US3420302A - Oil processing system - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 7, 1969 ca. cs. EDWARDS OIL PROCESSING SYSTEM Filed April 11, 1967 HUI l l l l I v.25 wzltuw IN VEN TOR. GUY G. spa/420s,

United States Patent 3,420,302 OIL PROCESSING SYSTEM Guy G. Edwards, 4223 Bonham St., Dallas, Tex.

Filed Apr. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 630,056 US. Cl. 166-61 Int. Cl. E21b 43/24 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention Field of the inventi0n.-This invention relates to oil production and more particularly to means for increasing or improving the production of oil wells.

Description of the prior art.The prior art has long recognized the utility and advantages of heating the petroleum in an oil well to increase the production of the well. The present invention constitutes an improvement over the systems and the methods known in the prior art.

Summary The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the limitations and disadvantages of the systems of the prior art by providing a flexible heat exchanger in the oil well and by providing mechanical circulation means in the flexible heat exchange system in the well. The present invention also contemplates a single recirculating system for simultaneously improving the production of oil wells and maintaining the viscosity of the produced petroleum products at a desired level throughout a petroleum handling system.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved system for increasing the production of oil wells of the type which comprises a heated fluid circulation system for decreasing the viscosity of petroleum products in the well and for maintaining the products extracted from the well in a low viscosity condition which includes a flexible heat exchanger disposed in the well.

An additional object is the provision of mechanical circulation means disposed in the well.

A more specific object is the provision of fluid driven circulation paddles secured in communication with a flexible heat exchanger in the well for mechanically circulating heated petroleum fractions downwardly against the normal convective circulatory forces.

The specific combinations, constructions, and systems also constitute an object of this invention.

Brief description of the dralwing The figure is a schematic drawing showing the circulatory systems of the present invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment The present invention is contemplated for use in combination with and in connection with an oil well indicated generally at which includes a cavity in the bottom of the well which may be enlarged or jugged out with dynamite or nitroglycerin and will conventionally be from about ten feet to about fifty feet in diameter.

Conventionally the well will be provided with a casing 3,420,302 Patented Jan. 7, 1969 14 having an opening in the bottom thereof 16 and a pump shown generally at 18 which may be of the conventional type for extracting petroleum or lifting the petroleum products from the well to the surface. It will be understood that the actual pump mechanism is disposed in casing 14 according to conventional practice. In view of the well known practices in this art, no further explanation of the pump is deemed necessary.

Communicating with the top of casing 14 is a vacuum line 20 leading to a vacuum pump 22 which extracts the lighter molecular weight fractions of the petroleum, such as the natural gas components, methane, ethane, propane, butane, etc. If these products are produced in sufiicient quantities, they may be recovered, collected,

and utilized for heating or illumination, or, if they constitute only a minor fraction of the production, they may be disposed of by burning or otherwise.

Also communicating with the upper end of casing 14 is the liquid petroleum outlet line 24 which passes the petroleum products from the well through a valve 26 to a settling tank 28. The petroleum products are allowed to stand in substantially quiescent condition in the settling tank and the liquid fractions are drawn off through a valve 30 and line 32 to a filter 34 and from the filter the petroleum products pass through line 36 and the valve 38 into the reservoir or pipeline oil tank 40. The petroleum products are held in the tank for delivery to a valve 42 to a pipeline or to a transportation vehicle such as a truck 44. It will be understood that the valves may be of a check type or may be metering valves and may, in addition, include measuring devices such as are known in the art.

Since such devices are well known, however, and since they constitute no essential part of the invention in and of themselves, they are not described further herein.

Referring to the settling tank 28, it will be understood that an outlet line 46 and a valve 48 or other means such as a port with a removable cover may be provided for removing the solid or heavier fractions of the petroleum from the settling tank.

It has long been recognized that petroleum product production from oil wells does not inherently result by the forces of nature acting therein. For example, it is known that high molecular Weight products such as the Waxes and the higher molecular weight components of petroleum in general tend to remain in the well and constitute a very substantial loss in potential production. It is to the end of improving the porduction of oil wells that the present invention is directed.

The present invention comprises a flexible conduit heat exchanger shown generally at 50 disposed in the cavity .12 of oil well 10. This heat exchanger comprises a downwardly extending portion 52 and upwardly extending portion 54 and an intermediate connecting portion 56. The coil is preferably made of a plastic such as nylon to provide both flexibility and maximum life. Other plastics may be used, such as the polyesters, the vinyls, or combinations of such materials and may be of the composite type including reinforcing fabric or fibers therein.

A very important feature of this invention comprises the use of at least one and preferably two steam or fluid driven circulation paddles shown at 58 and 60. These fluid driven paddles are disposed, respectively, in the downwardly extending and the upwardly extending portions 52 and 54. The actual construction of the fluid driven circulation paddles is not essential to the present invention and such devices are known in the prior art. Fluid motors capable of circulating fiuids or useful for other purposes are well known and may be adapted to this purpose following the teachings of this invention by one skilled in the art of making and using such fluid circulating devices.

