connectors 122 on each of the fuel gas inlet 114 and the fuel gas outlet 110.
The method may also include
installing insulation 126 around the external pipes 124 adjacent the housing
body 112.
Patent Search
There was an extensive several month search done reviewing thousands of
registered patents. There
appears to be nothing similar in comparison to the CMV chamber.
3
_____ Vxmir44.4.014.6.1Waft.s