The present invention relates to the field of petroleum engineering, in particular, to a condensate decontamination device. Background

A condensate is the liquid hydrocarbon condensed in natural gas. After being separated, it is a clear liquid under atmospheric conditions. However, the condensate always contains water and other contaminants, including heavy metals in both dissolved and non- dissolved forms in the natural gas, such as mercury, arsenic, and other contaminates such as organic chloride. Said contaminants can be transformed into substances which react with production devices and deteriorate or adversely impact the following process. Moreover, without a proper decontamination process, said contaminants may be released to the environment and cause pollution. Therefore, the removal of contaminants from the natural gas is essential. Decontamination or reduction of contaminants in the condensate can be done by several methods such as chemical precipitation, gas stripping, and adsorption. Adsorption is a common method at present because it is low cost and provides acceptable efficacy. Generally, the adsorption process of contaminants in the condensate can be performed by an adsorber or an industrial filter. The contaminated condensate is transferred into a decontamination device and flows through an adsorbent layer for the interaction of contaminants and adsorbents such as physisorption and chemisorption. The contaminants are adsorbed by the adsorbents. Once the adsorbents are saturated, replacement of said adsorbents is needed in order to continue the adsorption process efficiently. Nevertheless, in the replacement process of the adsorbents, the device has to be removed, and then the operator conducts checks and replaces the adsorbents. This process needs a specially skilled operator. Moreover, for the safety of the operator, nitrogen gas is used to purge the condensate out of the device before handling in order to prevent ignition of the hydrocarbon and for hazard and health concerns arising from exposure or inhalation while handling. With all processes described above, it creates difficulties and high costs. Patent publication US2015/0065765 A1 discloses the process for decontamination of hydrocarbon contaminant using an adsorption process comprising at least two adsorption units containing adsorbents for adsorbing contaminants from the fluid such as sulfur, chloride, mercury, arsenic, or phosphorous compounds. The adsorption units work alternately between adsorption mode and regeneration mode. At the beginning of the process, the fluid is transferred into the first adsorption unit which works in adsorption mode, and the decontaminated fluid is then transferred to other devices or transferred to the storage tank. When the adsorbents are saturated with the contaminants, the adsorption unit is changed to the regeneration mode, whereby other adsorption units are operated in the adsorption mode instead. However, said document is not designed to reduce the risk from exposure to the hydrocarbons and there is no device that has been designed for convenient replacement of the adsorbents when saturated with contaminants.

Patent document US4659460A discloses a water decontamination system using a treatment tank system comprising at least one tank installed on the vehicle. Each treatment tank contains at least one treatment material. All treatment tanks are connected together with flexible tubes and valves for supporting work in a series or parallel manner. Said system can deliver the used treatment material out of the treatment tank via the output valve installed at the side of the lower tank. However, the installation of the valve at the said position cannot remove all of the treatment material. In some cases, water needs to be injected from the top of the treatment tank for flushing the remaining treatment material out of the system.

From the reasons above, this invention aims to develop a condensate decontamination device comprising an accessory port device designed for removing the adsorbents from the condensate decontamination device without stopping the process and without the use of inert gas for removing hydrocarbon from the device prior to operation, which can save the operational time and cost.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention aims to develop a condensate decontamination device comprising an accessory port device designed for removing adsorbents from the condensate decontamination device without stopping the process and without the use of inert gas for removing hydrocarbon out of the device prior to operation, which can save operational time and costs. Said device comprises: an adsorbent receiving tank 401 having an internal space which is durable to a pressure; at least one adsorbent input port 402 positioned on the top of the adsorbent receiving tank 401 as to be an input for the adsorbents in order to form an adsorption layer inside the condensate decontamination device 40; a fluid output port 404 positioned at the side of the condensate decontamination device 40 for transferring the decontaminated fluid out of the condensate decontamination device 40; a fluid upflow path inside the adsorbent receiving tank 401 between an accessory port device 50 and the fluid output port 404 for flowing the fluid in an upward direction, and the accessory port device 50 positioned at the lower of the condensate decontamination device 40 for flow distribution of fluid input, comprising:

- a spherical wall 502 having a spherical surface connected to a lower part of the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one fluid input port 504 positioned at a lower area of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be the fluid input into the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one adsorbent output port 506 positioned at one curved part of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be an output for the adsorbents;

- an inclined flow path having an inclined surface 508 inclining from one edge inside the spherical wall 502 to the lower area of the spherical wall 502 close to the adsorbent output port 506 for the adsorbents to flow by gravity to the adsorbent output port 506, and

- a protruding fdter 510, protruding out of the flow path and positioned to be connected to the fluid input port 504, comprising a plurality of holes that allows a fluid to flow through the filter but not allowing the adsorbents to flow through the filter; wherein the inclined flow path comprises a mesh filter 512 , having a ring shape and comprising a plurality of holes, which are positioned on the inclined surface 508 in order to distribute the fluid from the fluid input port 504 to the condensate decontamination device 40.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows an example view of a condensate decontamination device according to the invention and parts of said device.

Figure 2 shows an accessory port device 50 according to the invention and parts of said device. Figure 3 shows an example view of the condensate decontamination unit according to the invention and parts of said device.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an example embodiment of the condensate decontamination system comprising three condensate decontamination units.

Figure 5 shows a front view of the example embodiment of the condensate decontamination system comprising three condensate decontamination units.

Detailed Description

The present invention aims to develop a condensate decontamination device comprising an accessory port device designed for removing adsorbents from the condensate decontamination device without stopping the process and without the use of inert gas for removing hydrocarbon out of the device prior to operation, which can save the operational time and costs.

Any aspect or manner described here is also meant to include and apply to other aspects of this invention unless stated otherwise. Definition

Technical terms or scientific terms used here have definitions as understood by persons skilled in the art unless stated otherwise.

Any tools, equipment, methods, or chemicals named here mean tools, equipment, methods, or chemicals being used commonly by persons skilled in the art unless stated otherwise that they are tools, equipment, methods, or chemicals specific only to this invention.

Use of singular noun or singular pronoun with “comprises”, “comprising”, “further comprises” in claims or in specification means “one” and includes “one or more”, “at least one”, and “one or more than one” too.

Throughout this application, the term “about” means any number that appeared or showed here that could be varied or deviated from any error of equipment, method, or person using said equipment and operating based on said method.

The terms “connect”, “connecting”, “connection”, “positioned”, “assembly”, “install”, or any other terms in the same manner when used with the device or part according to the invention, unless being stated otherwise, all mean the subject of said device to connect with the other parts by any means for connecting. This includes the use of interfacing substance, the use of flange, or bolting between flanges, thermal welding, or similar methods. Said method of connection may contains other parts such as pipe, joint, u-bend, valve, gasket, as additional parts in order to make the connection of the two parts effective. Hence, said devices or parts do not need to be similar figure as this invention or same size, firmly connected, bond, fixed, or tight.

The following shows the embodiments of the invention without any objective to limit the scope of the invention in any way. In one embodiment of the invention, this invention relates to an accessory port device 50 for installation in a condensate decontamination device 40 for flow distribution of fluid input, comprising: - a spherical wall 502 having a spherical surface connected to a lower part of the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one fluid input port 504 positioned at a lower area of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be the fluid input into the condensate decontamination device 40; - at least one adsorbent output port 506 positioned at one curved part of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be an output for adsorbents;

- an inclined flow path having an inclined surface 508 inclining from one edge inside the spherical wall 502 to the lower area of the spherical wall 502 close to the adsorbent output port 506 for the adsorbents to flow by gravity to the adsorbent output port 506, and

- a protruding fdter 510, protruding out of the flow path and positioned to be connected to the fluid input port 504, comprising a plurality of holes that allows a fluid to flow through the filter but not allowing the adsorbents to flow through the filter; wherein the inclined flow path comprises a mesh filter 512 , having a ring shape and comprising a plurality of holes, which are positioned on the inclined surface 508 in order to distribute the fluid from the fluid input port 504 to the condensate decontamination device 40.

