PARTICLE REMOVAL APPARATUS AND METHOD

Abstract

Some described examples relate to an apparatus for removing magnetically active particles from a fluid. The apparatus comprises at least one vessel for receiving a fluid comprising magnetically active or ferrous particles, and at least one electromagnet operable to produce a magnetic field within the vessel to act on the magnetically active or ferrous particles in use.

Claims

1. A swarf removal apparatus for removing magnetically active particles from a fluid received from a wellbore, the apparatus comprising: at least one vessel for comprising a fluid inlet to receive fluid from the wellbore comprising magnetically active or ferrous particles comprising at least one of: drill swarf, steel and/or debris from a pipe, tubular, wellbore casing and/or other metallic wellbore component or content and a fluid outlet to expel fluid from the vessel; at least one electromagnet operable to produce a magnetic field within the vessel to act on the magnetically active or ferrous particles in use; and a support structure for supporting the vessel; wherein the at least one vessel is removable from the apparatus; and wherein the electromagnet forms part of the support structure.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least two vessels.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the at least two vessels comprises a separate electromagnet.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the separate electromagnets are operable at the same time.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the separate electromagnets are operable alternately.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least two vessels are located side-by-side.

7. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least two vessels are located at the same vertical elevation.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one electromagnet is located below the at least one vessel.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support structure is permanently installed in the apparatus.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a secondary means for removing particles from a fluid.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the secondary means is located at the fluid outlet.

12. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vessel comprises a base and at least one side wall protruding from the base.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the vessel comprises four side walls.

14. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein at least one side wall of the vessel is removable.

15. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the vessel defines the fluid inlet on a side wall of the vessel.

16. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the vessel defines the fluid outlet on a side wall of the vessel.

17. An apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a bypass arrangement.

18. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one vessel comprises a metal material.

19. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one vessel comprises steel material.

20. A method for operating a swarf removal apparatus for removing magnetically active or ferrous particles, the method comprising: introducing a fluid received from a wellbore containing swarf into at least one vessel of the apparatus via a fluid inlet, the at least one vessel being removable from the apparatus and further comprising a fluid outlet to expel fluid; wherein the apparatus further comprises a support structure for supporting the vessel and at least one electromagnet operable to produce a magnetic field within the vessel, the at least one electromagnet forming part of the support structure; operating an electromagnet to produce a magnetic field within the vessel to act on the magnetically active or ferrous particles; removing the fluid from the vessel through the fluid outlet; removing the swarf from the vessel, separately from the fluid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0064] FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating fluid flow through an example of an apparatus.

[0065] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a support structure.

[0066] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of an apparatus including multiple vessels.

[0067] FIG. 4 is a side view of stacked vessels of an example of an apparatus.

[0068] FIG. 5A is a diagrammatic sectional view of two stacked vessels.

[0069] FIG. 5B is a diagrammatic sectional view of a vessel attached to a lifting apparatus.

[0070] FIG. 6 is a plan view of an example of an apparatus including multiple vessels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an example of an apparatus 10 for removing magnetically active or ferrous particles from a fluid. The apparatus 10 comprises a support structure 12 and a vessel 14, the vessel 14 being supported by the support structure 12. The vessel 14 has an open-top cuboid shape, having a base and four side walls, while the support structure 12 has a similarly open-top cuboid shape, and in this example a layer of magnetically active or ferrous particles is shown to have formed on the base of the vessel 14.

[0072] A treated fluid 22 enters and exits the vessel 14 via fluid ports 18, 20. In this example, the fluid 22 enters via a fluid inlet 18 and exits the vessel via a fluid outlet 20. The treated fluid 22 is supplied to the vessel 14 via inlet pipe 19, and exits the vessel 14 via outlet pipe 21. Both the fluid inlet 18 and the fluid outlet 20 are defined by the vessel 14 and the support structure 12, and are each located in a side wall thereof. In this example, the fluid inlet 18 is located in an opposite side wall to the fluid outlet 20. The fluid inlet 18 is located towards the top of a side wall of the vessel 14 and support structure 12, while the fluid outlet 20 is located towards the base of a side wall of the vessel 14 and support structure 12. Such a configuration of the fluid inlet 18 and fluid outlet 20 may assist to more evenly disperse the magnetically active or ferrous particles 16 within the vessel 14 upon entry, and reduce the likelihood of the fluid inlet 18 becoming blocked by a build-up of particles 16 on the base of the vessel 14. The fluid outlet 20 being located on the base of the vessel may enable the vessel 14 to be fully drained of the treated fluid 22. In other embodiments, the fluid inlet 18 and fluid outlet 20 may be defined in the same side wall of the vessel 14 and support structure 12, or may be defined on adjacent side walls of the vessel 14 and support structure 12. In further embodiments, multiple fluid inlets 18 and/or fluid outlets 20 may be defined in the side wall or walls of the vessel 14 and support structure 18, or one or both of the fluid inlet 18 or fluid outlet 20 may be defined in the base of the vessel 14 and support structure 12.

