Undersea well product transport
US7703535B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 28, 2006 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 4, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF17D1/16
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
An apparatus and corresponding method of use extracts, cools, and transports effluents from subterranean, sub-sea oil formations to distant shore based processing facilities. The effluents, mostly crude oil, are conveyed rapidly to a cold flow generator near the oil wellhead on the sea bottom using the cold seawater to chill the effluents to a dispersed mixture including generated solids. The mixture is transported close to sea bottom temperatures, slowly, with small pressure drops, in low-cost submerged bare pipes over long distances to on or near shore processing facilities that can produce useful hydrocarbon products more cost effectively than at sea processing facilities. The apparatus eliminates or minimizes the need for heated or insulated pipe, the need for large floating processing structures, the need for sub-sea processing equipment, and/or the need for chemical additions to production flow.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.