Offshore Flare Boom Liquid Hydrocarbon Capture Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Offshore gas flaring is often inefficient, leading to unflared hydrocarbons falling into the sea due to heavy density oils, poor maintenance, suboptimal flaring conditions, and equipment limitations, resulting in liquid fallout that poses environmental and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
An offshore hydrocarbon management system featuring a flare boom with a liquid hydrocarbon capture system, including a plate and container to collect unflared hydrocarbons in a liquid state, a pump and flowline to store or reflare them, and a motorized arm to adjust the plate's position for optimal capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If gas flaring is used to dispose of hydrocarbons, then pressure relief and gas disposal are achieved, but liquid hydrocarbons may fall into the sea causing environmental pollution and safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
A liquid hydrocarbon capture system acts as an intermediary between the flare boom and the sea environment. The system includes a plate positioned below the flare boom to intercept liquid hydrocarbons, a container to collect them, and a pump to transfer them to storage or reflare facilities, preventing direct contact with the marine environment
Solution Approach 2:
The liquid hydrocarbon capture system extracts liquid hydrocarbons from the flaring process stream before they can fall into the sea. The plate intercepts liquid droplets, the container collects them, and the pump removes them from the system, separating the liquid phase from the gas flaring process
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a liquid hydrocarbon capture system is added to prevent liquid fallout, then environmental safety is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid hydrocarbon capture system is segmented into distinct functional modules: a plate for interception, a container for collection, a pump for transfer, and flowlines for conveyance. This modular segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, simplifying design, installation, and maintenance while achieving comprehensive liquid fallout prevention
Data Source
AI summary
An offshore spill protection system includes a flare boom configured to connect to an offshore drilling rig. The flare boom is configured to flare at least a portion of hydrocarbons flowed from the offshore drilling rig to the flare boom. A liquid hydrocarbon capture system includes a plate configured to be spatially positioned relative to the flare boom. The plate is sized to collect at least unflared hydrocarbons in a liquid state that flow through the flare boom.