CA2037785A1 - Fire extinguishing apparatus for burning gas-and oil-wells - Google Patents
Fire extinguishing apparatus for burning gas-and oil-wellsInfo
- Publication number
- CA2037785A1 CA2037785A1 CA 2037785 CA2037785A CA2037785A1 CA 2037785 A1 CA2037785 A1 CA 2037785A1 CA 2037785 CA2037785 CA 2037785 CA 2037785 A CA2037785 A CA 2037785A CA 2037785 A1 CA2037785 A1 CA 2037785A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- well head
- gases
- chamber
- well
- unburnable
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Landscapes
- Fireproofing Substances (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
In fighting gas- and oil- well fires so far only large quantities of water have been used to cool the very hot steel debris which would reignite the burnable materials, then using dynamite to blow out the flames In this invention the burning zone is usually first moved away from the well head by lack of oxygen to avoid the other-wise constant reheating of the steel debris around the well head, and the burnable materials and the well head area are over time cooled below the reigniting temperature in and by that oxygen-free environment. The final extinguishing of the flames happens by shutting off the first provided exits for the burnable gases and deducting them simultaneously to a different outlet away from the first provided exits.
In fighting gas- and oil- well fires so far only large quantities of water have been used to cool the very hot steel debris which would reignite the burnable materials, then using dynamite to blow out the flames In this invention the burning zone is usually first moved away from the well head by lack of oxygen to avoid the other-wise constant reheating of the steel debris around the well head, and the burnable materials and the well head area are over time cooled below the reigniting temperature in and by that oxygen-free environment. The final extinguishing of the flames happens by shutting off the first provided exits for the burnable gases and deducting them simultaneously to a different outlet away from the first provided exits.
Description
SPECIFICATION ~3~7 ~
This invention relates -to a movable cha~nber which is to be placed over the burning well head and there deprives the burnable materials of oxygen over a period of tlme.
It is common in ~ighting gas- and oil-well fires to use large quantities of water - which are often hard to come by - to cool do~m the debris surrounding -the the well head and -then -to blow ou-t the flames with dynamite placed over -the well head. This is altoge-ther a very time consuming and dangerous proces~.
We have found that these disadvantages may be overcome by suffocating and diverting the fire by use o~ a movable chamber to be placed over the well heaa, using means of sealing this chamber against the ground so -that no major quantities of oxygen can enter the area near the well head.
The chamber also provides prescribed exits for the burnable materials where they can mix with oxygen and burn, but do no-t reheat -the debris around the well head. In the final stage the flames can be extinguished by shutting off this artificial burning zone and simultaneously providing another outlet located far enough away, so -that no transfer of fire can occur.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of one embodiment, Figure 2 is a top plan view of this embodimen-t, Figure 3 is an elevation partly in section of the well head replace-device, Figure ~ is an elevation par-tly in section of -the conical plug, Figure ~ is an elevation view of ano-ther embodimen-t, Figure 6 is a crossection of this embodiment, viewed from the same perspective as Figure ~
The first embodiment illustrated compxises a dome-shaped chamber 1, the lower rim of which consist of a ring 2 of large steel pipe with holes 3 cut into it at the lower lnner portions to let unburrla~L~
gases and/or vapors - in this caso exhaust gases ~rom turbine engines ~ -located at the distana ends ~ of long large steel pipes 6 i.nto which buYnable materials like propan or gasol.in are injected into the hot ~one close to the engines L~ through jets 7 in the plpes 6 to act like afterburners, consuming all l~ft over oxygen. O-ther jets 8 injec-t coolants like water or carbondioxid fur-ther down into -the pipes 6 to cool down the exhaust gases before reaching the chamber 1 -through the ring 2 and holes 3.
The length of the pipes 6 has through radiation and convection a strong cooling effect. They can additionally be cooled externally by spraying of water on-to them or by being double walled over a certain portion 9 with coolants running between the double walls, which then are sprayed into the pipes 6 through the jets 8.
The chamber 1 has on top a large opening 10, which is surrounded by a pipering 11 which has holes 12 cut into the inner portions, pointing slightly downward in-to the chamber 1. This pipe ring 11 is connected via a pipe 13 to one of the pipes 6, which can be closed off behind that connection by a valve 1~, thus diverting when closed a the given time - after the debris around the well head have cooled off well below the igniting temperature of the burnable materials - the flow o~ exhaust gases towards the upper ring 11 and -therefore surpressing the flow o~ burnable gases through the opening 10 and mixing the rest o~ the burnable gases ~lowing through opening 10 so heavily with exhaust gases, that no burning can occur. Simultaneously the pressure o~ the curtain of exhaus-t gases at the ring.2 decreases, allowing the burnable materials to escape unignited sidewards between the ring 2 and the ground. The flames are thus extinguished.
1~
Close to the opening 10 a small charge of explosives can be used to achieve the blow out effect usually achieved by a large charge of dynami-te over the buYni.ng well head.