It is important to note that as the heat is transferred from the heat exchanger 50 there will be a natural conductive circulation set up carrying the lighter heated fractions of the petroleum upwardly in the cavity 12. This is undesirable since the opening 16 of the casing 14 is often disposed at a lower point and consequently the application of heat in an oil well does little to increase the production since there is a tendency for Stratification of the heated material in the top layers of the petroleum reservoir. The purpose of putting the paddles in the heat exchanger is to mechanically circulate the heated fractions of the petroleum product in opposition to the natural convective circulatory forces. By this means the entire reservoir tends to be heated, and more importantly, the heated fractions including those heavy products which are warmed to produce a lower viscosity are available for extracton by pump 18.

Preferably, the steam hose whch constitutes the heat exchanger 50 will be of sufficient length to extend as far back toward the walls of the cavity 12 as is needed, depending on the bottom dimensions of the hole. By the proper placement and the proper utilization of the mechanical circulators, paddles 58 and 60, virtually the entire high molecular weight petroleum fractions of the petroleum in the cavity and in adjacent areas is made available for extraction.

It is also pointed out that the vacuum pump 22 serves an additional function. This will create a constant attraction on the heated oil and create an additional implementation toward bringing the oil toward the pump inside the hole. Thus the vacuum created from vacuum pump 22 will be eflective to draw the heated petroleum products from the reservoir into the open end 16 of casing 14.

In order to gain maximum efliciency and to provide suflicient driving force for the fluid driven paddle wheels 58 and 60, a single recirculating system for the heated fluid in the heat exchanger 50 is provided. This recirculation system includes a boiler 62 which is supplied by a liquid such as water from tank 64 through line 66, feedpump 68, and line 70. The steam generated in boiler 62 is passed through line 72, valve 74 and line 76 to a conduit 78 whilh carries the fluid downwardly to heat exchanger 50. Conduit 78 may be of the same material as heat exchanger 50 is constructed. The fluid is then circulated upwardly through a conduit 80, which like conduit 78, may be of the same material as heat exchanger 50 is constructed of to line 82. The fluid which is by now cooled considerably below the initial temperature generated in boiler 62 is passed through coils 84 in settling tank 28 to maintain the petroleum products therein in a low viscosity condition. The heated fluid, with residual heat therein, is passed through valve 86 and line 88 to a coil 90 in filter 34 and thence through line 92 to coil 94 in the reservoir tank 40. The liquid is then passed through valve 96 and line 98 to the water tank 64, completing a single recirculatory system for the heated fluid. By this means, maximum efficiency is gained from the fuel necessary to heat the water in boiler 62 and the necessary drive forces are generated in the heat exchanger to rotate steam driven circulation paddles 58 and 60.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the recirculation system of the present invention provides advantages both from the economic point of view and from the technological point of view in increasing the production of high molecular weight fractions in oil wells and of increasing the production of oil wells generally. The utlization of the partially spent heating fluid in the treating and handling system for the petroleum products scavenges the heat energy remaining in the circulating fluid.

It will be understood that while the invention has been abstracted, summarized and disclosed with regard to a specific embodiment and that departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of the invention. It will also be noted that replacement of conduits 78 and is merely schematic and that input of such conduits may be included in the casing if desired. Accordingly, it is intended and expected that the scope of the invention as defined will be limited only by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a system for increasing the production of oil wells of the type which comprises a heated fluid circulation system for decreasing the viscosity of petroleum products in said well and maintaining said products extracted from said well in low viscosity condition, the improvement wherein the system comprises: a flexible conduit heat exchanger in said well for decreasing the viscosity of products therein and increasing the circulation of said products in said well wherein the heat exchanger comprises a downwardly extending portion of the flexible conduit and an upwardly extending portion of the flexible conduit, said conduits being spaced from a casing in said well; and including a fluid driven paddle secured to the downwardly extending portion and a second fluid driven paddle secured to the upwardly extending portion, said fluid driven paddles being in driven communication with said conduits, for mechanically circulating the heated portions of petroleum products in opposition to natural convective circulation, toward an opening in the cas- 2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a settling tank for the petroleum products removed from the well;

a filter for the petroleum products;

a reservoir tank for the petroleum products;

a pump for lifting the petroleum products from the well;

a conduit system for directing the petroleum products from the well to the settling tank, through the filter and to the reservoir tank;

and wherein the heated fluid circulation system includes:

heat exchangers in the settling tank, the filter and the reservoir tank for maintaining the petroleum products at a desired viscosity therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 56,989 8/1866 Phleger et al. 166-57 1,484,718 2/1924 Knox 166-62 X 2,349,536 5/1944 Bancroft 166-61 2,908,331 10/1959 Brown 166--61 2,911,047 11/1959 Henderson 166-6l 2,914,124 11/1959 Ripley 166--57 2,980,184 4/1961 Reed 166-57 2,998,069 8/1961 Stephens l6661 DAVID H. BROWN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

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