In one aspect of the invention, the fluid input port 504 is positioned at the center of the outside spherical wall 502.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent output port 506 has at least 2 ports.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent output port 506 has 2 to 4 ports.

In another aspect of the invention, the inclined surface 508 inclines between 10 to 60 degrees from a horizontal plane. In another aspect of the invention, the protruding filter 510 is formed as a geometric shape selected from conical, trapezoid, sphere, parabola, cylinder, pyramid, or prism. In another aspect of the invention, the protruding filter 510 is conical.

In another aspect of the invention, a hole diameter of the protruding filter 510 is 0.5 to 10 mm.

In another aspect of the invention, a hole diameter of the mesh filter 512 is 0.5 to 10 mm.

In further aspect of the invention, this invention comprises a flange 501 for connecting the accessory port device 50 into the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, a connection between the flange 501 of the accessory port device 50 and the condensate decontamination device 40 is provided with a structure that can be removed and reassembled.

In another embodiment, the condensate decontamination device 40 comprises:

- an adsorbent receiving tank 401 for receiving adsorbents, having an internal space which is durable to a pressure;

- at least one adsorbent input port 402 positioned on the top of the adsorbent receiving tank 401 as to be an input for the adsorbents in order to form an adsorption layer inside the condensate decontamination device 40;

- a fluid output port 404 positioned at the side of the condensate decontamination device 40 for transferring the decontaminated fluid out of the condensate decontamination device 40; - a fluid upflow path inside the adsorbent receiving tank 401 between an accessory port device 50 and the fluid output port 404 for flowing the fluid in an upward direction, and

- the accessory port device 50 positioned at the lower of the condensate decontamination device 40 for flow distribution of fluid input, comprising: - a spherical wall 502 having a spherical surface connected to a lower part of the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one fluid input port 504 positioned at a lower area of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be the fluid input into the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one adsorbent output port 506 positioned at one curved part of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be an output for the adsorbents;

- an inclined flow path having an inclined surface 508 inclining from one edge inside the spherical wall 502 to the lower area of the spherical wall 502 close to the adsorbent output port 506 for the adsorbents to flow by gravity to the adsorbent output port 506, and

- a protruding fdter 510, protruding out of the flow path and positioned to be connected to the fluid input port 504, comprising a plurality of holes that allows a fluid to flow through the filter but not allowing the adsorbents to flow through the filter; wherein the inclined flow path comprises a mesh filter 512 , having a ring shape and comprising a plurality of holes, which are positioned on the inclined surface 508 in order to distribute the fluid from the fluid input port 504 to the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent receiving tank 401 is cylinder tank.

In another aspect of the invention, the condensate decontamination device 40 has further details of the accessory port device 50 as described above.

In further aspect of the invention, the condensate decontamination device further comprises an adsorbent tank 30 having a cylinder body and a conical lower part, positioned at the upper part of the device for distributing the adsorbents to the condensate decontamination device 40. In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent tank 30 comprises:

- an opening port 302 positioned on the upper part of the adsorbent tank 30 for receiving the adsorbents, and

- at least one feeding port 304 positioned at the lower part of the adsorbent tank 30 for conveying the adsorbents to the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent tank 30 comprise s one large feeding port 304 positioned at the center of the adsorbent tank 30 and at least two small ports positioned at the side of the large feeding port.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent tank 30 further comprises a lid 306 for closing the adsorbent tank in order to prevent contamination.

In further aspect of the invention, the condensate decontamination device 40 further comprises at least one conveying pipe 60 for conveying the adsorbents out of the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, the number of the conveying pipe 60 is equal to the number of the adsorbent output port 506.