~37~
The chamber 1 is moved over the well hrad and t'he de'bri--; arolmd it supported on skids 16 which hold -the pipes 6 and the charnber 1 up with or without the use o-E hydraulic or mechnical jacks 17 - located at the side which is away from -the radiatlon heat - via beams 18 fixed to the piyes 6. In the correct location over the well head chamber 1 is lowered by shortening the jacks 17 and/or by lifting -the third device of support 19, which is located close to -the distant ends of -the pipes 6. The devices 19 can be connected to the shield of buD~ozers 20 for pushing the whole construc-tion forward and for lifting and lowering of the support 19.
Doors 21 are located in the wall of the dome of the chamber 1 to let workers with oxygen supplying protective suits and/or tools enter the the chamber 1 in which a non ignitable environment has been established.
They will either put a shutt off valve over the exi.sting well head or,in the case that the well head is no longer capable of holding a shu-tt off valve, a well head replacement device 22, having a larger diameter than the rest of the well head, will be lowered over the rest of the well head so that ist lower rim 23 contacts the ground 24. Duroplasts or concrete are than pumped into the space 25 up to the level 26 of the rest of the well head 27. Af-ter the hardening of -the injected materials the valve 28 on the device 22 can be closed to shutt off the well.
In case that the rest of the well head is so short that the device 22 can not be securely put in place,a slightly conical metal plug 29 will be pushed very hard into the end 30 of the well pipe, thus shutting off the flow of the well. This plug 29 has a long extension 31, over which later on the device 22,with its valve 28 open, is lowered, thus aligning the valve 28 with the plug 29, so that -the plug 29 can be pulled ou-t through the device 22 via valve 28 which then can be closed and -the well is saved. As -the plug 29 can be pushed into the pipe end 30 even if it is located far below the ground level 24, the well can be shut-t off by -the plug 29 and either -the end 30 of the well pipe be cleared from the surrounding material of the ground, so tha-t -the devise 22 can be used or an additional well hole can be drilled without the well burning in the meantime.
The second embodiment,illustrated in ~i'-lgure 5 ~6t comprises a brlck shaped chamber 32 supported be skids 33, so that it rnay 'be pulled ovcr a burning well, a seotion o~ round pipe 34, fol:Lowed 'by a shoYt section of square pipe 35 and another section of round pipe 36, which is 'bent to raise tho tail end 37 off the ground. The chamber 32 is open at the -f'ront and partially open on top. This opening will be closed by the door 38, which is aktached by hinges 39, to trap the flamable gases from the well and force them out through the ducting 34, 35, 36. The bottom of the chamber 32 is partially open to allow oil and gas from the well to enter that chamber.
The sides and back of the chamber 32 as well as the front of the door 38 may be sealed against the ground by lowering fire-resistant fabric 40 from them, to cut off the oxygen supply at the well and extinguish all flame inside the apparatus.
The end 37 of the pipe 36 has a waterfilled evaporation collar 41 a-ttached to it to protect the apparatus from the hea-t of -the outcomming flame.
Ducting sections 34,35, 36 have several small openings 42 through which water is injected to cool the flamable gases below the ignition temperature. Section 3~ contains a trap door like valve 43 that cuts off the flow of gases to section 36 and permits the escape of gases out of -the top of section 35. Pipe 36 has several openings 4L~ through which carbondioxyd is injeCted -to prevent the flame from creeping backwards through pipe 36 and igniting the gases at -the opening in sec-tion 35 .
Chamber 32 has a rloor 45 for the samepurpose as in the first ernbodiment.
This invention relates -to a movable cha~nber which is to be placed over the burning well head and there deprives the burnable materials of oxygen over a period of tlme.
It is common in ~ighting gas- and oil-well fires to use large quantities of water - which are often hard to come by - to cool do~m the debris surrounding -the the well head and -then -to blow ou-t the flames with dynamite placed over -the well head. This is altoge-ther a very time consuming and dangerous proces~.
We have found that these disadvantages may be overcome by suffocating and diverting the fire by use o~ a movable chamber to be placed over the well heaa, using means of sealing this chamber against the ground so -that no major quantities of oxygen can enter the area near the well head.
The chamber also provides prescribed exits for the burnable materials where they can mix with oxygen and burn, but do no-t reheat -the debris around the well head. In the final stage the flames can be extinguished by shutting off this artificial burning zone and simultaneously providing another outlet located far enough away, so -that no transfer of fire can occur.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of one embodiment, Figure 2 is a top plan view of this embodimen-t, Figure 3 is an elevation partly in section of the well head replace-device, Figure ~ is an elevation par-tly in section of -the conical plug, Figure ~ is an elevation view of ano-ther embodimen-t, Figure 6 is a crossection of this embodiment, viewed from the same perspective as Figure ~
The first embodiment illustrated compxises a dome-shaped chamber 1, the lower rim of which consist of a ring 2 of large steel pipe with holes 3 cut into it at the lower lnner portions to let unburrla~L~
gases and/or vapors - in this caso exhaust gases ~rom turbine engines ~ -located at the distana ends ~ of long large steel pipes 6 i.nto which buYnable materials like propan or gasol.in are injected into the hot ~one close to the engines L~ through jets 7 in the plpes 6 to act like afterburners, consuming all l~ft over oxygen. O-ther jets 8 injec-t coolants like water or carbondioxid fur-ther down into -the pipes 6 to cool down the exhaust gases before reaching the chamber 1 -through the ring 2 and holes 3.
