RU2271463C2 - Continuous-action osmotic power plant - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: oil producing industry.

SUBSTANCE: proposed osmotic power plant is designed for transfer of highly mineralized waters, for instance, associated waters at oil and gas production. Plant contains reservoir, diaphragm device made in form of set of modules of hollow-fiber type, pump for delivering highly mineralized solution to diaphragm device with hydraulic system piping with shutoff-and-regulating valves and pipeline to deliver fresh water or low mineralized solution. Reservoir is essentially pressure reservoir with drain and inlet branch pipes and outlet branch pipe connected to pump included into unit of turbopump converter consisting also of starting mechanism, matching reducer and turbine connected to diaphragm device and external pipeline.

EFFECT: enlarged operating capabilities.

1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to hydraulic pumps, aggregated with engines of a special type, in particular with an energy converter using osmosis energy (the energy of mixing different saline solutions through a semi-permeable membrane), and can be used for pumping and pumping highly saline solutions, for example, associated water from oil and gas production or waste from hydromineral production.

A device is known - an osmotic pump using an element with a semipermeable membrane that converts the energy of osmosis into mechanical energy of a liquid stream (US Patent No. 0052279608 A 61 M 5/14 date of patent Jan. 18, 1994).

Since this device is designed for small fluid flows and a one-time nature of the action, it is not able to provide a continuous and high-performance osmotic process.

A device is known that is able to perform the function of a hydraulic pump using elements with semipermeable membranes and a mechanism that maintains the operational state of the device (AS USSR No. 1521911, F 04 B 43/00, 01 D 61/06, publ. 15.11.89).

Due to the design features of the membrane elements and the periodic mode of operation provided by the reciprocating mechanism, this device is not able to provide greater flow rate.

Closest to the proposed invention is a power generator equipped with a chamber with a semi-permeable membrane generating osmotic energy, and a device that maintains the continuity of the generator (A.S. No. 720582, B01D 61/06, F03 17/00, publ. 30.03.84 ) In the known device, an additional five chambers with hollow fiber membranes maintain a constant working concentration in the generator chamber.

Due to the malfunctioning mode of operation of the hollow fiber membranes of this device (liquid replacement of the internal volumes of hollow fibers is not provided), an increase in the concentration of salts in the internal cavity of the fibers occurs, which ultimately leads to a halt in the process of direct osmosis. Additional hydraulic pumps operating from external sources of energy and supplying highly mineralized solution and fresh water to the five chambers of the generator, as well as the formation of waste in these chambers in the form of a diluted solution requiring special disposal, do not allow for high process efficiency.

The technical task of the invention is the implementation of high-performance, independently maintaining the continuity of the direct osmosis process without the use of external energy and without the formation of any media that require special disposal.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that the osmotic power plant for pumping liquid wastes from hydro-mineral production and associated industrial oil and gas production contains a reservoir, a membrane apparatus made in the form of a set of hollow fiber modules, a pump for supplying a highly mineralized solution to a membrane apparatus with a hydraulic strapping system with shut-off and control equipment and a pipeline for supplying fresh water or a low saline solution. The tank is a pressure tank with a drain, inlet and outlet pipe connected to a pump included in the assembly of a turbopump converter, which also consists of a trigger mechanism, a matching gear and a turbine connected to the membrane apparatus and an external pipeline.

The invention is illustrated in graphic material, where the drawing shows a diagram of a continuous osmotic power plant. The installation contains the following main units: a buffer tank, a turbine-pump converter with a starting mechanism, a membrane apparatus, a hydraulic system for strapping units with locking-regulating and recording elements.

The buffer tank (2) is a pressure tank made of a durable, corrosion-resistant material, equipped with a relief valve (20) and a manometer (1) that records the pressure in the gas cushion.

The turbine-pump converter assembly consists of: a pump part (15); turbine part (7); matching gear (8) and trigger (16).

