US1418097A - Geseelschaft - Google Patents

Description

e. SCHNEIDERS. MINERAL OIL AND CARBOHYDROGEN GAS EXTRACTING PROCESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 2, 1919.

1,418,097, Pate ntd May 30, 1922..

Ink/EMB 9 um-W BY AITD N 9/5 W 15W,- WV$$W UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GOTTFRIED SCHNEIDER/S, OF BERLIN-FRIEDENAU, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO AKTIEN- GESEELSCHAFT EOS, OF GLARUS, SWITZERLAND.

MINERAL-OIL AND CARBOHYDROGEN-GAS EXTRACTING PROCESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922 Application filed September 2, 1919. Serial No. 321,275.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Go'rrrnmn SoHNnronns, acitizen ofGermany, residing at Berlin- Friedenau, Kaiserallee 130, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mineral-Oil and Carbohydrogen- Gas Extracting Processes, (for which I have filed applications in Germany January 15, 1917, Patent No. 305,794, Germany March 15, 1918,'Patent No. 1319,5 18 Ger extends over the end of the lining s of the many March 25, 1918,.Patent No.'319,5 l9; Austria May 28 1918; Hungary June 3, 1918, Patent'No. 78,398; Rumania- July 5, 1918) and Idoihereby declare the following to be a run, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appartains to make and use the same.

In bituminousvmineral deposits saturated with oil and containing large quantities of fire-damp the work of making drives or passages is scarcely possible, or it is, at least, so dangerous that a miner cannot reasonably be expected to take the risk of going into these places in an oil mine. The benzine gases that develop from the oil give rise to intoxication by benzine, and to vomiting, fainting, choking and other bodily com plaints, whilst the carbo-hydrogen gases accompanying the oil and subjected to high pressure and in combination with the evaporating benzine, lead to the firing of the mine and explosion accidents that prevent the miner from carrying out his underground mining work. Not only do the gases and oils make the sojourn of persons almost impossible in such mines, but extraordinarily high economical losses also are combined with the evaporation of the oil and the escaping of the gases which are larger the more the mine is ventilated.

The object of my invention is'to remove these drawbacks and the manner in which this is accomplished will appear from the following description and drawings in which my process is disclosed.

The figure represents a vertical section of a plant intended for the above purpose.

From a shaft a, which has been sunk down to the oil-bearing layer or deposit, or from the mouth of a drive, and in a manner similar to the driven cylinder method in which a cylinder is pushed forward in making a passage or tunnel through a hill or mountain of loose stone, a movable air-dam 11 provided with door openings is pushed for ward in the deposit during the hollowing out of the drive I). The movable air-dam consists of a wrought iron cylinder 0 which drive and is shut off from the unlined portion of the drive by an end plate or shield 0Z furnished with a door t or manhole through which the miners enter into the end section of the drive. From the drill holders 7 horizontal or slanting bore-holes are made in the deposit before the earth or material outside of the air-dam is removed. The cavities subjected to high gas pressure and containing mineral gas, and those containing oil, are first sought through the said bore-holes and the gas and oil are conducted away and made useful in the deposit during the drilling operations, the air-dam, which is fixed in position, preventing any frlee and undesirable escape of the gas and 01 After the initial escape of gas and oil, the bore-holes, which extend to a great depth in the oil deposit, form trickling ducts into which the oil still remaining in the deposit pierced by the bore holes percolates, and through which it may trickle out. In order that these trickling ducts may not become choked or clogged up, they are preferably lined with perforated or filtering pipes. From the trickling ducts formed by the bore-holes the oil passes into the space 71. beyond the air-dam and collects behind the end plate d, whence it is removed through an opening in the plate It by a pump 2', Fig. 1, and pumped through a closed pressure pipe k to the surface of the ground. In order that the suction pipe u, the pump 71 and the pressure pipe I: may not be choked up by particles of sand taken in with the fluid, the mouth of the suction pipe u is equipped with a sieve-like basket which prevents any solid bodies from entering the suction pipe.

