Recycling Gaseous Hydrocarbons via Compression and Condensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
At low-producing well pads, the rich gas produced during oil extraction is often vented or flared, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions and loss of valuable hydrocarbon energy, as existing technologies are not economically viable for processing this gas due to its low pressure and high content of ethane, propane, and butane with less than 50% methane.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that involves compressing hydrocarbon gas from a secondary separator, cooling the mixture to form liquid hydrocarbons, and recycling them back into the primary separator, using an oilless compressor and efficient cooling unit to process both large and small volumes of rich gas, thereby reducing emissions and capturing valuable hydrocarbons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If rich gas is vented or flared at low-producing well pads, then emissions are reduced and operational costs are minimized, but valuable hydrocarbon energy is lost and environmental impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful act of flaring rich gas into a beneficial process by capturing the flared gas and using it as feedstock for producing liquid hydrocarbon products. The harmful emissions are transformed into valuable fuels through a chemical conversion process that uses the flared gas to generate synthetic crude oil, which is then refined into usable hydrocarbon products.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent fundamentally changes the physical and chemical parameters of the rich gas by subjecting it to high-pressure and high-temperature conditions in a gasification reactor. This transforms the gaseous hydrocarbons into a liquid synthetic crude oil through controlled chemical reactions, changing the state and composition of the material to create valuable products.
2Productivity
If existing gas processing technologies are installed at low-producing well pads, then sales gas can be produced, but the high capital and operational costs make it economically unviable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and utilizes the flared gas that would otherwise be wasted, taking it out of the harmful flaring process and redirecting it through a conversion system. By focusing on converting only the flared portion rather than processing all associated gas through traditional complex facilities, the system achieves productivity with reduced equipment complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the flared rich gas itself as the feedstock for producing liquid hydrocarbons, making the process self-sufficient. The flared gas that would be wasted becomes the raw material for generating valuable products, eliminating the need for external feedstock sources and reducing overall system complexity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional flaring systems are used to meet emission standards, then emissions are controlled, but the energy value of the gas is converted only to thermal energy which is released to the environment
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of simply burning the rich gas and releasing thermal energy to the environment, the patent captures the flared gas and converts it chemically into liquid hydrocarbon products. This transforms the harmful thermal energy release into beneficial stored chemical energy in the form of liquid fuels, while still meeting emission standards.
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
This approach allows for the efficient and cost-effective recycling of gaseous hydrocarbons, reducing flared gas volumes, capturing additional hydrocarbons, and lowering methane content, thereby increasing sales gas and liquid volumes while minimizing carbon footprint and equipment costs.
Implementation Method 1
flowing a hydrocarbon gas composition from a secondary separator into a compressor unit to form a compressed mixture
Implementation Method 2
flowing the compressed mixture into a cooling unit to cool the compressed mixture, to form a cooled composition including liquid hydrocarbons
Data Source
AI summary
A method of recycling gaseous hydrocarbons includes flowing a hydrocarbon gas composition from a secondary separator into a compressor unit to form a compressed mixture. The secondary separator includes a crude liquid hydrocarbon input stream from a primary separator. The method includes flowing the compressed mixture into a cooling unit to cool the compressed mixture, to form a cooled composition comprising liquid hydrocarbons. The method includes flowing the liquid hydrocarbons from the cooled composition into the primary separator.