Modular Containment Cellar With Drip Diverters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing containment cellar systems for well heads are not easily retrofittable to operating wells, often require shutting down production, and fail to effectively capture and manage leaks due to sealant failures and groundwater contamination.
Innovation Solution
A modular well containment cellar system with co-planar half-panels and a through-channel design that allows for installation without removing well-top components, capturing drips and leaks without sealants, and protecting the well pipe from corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional containment cellars are installed around operating wells, then production shutdown is required and retrofittability is poor, but if production continues then effective containment cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The containment cellar is divided into multiple modular panels that can be assembled around the well without removing existing components. The half-panels with through-channels allow the well pipe to pass through while maintaining containment, enabling installation on operating wells without production shutdown.
Solution Approach 2:
Drip diverters are introduced as intermediary components that redirect liquid flow away from the well pipe and into the containment cellar. These diverters capture leaks without requiring direct contact with or interference with the well pipe, maintaining both retrofittability and containment effectiveness.
2Reliability
If sealants and gaskets are used to prevent leaks between panels and at the well pipe, then containment is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to sealant failure
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes sealants and gaskets from the system entirely. Instead of relying on these failure-prone components, the design uses mechanical interlocking half-panels with through-channels and drip diverters that physically redirect liquid flow, eliminating the harmful factor of sealant degradation and failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment system is self-containing through its geometric design. The half-panels with through-channels and drip diverters create a self-supporting structure that contains leaks through its inherent geometry rather than relying on auxiliary sealing materials that can fail.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the containment cellar allows liquids to seep back into the ground, then environmental damage is prevented, but groundwater contamination occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of liquid seepage into a beneficial containment function. By designing the cellar geometry to actively redirect and contain liquids that would otherwise seep into the ground, the system transforms potential groundwater contamination into effective leak capture and environmental protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment approach moves from allowing vertical seepage into the ground to horizontal redirection and surface containment. The drip diverters and panel geometry redirect liquids along the surface and into containment areas, changing the dimension of liquid management from subsurface infiltration to surface control.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular well containment cellar system having a bottom portion, two co-planar half-panels joined to the bottom portion and separated by a through-channel portion, and a one side wall joined to a bottom portion and to the half-panels, forming a closed container with an open top for mating to another cellar component at the half-panels, wherein a well pipe may be received into the through-channel. A plurality of drip diverters prevent downward-moving liquid from running between the mated half-panels and between the well pipe and the through-channel to capture dripped and running liquids from above the containment cellar system.