U.S. patent application number 13/440637 was filed with the patent office on 2013-10-10 for combustion of oil from a marine oil spill.
This patent application is currently assigned to Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Paul M. Ashline, Tunc Goruney, Xianming Jimmy Li. Invention is credited to Paul M. Ashline, Tunc Goruney, Xianming Jimmy Li.
Application Number | 20130263766 13/440637 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49291285 |
Filed Date | 2013-10-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130263766 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Goruney; Tunc ; et
al. |
October 10, 2013 |
Combustion of Oil From a Marine Oil Spill
Abstract
Method and apparatus for burning oil from an oil release in a
body of water. A mixture of oil and water is collected from the
surface of the body of water and separated into an oil-enriched
portion and a water-enriched portion. The oil-enriched portion is
passed to a burner where the oil-enriched portion is combusted with
an oxygen-containing gas having an oxygen concentration of at least
25 volume % oxygen.
Inventors: |
Goruney; Tunc; (Jersey City,
NJ) ; Li; Xianming Jimmy; (Orefield, PA) ;
Ashline; Paul M.; (Allentown, PA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Goruney; Tunc
Li; Xianming Jimmy
Ashline; Paul M. |
Jersey City
Orefield
Allentown |
NJ
PA
PA |
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Air Products and Chemicals,
Inc.
Allentown
PA
|
Family ID: |
49291285 |
Appl. No.: |
13/440637 |
Filed: |
April 5, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
110/348 ;
110/297 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F23G 7/05 20130101; F23G
2209/102 20130101; F23N 5/003 20130101; Y02E 20/12 20130101; F23K
2300/10 20200501; F23N 2237/26 20200101; F23L 7/007 20130101; F23G
2201/60 20130101; F23N 2225/16 20200101; Y02E 20/344 20130101; F23N
3/002 20130101; F23K 2900/05083 20130101; Y02E 20/34 20130101; F23K
5/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
110/348 ;
110/297 |
International
Class: |
F23L 7/00 20060101
F23L007/00 |
Claims
1. A method for burning oil from an oil release in a body of water,
the method comprising: collecting a mixture of oil and water from
the surface of the body of water; separating the collected mixture
into an oil-enriched portion and a water-enriched portion;
returning the water-enriched portion to the body of water; passing
an oxygen-containing gas and the oil-enriched portion to a burner
on board a marine vessel and combusting the oil-enriched portion
with the oxygen-containing gas thereby generating a flame;
measuring a temperature responsive to a temperature of the flame;
and adjusting the oxygen concentration in the oxygen-containing gas
responsive to the measured temperature; wherein the
oxygen-containing gas is at least 25 volume % oxygen.
2. (canceled)
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: passing an air feed
stream to an adsorption system on board the marine vessel;
separating the air feed stream into an oxygen product stream and
waste gas stream in the adsorption system; and withdrawing the
oxygen product stream and the waste gas stream from the adsorption
system; wherein the oxygen-containing gas comprises the oxygen
product stream.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising: generating electrical
power by combusting a fuel in a turbine that drives an electric
generator wherein the turbine and the electric generator are on
board the marine vessel; wherein the electrical power generated by
combusting the fuel is used in the step of separating the air feed
stream.
5-7. (canceled)
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the oil in the mixture of oil and
water comprises residual oil from in-situ burning of an oil pool
floating on the body of water.
9. An apparatus for burning oil from an oil release in a body of
water, the apparatus comprising: a skimmer for collecting a mixture
of oil and water from the surface of the body of water; a separator
for separating the collected mixture into an oil-enriched portion
and a water-enriched portion; at least one of an oxygen generator
and an oxygen storage tank on board a marine vessel; a burner on
board the marine vessel configured to receive the oil-enriched
portion and oxygen from the at least one of the oxygen generator
and the oxygen storage tank; a temperature sensor for sensing a
temperature responsive to a temperature of a flame emanating from
the burner; a controller in signal communication with the
temperature sensor; and a valve in signal communication with the
controller for regulating the flow of oxygen from the at least one
of the oxygen generator and the oxygen storage tank to form an
oxygen-containing gas formed from mixing air with the oxygen from
the at least one of the oxygen generator and the oxygen storage
tank; wherein the controller controls the oxygen concentration in
the oxygen-containing gas responsive to the temperature sensed by
the temperature sensor by adjusting the valve.
