Injection system for controlled delivery of solid oil field chemicals
Systems, methods and apparatus for injecting a solid chemical for inhibiting, decreasing or preventing precipitation and/or deposition of foulants and/or contaminants in oilfield tubulars. The use of solid chemicals or highly viscous fluids providing ease of shipment, greater economy in storage, shipment and delivery and increased ease of use.
1. A system for distribution of a solid chemical into an oil field production line, comprising:
a solid chemical tank wherein at least a portion of the solid chemical is contained therein;
a solid chemical size reduction apparatus wherein the solid chemical size reduction apparatus reduces the size of the solid chemical flowing from an outlet of the solid chemical tank, thereby producing a size-reduced solid chemical;
a valve for controlling the distribution rate of the size-reduced solid chemical flowing from the solid chemical size reduction apparatus into the oil field production line;
a solid chemical injection point on the oil field production line wherein the size-reduced solid chemical is injected; and
one or more pressurization devices selected from the group consisting of a pump, a compressor, a high pressure gas cylinder, a high pressure gas line, a pneumatic piston, a fluidic piston, an electromagnetic piston, and a screw such that positive pressure is applied to at least a portion of the system for injecting the size-reduced solid chemical into the oil field production line;
wherein the solid chemical is selected from the group consisting of a paraffin inhibitor, an asphaltene inhibitor, a corrosion inhibitor, a scale inhibitor, a foam inhibitor, an emulsion breaker, a hydrate inhibitor, a polymer for enhanced oil recovery, and a combination thereof.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical size reduction apparatus is selected from the group consisting of a grinder, a shaver, an electrical/pneumatic saw, a cutting wire, a pulverizer, an extruder, a scraper, a mechanical gear, and a shaper.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the valve comprises a metering valve or a flow controller.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the valve is less than about 6 m from the solid chemical injection point.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more pressurization devices is present before the solid chemical tank.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical tank is maintained at about ambient temperature.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical is in the form of pellets, sticks, flakes, a solid block, a powder, or a combination thereof.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises a water soluble polymer for enhanced oil recovery selected from the group consisting of polyacrylamide (PAM) and hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide (HM-PAM).
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises a paraffin inhibitor selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, an olefin-maleic anhydride copolymer or an ester thereof, a polyacrylate, an alkylphenol-formaldehyde resin, and a combination thereof.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises an asphaltene inhibitor comprising an alkylphenol formaldehyde resin.
11. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises a corrosion inhibitor selected from the group consisting of an imidazoline, a quaternary amine, a pyridine, and a combination thereof.
12. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises a scale inhibitor selected from the group consisting of an inorganic polyphosphate, an organic phosphate ester, an organic phosphonate, an organic amino phosphate, an organic polymer, sodium gluconate, and a combination thereof.
13. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical comprises a foam inhibitor selected from the group consisting of a polysiloxane, a polyvinylalkoxysilane, a polyvinylalkylalkoxy silane, and a combination thereof.
14. The system of claim 1 wherein the solid chemical size reduction apparatus produces the size-reduced solid chemical having an average particle diameter between about 1 micron and about 1 millimeter.
15. The system of claim 1 wherein the size-reduced solid chemical flowing to the oil field production line have a total solvent content of less than about 30 vol. %.
16. The system of claim 1 wherein the chemical tank is equipped with a charging port through which the solid chemical can be poured into the solid chemical tank.
17. A method for distribution of the solid chemical into an oil field production line comprising the system of claim 1 , wherein the valve is manipulated such that a predetermined amount of the size-reduced solid chemical is distributed into the oil field production line.
18. A method for continuous distribution of the solid chemical into an oil field production line comprising the system of claim 1 , wherein the valve is manipulated such that a predetermined amount of the size-reduced solid chemical is continuously distributed into the oil field production line.