Off-Gas Recovery Control for Glycol Dehydrator Burners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing natural gas dehydration systems face challenges in safely managing and disposing of off-gases containing hydrocarbon pollutants, as these gases can cause flashback fires when mixed with fuel gas before the burner assembly is properly ignited, leading to environmental contamination and safety issues.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a control assembly with a throttling pilot valve and snap pilot valve to delay the delivery of off-gases to the burner assembly until it is ignited and brought up to speed, using a three-way control valve to divert vapors to an exhaust stack if ignition conditions are not met, ensuring safe combustion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If off-gases are delivered directly to the burner assembly, then disposal efficiency is improved, but flashback fire risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ignition of the burner assembly before delivering off-gases to it. The control assembly monitors ignition status and only permits off-gas flow after successful ignition is confirmed, preventing flashback fires while maintaining disposal efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The control assembly acts as an intermediary between the off-gas source and burner assembly. It mediates the delivery process by controlling valve operation based on ignition status, ensuring safe conditions before allowing off-gas flow
2Loss of time
If storage tanks are used to hold off-gases, then disposal timing flexibility is improved, but storage tank corrosion and leakage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful off-gases from the system and directs them immediately to the burner assembly for combustion disposal, eliminating the need for intermediate storage tanks and their associated corrosion and leakage risks
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potentially harmful off-gases into beneficial combustion heat by burning them in the burner assembly. This approach eliminates storage requirements while also providing thermal energy, turning a waste product into a useful resource
3Object-affected harmful factors
If burner assembly ignition is delayed, then flashback fire prevention is improved, but off-gas collection time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control assembly implements feedback control by monitoring burner assembly ignition status and using this information to control off-gas delivery timing. The system continuously monitors and adjusts valve operation based on real-time ignition conditions, preventing flashback while minimizing collection time
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the off-gas delivery timing based on real-time burner ignition status. The control assembly modifies valve operation dynamically, delaying off-gas delivery until ignition is confirmed while minimizing the delay duration to maintain operational efficiency
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Prevents flashback fires by ensuring off-gases are not introduced to the burner assembly until it is properly ignited, thereby enhancing safety and environmental protection by ensuring controlled combustion of hydrocarbon pollutants.
Implementation Method 1
A system that includes a control assembly with a throttling pilot valve and snap pilot valve to delay the delivery of off-gases to the burner assembly
Implementation Method 2
using a three-way control valve to divert vapors to an exhaust stack if ignition conditions are not met
Implementation Method 3
ensuring controlled combustion of hydrocarbon pollutants
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for reclaiming uncondensed hydrocarbons normally exhausted to the atmosphere from a still column of a glycol dehydrator system, and combusting the uncondensed hydrocarbons in a burner assembly of a reboiler after the burner assembly has been ignited by fuel gas.