The triggering mechanism can be a handwheel with a manual drive connected by an easily removable connection to the pump part of the converter (provided that the proposed device is used in hard-to-reach areas), or an electric motor of the corresponding power.

The membrane apparatus is formed by tying a set of modules of a hollow fiber structure by a hydraulic system (9). The total number of modules in terms of the total optimal performance should be consistent with the output characteristics of the pump part of the turbopump converter.

The hydraulic system for strapping the nodes of the device is a pipeline system made of corrosion-resistant materials and consisting of low-pressure and high-pressure parts. The high-pressure part includes: the inlet pipe of concentrated saline solution (3); inlet (4) and outlet (18) nozzles of the buffer tank with locking devices; flow meter (17); the high-pressure part of the hydraulic system of the membrane apparatus strapping (21), as well as the mixture supply pipeline to the turbine part of the converter. The low-pressure part, in turn, consists of: an inlet pipeline for fresh water (19); branch pipe with sliding (14); flow meter (13); low-pressure part of the hydraulic system of the membrane apparatus strapping (22) with a monovacuum meter (12); prefabricated pipe with valve (10) and drain pipe (11). Polypropylene is used as the corrosion-resistant material of the low-pressure part, and stainless steel, for example, grade 12X18H10T, is used for the high-pressure part. The final elements of the hydraulic system of the device are a pipe with a valve (5) and an outlet pipe (6).

The action of the proposed device is as follows: the initial highly mineralized solution from the external transport pipeline (3) through the valve (4) enters the buffer tank (2), where with the valve closed (18), a certain back pressure is created in the gas cushion. The magnitude of this pressure is recorded by a manometer (1), and the excess is discharged through the relief valve (20). After opening the valve (18), the initial solution through the flow meter (17) is supplied to the pump part (15) of the turbopump converter. Then, the trigger shaft (16) rotates the drive shaft of the pump part of the converter, which leads to filling the pressure chambers of the set of hollow fiber modules (9). At the same time, the second component of the osmotic mixing process - fresh water or low-mineralized solution - is supplied from the external fresh water pipeline (19) through the valve (14) and the flow meter (13) into the cavity of the hollow fibers of the membrane modules. As a result, the osmotic process of mixing the initial concentrated solution with the filtrate entering the pressure chamber through the membrane surface of the hollow fibers automatically begins. The resulting excess liquid volume with flow rates established after some time, controlled by flow meters (17,13), and pressure through the turbine part of the converter (7) and valve (5) enters the external pipeline (6).

In the process of fluid flowing through the turbine part of the converter, part of the energy of the stream is removed by converting it into the energy of rotation of the turbine, which is transmitted to the drive shaft of the pump part (15) of the converter through the matching shaft (8), for example, the central screw of a three-screw pump type A1 3B 1 / 100 1.8 / 100, selected as the most productive taking into account the kinematic viscosity of the initial solution. Subsequently, the steady-state operating mode of the turbopump converter provides shut-off counter-pressure and a change in the working highly mineralized solution in the mixing chambers of the membrane apparatus.

To maintain a low level of concentration of fresh water or a low mineralized solution in the internal volumes of hollow fibers (preventing concentration polarization), a forced flow mode of their operation is periodically carried out by opening the valve of the nozzle (10).

The advantage of the proposed device in relation to the known analogues is the ability to significantly increase the volume of the processed liquid and to provide an automatic, self-sustaining mode of continuous operation of the device using its own energy capabilities.

Claims (1)

An osmotic power plant for pumping liquid wastes from hydromineral production and associated industrial oil and gas production waters, containing a reservoir, a membrane unit made in the form of a set of hollow fiber modules, a pump for supplying a highly mineralized solution to a membrane unit with a hydraulic piping system with shut-off and control equipment and a fresh water supply pipe or low saline solution, characterized in that the tank is a pressure tank with a drain, inlet and an outlet pipe connected to a pump included in the assembly of a turbopump converter, also consisting of a starting mechanism, a matching gear and a turbine connected to the membrane apparatus and an external pipeline.