10. (canceled)
11. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising: a temperature
sensor for sensing a temperature responsive to a temperature of a
flame emanating from the burner; a controller in signal
communication with the temperature sensor; and a second valve in
signal communication with the controller for regulating the flow of
oil-enriched portion from the separator.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the apparatus comprises the
oxygen generator and wherein the oxygen generator is an adsorption
system.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising: a turbine on
board the marine vessel; an electric generator on board the marine
vessel, the electric generator driven by the turbine; and a fuel
storage tank on board the marine vessel, the fuel storage tank
configure to deliver fuel to the turbine; wherein the electric
generator is configured to provide electrical power to the
adsorption system.
14-16. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in large
areas of crude oil floating on the ocean surface. Some of these
areas are close to beaches or natural habitats of animals.
Mechanical recovery, chemical treatment, bioremediation, and
in-situ burning are amongst the most widely practiced marine oil
spill response technologies.
[0002] While large scale skimming is one method to control oil
pollution, the U.S. Coast Guard has been conducting in-situ burns
of the surface oil, primarily due to the advantages associated with
this technology such as high oil removal rates, relatively low
cost, and simple logistics.
[0003] The U.S. Coast Guard issued an operations manual for in-situ
burning of oil from oil spills as U.S. Coast Guard Research and
Development Center Report No. CG-D-06-03, Oil Spill Response
Offshore, In-Situ Burn Operations Manual, Final Report, March 2003
(hereinafter, Coast Guard Manual). The Coast Guard Manual may be
referred to for conventional in-situ burning of oil pools floating
on water.
[0004] The problem of burning oil in the ocean surface is that
favorable combustion conditions are rarely achievable, particularly
towards the center of the fire where oxygen availability is limited
due to lack of air entrainment. As a result, a black smoke plume
from the in-situ burn can rise hundreds or even thousands of
meters. The Coast Guard Manual described adding chemical smoke
inhibitors such as ferrocene. But its use is not approved due to
high cost, difficulty of applying, and potential toxicity. While
the black smoke may have less environmental impact than the oil
slick, the public generally finds the black smoke plume
objectionable.
[0005] A further problem of the in-situ burn is that a substantial
amount of oil is still left unburned after the fire
self-extinguishes, that is, after a minimum flame-sustainable oil
layer thickness is reached as reported in the Coast Guard
Manual.
[0006] A method to burn the oil cleanly with substantially less
smoke and/or to reduce the residual oil after fire extinction is
desired.
[0007] Another problem with oil floating on water is the formation
of a stable water-in-oil emulsion which will reduce the window of
opportunity for in-situ burning. The presence of a critical amount
of water in the oil prevents the slick in contact with the ignition
source from catching fire as reported in the Coast Guard
Manual.
[0008] A method to burn stable water-in-oil emulsions is
desired.
[0009] Another problem with in-situ burn is that it is inherently
`not controlled`, i.e., once the oil slick is ignited and unless
the fire is intentionally extinguished, the combustion continues
until the fire self-extinguishes naturally when the slick burns
down to a thickness that allows enough heat to pass through the
slick to the water to cool the surface of the oil below its flash
point. Furthermore, the firing rate during an in-situ burn cannot
be controlled because it depends on a wide variety of external
factors which operators have no control over, such as wind speed
and wind direction, wave frequency and wave amplitude, composition
of slick, stability of water-oil emulsions, and non-uniform slick
thickness over the area of oil pool enclosed by booms.
[0010] A method for controlled burning of oil and water-in-oil
emulsions is desired.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0011] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
burning oil from an oil release in a body of water.
[0012] There are several aspects of the process as outlined
below.
[0013] Aspect 1. A method comprising: [0014] collecting a mixture
of oil and water from the surface of the body of water; [0015]
separating the collected mixture into an oil-enriched portion and a
water-enriched portion; [0016] returning the water-enriched portion
to the body of water; and [0017] passing an oxygen-containing gas
and the oil-enriched portion to a burner on board a marine vessel
and combusting the oil-enriched portion with the oxygen-containing
gas thereby generating a flame; [0018] wherein the
oxygen-containing gas comprises at least 25 volume % oxygen.
[0019] Aspect 2. The method of aspect 1 further comprising: [0020]
measuring a temperature responsive to a temperature of the flame;
[0021] adjusting at least one of (i) the oxygen concentration in
the oxygen-containing gas, and (ii) the flow rate of the
oil-enriched portion, responsive to the measured temperature.