[0073] Alternatively, the vessel 14 and support structure 12 need not comprise a fluid inlet 18 and/or fluid outlet 20 in a side wall and/or base of the vessel 14 and support structure 12. Instead, the fluid may enter and/or exit the vessel via the open-top of the vessel and support structure. Therefore, in such an embodiment, no inlet and/or outlet would be required in the base or side walls of the vessel 14 and support structure 12.

[0074] An electromagnet 26 is located beneath the base of the vessel 14. The electromagnet 26 can be activated to capture and retain magnetically active or ferrous particles 16 initially entrained in treated fluid 22 in the vessel 14. As the electromagnet 26 is located beneath the base of the vessel 14, the magnetically active or ferrous particles 16 are held on or near the base of the vessel 14. As the remainder of the components of the treated fluid 22 are not magnetically active, these components are not affected by the magnetic field of the electromagnet 26 and are allowed to flow out of the vessel 14 via the fluid outlet 20.

[0075] In other embodiments, the electromagnet 26 may be located, or partially located, adjacent a side wall of the vessel 14. In such embodiments, the magnetically active or ferrous particles 16 may be held at or near a particular section of the vessel 14, for example the particles 16 may be held at or near one side of the base of the vessel 14 e.g. the side furthest from the fluid outlet, and/or on one or multiple side walls of the vessel 14.

[0076] A lifting apparatus 28 is attached to flanges 30 on the vessel 14. The flanges 30 are located around the rim of the vessel 14, and are attachable to the lifting apparatus 28 to enable the vessel 14 to be lifted from the support structure 12 in the upwards direction of arrow 32. Once removed from the support structure 12, the magnetically active or ferrous particles 16 may be more easily removed from the vessel 14, and the vessel 14 may be more easily cleaned, for example.

[0077] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a support structure 12. As in FIG. 1, the support structure 12 has an open-top cuboid shape, comprising a base 42 and four side walls. In this example, the two major side walls 40a, 40b are rigidly attached to the base 42, while the minor side walls 44a, 44b are removable. The support structure 12 is equipped with slots 46a, 46b to support removable side walls 44a, 44b, whilst allowing them to be easily removed from the support structure. The support structure 12 also comprises support ties 48a, 48b to allow the support structure 12 to hold its shape when the removable side walls 44a, 44b have been removed. FIG. 2 shows the removable walls 44a, 44b, in the removed configuration and indicates, in broken outline, a path 50a, 50b, through which the removable walls 44a, 44b may be moved to engage with the support structure 12.

[0078] Although not shown in FIG. 2, any of the side walls or base of the support structure 12 may comprise a fluid inlet and/or fluid outlet, as previously explained with reference to FIG. 1. Having removable side walls 44a, 44b, may permit the replacement of one side wall with another, having varying configurations of fluid inlet and/or fluid outlet, for example. In FIG. 2, a removable wall having no fluid inlet or fluid outlet is shown.

[0079] However, at least one of the removable walls 44a, 44b, may be replaced with a removable wall having at least one fluid inlet and/or fluid outlet, which may be positioned as required.

[0080] In this example, as with FIG. 1, the electromagnet 26 is positioned beneath the base 42 of the support structure 12.

[0081] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of an apparatus 110 comprising multiple vessels 114a, 114b, 114c arranged in parallel. FIG. 3 comprises many similar components to FIGS. 1 and 2, and as such the reference numerals are the same, but augmented by 100.

[0082] Each of the vessels is supported in a corresponding support structure (not shown), and beneath each vessel 114a-c is located a corresponding electromagnet 126a, 126b, 126c. Treated fluid (not shown) flows into each of the vessels 114a-c via fluid inlet 118a, 118b, 118c, and out of the vessels via fluid outlet 120a, 120b, 120c.

[0083] In FIG. 3, fluid flow into and out of the vessels 114a-c can be controlled via operation of inlet valves 152a, 152b, 152c, and outlet valves 154a, 154b, 154c.

[0084] A control unit 156 may be used to control operation of the valves 152a-c, 154a-c and the electromagnets 126a-c (although it should be noted that no connection between the control unit 156 and the valves 154a-c is shown in FIG. 3 for clarity).

[0085] As with FIG. 1, the fluid is delivered to the vessels 114a-c via inlet pipes 119a-c, and drained from the vessels 114a-c via outlet pipes 121a-c. Shown in FIG. 3, the inlet pipes start out as a common inlet pipe 119, and branch out into separate inlet pipes 119a-c. Outlet pipes 121a-c begin as three separate branches and converge into one common outlet pipe 121.

[0086] In use, treated fluid flows along inlet pipe 119 and towards vessels 114a-c. The control unit is able to operate inlet valves 152a-c to divert the flow of treated fluid into each of the vessels 114a-c by selectively opening or closing each of the inlet valves 152a-c. The control unit may be able to configure each of the vessels 114a-c to receive treated fluid at the same time, or may configure the vessels to be filled sequentially or alternately.

