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US 8,097,128 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for purifying water
OwnerRaymond C. Sherryinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An efficient flash evaporation water purification system located at a hydrocarbon well site. An internal combustion engine uses hydrocarbon fuel from the well and drives a pump to pressurize production water from the well. The engine also generates thermal energy used to preheat the production water. An electrical generator is also driven by the engine to produce electrical power for the water purification system, as well as produce AC power for off-site consumers.
Claims26
A water purification system for processing an aqueous liquid from a hydrocarbon well, comprising:
- said water purification system located at a site of the hydrocarbon well and having an input for receiving the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well;
- the aqueous liquid is coupled to the input of the water purification system without prior pretreatment thereof to remove particulate matter and entrapped gasses in solution;
- a separation container for processing the aqueous liquid to remove at least some organic and inorganic components therefrom to provide a processed aqueous liquid;
- a heater for heating the processed aqueous liquid, said heater using only a hydrocarbon fuel from a hydrocarbon fuel source at the well site, said hydrocarbon fuel used for combustion in said heater to provide thermal energy to heat the processed aqueous liquid;
- an expansion chamber having a nozzle;
- a pump for pumping the heated processed aqueous liquid through the nozzle of the expansion chamber to flash evaporate the water from the heated processed aqueous liquid into steam;
- an electrical generator for generating electricity;
- an engine for driving said electrical generator, said engine using the hydrocarbon fuel from the hydrocarbon fuel source;
- and
- whereby the water purification system operates autonomously at the well site without requiring said preprocessing of the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well and without requiring fuel to be transported to the well site and used by the heater and the engine.
7 more elements
A water purification system for processing an aqueous liquid from a hydrocarbon well, comprising:
- said water purification system being portable and movable for well site to well site without being disassembled;
- said water purification system located at a site of the hydrocarbon well and having an input for receiving the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well without pretreatment thereof to remove particulate matter and embedded gasses;
- a preheater for preheating the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well, said preheater using excess thermal energy generated by said water purification system;
- a separation container having a nozzle therein for spraying the preheated aqueous liquid to facilitate removal of volatile gasses therefrom to provide a degassed aqueous liquid that collects at a bottom of the separation container, and the preheated aqueous liquid collected at the bottom of the separation container releases gasses due to the elevated temperature of the preheated aqueous liquid, said separation container including a gas discharge outlet from said separation container;
- a heater for heating the degassed aqueous liquid, said heater using a hydrocarbon fuel from a hydrocarbon fuel source at the well site, and said heater using the volatile gasses discharged from the discharge outlet of said separation container as a fuel, the fuels used for combustion in said heater providing thermal energy to heat the degassed aqueous liquid;
- an expansion chamber having a nozzle;
- a pump for pumping the heated degassed aqueous liquid through the nozzle of the expansion chamber to flash evaporate water from the heated degassed aqueous liquid;
- an electrical generator for generating electricity;
- an engine for driving said electrical generator, said engine using the hydrocarbon fuel from the hydrocarbon fuel source;
- and
- whereby the water purification system operates autonomously at the well site without requiring said preprocessing of the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well and without requiring fuel to be transported to the well site for the heater and the engine.
8 more elements
A method of operating a water purification system for processing an aqueous liquid from a hydrocarbon well, comprising:
- transporting the water purification system as one or more units to a site of the hydrocarbon well, and connecting the water purification system units together so that liquids to be processed can flow between the connected water purification system units;
- preheating the aqueous liquid from the hydrocarbon well and spraying the preheated aqueous liquid into a separation container to separate gasses therefrom to provide a degassed aqueous liquid, and extracting the gasses from the separation container;
- using gas from a gas source at the well site to generate thermal energy to heat the degassed aqueous liquid produced by the separation container;
- pressurizing the heated degassed aqueous liquid and flashing water in the heated degassed aqueous liquid into steam;
- condensing the steam to provide a purified form of water;
- and
- using gas from the gas source to drive an engine to drive an AC generator to generate electrical power used by control circuits that control operation of the water purification system.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.