[0022] Aspect 3. The method of aspect 1 or aspect 2 further
comprising: [0023] passing an air feed stream to an adsorption
system on board the marine vessel; [0024] separating the air feed
stream into an oxygen product stream and waste gas stream in the
adsorption system; and [0025] withdrawing the oxygen product stream
and the waste gas stream from the adsorption system; [0026] wherein
the oxygen-containing gas comprises the oxygen product stream.
[0027] Aspect 4. The method of aspect 3 further comprising: [0028]
generating electrical power by combusting a fuel in a turbine that
drives an electric generator wherein the turbine and the electric
generator are on board the marine vessel; [0029] wherein the
electrical power generated by combusting the fuel is used in the
step of separating the air feed stream.
[0030] Aspect 5. The method of aspect 3 wherein the oil-enriched
portion is combusted with the oxygen-containing gas in a boiler
thereby generating steam wherein the boiler is on board the marine
vessel, the method further comprising: [0031] passing the steam to
a steam turbine to generate electrical power wherein the steam
turbine is on board the marine vessel; [0032] wherein the
electrical power generated by the steam turbine is used in the step
of separating the air feed stream.
[0033] Aspect 6. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 4 wherein
the oil-enriched portion is combusted in a furnace thereby forming
combustion product gases wherein the furnace is on board the marine
vessel, the method further comprising: [0034] heating the
oxygen-containing gas by indirect heat transfer with the combustion
product gases.
[0035] Aspect 7. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 4 wherein
the oil-enriched portion is combusted in a furnace thereby forming
combustion product gases wherein the furnace is on board the marine
vessel, the method further comprising: [0036] heating the
oil-enriched portion by indirect heat transfer with the combustion
product gases prior to combusting the oil-enriched portion.
[0037] Aspect 8. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 7 wherein
the oil in the mixture of oil and water comprises residual oil from
in-situ burning of an oil pool floating on the body of water.
[0038] Aspect 9. An apparatus comprising: [0039] a skimmer for
collecting a mixture of oil and water from the surface of the body
of water; [0040] a separator for separating the collected mixture
into an oil-enriched portion and a water-enriched portion; [0041]
at least one of an oxygen generator and an oxygen storage tank on
board a marine vessel; and [0042] a burner on board the marine
vessel configured to receive the oil-enriched portion and oxygen
from the at least one of the oxygen generator and the oxygen
storage tank.
[0043] Aspect 10. The apparatus of aspect 9 further comprising:
[0044] a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature responsive to
a temperature of a flame emanating from the burner; [0045] a
controller in signal communication with the temperature sensor;
[0046] a valve in signal communication with the controller for
regulating the flow of oxygen from the at least one of the oxygen
generator and the oxygen storage tank.
[0047] Aspect 11. The apparatus of aspect 9 or aspect 10 further
comprising: [0048] a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature
responsive to a temperature of a flame emanating from the burner;
[0049] a controller in signal communication with the temperature
sensor; [0050] a second valve in signal communication with the
controller for regulating the flow of oil-enriched portion from the
separator.
[0051] Aspect 12. The apparatus of any one of aspects 9 to 11
wherein the apparatus comprises the oxygen generator and wherein
the oxygen generator is an adsorption system.
[0052] Aspect 13. The apparatus of aspect 12 further comprising:
[0053] a turbine on board the marine vessel; [0054] an electric
generator on board the marine vessel, the electric generator driven
by the turbine; and [0055] a fuel storage tank on board the marine
vessel, the fuel storage tank configured to deliver fuel to the
turbine; [0056] wherein the electric generator is configured to
provide electrical power to the adsorption system.
[0057] Aspect 14. The apparatus of aspect 12 further comprising:
[0058] a boiler on board the marine vessel for receiving a flame
from the burner and generating steam from the combustion of the
oil-enriched portion; and [0059] a steam turbine on board the
marine vessel for receiving steam from the boiler and generating
electrical power; [0060] wherein the steam turbine is configured to
provide electrical power to the adsorption system.
[0061] Aspect 15. The apparatus of any one of aspects 9 to 14
further comprising: [0062] a furnace on board the marine vessel
configured to receive a flame from the burner, the furnace having
an exhaust for expelling combustion product gases; [0063] a heat
exchanger on board the marine vessel configured to receive the
combustion product gases from the furnace to transfer heat from the
combustion product gases to the oxygen by indirect heat
transfer.
