RU2151340C1 - Device for removal of liquid from bottom part of pipeline - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: mechanical engineering. SUBSTANCE: device may be used for repair or dismantling of pipeline section. Device has pipe lowered with one end to pipeline bottom and provided with seal. It also has body coupled with pipeline tightly and branch pipe positioned on body. The latter may be provided with removable cover. The device may be fitted with screw arranged inside pipe for rotary motion and secured to prevent its forward motion. Screw is connected through stuffing gland to appliance designed for its rotation. The appliance is positioned from external side of body. Screw carries nut joined with upper end of pipe. The pipe is protected against rotation, and it has at least one hole in its upper part. Pipe has lower relief end. Total cross-sectional area of relief hollows equals pipe cross-sectional area. EFFECT: improved sealing. 4 cl, 2 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to a device for removing liquid, in particular oil, from the bottom of the pipeline and can be used in the repair or dismantling of a section of the pipeline.

 A device [1] is known for removing liquid, namely produced water, from the bottom of an oil pipeline. The device comprises a pipe lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipeline. A pumping line is sealed to the other end of the pipe. Between the pipe and the main pipe there is a seal that provides a tight connection. The mobility of the pipe is achieved by securing it with a clamp on the bridge between the rods. The jumper together with the pipe is moved along the rods using chain and bevel gears, rotating the handle connected to them.

 The device [1] is installed on a standard valve and a pipe welded to the pipeline. The valve is opened. Rotating the handle of the device, lower one end of the pipe to the bottom of the pipeline. Through the other end of the pipe, a liquid is evacuated through a pumping line.

 The pipe slides in the seal and therefore must have a well-machined outer surface.

 The disadvantages of the prototype are as follows.

 Firstly, the unreliability of the seal between the pipe and the pipeline, which leads to fluid leakage, pollutes the environment and is dangerous for maintenance personnel. This seal must be reliable, even if the bottom pumping starts when the pressure drops in the cut-off section to atmospheric, since during the removal of liquid on the bottom part the pressure can increase. The reason for the increase in pressure is the following. Due to the curvature of the pipeline, gas plugs are formed in it, retaining part of the bulk of the liquid at certain points. When forced pumping from the bottom of the pump, these plugs are eliminated, which leads to an increase in pressure. A pressure rise can also occur due to a malfunction of the valves that cut off the pumped section of the pipeline.

 Secondly, because of the pressure inside the pipeline in the device [1], the movable pipe has a small diameter (35 mm) and, therefore, low liquid removal performance. An increase in the diameter of the pipe will lead to an increase in the sealing assembly and tightening force.

 Thirdly, when removing liquid from the cut off section of the pipeline, the bulk of the liquid is pumped out through a pipe welded to the pipeline, connected through a valve to the pumping pipeline. To remove the liquid from the bottom to the bottom of the pipeline, lower the pipe at one end. At the same time, the pumping-out pipeline is remounted at the upper end of the pipe, which requires additional labor and time.

 Fourthly, in the prototype, the evacuation pipeline moves together with the pipe lowered to the bottom of the pipeline. This is inconvenient in operation, leads to a violation of the tightness and leakage of fluid at the junction of the pipe and the pumping pipeline.

 Fifthly, the mobility of the pipe in the prototype is provided by the complex design of gears, rods and other elements.

 Sixth, in the prototype, high processing requirements are imposed on the entire outer surface of the pipe, since the pipe should slide freely in the seal.

 Seventhly, in the prototype, the pipe section is made at an angle of 45 degrees so that the height of the intake hole formed between the top point of the section and the bottom of the pipeline is equal to the diameter of the pipe. The removal of fluid from the bottom will occur until the fluid level drops to the upper cutoff point. With further lowering of the liquid level, gas will enter the pipe. The gas trapping pump will stop pumping. This disadvantage will be especially apparent if you increase the diameter of the pipe, and the upper cut point will be higher. Then more liquid will remain at the bottom of the pipeline. If the cutoff angle is reduced so that the pump stops working at a lower liquid level in the pipe, then the height of the intake opening will decrease, and therefore the area over which the liquid is trapped. Pumping will take a longer amount of time.

 The objective of the invention is to provide a device that eliminates the possibility of fluid leakage when removing fluid from the bottom of the pipeline, more productive, efficient, easy to use and simple in design. This problem can be solved by changing the design of the device, leading to an increase in its tightness, throughput.

 As in the prototype, the inventive device contains a pipe, lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipeline. The pipe is equipped with a seal.

