Oil monitoring system

Abstract

A filter system has a chamber body, an inlet that extends through the chamber body, and an outlet that extends through the chamber body at a location downstream of the inlet. The filter system has a plurality of fluid flow paths that extend between the inlet and the outlet. The plurality of fluid flow paths including first and second subsets, each including at least a respective one of the fluid flow paths. A plurality of hydrocarbon filters is disposed in the chamber body such that each hydrocarbon filter is disposed in a fluid flow path. The filter system directs the fluid to the first subset, and once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the filter systems diverts the fluid to flow to the second subset.

Description

 OIL MONITORING SYSTEMCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application no. 62 / 729,002, filed September 10, 2018, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in its entirety herein.  This application is related to U.S. non-provisional patent application no. 15 / 135,897, filed April 11, 2016, U.S. non-provisional patent application no. 15 / 792,163, filed October 24, 2017, U.S. provisional patent application no. 62 / 151,194, filed November 25, 2015, and U.S. provisional patent application no. 62 / 412,067, filed October 24, 2016, the teachings of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.  BACKGROUND Referring to Figs. 1A-1C, oil handling facilities 10, such as petroleum storage facilities 12, petroleum processing facilities 14 such as oil refineries 15, and oil mining facilities 19 such as oil wells 17, and the like, are typically disposed in containment areas 16 that are designed to contain liquids that become contaminated with hydrocarbons.  For instance, oil handling facilities can be susceptible to storm water, either in the form of run off or accumulation on the storage tanks.  The storm water that runs off from oil handling facilities can become contaminated with hydrocarbons.  The containment areas 16 are designed to contain the storm water run off, thereby preventing the possibility of contaminants in the run off from entering the ambient environment outside the containment area 16.  Alternatively or additionally, oil handling facilities 10 can also include run off retention ponds that are configured to receive and store storm water run off. Further, petroleum storage tanks are available with floating roofs that rest atop the petroleum stored in the tank, and thus rises and falls with increasing and decreasing levels of petroleum.  Floating roofs are conventionally employed as a way to safely store the contained petroleum with minimal escape of petroleum vapors into the environment.  The floating roof is sealed with respect to the outer tank wall, such that as the volume of stored petroleum changes, the floating roof slides along the side wall of the tank without allowing leakage at the interface of the floating roof and the side wall of the tank.  It is recognized that the floating roof and the portion of the side wall of the tank that resides above the floating roof can cooperate to define a basin that collects storm water.  If the collected storm water is allowed to remain, the volume of storm water can collect in an amount sufficient to compromise the structural integrity of the roof.  Whether it is desired to discharge the storm water that is present in the form of run off in a retention pond, or present in the form of storm water collected by the roofs of petroleum storage tanks, it is desirable to discharge the storm water to a remote location outside the oil handling facility, where it can enter the environment outside the containment area 16.  However, it is desirable to ensure that environmentally harmful oil has not contaminated the storm water prior to discharging the storm water into the environment.  summary The following Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description.  This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the invention, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the invention.  Reference is made to the claims for that purpose. In one aspect of the present disclosure, a filter system comprises a filter chamber body having a chamber base, and at least one chamber wall that extends up from the chamber base.  A chamber inlet extends through the filter chamber body.  The filter chamber body is configured to receive the fluid through the chamber inlet.  A chamber outlet extends through the filter chamber body at a location downstream of the chamber inlet with respect to a direction of fluid flow through the filter chamber body.  The filter chamber body is configured to expel the fluid through the chamber outlet.  A plurality of fluid flow paths extend between the chamber inlet and the chamber outlet.  The plurality of fluid flow paths include first and second subsets, each including at least a respective one of the fluid flow paths.  A plurality of hydrocarbon filters are disposed in the filter chamber body such that each hydrocarbon filter is disposed in a fluid flow path.  Each hydrocarbon filter is configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid.  The filter system is configured to direct the fluid to the first subset, and once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the filter system diverts the fluid to flow to the second subset.  In another aspect, a method comprises a step of directing a fluid to flow to a chamber inlet of a filter system and through the chamber inlet into a filter chamber body of the filter system.  