System and method of reducing emissions and increasing swell in an oil conditioning process
AssigneeMaze IP, LLC
InventorsBrooks Pearce, Christopher Ray Ezell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for conditioning live crude oil to produce stabilized oil that can be stored in a conventional oil storage tank and hydrocarbon gas includes a stabilizer tower and a heater treater. The stabilizer tower receives oil from separators at the wellhead production facility and outputs oil to the heater treater. The heater treater outputs gas back into the stabilizer tower and, optionally, recycles a portion of oil output back into the heater treater, which enhances oil output.
Claims24
A system for conditioning live crude oil, comprising
- a separator adapted for receiving live crude oil from a wellhead and for producing a separator oil output and a separator gas output;
- a stabilizer tower adapted for (i) receiving the separator oil output and receiving a heater treater gas output and (ii) producing a stabilizer tower oil output and a stabilizer tower gas output;
- and
- a heater treater adapted for (i) receiving the stabilizer tower oil output and (ii) producing a heater treater oil output and the heater treater gas output;
- wherein the heater treater gas output has a temperature that is higher than the stabilizer tower gas output and the heater treater oil output is stabilized oil.
A process of increasing swell in an oil conditioning process, comprising the steps of:
- a. receiving a live crude oil stream from a wellhead into a separator, the live crude oil stream including at least an oil component and a gas component;
- b. separating a first gas stream from the live crude oil in the separator to create at least a first oil stream;
- c. receiving the first oil stream from the separator into a stabilizer tower;
- d. separating a second gas stream from the first oil stream in the stabilizer tower to create a second oil stream;
- e. receiving the second oil stream into a heater treater;
- f. separating a third gas stream from the second oil stream in the heater treater to create a stabilized oil stream and a third oil stream, and
- g. circulating the third gas stream from the heater treater to the stabilizer wherein the third gas stream combines with the second gas stream to create a combined second gas stream, the combined second gas stream flowing to a vapor recovery compressor;
- h. moving the stabilized oil stream to a stabilized oil tank;
- and
- i. circulating the third oil stream within the heater treater;
- whereby the stabilized oil stream has a greater volumetric flow rate, measured in (barrels per day) BPD, than the volumetric flow rate of the oil component of the live oil stream, measured in BPD.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.