 Unlike the prototype, the device comprises a housing hermetically connected to the pipeline, and a pipe on the housing.

 The housing may include a removable cover.

 The device may also include a screw located inside the pipe with the possibility of rotational motion, but fixed in the housing from translational motion. The screw is connected through the packing gland to the device for rotating the screw. A device for rotating the screw is located on the outside of the housing. In addition, the device contains a screw located on the screw connected to the upper end of the pipe, while the pipe is secured against rotational movement and has at least one hole in the upper part.

 The lower end of the pipe can be embossed.

 The sum of the cross-sectional areas of the relief basins is equal to the cross-sectional area of the pipe.

 The device is depicted in FIG. 1 and 2 with the following notation: 1 - pipe, lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipeline, 2 - pipe, 3 - pipe seal, 4 - body, 5 - pipe on the body, 6 - removable body cover, 7 - screw, 8 - stuffing box screw seal, 9 - device for rotation, 10 - nut, 11 - pumping pipeline.

 The pipe 1, lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipe 2, is provided with a seal 3 (Fig. 1). The housing 4 is hermetically connected to the pipeline 2 by a standard connection: flanges, through a standard valve and a pipe nozzle (not shown in Figures 1 and 2). On the housing 4 is a pipe 5. The pipe 5 can be located in any part of the housing. The housing 4 may have a removable cover 6.

 The device may include a screw 7 (Fig. 2), which is located inside the pipe 1 with the possibility of rotational motion and secured in the housing 4 from translational motion, for example, an annular ledge, etc. (in Fig. 2 the position is not indicated). The screw 7 is connected through the stuffing box seal 8 with the device 9 for rotating the screw 7. The device 9 is located on the outside of the housing 4 and can be made in the form of a flywheel, a ring with an inserted handle, a flat protrusion, etc. A screw 10 is located on the screw 7, the nut 10 mating to it. The nut 10 is connected to the upper end of the pipe 1. The connection can be made with jumpers, a washer, or otherwise (not indicated in Fig. 2). The pipe 1 is secured against rotation.

 This fastening can be performed, for example, by means of a protrusion along the entire length of the pipe 1 and a protrusion (or, conversely, a groove) on the inner surface of the housing 4 (not shown in FIG. 2) or due to the proportions and shape of the pipe 1 and the housing 4 for example, a round body 4 and an oval or square pipe 1.

 The pipe 1 has at least one opening in the upper part. This hole (s) can be in the upper end of the pipe 1 (in the washer or between the jumpers connecting the pipe 1 and the nut 10) or in the lateral upper surface of the pipe 1. The lower end of the pipe 1 can be made in relief: triangular, rectangular, wavy and another relief. In this case, the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the relief basins is equal to the cross-sectional area of the pipe.

 The device operates as follows.

 After the pressure drop in the pipe 2 (Fig. 1) to atmospheric, for example, after removing the bulk of the liquid in the cut-off section, pipe 1 is lowered into the bottom of the pipe 2 at one end. The housing 4 is hermetically connected to the pipe 2. The fluid is removed by force, for example, using a pump, through pipe 1, through housing 4 and pipe 5 to the housing. The seal 3 is located inside the housing 4 and is subjected to a pressure of not more than 0.01 MPa.

 The seal 3 serves to prevent the ingress of gas from the pipeline 2 into the pipe 5 and the capture of gases by the pump, which ensures the most complete removal of liquid from the bottom of the pipeline 2. Thus, compared with the prototype, the tightness of the proposed device is higher due to the fact that the unreliable seal between pipe 1 and pipe 2 is placed in the housing 4, and the housing 4 is hermetically securely connected to the pipe 2 through a standard valve and pipe (not shown in Fig. 1). As a result of this, with increasing pressure in the pipeline to the worker, which may occur during the forced removal of liquid from the bottom, for example, due to breakthrough of gas plugs there, faulty valves in the pipeline 2 or for other reasons, the leakage device is eliminated .

 In addition, in the inventive device, the diameter of the pipe 1 can be increased in comparison with the prototype, since the seal 3 on the pipe 1 is not subjected to the pressure of the pipe 2 and, therefore, the diameter of the pipe 1 is not limited by the size of the sealing unit. Thus, increased, compared with the prototype, the performance with which the liquid is removed from the bottom of the pipeline 2.

