US 9,588,024 B1 · Stacked modular conditioning system and method

Abstract

A system for sampling and/or conditioning a process gas such as natural gas or the like utilizing two or more modular components, each having unique conditioning or monitoring features or the like, which components are formed to be slidingly received in a receiver so as to be stacked one upon the other for sealed engagement, forming a serial flow-through passage to provide conditioning, monitoring, or other features as the gas flows therethrough. An embodiment of the present invention is designed to receive multiple conditioning components, each of which may have diverse functionality such as, for example, one or more stages of pressure reduction, monitoring, particulate and/or liquid droplet filtering, etc. The invention is designed for easy configuration customization so as to provide a readily customizable solution for each application, with an embodiment which may be incorporated into a probe or the like or at its tip, and thereby operate at the prevailing pressure and temperature of the process gas.

Claims53

Dependent claims

A modular conditioning apparatus for use with a pressurized fluid stream, comprising:

a first modular component comprising an outer wall, first and second ends, an inlet flow passage, and an outlet flow passage;
a housing having a receiver having an inner wall formed therein to receive and envelope said outer wall of said first modular component, said housing having first and second ends, said first end of said housing formed to engage a probe and provide outlet flow therefrom;
and
a seal associated with said first modular component formed to prevent leakage between said outer wall of said first modular component and said inner wall of said receiver;
wherein said first modular component is formed to be placed into said receiver of said housing so that said receiver envelopes same, said housing with modular component then inserted into the pressurized fluid stream via said probe so as to receive flow from said pressurized fluid stream via a flow path formed in said housing, said housing and first modular component therein formed to interact with said pressurized fluid stream at the prevailing pressure and temperature of said pressurized fluid stream to provide interacted gas from said first modular component.

2 more elements

The method of sampling a fluid, comprising the steps of:

a) establishing a fluid communication order of sample components to effect selective interaction of the fluid;
b) providing sample components, each having a desired fluid interaction feature, to provide the selective interaction in step “a”;
c) stacking said sample components so as to provide fluid communication from one of said sample components to another in serial communication, providing stacked components;
d) enclosing said stacked components in a receiver, using said receiver to envelope said stacked components, while sealingly engaging said stacked components to one another to facilitate the serial flow of fluid therebetween;
e) mounting said receiver with stacked components to an insertion probe so as to form a probe tip having an opening;
f) inserting said probe tip into a pressurized fluid flow;
g) facilitating the flow of fluid from said pressurized fluid flow into said probe tip opening;
h) facilitating the flow of fluid serially through each of said sample components, each said sample component providing selective interaction with the fluid.

5 more elements

A method of sampling a fluid from a fluid stream, comprising the steps of:

a) providing modular sample components formed to stack upon one another in serial flow fashion;
b) providing modular sub-components, each said sub-component formed to engage via insertion to a modular sample component to provide fluid functionality thereto;
c) analyzing a sample of fluid from a fluid stream;
d) establishing a desired sample fluid conditioning and/or monitoring protocol for fluid sampled from said fluid stream;
e) selecting modular sub-components from those in step “b”, providing chosen sub-components, and inserting each said chosen sub-components into a respective modular component to perform the functionality established in step “b”;
f) stacking said modular components with sub-components one upon the other to provide serial flow therethrough in an order to achieve the protocol of step “d”, providing a modular component stack;
g) engaging said modular component stack to an insertion apparatus;
h) inserting said insertion apparatus into a fluid stream;
i) allowing fluid to flow into one end of said modular component stack, through said component stack, while allowing said fluid to be conditioned and/or monitored in serial fashion by each said sub-component.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Stacked modular conditioning system and method

Life of this patent

Stacked modular conditioning system and method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims53