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US 10,994,312 B2Granted
Solids washing in oil and/or gas production
AssigneeFourphase AS
InventorsJorgen Bruntveit, Karl Ole Lyngbo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for washing solid particles removed from a hydrocarbon-containing fluid produced from an oil and gas production facility using a company automated unit. The apparatus comprises an inlet that carries a mixture of solids particles and water flushed from a de-sander.
Claims24
An apparatus for washing solid particles collected from a hydrocarbon-containing fluid produced from an oil and/or gas production facility, the apparatus comprising:
- a vessel having a lower part defining a volume for collecting a bed of solid particles and an upper part defining an exit for liquid from the vessel,
- a pipe assembly located in the volume, the pipe assembly having a plurality of outlet nozzles located thereon,
- a pipe network connected to the pipe assembly and arranged to supply pressurised steam or water or a mixture thereof to the pipe assembly to cause the steam or water or a mixture thereof to exit the outlet nozzles into the volume, a fluidising flushing unit located in the volume, the fluidising flushing unit comprising a fluidisation head, an inlet for supplying fluidising liquid to the fluidisation head and an outlet for conveying a fluidised mixture of solid particles and fluidising liquid from the fluidisation head and out of the vessel,
- an oil content sensor connected to the outlet of the fluidising flushing unit, the oil content sensor being adapted to determine whether an oil content of the fluidised mixture or any constituent thereof is below a preset oil content threshold, the oil content sensor having a first exit communicating with a recirculation pump for recirculating the fluidised mixture back to the vessel and a second exit communicating with an outlet conduit for outputting the fluidised mixture;
- and
- a controller for selectively controlling the fluidised mixture into a recirculation flow through the recirculation pump or an output flow through the outlet conduit in response to the oil content determined by the oil content sensor.
3 more elements
A method of washing oil-coated solid particles collected from a hydrocarbon-containing fluid produced from an oil and/or gas production facility, the method comprising the steps of:
- (i) providing a vessel having a lower part defining a volume for collecting a bed of solid particles and an upper part defining an exit for liquid from the vessel,
- (ii) supplying a fluidised flow of solid particles into the vessel to provide a bed of solid particles in the volume and liquid above the bed of solid particles, at least some of the solid particles being at least partly coated with oil,
- (iii) supplying pressurised steam or water or a mixture thereof into the body of solid particles from a plurality of outlet nozzles located on a pipe assembly located in the volume, the steam or water or a mixture thereof causing at least partial removal of oil from the oil-coated solid particles and mechanical agitation of the particles in the bed, to form a liquid mixture of oil and water above the bed,
- (iv) supplying a fluidising liquid to the bed to convey a fluidised mixture of solid particles from the bed and fluidising liquid out of the vessel,
- (v) determining whether an oil content of the fluidised mixture or any constituent thereof is below a preset oil content threshold, the oil content being determined by an oil content sensor coupled to an outlet for the fluidising liquid conveyed out of the vessel, and
- (vi) selectively recirculating the fluidised mixture back to the vessel or outputting the fluidised mixture to an outlet conduit in response to the determined oil content.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.