US 11,952,083 B2Granted

Comprehensive system for the storage and transportation of natural gas in a light hydrocarbon liquid medium

AssigneeSeaone Holdings, LLC

InventorsIan Morris, Bruce Hall, Tolulope O. Okikiolu, CP Woodruff, Jr.

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

This invention provides a means of loading, processing and conditioning raw production gas, production of CGL, storage, transport, and delivery of pipeline quality natural gas or fractionated products to market. The CGL transport vessel utilizes a pipe based containment system to hold more densely packed constituents of natural gas held within a light hydrocarbon solvent than it is possible to attain for natural gas alone under such conditions. The containment system is supported by process systems for loading and transporting the natural gas as a liquid and unloading the CGL from the containment system and then offloading it in the gaseous state. The system can also be utilized for the selective storage and transport of NGLs to provide a total service package for the movement of natural gas and associated gas production. The mode of storage is suited for both marine and land transportation and configured in modular form to suit a particular application and/or scale of operation.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A method for processing, storing and transporting natural gas from supply source to market, comprising

receiving natural gas on a production barge comprising processing equipment modules configured to produce a compressed gas liquid (CGL) product comprising a liquid phase mixture of natural gas and a hydrocarbon liquid solvent in a liquid medium form, wherein the hydrocarbon liquid solvent includes one or more of ethane, propane and butane, wherein the production barge is moveable between gas supply locations,
producing on the production barge a supply of CGL product for storage and transport,
loading the CGL product from the production barge onto a marine transport vessel comprising a containment system configured to store the CGL product at storage pressures and temperatures at selected points in the ranges of −40F to −80F, and 900 psig to 2150 psig and associated with storage densities for the natural gas that exceeds the storage densities of compressed natural gas (CNG) for the same storage pressures and temperatures, and
recirculating the stored CGL product on the marine transport vessel to maintain temperatures and pressures of the stored CGL product at selected points in the ranges −40F to −80F, and 900 psig to 2150 psig.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/967,513Filed 17 Oct 2022 · continuation
Priority: 20 Jun 2008
Published: US 2023/0286618 A114 Sep 2023
Granted: 9 Apr 2024
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

B63B 27/24
Arrangement of ship-based loading or unloading equipment for cargo or passengers: of pipe-lines
B63B 25/16
Closed: heat-insulated
F17C 11/007
Use of gas-solvents or gas-sorbents in vessels: for hydrocarbon gases, such as methane or natural gas, propane, butane or mixtures thereof [LPG]
B63B 2025/087
Fluid: comprising self-contained tanks installed in the ship structure as separate units

Family

Application61/074,502Us provisional application · filed 20 Jun 2008
Application12/486,627Parent of this continuation · filed 17 Jun 2009
Application16/998,556Parent of this continuation · filed 20 Aug 2020
US 10,780,955 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 22 Sep 2020
US 2023/0286618 A1Pre-grant publication · published 14 Sep 2023
US 11,485,455 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2010/0000252 A1Published application
US 2021/0070402 A1Published application
US 11,952,083 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.