Harvesting atmospheric water using natural gas that would typically be flared and wasted

Abstract

A method and system for harvesting water from the atmosphere using unwanted combustible gas, where the unwanted combustible gas refers to combustible gas (e.g., natural gas) that would normally be flared off by the oil and gas operator or by a plant (e.g., petrochemical plant). The energy produced by burning the unwanted combustible gas is used to power vapor compression or vapor absorption based refrigeration units which provide the cooling capacity to condense water. The condensers may be coated with specialized condensation promoting coatings that increase the condensation heat transfer performance thereby enabling compact combustible gas powered atmospheric water harvesters. The water collected can be used for oilfield operations, hydraulic fracturing, waterflooding, etc.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates generally to natural gas flaring, and more particularly to harvesting atmospheric water using unwanted combustible gas (e.g., unwanted natural gas) that would typically be flared.BACKGROUND[0002]When petroleum crude oil is extracted and produced from onshore or offshore oil wells, natural gas associated with the oil is produced to the surface as well. Especially in areas of the world lacking gas handling equipment, pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure, vast amounts of such associated gas are commonly “flared” or burned up as waste or unusable gas. The flaring of associated gas may occur at the top of a vertical flare stack or it may occur in a ground-level flare.[0003]The amount of natural gas that is flared in the world is significant. As per estimates by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the World Bank, the total worldwide flaring in 2011 was about 20% of the annual U.S. domestic gas consumption...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a method and system for harvesting atmospheric water. This involves receiving a stream of unwanted combustible gas, purging it to remove oxygen, and distributing it to a gas engine to generate power. The system also includes a water condenser that condenses water vapor from the atmosphere into liquid, which is then stored in a water storage unit. The technical effect of this invention is the efficient utilization of unwanted combustible gas and the generation of power while also providing a steady supply of water for various applications.

Problems solved by technology

Especially in areas of the world lacking gas handling equipment, pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure, vast amounts of such associated gas are commonly “flared” or burned up as waste or unusable gas.

Flaring represents a significant waste of natural resources, in addition to creating significant environmental, thermal and light pollution near residential areas.

There are no easy solutions to reducing natural gas flaring.

Furthermore, gas production from newly developed hydraulically fractured wells declines rapidly, which precludes any infrastructure setup.

Lastly, gas production is distributed in producing fields which drives up gas collection costs.

Consequently, there is not currently a means for utilizing the unwanted natural gas for some constructive use.

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