Fluid handling – Diverse fluid containing pressure systems – Fluid separating traps or vents
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-07
2004-02-24
Michalsky, Gerald A. (Department: 3753)
Fluid handling
Diverse fluid containing pressure systems
Fluid separating traps or vents
C055S419000, C137S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06694999
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of well production and the collection and processing of well fluids. Specifically, it relates to fluid collection systems to achieve the collection of produced gas from wells, which may be especially applicable to collection systems for methane gas. More particularly, the invention may relate to well gas collection systems for a plurality of wells, facilitating the flow and merging of gas from multiple well sources, directing entry of fluid into the collection system, and the processing of produced fluids into liquid and gas phases, potentially for subsequent collection and processing. The invention may be particularly applicable for well header systems, potentially relative to resource recovery for oil and gas, coal, and landfill applications.
The technology of the collection and processing of well fluids has undergone many conceptual changes, especially in the industries of resource recovery such as the oil and gas industries and the coal industry. The collection of gas as the primary or target resource or as a secondary or by-product of other resource development has increasingly become important in various fuel-dependent markets. The collection of gas has further served to address environmental concerns arising from the direct or indirect production of gas, especially in developing areas such as coal production and landfill operations.
Fluid collection systems for many of these operations have historically taken a variety of forms dependent upon, generally, the resource to be collected, and the nature of the subsequent processing or the use to which the collected resource is to be applied. Traditional forms of fluid collection systems may have incorporated elements from various fields, such as header systems, fluid inlets and outlets and the corresponding piping thereof, or the like, with varying results.
The coal industry in particular has utilized and developed gas collection systems for the collection and subsequent separation of produced well fluids. Wells may be installed in the respective coal field and may serve several purposes. The wells may be set for the primary purpose of producing methane gas. The methane gas may also be collected as a secondary or by-product result of coal production. The methane gas that can naturally occur within a coal field could be considered detrimental to the environment, especially as a contributor to the reduction in ozone layer, among other effects, particularly during the commercial development of the field. Additionally, a build-up of methane gas as a result of coal production may create health and general safety hazards to the surrounding environment and populous.
Raw methane gas produced from such wells may typically include water vapor entrained within the produced fluid. Water vapor may impair or serve as a detriment to the subsequent processing and transportation of methane gas. A need, therefore, exists for the collection of the produced methane gas and the separation of the gas from entrained water vapor.
Typical designs of collection systems in the coal industry may include header systems for the collection of produced well fluids from coal beds. Past attempts for the design of header systems for the collection of methane gas may have particularly provided a cylindrical header disposed at a particular configuration relative to ground surface. One such design may even provide a header disposed at a forty-five degree angle from the ground surface. Fluid production pipes from separate wells may connect the coal bed wells to the header, thereby providing a flow path from the producing wells to the header. Fluid from each well may enter the header through the respective production pipe and may separate in the header potentially due at least in part to the angled configuration of the header and the force of gravity upon the water vapor as the produced well fluid collects in the header. Water vapor entrained in gas from the wells may collect at the bottom of the header while methane gas separated from the water vapor may rise to an upper portion thereof. The separated gas can be subsequently transported, stored or processed accordingly. However, past attempts at methane collection and processing may have suffered from a lack of fully efficient water vapor separation, potentially at the initial step of fluid entry and collection in the header. Water vapor in past systems may not have adequately and appreciably separated from the collected methane gas. The collected gas may not be easily transported or processed due to the content of water vapor remaining entrained with the collected gas. A particular need existed, therefore, for collection systems that served more efficient gas separation roles than past attempts.
One attempt to increase the efficiency of systems collecting methane coal gas from multiple wells may have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711 issued to Dougherty, hereby incorporated by reference. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711 may provide a header system providing pipes each leading from separate wells and mounted to a header. The pipes may be directly welded to the header and may be welded at an orientation divergent or transverse to the central portion or axis of the header or a radius thereof. The system may further provide the header in an upright orientation and a paired orientation of pipes each leading into one side of the header. The pipes may be arranged in a plurality of horizontal pairs so as to introduce gas from each pipe into the header. The gas may then flow into the opposite side of the header and may even provide individual fluid flows from each pipe to flow into a corresponding flow from the second of the paired pipes to potentially achieve some amount of gas and water vapor separation within the header, potentially in conjunction with a baffle plate. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711, however, may suffer from several drawbacks that may ultimately affect the efficiency, structural integrity and convenience of the system.
One drawback of the header system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711 concerns the potential efficiency of gas separation from entrained water vapor. The header system may rely upon the paired flow of gases from paired pipes to not only flow into an opposite side of the header, but for each flow from each pipe to potentially flow into the corresponding paired pipe flow to achieve some water vapor separation. The potential reliance upon paired flows of gas could affect the efficiency of the system, for example in potentially uneven flow environments between and among various wells, potentially as between paired pipes, and may produce an unintended, mechanically cumbersome design. Such attempt, therefore, may have failed to address the efficiency concerns identified in previous attempts at methane gas collection.
Furthermore, a particular need may exist in the field of methane coal gas collection for systems that are structurally and configurationally acceptable for field applications. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711 may not have addressed potential structural and design limitations that may be commonplace in methane coal gas collection. Current header systems may typically provide a welded connection between pipes and the header. The type and configuration of the weld between pipes and the header may, in part, determine the structural integrity of the pipes and header, and potentially that of the entire system. U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,711 provides piping mounted to the header and a welded connection between the pipes and the header. The configuration of the pipes with respect to the header provide a pipe configuration divergent or transverse from the central portion or axis of the cylindrical header or a radius thereof. This type of pipe and header configuration may provide a mounting of the pipe that is less structurally robust than other potential configurations. Furthermore, the pipe and header configuration and resulting mounting may detrimentally affect the structural integrity of the header itsel
Hettinger Welding, Inc.
Michalsky Gerald A.
Santangelo Law Offices P.C.
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