[0064] Aspect 16. The apparatus of any one of aspects 9 to 14
further comprising: [0065] a furnace on board the marine vessel
configured to receive a flame from the burner, the furnace having
an exhaust for expelling combustion product gases; [0066] a heat
exchanger on board the marine vessel configured to receive the
combustion product gases from the furnace to transfer heat from the
combustion product gases to the oil-enriched portion by indirect
heat transfer.
[0067] Aspect 17. The method of any one of aspects 1 to 8 further
comprising providing any one of the apparatuses of aspects 9 to
16.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0068] The FIGURE is a schematic of an apparatus for collecting and
burning oil from an oil release in a body of water.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0069] The articles "a" and "an" as used herein mean one or more
when applied to any feature in embodiments of the present invention
described in the specification and claims. The use of "a" and "an"
does not limit the meaning to a single feature unless such a limit
is specifically stated. The article "the" preceding singular or
plural nouns or noun phrases denotes a particular specified feature
or particular specified features and may have a singular or plural
connotation depending upon the context in which it is used. The
adjective "any" means one, some, or all indiscriminately of
whatever quantity. The term "and/or" placed between a first entity
and a second entity means one of (1) the first entity, (2) the
second entity, and (3) the first entity and the second entity. The
term "and/or" placed between the last two entities of a list of 3
or more entities means at least one of the entities in the
list.
[0070] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
burning oil from an oil release in a body of water.
[0071] The apparatus and method are described with reference to the
FIGURE, which illustrates an exemplary apparatus of the invention.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and
alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of
example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It
should be understood, however that the description herein of
specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the
particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is
to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling
within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended
claims.
[0072] The method comprises collecting a mixture of oil and water
115 from the surface of a body of water. The oil may be refined
oil, unrefined crude oil, or any hydrocarbon-based flammable or
combustible mixture in substantially liquid phase. The oil may be
oil that has leaked from a vessel or pipeline. The oil may be oil
that has leaked from a well. The mixture may be an emulsion
containing oil and water.
[0073] The body of water may be an ocean, sea, lake, river, and the
like.
[0074] While the various components are shown on board a single
marine vessel 100, the components may be distributed among one or
more marine vessels, consistent with the meaning of the articles
"a" and "an" being used to mean one or more when applied to any
feature.
[0075] Marine vessel 100 may be any marine vessel, for example a
barge, boat, ship, and the like.
[0076] Boom 110 may be attached to marine vessel 100 for gathering
floating oil. The mixture of oil and water is collected through
skimmer 120. The skimmer may be any commercially available skimmer,
for example, a Magnum series skimmer by Elastec American
Marine.
[0077] The mixture is pumped via pump 10 to separator 20. Separator
20 separates the collected mixture of oil and water into an
oil-enriched portion 22 and a water-enriched portion 24. The
oil-enriched portion has a higher concentration of oil than the
water-enriched portion. The water-enriched portion has a higher
concentration of water than the oil-enriched portion. The separator
may be any known separator for separating an oil-enriched portion
from a water-enriched portion, for example, a settling tank or a
centrifuge. The water-enriched portion 24 is returned to the body
of water.
[0078] The oil-enriched portion 22 is passed from the separator 20
via pump 25 to burner 170 on board the marine vessel for combustion
of the oil-enriched portion. The flow rate of the oil-enriched
portion is regulated by valve 160. The oil-enriched portion may be
temporarily stored in a storage tank (not shown).
[0079] Burner 170 may be of any suitable type capable of using
liquid fuel and of sufficient capacity. The burner is configured to
receive the oil-enriched portion and oxygen from the at least one
of the oxygen generator and the oxygen storage tank.
[0080] An oxygen-containing gas 65 is passed to burner 170 for
combusting the oil-enriched portion 22 thereby generating a flame.
Some of the oil-enriched portion may be burned using compressed air
passed to the burner. According to the method disclosed herein,
however, the oxygen-containing gas comprises at least 25 volume %
oxygen for at least a portion of the combustion process.
[0081] The oxygen-containing gas comprising at least 25 volume %
oxygen may be formed from mixing air with industrial grade oxygen.
The industrial grade oxygen is supplied by at least one of an
oxygen generator and an oxygen storage tank on board the marine
vessel. The industrial grade oxygen may be from any known source,
for example, a vacuum swing adsorber (VSA), a cryogenic oxygen
generator, liquid oxygen stored in a cryogenic vessel, or oxygen
stored as a compressed gas.
