Fugitive gas capture
OwnerFrederick T. Varani, Paul Bertram Trostinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fugitive gas capture system includes a variable volume gas storage assembly (e.g., a bag) that expands and deflates between a first position and a second position, respectively, where the positions influence control of a switch coupled to a throttle on a gas engine that powers a compressor or coupled to a valve input to a gas booster compressor. The compressor is coupled to an output pipeline to provide the compressed gas in liquid or gas form to a pipeline under consistent pressure. Alternatively, the compressed gas may be on-site in a separator, in a heater treater, for various controls, as engine fuel, or with any other energy source employed on site, e.g., electric power from offgas vapors used to generate on-site electricity.
Claims20
A fugitive gas capture system comprising:
- an inflatable variable volume storage assembly having a first state corresponding to a first position and a second state corresponding to a second position, wherein the first state represents a greater volume of captured gas being stored within the variable volume storage assembly than the second state, the first state and the second state being under substantially constant pressure, and the captured gas being captured from headspace of a production tank;
- and
- a control system coupled to the variable volume storage assembly and configured to detect the first position and the second position and to control a compressor that extracts and compresses the captured gas from the variable volume storage assembly and directs the compressed gas under pressure to an output pipeline.
A system comprising:
- an inflatable variable volume storage assembly having a first state corresponding to a first position and a second state corresponding to a second position, wherein the first state represents a greater volume of captured gas being stored within the variable volume storage assembly than the second state, the first state and the second state being under substantially constant pressure;
- and
- a control system coupled to the variable volume storage assembly and configured to detect the first position and the second position and to control a compressor that extracts and compresses the captured gas from the variable volume storage assembly and directs the compressed gas under pressure to an output.
A method comprising:
- operating an inflatable variable volume storage assembly to receive captured gas, the variable volume storage assembly having a first state corresponding to a first position and a second state corresponding to a second position, wherein the first state represents a greater volume of the captured gas being stored within the variable volume storage assembly than the second state, the first state and the second state being under substantially constant pressure;
- directly communicating the states of the variable volume storage assembly over time to a compressor control based the detected positions of the variable volume storage assembly;
- extracting under compressor control to an output the captured gas from the variable volume storage assembly;
- and
- compressing under compressor control the extracted gas from the variable volume storage assembly based on the communicated states of the variable volume storage assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.