In another aspect of the invention, the conveying pipe 60 comprises a spiral part 605 inside the pipe for conveying the adsorbents from the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, the conveying pipe 60 further comprises a driving unit 606 for rotating the spiral part 605 inside the pipe.

In another aspect of the invention, this invention relates to a condensate decontamination system, comprising at least two condensate decontamination devices 40.

In another aspect of the invention, said system comprises at least two condensate decontamination devices 40 connected in parallel or series manner. In other embodiment, this invention relates to a condensate decontamination unit, comprising:

- an adsorbent tank 30 having a cylinder body and a conical lower part, positioned at the upper part of the device for distributing adsorbents to a condensate decontamination device 40, comprising:

- an opening port 302 positioned on the upper part of the adsorbent tank 30 for receiving the adsorbents, and

- at least one feeding port 304 positioned at the lower part of the adsorbent tank 30 for conveying the adsorbents to the condensate decontamination device 40;

- the condensate decontamination device 40 comprising:

- an adsorbent receiving tank 401 for receiving the adsorbents, having an internal space which is durable to a pressure;

- at least one adsorbent input port 402 positioned on the top of the adsorbent receiving tank 401 as to be an input for the adsorbents in order to form an adsorption layer inside the condensate decontamination device 40;

- a fluid output port 404 positioned at the side of the condensate decontamination device 40 for transferring the decontaminated fluid out of the condensate decontamination device 40;

- a fluid upflow path inside the adsorbent receiving tank 401 between an accessory port device 50 and the fluid output port 404 for flowing the fluid in an upward direction, and

- the accessory port device 50 positioned at the lower of the condensate decontamination device 40 for flow distribution of fluid input, comprising: a spherical wall 502 having a spherical surface connected to a lower part of the condensate decontamination device 40; - at least one fluid input port 504 positioned at a lower area of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be the fluid input into the condensate decontamination device 40;

- at least one adsorbent output port 506 positioned at one curved part of the outside spherical wall 502 as to be an output for the adsorbents;

- an inclined flow path having an inclined surface 508 inclining from one edge inside the spherical wall 502 to the lower area of the spherical wall 502 close to the adsorbent output port 506 for the adsorbents to flow by gravity to the adsorbent output port 506, and - a protruding fdter 510, protruding out of the flow path and positioned to be connected to the fluid input port 504, comprising a plurality of holes that allows a fluid to flow through the filter but not allowing the adsorbents to flow through the filter; wherein the inclined flow path comprises a mesh filter 512 , having a ring shape and comprising a plurality of holes, which are positioned on the inclined surface 508 in order to distribute the fluid from the fluid input port 504 to the condensate decontamination device 40.

In another aspect of the invention, the adsorbent receiving tank 401 is a cylinder tank. In another aspect of the invention, the condensate decontamination unit 20 has further details of the accessory port device 50 and the condensate decontamination device 40 as described above.

In other embodiment, a condensate decontamination system comprises at least two condensate decontamination units 20. In another aspect of the invention, at least two condensate decontamination units 20 are connected in parallel or series manner. The following show detailed examples of the use of the invention without any objective to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

For better understanding of the invention, the embodiment of this invention will be exemplified referring to the figures 1 to 5. Details of devices or parts will be described based on the reference number indicated in the figures. Any figure showing the same reference number that has been described before, the description of that part may be omitted. The following examples are only for the demonstration of this invention, and not a limitation of the scope of this invention in any way.

