Generating power from recycled hydrocarbon gas
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsMohammed A. Bataweel, Eyad Alali, Mustafa Alkhowaildi, Nour Baqader, Norah Aljuryyed
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Abstract
Techniques for generating electric power for well site operations include processing a hydrocarbon fluid produced from a subterranean formation, through a wellbore, and to a terranean surface into at least one acid gas; processing the at least one acid gas into hydrogen; generating, with the hydrogen, electrical power from a hydrogen engine; and providing the generated electrical power for use or storage to power at least one electrically-operated machine to perform at least one well site operation.
Claims26
A method of generating electric power for well site operations, comprising:
- processing a hydrocarbon fluid produced from a subterranean formation, through a wellbore, and to a terranean surface into at least one acid gas;
- processing the at least one acid gas into hydrogen;
- generating, with the hydrogen, electrical power from a hydrogen engine;
- providing a first portion of the generated electrical power to power at least one electrically-operated machine to perform at least one well site operation at a well site that is remote from and electrically decoupled from an electrical grid or public utility;
- and
- simultaneously with providing the generated electrical power to power at least one electrically-operated machine to perform the at least one well site operation at the well site, providing a second portion of the generated electrical power to charge at least one rechargeable battery.
An electric power generation system for well site operations, comprising:
- a hydrocarbon processing sub-assembly configured to process a hydrocarbon fluid produced from a subterranean formation, through a wellbore, and to a terranean surface into at least one acid gas;
- an acid gas processing sub-assembly configured to receive the at least one acid gas from the hydrocarbon processing sub-assembly and process the at least one acid gas into hydrogen;
- at least one hydrogen engine configured to generate electrical power from the hydrogen processed by the acid gas processing sub-assembly to power at least one electrically-operated machine with a first portion of the generated electrical power to perform at least one well site operation at a well site that is remote from and electrically decoupled from an electrical grid or public utility;
- and
- at least one power storage unit configured to electrically couple to the at least one hydrogen engine to receive and store a second portion of the generated electrical power simultaneously with powering the at least one electrically-operated machine with the first portion of the generated electrical power for delivery to the well site.
An electric power generation system for well site operations, comprising:
- a hydrocarbon processing sub-assembly configured to process a hydrocarbon fluid produced from a subterranean formation, through a wellbore, and to a terranean surface into hydrogen sulfide;
- means for processing the hydrogen sulfide into hydrogen;
- at least one hydrogen fuel cell configured to generate electrical power from the hydrogen;
- at least one rechargeable battery configured to electrically couple to the at least one hydrogen fuel cell to receive and store a first portion of the generated electrical power for delivery to a well site that is remote from and electrically decoupled from an electrical grid or public utility;
- and
- at least one electrically-operated machine operable with a second portion of the generated electrical power to perform at least one well site operation at the well site simultaneously with delivery of the at least one rechargeable battery to the well site.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.