CA2644938A1

CA2644938A1 - System for generating power in a pipeline

Info

Publication number: CA2644938A1
Application number: CA 2644938
Authority: CA
Inventors: Del Borle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-11-12
Filing date: 2008-11-12
Publication date: 2010-05-12

Abstract

A system for generating power includes an inline rotary turbine having an input and an output connected to a gas pipeline, such that gas flowing through the gas pipeline rotates the rotary turbine. A generator is connected to the inline rotary turbine for generating power.
A bypass line has an input connected to the input of the rotary turbine and an output connected to the output of the rotary turbine. The bypass line has at least one of an electronically controlled flow control valve and a manually controlled flow control valve.

Description

TITLE
[0001] System for generating power in a pipeline FIELD

[0002] Power generation for a pipeline .
BACKGROUND

[0003] U.S. patent no. 6,537,018 describes a rotational power transfer device.
SUMMARY

[0004] There is provided a system for generating power, comprising an inline rotary turbine having an input and an output connected to a gas pipeline, such that gas flowing through the gas pipeline rotates the rotary turbine. A generator is connected to the inline rotary turbine for generating power. A bypass line has an input connected to the input of the rotary turbine and an output connected to the output of the rotary turbine.
The bypass line has at least one of an electronically controlled flow control valve and a manually controlled flow control valve.

[0005] These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a system for generating power.
FIG. 2 is a side elevation view in section of an inline rotary turbine.
I)ETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0006] A system for generating power generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 and 2.

[0007] Referring to FIG. 1, system for generating power 10 includes an inline rotary turbine 12 having, referring to FIG. 2, an input 14 and an output 16 connected to a gas pipeline 18 as shown in FIG. 1, such that gas flowing through gas pipeline 18 rotates the rotary turbine about an axis that is offset from the axis of gas pipeline 18.
Referring to FIG.

2, rotary turbine 12 includes a rotor 20 and spring-loaded vanes 21 that are movable between an extended position and a retracted position. Radial vanes 21 are biased by springs 23 toward the extended position.

[0008] Referring to FIG. 1, a generator 22 is connected to inline rotary turbine 12 for generating power. There is a bypass line 24 that has an input 26 connected to input 14 of rotary turbine 12 and an output 28 connected to output 16 of rotary turbine 12. Bypass line is connected to gas pipeline 18 and is used to divert a portion of gas flow so that the portion of the gas flow bypasses inline rotary turbine 12. Bypass line 24 has a flow control valve, such as two manually controlled flow control valves 30 and an electronically controlled flow control valve 32 to selectively control the portion of gas flow passing through bypass line 24 and thus control the speed of turbine 12. Either one or both of generator 22 and turbine 12 rnay have a rotation sensor 34 to determine whether the optimal operating speed for turbine 12 is being achieved. Rotation sensor 34 is preferably positioned on one of the inline rotary turbine 12 as shown in FIG. 1 or generator 22. Flow control valve 32 is electronically actuated, and a controller 36 is provided that receives data from rotation sensor 34 and electronically actuates flow control valve 32 to divert gas flow through bypass line 24 in accordance with a flow control strategy that keeps the rotations per minute of the inline rotary turbine within a preselected range. In addition to the embodiment described above, these readings may also be displayed for manual control, or both.

[0009] The system is connected to the outlet of a gas well in order to use the pressure and flow of the gas to drive the vane-type motor. This motion is used to drive a generator to generate power. The speed of the motor is controlled with a bypass control valve, which may be controlled either manually or electronically. The power generated can be used on site, and any remaining power can be sold into the power grid without consuming any gas.

[0010] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to rnean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0011] The following claims are to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, and what can be obviously substituted. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope of the claims. The illustrated embodiments have been set forth only as examples and should not be taken as limiting the invention. It is to be understood that, within the scope of the following claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically illustrated and described.

Claims

1. A system for generating power, comprising:
an inline rotary turbine having an input and an output connected to a gas pipeline, such that gas flowing through the gas pipeline rotates the rotary turbine;
a generator connected to the inline rotary turbine for generating power;
a bypass line connected to the gas pipeline for diverting a portion of gas flow so that portion of the gas flow bypasses the inline rotary turbine, the bypass line having a flow control valve, for selectively controlling the portion of gas flow passing through the bypass line.

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein a rotation sensor is positioned on one of the inline rotary turbine or the generator, the flow control valve is electronically actuated, and a controller is provided which receives data from the rotation sensor and electronically actuates the flow control valve to divert gas flow through the bypass line in accordance with a flow control strategy that keeps the rotations per minute of the inline rotary turbine within a preselected range.

3. The system of Claim 1, wherein the gas pipeline has an axis and the inline rotary turbine is axially offset.

4. The system of Claim 3, wherein the inline rotary turbine has radial vanes that are movable between an extended position and a retracted position, the radial vanes being biased by springs toward the extended position.