Figure 1 shows an example of a condensate decontamination device 40 according to the invention comprising an adsorbent receiving tank 401 which is a cylinder tank. Above this adsorbent receiving tank 401, there is an adsorbent input port 402 for loading adsorbents into the device for removing contaminants. The lower part of the adsorbent receiving tank 401 is connected to an accessory port device 50 which will be described in detail later. The accessory port device 50 is used to distribute the fluid from below into the adsorbent receiving tank 401 of the condensate decontamination device 40. The contaminated fluid flows up through an inclined flow path to the adsorbent layer in the adsorbent receiving tank 401 for decontaminating. Said fluid then flows out of a fluid output port 404 positioned at the side of the condensate decontamination device 40. The decontaminated fluid will be transferred to be used or may be transferred to other condensate decontamination device 40 for further decontamination of remaining contaminants.

Figure 2 shows an example of the accessory port device 50 according to the invention assembled under the condensate decontamination device 40 by the connection of a flange 501 of the accessory port device 50 and the flange of the adsorbent receiving tank (not shown). The accessory port device 50 comprises a spherical wall 502, one fluid input port 504 positioned at the lowest part of the spherical wall 502. The contaminated fluid will be transferred into the fluid input port 504 via a mesh filter 512 which has ring shape and a protruding filter 510 which is conical in order to be evenly distributed into the condensate decontamination device 40. The mesh filter 512 and the protruding filter 510 have a hole diameter between 0.5 to 10 mm. However, the protruding filter 510 can be other geometric shapes apart from conical. This can be selected from but not limited to trapezoid, sphere, parabola, cylinder, pyramid, or prism. Preferably, said geometric shape has a smaller diameter at the end than the base. Moreover, the accessory port device 50 also smoothly takes the used adsorbents out of the condensate decontamination device 40 above, because the accessory port device 50 comprises the inclined path which is an inclined surface 508 that inclines from one edge inside the spherical wall 502 to the lower area of the spherical wall 502. The degree of incline is between 10 to 60 degrees. When transferring the adsorbents out of the condensate decontamination device 40, this inclined path can easily help to transfer the adsorbents to the adsorbent output port 506 by gravity. From figure 2, preferably, there are three adsorbent output ports 506.

Figure 3 shows an example of a condensate decontamination unit according to the invention, comprising the condensate decontamination device 40 and the accessory port device 50 having details as described above, and an adsorbent tank 30 positioned at the upper part of the unit. The adsorbent tank 30 comprises an opening port 302 positioned on the upper part of the tank for receiving the adsorbents. The adsorbents may be poured from a packaging bag such as super sack at the amount needed to be used. Said adsorbents flow to the lower part of the adsorbent tank 30 and flow out through a feeding port 304 into the adsorbent receiving tank 401 of the condensate decontamination device 40 through the adsorbent input port 402 positioned above the adsorbent receiving tank 401. The feeding port 304 is designed to comprise one large port and six small ports. The large port transfers the adsorbents to the condensate decontamination device 40 in a large amount at a fast rate, whereas the small ports distribute the adsorbents around the condensate decontamination device 40, making the adsorbents in the condensate decontamination device 40 not too dense at any particular area. This helps to increase the efficacy of the adsorption. The adsorbent tank 30 further comprises a lid 306 for preventing contaminants such as dust. When the contaminated fluid flows from the fluid input port 504 of the accessory port device 50, it will flow up through the adsorbent layer and flow out at the fluid output port 404 at the side of the condensate decontamination device 40. Said upflow direction of the fluid helps to distribute the adsorbents. Therefore, this increases the efficacy of the adsorption. Hence, the decontaminated fluid from the fluid output port 404 will be transferred to a system exit 204 to the next process, or transferred to another condensate decontamination unit 20 for repeating the adsorption process.

As shown in figures 4 and figure 5, at least two condensate decontamination units can be connected to be the condensate decontamination system. Said figures show an example of the invention of the condensate decontamination system according to the invention, comprising three condensate decontamination units, three conveying pipes 60 for conveying the adsorbents out of the condensate decontamination device 40 through a conveying pipe input 602 connected to the adsorbent output port 506 of the accessory port device 50, a system input 202 for transferring the contaminated fluid into the system, and the system exit 204 for transferring the decontaminated fluid out of the fluid output port 404 to the further step or process. The system has plurality of pipes and valves installed to connect the condensate decontamination unit 20 or other devices together.

