Method, system and apparatus for hydrocarbon flow system fluid cooling
AssigneeEmpig AS
InventorsLars S Strommegjerde, Fredrik Lund, Thomas Sperle
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Abstract
The invention provides a method of cooling a flowing fluid in a hydrocarbon flow system using a heat exchange cooler apparatus having at least one cooler conduit; and a sensor system. The method comprises flowing the fluid through the cooler conduit from a cooler inlet to a cooler outlet to cool the fluid and operating a cleaning system to deliver energy (e.g. heat) to the cooler conduit to cause solid materials deposited on the interior of the cooler to be released into the flowing fluid. A cooler sensor data set obtained from the sensor system is compared with a reference data set to verify the performance of the cleaning system.
Claims23
A method of cooling a flowing fluid in a hydrocarbon flow system using a heat exchange cooler apparatus, wherein the heat exchange cooler apparatus comprises:
- at least one cooler conduit;
- and
- a sensor system;
- the method comprising:
- flowing the fluid through the cooler conduit from a cooler inlet to a cooler outlet to cool the fluid;
- operating a cleaning system, the cleaning system delivering energy to the cooler conduit to cause solid materials deposited on the interior of the cooler conduit to be released into the flowing fluid;
- receiving a cooler sensor data set obtained from the sensor system;
- and
- comparing the cooler sensor data set with a reference data set to verify the performance of the cleaning system.
A cooler system for a hydrocarbon flow system, the cooler system comprising:
- a heat exchange cooler apparatus comprising at least one cooler conduit and a sensor system;
- a cleaning system operable to delivering energy to the cooler conduit to cause solid materials deposited on the interior of the cooler conduit to be released into the flowing fluid;
- and
- a processing module;
- wherein the processing module is configured to receive a cooler sensor data set obtained from the sensor system and compare the cooler sensor data set with a reference data set to verify the performance of the cleaning system.
A method of cleaning a cooler conduit of a heat exchange cooler in a hydrocarbon flow system, the method comprising:
- operating a cleaning system to deliver energy to the cooler conduit and cause solid materials deposited on the interior of the cooler conduit to be released into the flowing fluid;
- receiving a cooler sensor data set obtained from a sensor system of the cooler;
- and
- comparing the cooler sensor data set with a reference data set to verify the performance of the cleaning system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.