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US 4,360,547 AGranted
Selective scale formation
AssigneePhillips Petroleum Company
InventorRobert G. Asperger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fluid stream is treated with at least one scale inducing agent prior to being passed through an engine having sweeping elements which limit the thickness of scale deposits therein to improve the efficiency with which the engine utilizes the energy contained within the fluid stream.
Claims41
A process comprising:
- treating a fluid stream to be passed through an engine having sweeping elements which limit the thickness of depositions of materials from the stream between the sweeping elements of the engine with at least one scale inducing agent so as to cause deposition of scale between the sweeping elements of the engine.
In a process comprising:
- (a) providing a stream of geothermally heated fluid;
- (b) treating said stream with a scale inhibiting amount of a scale inhibiting agent to at least mitigate scale formation by the stream;
- (c) passing said stream through an intermeshing plural rotor helical screw expander to cause rotation of an output shaft of said screw expander, said expander being designed to limit scale buildup within by the sweeping action of its plural rotors;
- the improvement comprising:
- (d) injecting a sufficient amount of at least one scale inducing agent into said stream to cause deposition of scale in said screw expander whereby scale is deposited in said screw expander.
2 more elements
A method comprising regulating the addition rate of a scale forming agent to a helical screw expander responsively to the efficiency at which the expander is operating.
A method comprising:
- (a) passing a stream of geothermally heated fluid through a plural rotor helical screw expander;
- (b) generating a signal representative of the efficiency at which the expander utilizes the geothermally heated fluid;
- (c) introducing at least one scale inducing agent into the fluid stream upstream of the expander to cause the deposition of scale in the expander and a change in the signal from a first value representative of a first efficiency to a second value representative of a second efficiency.
In an apparatus comprising:
- (a) an intermeshing plural rotor helical screw expander, and
- (b) means for conveying a geothermally heated fluid stream from a geothermal source to the screw expander;
- the improvement comprising:
- (a) a container;
- (b) a conduit establishing communication between the container and a point in the means for conveying a geothermally heated fluid stream which is immediately upstream of the screw expander;
- and
- (c) means for pumping a fluid from the container and through the conduit.
4 more elements
In an apparatus comprising:
- (a) an intermeshing plural rotor helical screw expander;
- and
- (b) means for conveying a geothermally heated fluid stream from a geothermal source to the screw expander;
- the improvement comprising:
- a means for injecting at least one scale inducing agent into said fluid stream immediately upstream of said screw expander.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.