In any aspect of the invention, the condensate decontamination unit or the condensate decontamination system can also further comprise the pipes, joints, and valves 702, 704, 802, 804, and 806. The valve is selected from but not limited to gate valve, globe valve, ball valve, and butterfly valve. Valve 702 and valve 704 are gate valves for conveying the adsorbents. Valve 804 and valve 806 are ball valves for conveying fluid. The pipes and joints are used as the transferring pathway of the fluid from one device to the other device. The valve is used for controlling the flow rate of the fluid transfer. The condensate decontamination can be operated using any one of the condensate decontamination unit 20 or the condensate decontamination device 40, or using the condensate decontamination system comprising at least two condensate decontamination units, or comprising at least two condensate decontamination devices.

Moreover, the condensate decontamination may be operated using three condensate decontamination units 20 connected in a series manner to be the condensate decontamination system as shown in figures 4 and 5. Said condensate decontamination system may be designed in suitable size to be able to be installed on the instant structure which is less than 8 m wide, less than 15 m long, and less than 10 m high for supporting the adsorption tank in transportation with a vehicle and for installation convenience. As an example of the invention and for the better understanding, the steps of loading the adsorbents, decontamination, and transferring of the adsorbents out of the system are shown as follows.

The process for loading the adsorbents into the system comprising the following steps:

- remove the lid 306 from the adsorbent tank 30, and check that the valve 702 and valve 704 are in fully closed position;

- convey the super sack containing the adsorbents and pour into the upper opening of the adsorbent tank 30 in the desired amount;

- open the valve 702 in order to convey the adsorbents into the condensate decontamination device 40 until all adsorbents are loaded into the condensate decontamination device 40, then close the valve 702, and

- close the lid 306 onto the adsorbent tank 30 in order to prevent contaminants entering the system.

The process of condensate decontamination comprising the following steps:

- connect the transferring pipe of the contaminated fluid to the system input 202 and connect the system output 204 to an external pipe for transferring the decontaminated fluid out of the system,

- close valve 702 and valve 704 in fully closed position to prevent the transfer of the adsorbents into the adsorbent tank 30 or conveying pipe 60, and

- open the ball valves (valve 802, 804, 806, or 808) to convey the fluid into the condensate decontamination device; said valves are opened or closed depending on whether the condensate decontamination operation is connected in series or parallel manner.

The process of transferring the adsorbents out of the system, comprising the following steps: close the ball valve 802 for preventing the flow of the fluid into the condensate decontamination device 40, - operate the driving unit 606 and open valve 704 in order to convey the adsorbents to exit port 604, and

- after the adsorbents are transferred completely, close valve 704 and then return to the step of loading new adsorbents into the condensate decontamination device 40 again.

Although said aspects of the above invention disclose the devices, parts, units, and systems for the condensate decontamination in the petroleum industry, the principle of the devices and parts described and shown in this invention can also be applied into other industries that need to remove contaminants from the fluid, such as petrochemical industry, fine chemical industry, textile industry, waste water, and other industries, including the decontamination of natural water before use, and similar things, without being construed that they are significantly different from the disclosure of the present invention and without any further experiments or research by persons skilled in the art.

The principle of the devices and methods, described in the present invention, aims to cover the aspects of the invention that have been performed, operated, modified, or changed any parameters significantly in order to obtain the outcome as the present invention according to the opinions of persons skilled in the art, although the aspects have not been specifically indicated in the claims. Therefore, any replaceable or similar aspects to the aspects of the present invention, including any minor modification or change that can be clearly seen by persons skilled in this art, should be construed as under the scope, objective, and concept of the invention as shown in the appended claims.

Best Mode or Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

Best mode or preferred embodiment of the invention is as provided in the description of the invention.