[0087] When an inlet valve 152a-c is open and fluid is flowing into the respective vessel 114a-c, the outlet valve 154a-c is closed such that the fluid is held in the vessel. Once the fluid enters the vessel 114a-c, the corresponding electromagnet 126a-c is operated to capture magnetically active or ferrous particles within the fluid, so that the magnetically active or ferrous particles are attracted towards the electromagnet 126a-c and are retained in the vessel 114a-c.

[0088] The treated fluid is then held in the vessel 114a-c for a predetermined residence time e.g. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or the like, after which the outlet valve 154a-c is opened and the fluid allowed to flow from the vessel 114a-c. The fluid flowing from the vessel 114a-c is free from, or substantially free from, magnetically active or ferrous particles.

[0089] As FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the vessels 114a-c, it is not possible to show at which elevation each vessel 114a-c each is located. However, it is possible to locate each vessel 114a-c at the same or different elevations.

[0090] Although FIG. 3 is shown as having three vessels 114a-c, the skilled person would appreciate that an embodiment comprising more or fewer vessels would be possible. Further, although only one source of fluid is provided at inlet pipe 119, it should be appreciated that there may be multiple sources of fluid. Similarly, although only one outlet pipe 121 is shown, there may be multiple outlet pipes.

[0091] FIG. 4 is a side view of stacked vessels 214a, 214b in an example of an apparatus 210. The vessels 214a, 214b, shown are substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 1. As such the reference numerals are the same, but augmented by 200.

[0092] For clarity, in this example the support structure is omitted, however it should be understood that a support structure may be provided around the vessels 214a, 214b. FIG. 4 shows an apparatus 210 having two stacked vessels 214a, 214b. Although not shown, the vessels 214a, 214b, comprise a stacking arrangement to allow the vessels 214a, 214b to be stacked, while remaining stable. The stacking arrangement may be or comprise, for example, a male/female component, allowing the base of vessel 214a to engage the top of vessel 214b.

[0093] Inlet pipe 219a, 219b allows fluid to flow into each vessel via inlet 218a, 218b, and out of each vessel via fluid outlet 220a, 220b. Each vessel comprises an electromagnet 226a, 226b located beneath the base of the vessel 214a, 214b.

[0094] The apparatus 210 is operated in a similar manner to the apparatus in the previous Figures.

[0095] Although two vessels 214a, 214b are shown in FIG. 4, the skilled person would appreciate that more than two vessels may be stacked an operated as in FIG. 4.

[0096] Further, the vessels 214a, 214b are described as comprising a stacking apparatus to allow each of the vessels a stable engagement, permitting a stable stacking of the vessels. However, where a support structure is provided, a vessel may comprise a stacking arrangement permitting engagement with the support structure, rather than with a second vessel.

[0097] FIGS. 5A and 5B show side views of vessels 314a, 314b, 314c removed from an apparatus. The vessels shown are substantially similar to those shown in FIG. 1, and as such the reference numerals used are the same, but augmented by 300. Each of the vessels 314a-c is filled with magnetically active or ferrous particles removed from a treated fluid.

[0098] FIG. 5A shows two vessels 314a, 314b, stacked, similar to as shown in FIG. 4. Stacking the vessels while filled with magnetically active or ferrous particles may allow the vessels to be stored, while awaiting emptying of magnetically active or ferrous particles or cleaning.

[0099] FIG. 5B illustrates a vessel 314c filled with magnetically active or ferrous particles and attached to a lifting apparatus 328. A lifting apparatus is used to lift the vessels from the apparatus, and may also be used to stack the vessels.

[0100] FIG. 6 further illustrates an example of an apparatus 410. The apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is substantially similar to those shown in the previous Figures, as such the reference numerals used are the same, but incremented by 400.

[0101] The apparatus 410 comprises two vessels 414a, 414b, and each are contained in a support structure 412a, 412b. The inlet pipe 419 separates into two branches 419a, 419b to provide a treated fluid 422 to each vessel 414a, 414b, via fluid inlet 418a, 418b. As in FIG. 3, the vessels 414a, 414b are located in parallel.

[0102] Each vessel comprises a corresponding fluid outlet 420a, 420b leading to outlet pipe 421a, 421b. In this embodiment, at the section where the outlet pipes 421a, 421b converge into one single outlet pipe 421, there is located a secondary means 460 for removing magnetically active or ferrous particles from the treated fluid 422. In this embodiment, the secondary means is an electromagnetic rod system, although the skilled person will understand that any appropriate means or apparatus for removing particles from a fluid may be appropriate such as a strainer e.g. a mesh strainer, shaker etc. The secondary means 460 is used to remove particles from the treated fluid 422 that were not removed during residence of the treated fluid 422 in the vessels 414a, 414b. Failure to remove such particles from the fluid during residence in the vessels 414a, 414b may be due to the particles being too small, for example, for due to an overflow of particles in the vessel.

[0103] The apparatus 410 of FIG. 6 further comprises a bypass arrangement 470. The bypass arrangement 470 may be used when it is required to flow fluid from the inlet pipe 419 to the outlet pipe 421 without passage through the vessels 414a, 414b. This may be useful when, for example, the fluid does not contain any magnetically active or ferrous particles.