The pumping operation causes the air in the space it beyond the end plate to become more or less rarefied and this raretaction extends into the boreholes. By this means the oil in the deposit, the pores of which are filled like a sponge with oil, or which contains oil in fissures or cavities, is drawn from all parts in the neighbourhood of the boreholes and caused to enter the tickling ducts which these boreholes with their filtering pipes form. In order toincrease the tendency of the oil to How into the trickling ducts, compressed air or carbohydrogen gas may be injected by an air compressor Z through some of the boreholes, especially those near the top oi the deposit, the connection between these and the rarelied air being cut off by a packing ring or sleeve m. By this means compressed gases are made to exert pressure on the oil in the mine so as to force it out of the pores of the de posit and into the boreholes that act as trickling ducts and whose ends are open and thus in connection with the suction chamber it. Thus all the oil in the deposit within the neighbourhood influenced by the boreholes is caused to flow 01f through or by these holes.

After the oil behind the air-dam has all been pumped out, the air pump Z connected to the space It is reversed and after the packing ring on is loosened the combustible gases present in the deposit are made to pass through a pipe a into a gasometer 0 at the surface, whence they may be taken for use.

lVhen all the oil and gas in the deposit in the neighbourhood of the boreholes g has been completely removed, the manhole in the air-dam is opened and the rock is then passed through the door, the air-dam being shifted forward and the lining of the drive extended as the excavation work proceeds. This is continued until the gas and oil bearing deposit to which the boreholes have not penetrated is reached, when the a'tore-described process (viz, the removal of gas and oil from the bituminous deposit, by boreholes made whilst protected by the movable air-dam) is repeated. llorizontal boreholes 7), the lig ure, may also be drilled laterally into the oil deposit from finished portions oi the drive which have been provided with a stone and concrete wall or lining. By these holes the oil and gas coi'itained in the deposits extending laterally from the drive are removed.

By the above process practically all of? the gas and flowing oil in the vicinity of the deposit c an be removed with negligible loss and with no danger to the workers.

I claim:

1. The process of extracting mineral oil and carbohydrogen gas from oil deposits which process consists in making a passage through the porous, bituminous and gaseous deposit with the aid of an air-dam that is shifted into the deposit and that, being airtight, prevents dangerous gases and the oil from entering the .passage, and in removing the gas and oil from the deposit by means arranged in a space separated from the gaseous deposit by the said air-dam.

2. The process of extracting mineral oil and carbohydrogen gas from oil deposits which process consists in making a passage through the porous, bituminous and gaseous deposit with. the aid of an air-dam that is shifted into the deposit and that, being airtight, prevents dangerous gases and the oil from entering the passage, and in removing the gas and oil from the deposit by means of boreholes drilled into the deposit and by means arrangedin a space separated from the gaseous deposit by the said air-dam, in subsequently extending the passage by open: ing the air-dam, removing the gasless and oilless deposit and shifting the air-dam forward towards the deposit.

8. The processot extracting mineral oil and carbohyd rogen gas from oil deposits, such process consisting in making a passage through the porous, bituminous and gaseous deposit with the aid of an air-dam that is shifted into the deposit and that, being airtight, prevents dangerous gases and the oil from entering the passage in drilling boreholes into the oil-bearing deposit, in rare'tying the air in the space between the deposit and the air-dam and in the said boreholes, and in removing the gas and oil from the deposit by means arranged in a space separated from the gaseous deposit by the said air dam.

4. The process of extracting mineral oil and carbohydrogen gas from oil deposits, such process consisting in making a passage through the porous, bituminous and gaseous deposit with the aid of an air-dam that is shifted into the deposit and that, being air-tight, prevents dangerous gases and the oil from entering the passage in drilling boreholes into the oil-bearing deposit, in driving compressed gas into some of said boreholes and thus driving the oily into the remaining boreholes, and in removing the gas and oil from the space adjacent to the air-dam by means arranged in a space separated from the gaseous deposit by the said air-dam.

5. The process of extracting mineral oil andcarbohydrogen gas from oil deposits, such process consisting in making a passage through the porous, bituminous and gaseous deposit with the aid of an air-dam that is provided with a manhole and is shifted into the deposit and that, being air-tight, prevents dangerous gases and the oil from entering the passage in removing the gas and oil from the deposit by means of boreholes drilled into the deposit and by means arranged in a space separated from the gaseous deposit by the said air-dam, subsequent- 1y opening the said manhole and in removing the gasless and oilless deposit, and in extending the passage by shifting the air- 10 dam forward towards the said deposit.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses;

GOTTFRIED SCHNEIDERS. Witnesses:

PAUL MAYER, E. HOLTZERN.

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