 If the housing 4 is equipped with a removable cover 6 (Fig. 1), then the device operates as follows. If necessary, to completely release the cut-off section of the pipeline from the liquid, the bulk of the liquid is removed under pressure in the pipe 2 through the housing 4, hermetically connected to the pipe 2, and the pipe 5 on the housing 4.

 When the pressure drops in the pipeline 2 to atmospheric, they proceed to remove liquid from the bottom. To do this, remove the cover 6, install in the housing 4 the pipe 1, lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipeline 2, and tightly close the cover 6. Then force the removal of fluid using a pump. The fluid passes into the pipe 1, the housing 4 and through the pipe 5 on the housing 4 is removed through the pumping pipe 11. In contrast to the prototype, when switching from the removal of the bulk of the liquid to the bottom pumping, the pumping pipe 11 is not remounted, which increases ease of use.

 If the device contains a screw 7, a stuffing box seal 8, a device for rotation 9, a nut 10 (Fig. 2), then the device operates as follows. First remove the bulk of the liquid. To do this, open the valve on which the device is installed.

 The liquid passing through the pipe 1, through the hole (s) in its upper part fills the housing 4 and through the pipe 5 is removed through the pumping pipe 11. The pipe 1 is lowered into the thickness of the fluid by turning screw 7. After removing the bulk of the fluid, the fluid is removed from bottom of the pipeline.

 To do this, lower the pipe 1 to the bottom of the pipeline, rotating the screw 7 with the device 9, as a result of which the nut 10 moves along the screw 7 and moves the pipe 1 connected to it. Then, the liquid is forcibly removed using a pump.

 Compared with the prototype, the inventive device is more convenient to use, since when lowering the pipe 1 to the bottom of the pipe 2, the pumping pipe 11 does not move, connected to the upper end of the pipe 1, as in the prototype, but is connected to a stationary pipe 5 on the housing 4, which, in addition, it increases the reliability of connecting the pumping pipe 11 to the device.

 The inventive device has a simpler design for moving the pipe 1: screw 7 and nut 10, and in the prototype - rods, a jumper with a clamp, a system of chain and bevel gears.

 In addition, compared with the prototype, the seal of the movable contact in the inventive device is more reliable with smaller sizes.

 This is due to the fact that it seals the part, making a rotational movement (screw 7), and not translational (pipe), as in the prototype.

 In the inventive device through the seal of the movable contact passes a small part of the screw 7, therefore, only it has special requirements for surface treatment. In the prototype, the entire pipe 1 passes through the seal of the movable contact in its movement to the bottom of the pipeline and, therefore, the entire surface of the pipe 1 must be well processed. That is, the inventive device is easier to manufacture than a prototype.

 If the lower end of the pipe is embossed (Fig. 1 and 2), then the device operates as follows. The pipe 1 is lowered to the bottom of the pipe 2, so that the protrusions of the relief of the lower end of the pipe 1 abut against the bottom of the pipe 2. The liquid removed under the action of the pump will enter the holes formed by the depressions of the relief of the lower end of the pipe 1 and the bottom of the pipe 2.

 Compared with the prototype, the removal of liquid is more effective, since the height of the depressions is made minimal and limited to the lower limit by the condition that the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the depressions is the cross-sectional area of the pipe 1.

 The more protrusions and depressions of the relief, the lower their height, the lower the liquid level to which pumping can be performed.

 Thus, in the inventive device in comparison with the prototype increased tightness of the seals, ease of use, the performance of the device and the efficiency of removing liquid, simplified design.

 The authors did not find information about the fame of the influence of distinctive features on these technical results.

Literature
1. A device for the discharge of produced water from the lower generatrix of the pipeline. Advertising information. Development and implementation of new products in production in 1996 -1997 AOOT "Volga trunk oil pipelines", TsBPO. 446200, Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Region, PO Box 33.

Claims (4)

 1. A device for removing liquid from the bottom of the pipeline, containing a pipe lowered at one end to the bottom of the pipeline, equipped with a seal, characterized in that the device comprises a housing hermetically connected to the pipeline and a pipe on the housing.  2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing is equipped with a removable cover.  3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains a screw located inside the pipe with the possibility of rotational movement and secured in the housing from translational motion, connected through an stuffing box seal with a device for its rotation, located on the outside of the housing, as well as located on the screw, a nut connected to the upper end of the pipe, while the pipe is secured against rotational movement and has at least one hole in the upper part.  4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower end of the pipe is embossed, and the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the relief depressions is equal to the cross-sectional area of the pipe.

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