[0082] A temperature sensor 180 senses a temperature responsive to
a temperature of a flame emanating from the burner 170. The
temperature sensor 180 is in signal communication with controller
210. The communication may be hardwired and/or wireless. Controller
210 controls the oxygen concentration in the oxygen-containing gas
responsive to the measured temperature by adjusting various valves,
pumps, etc. The various valves, pumps, blowers may also be in
signal communication with controller 210. This aspect is
particularly useful when the water content in the oil-enriched
portion increases. As the temperature measured by the sensor drops,
the oxygen concentration in the oxygen-containing gas is increased
to enhance the combustion of the oil-enriched portion as the water
content increases.
[0083] The FIGURE shows industrial grade oxygen made by adsorption
system 200, a VSA on board the marine vessel 100. The adsorption
system comprises two or more adsorption beds containing adsorbent
selective for nitrogen. Air 15 is filtered in filter 70, compressed
in blower 40, and passed to the inlet of the adsorption system 200
as air feed stream 35. The air feed stream is separated into an
oxygen product stream 205 and a waste gas stream 135 in the
adsorption system. The oxygen product stream 205 is withdrawn from
adsorption system 200 via valve 50. The oxygen product stream 205
is blended with air to form the oxygen-containing gas, compressed
in compressor 80, and passed to burner 170. The flow rate of the
oxygen-containing gas is regulated via valve 60. Waste gas 135
depleted in oxygen is withdrawn from the adsorption system via
blower 130. The adsorption system may be a PRISM.RTM. VSA Oxygen
Generation system available from Air Products and Chemicals,
Inc.
[0084] As shown in the FIGURE, electrical power for the various
pumps, blowers, compressors, controllers, air separation system,
etc. is provided by turbine 30. Turbine 30 drives electric
generator 150. Turbine 30 and electric generator 150 are shown on
board marine vessel 100. Turbine 30 may be a diesel powered gas
turbine available from General Electric Co. Fuel tank 140 provides
fuel for turbine 30. Air, filtered in filter 70, is provided to the
turbine 30.
[0085] The oil-enriched portion may be combusted with the
oxygen-containing gas in a boiler (not shown) there by generating
steam. The steam may be passed to a steam turbine to generate
electrical power for the various electricity consumption needs on
board the vessel.
[0086] The oil-enriched portion may be combusted in a furnace (not
shown) thereby forming combustion products gases. The combustion
product gases may be used to heat the oxygen-containing gas by
indirect heat transfer. Preheating the oxygen-containing gas
improves the ability to combust the oil-enriched portion.
[0087] The oil-enriched portion may be combusted in a furnace (not
shown) thereby forming combustion product gases. The combustion
product gases may be used to heat the oil-enriched portion by
indirect heat transfer. Preheating the oil-enriched portion
improves the ability to combust the oil-enriched portion.
[0088] The present method may be used in conjunction with any known
in-situ burning of oil pools floating on water. An in-situ burn of
the floating oil may be performed initially and the residual oil
from the in-situ burn collected for burning with an
oxygen-containing gas comprising at least 25 volume % oxygen using
the burner. The oil in the mixture of oil and water may comprise
residual oil from in-situ burning of an oil pool floating on the
body of water.
Example
[0089] The stoichiometric oxygen requirement for combusting 200 BPH
(barrels per hour) oil flow rate is calculated to be about 60,000
Nm.sup.3/hr. If the stoichiometric amount of oxygen is supplied by
injecting compressed air, the compressed air flow rate is about
285,000 Nm.sup.3/hr.
[0090] If the stoichiometric amount of oxygen is supplied by
injecting an oxygen-containing gas wherein the oxygen-containing
gas has 50 volume % oxygen, the total flow rate of the
oxygen-containing gas is about 204,000 Nm.sup.3/hr. The flow rate
of substantially pure industrial oxygen (90-93 vol. % O.sub.2,
typical VSA quality) is about 24,000 Nm.sup.3/hr and the balance
compressed air.
[0091] If half of the stoichiometric amount oxygen is supplied by
injecting an oxygen-containing gas wherein the oxygen-containing
gas has 50 volume % oxygen, the total flow rate of the
oxygen-containing gas is about 102,000 Nm.sup.3/hr. The flow rate
of substantially pure industrial oxygen (90-93% VSA spec) is about
12,000 Nm.sub.3/hr and the balance compressed air. The other half
of the stoichiometric amount of oxygen is supplied by ambient air
surrounding the flame.
* * * * *