The method comprises a step of causing the fluid to flow along a first subset of a plurality of fluid flow paths to a chamber outlet of the filter system.  The first subset includes at least one respective fluid flow path, and each fluid flow path of the first subset includes a respective hydrocarbon filter configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid.  The method comprises a step of diverting, once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the fluid flow to a second subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths.  The second subset includes at least one respective fluid flow path, and each fluid flow path of the second subset includes a respective hydrocarbon filter configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.  There is shown in the drawings example embodiments, in which like reference numerals correspond to like reference numerals throughout.  The present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments and methods disclosed, and reference is made to the claims for that purpose. Fig. 1A is a schematic perspective view of a conventional petroleum storage facility; Fig. 1B is a schematic perspective view of a conventional petroleum processing facility; Fig. 1C is a schematic perspective view of a conventional oil mining facility; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a monitored petroleum storage assembly including a petroleum storage tank and a monitoring system; Fig. 3A is a side elevation view of the monitored petroleum storage assembly illustrated in Fig. 2, showing an interior of the petroleum storage tank having a floating roof at a first elevation; Fig. 3B is a side elevation view of the monitored petroleum storage assembly illustrated in Fig. 3A, but showing the floating roof at a second elevation different than the first elevation; Fig. 4 is a schematic side view of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 2, shown constructed in accordance with one embodiment; Fig. 5A is an exploded perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 4, constructed in accordance with one embodiment; Fig. 5B is a top plan view of the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 5A; Fig. 6A is a perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber similar to the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 5A, but including an absorbent member in accordance with an alternative embodiment; Fig. 6B is a perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber similar to the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 6A, but including an absorbent member in accordance with another alternative embodiment; Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating communications operations of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 4; Fig. 8A is a schematic side elevation view of a monitoring system constructed in accordance with an alternative embodiment; Fig. 8B is a schematic side elevation view of a fluid flow separation chamber constructed in accordance with an alternative embodiment; Fig. 9 is a schematic side elevation view of a monitoring system constructed in accordance with yet another alternative embodiment; Fig. 10 is a schematic side elevation view of a monitoring system constructed in accordance with still another alternative embodiment; Fig. 11A is a schematic perspective view of a petroleum storage facility including a containment area and a run off retention pond, showing the monitoring system operatively coupled to the containment area; Fig. 11B is a schematic perspective view of an oil processing facility including a containment area and the monitoring system operatively coupled to the containment area; Fig. 11C is a schematic perspective view of an oil mining facility including a containment area and the monitoring system operatively coupled to the containment area; Fig. 12A is a schematic side elevation view of a retention pond, showing the monitoring system operatively coupled to the retention pond in accordance with one embodiment; Fig. 12B is a schematic side elevation view of the retention pond illustrated in Fig. 12A, but showing the monitoring system operatively coupled to the retention pond in accordance with another embodiment; Fig. 13A is an exploded perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 4, constructed in accordance with another embodiment; Fig. 13B is a top plan view of the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 13A; Fig. 14A is an exploded perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 4, constructed in accordance with yet another embodiment; Fig. 14B is a top plan view of the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 14A; Fig. 15A is an exploded perspective view of a fluid flow separation chamber of the monitoring system illustrated in Fig. 4, constructed in accordance with yet still another embodiment; Fig. 15B is a top plan view of the fluid flow separation chamber illustrated in Fig. 15A; Fig. 16 is a top plan view of a monitoring system constructed in accordance with one example; Fig. 17 is a top plan view of a filter chamber of the filter system of Fig. 16; Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the filter chamber of Fig. 17 along the line 18-18; Fig. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the filter chamber of Fig. 18 along the line 19-19; Fig. 20 is a perspective view of one of the filters of the filter system of Fig. 16; Fig. 21 is a top plan view of a monitoring system constructed in accordance with an alternative example; and Fig. 22 is a side elevation view of the filter system of Fig. 21 with a wall of the filter chamber hidden to show an interior of the filter chamber.

Claims

A monitoring system, comprising:            a filter chamber body having a chamber base, and at least one chamber wall that extends up from the chamber base;            a chamber inlet that extends through the filter chamber body, wherein the filter chamber body is configured to receive a fluid through the chamber inlet;a chamber outlet that extends through the filter chamber body at a location downstream of the chamber inlet with respect to a direction of fluid flow through the filter chamber body, wherein the filter chamber body is configured to expel the fluid through the chamber outlet;a plurality of fluid flow paths that extend between the chamber inlet and the chamber outlet, the plurality of fluid flow paths including first and second subsets, each including at least a respective one of the fluid flow paths; anda plurality of hydrocarbon filters disposed in the filter chamber body such that each hydrocarbon filter is disposed in a fluid flow path, and each hydrocarbon filter is configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid, a first inlet channel within the filter chamber body and in fluid communication with the chamber inlet and in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset; anda second inlet channel within the filter chamber body and separated from the first inlet channel by a first inlet baffle, the second inlet channel being in fluid communication with the chamber inlet and in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of the second subset,wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the first inlet channel fills with fluid until the fluid cascades over the first inlet baffle to the second inlet channel, and,wherein in response to a final set of the fluid flow paths reaching a threshold, the monitoring system causes a normally open valve to close, thereby preventing additional fluid from flowing into any of the fluid flow paths. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the monitoring system diverts the fluid to additionally flow to a third subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths, the third set including at least a respective one of the fluid flow paths.  The monitoring system of claim 2, wherein the first subset is between the second subset and the third subset.The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once each hydrocarbon filter of the second subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the monitoring system diverts the fluid to flow to another subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths, the another subset including at least a respective one of the fluid flow paths.The monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the second subset is between the first subset and the another subset.The monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the another subset is between the first subset and the second subset.The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring system comprises at least one baffle that extends up from the base so as to define a plurality of channels in the filter chamber body that at least partially define the plurality of fluid flow paths.  The monitoring system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of channels includes at least one outlet channel and at least one inlet channel that are separated from one another by at least one of the baffles, the at least one inlet channel being in fluid communication with the chamber inlet, and the at least one outlet channel being in fluid communication with the chamber outlet.The monitoring system of claim 8, wherein each of the hydrocarbon filters has a filter inlet and a filter outlet, each filter inlet being in fluid communication with the at least one inlet channel, and each filter outlet being in fluid communication with the at least one outlet channel. The monitoring system of claim 1, comprising a third inlet channel that is separated from the first inlet channel by a second inlet baffle and that is in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of a third subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths, wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset is saturated with hydrocarbons, the first inlet channel fills with fluid until the fluid cascades over the second inlet baffle to the third inlet channel.The monitoring system of claim 1, comprising a third inlet channel that is separated from the second inlet channel by a second inlet baffle and that is in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of a third subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths, wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once each hydrocarbon filter of the second subset is saturated with hydrocarbons, the second inlet channel fills with fluid until the fluid cascades over the second inlet baffle to the third inlet channel.The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon filters comprises one or more lower hydrocarbon filters and one or more higher hydrocarbon filters that are offset from one another with respect to the vertical direction,            wherein the monitoring system is configured such that, once the one or more lower hydrocarbon filters is saturated with hydrocarbons, a level of the fluid within the filter chamber body rises to the one or more higher hydrocarbon filters.The monitoring system of claim 1, comprising at least one fluid level sensor disposed in the filter chamber body, wherein the monitoring system is configured to at least partially close a normally open valve upstream of the monitoring system when the fluid level sensor senses that a level of the fluid exceeds a predetermined threshold.The monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising:            a fluid flow separation chamber comprising an inlet and an outlet, the fluid flow separation chamber configured to slow a flow of the fluid within the fluid flow separation chamber as the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet so as to cause hydrocarbons to rise to an upper surface of the fluid;            a sensor configured to detect a presence of a threshold amount of hydrocarbons in the fluid while the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet; and, wherein the chamber inlet of the monitoring system is configured to be placed downstream of the outlet of the fluid flow separation chamber.The monitoring system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring system is configured to close the normally open valve when the presence of the threshold amount of hydrocarbons in the fluid is detected.The monitoring system of claim 15, comprising at least one fluid level sensor disposed in at least one of the filter chamber body and the fluid flow separation chamber, wherein the monitoring system is configured to close the normally open valve when the fluid level sensor senses that a level of the fluid exceeds a predetermined threshold.A method, comprising:             directing a fluid to flow to a chamber inlet of a filter system and through the chamber inlet into a filter chamber body of the filter system;            causing the fluid to flow through a first inlet channel within the filter chamber body along a first subset of a plurality of fluid flow paths to a chamber outlet of the filter system, the first subset including at least one respective fluid flow path, and each fluid flow path of the first subset including a respective hydrocarbon filter configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid, wherein the first inlet channel is in fluid communication with the chamber inlet and in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset; and;            diverting, once each hydrocarbon filter of the first subset becomes saturated with hydrocarbons, the fluid flow to a second subset of the plurality of fluid flow paths, the second subset including at least one respective fluid flow path, and each fluid flow path of the second subset including a respective hydrocarbon filter configured to remove and retain hydrocarbons from the fluid, wherein the filter system includes a baffle that separates the first inlet channel from a second inlet channel within the filter chamber body, the second inlet channel being in fluid communication with the chamber inlet and in fluid communication with an inlet of each hydrocarbon filter of the second subset,wherein the diverting step comprises causing the fluid to cascade over the baffle to the second inlet channel; andclosing a normally open valve in response to a final set of the fluid flow paths reaching a threshold, wherein the closing step prevents additional fluid from flowing into any of the fluid flow paths.The method of claim 17, comprising, before the directing step:            causing the fluid to flow from an inlet of a fluid flow separation chamber to an outlet of the fluid flow separation chamber, the outlet being in fluid communication with the chamber inlet, such that the fluid flow separation chamber causes the flow rate of the fluid to decrease, thereby causing the hydrocarbons to rise to an upper surface of the fluid in the fluid flow separation chamber; and            sensing the fluid in the fluid flow separation chamber to detect a presence of a threshold amount of hydrocarbons in the fluid while the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet.The method of claim 18, comprising closing a normally open valve that is in fluid communication with the inlet when the presence of the threshold amount of hydrocarbons in the fluid is detected.  < / p>

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