The length of the pipes 6 has through radiation and convection a strong cooling effect. They can additionally be cooled externally by spraying of water on-to them or by being double walled over a certain portion 9 with coolants running between the double walls, which then are sprayed into the pipes 6 through the jets 8.
The chamber 1 has on top a large opening 10, which is surrounded by a pipering 11 which has holes 12 cut into the inner portions, pointing slightly downward in-to the chamber 1. This pipe ring 11 is connected via a pipe 13 to one of the pipes 6, which can be closed off behind that connection by a valve 1~, thus diverting when closed a the given time - after the debris around the well head have cooled off well below the igniting temperature of the burnable materials - the flow o~ exhaust gases towards the upper ring 11 and -therefore surpressing the flow o~ burnable gases through the opening 10 and mixing the rest o~ the burnable gases ~lowing through opening 10 so heavily with exhaust gases, that no burning can occur. Simultaneously the pressure o~ the curtain of exhaus-t gases at the ring.2 decreases, allowing the burnable materials to escape unignited sidewards between the ring 2 and the ground. The flames are thus extinguished.
1~
Close to the opening 10 a small charge of explosives can be used to achieve the blow out effect usually achieved by a large charge of dynami-te over the buYni.ng well head.
~37~
The chamber 1 is moved over the well hrad and t'he de'bri--; arolmd it supported on skids 16 which hold -the pipes 6 and the charnber 1 up with or without the use o-E hydraulic or mechnical jacks 17 - located at the side which is away from -the radiatlon heat - via beams 18 fixed to the piyes 6. In the correct location over the well head chamber 1 is lowered by shortening the jacks 17 and/or by lifting -the third device of support 19, which is located close to -the distant ends of -the pipes 6. The devices 19 can be connected to the shield of buD~ozers 20 for pushing the whole construc-tion forward and for lifting and lowering of the support 19.
Doors 21 are located in the wall of the dome of the chamber 1 to let workers with oxygen supplying protective suits and/or tools enter the the chamber 1 in which a non ignitable environment has been established.
They will either put a shutt off valve over the exi.sting well head or,in the case that the well head is no longer capable of holding a shu-tt off valve, a well head replacement device 22, having a larger diameter than the rest of the well head, will be lowered over the rest of the well head so that ist lower rim 23 contacts the ground 24. Duroplasts or concrete are than pumped into the space 25 up to the level 26 of the rest of the well head 27. Af-ter the hardening of -the injected materials the valve 28 on the device 22 can be closed to shutt off the well.
In case that the rest of the well head is so short that the device 22 can not be securely put in place,a slightly conical metal plug 29 will be pushed very hard into the end 30 of the well pipe, thus shutting off the flow of the well. This plug 29 has a long extension 31, over which later on the device 22,with its valve 28 open, is lowered, thus aligning the valve 28 with the plug 29, so that -the plug 29 can be pulled ou-t through the device 22 via valve 28 which then can be closed and -the well is saved. As -the plug 29 can be pushed into the pipe end 30 even if it is located far below the ground level 24, the well can be shut-t off by -the plug 29 and either -the end 30 of the well pipe be cleared from the surrounding material of the ground, so tha-t -the devise 22 can be used or an additional well hole can be drilled without the well burning in the meantime.
The second embodiment,illustrated in ~i'-lgure 5 ~6t comprises a brlck shaped chamber 32 supported be skids 33, so that it rnay 'be pulled ovcr a burning well, a seotion o~ round pipe 34, fol:Lowed 'by a shoYt section of square pipe 35 and another section of round pipe 36, which is 'bent to raise tho tail end 37 off the ground. The chamber 32 is open at the -f'ront and partially open on top. This opening will be closed by the door 38, which is aktached by hinges 39, to trap the flamable gases from the well and force them out through the ducting 34, 35, 36. The bottom of the chamber 32 is partially open to allow oil and gas from the well to enter that chamber.
The sides and back of the chamber 32 as well as the front of the door 38 may be sealed against the ground by lowering fire-resistant fabric 40 from them, to cut off the oxygen supply at the well and extinguish all flame inside the apparatus.
The end 37 of the pipe 36 has a waterfilled evaporation collar 41 a-ttached to it to protect the apparatus from the hea-t of -the outcomming flame.
Ducting sections 34,35, 36 have several small openings 42 through which water is injected to cool the flamable gases below the ignition temperature. Section 3~ contains a trap door like valve 43 that cuts off the flow of gases to section 36 and permits the escape of gases out of -the top of section 35. Pipe 36 has several openings 4L~ through which carbondioxyd is injeCted -to prevent the flame from creeping backwards through pipe 36 and igniting the gases at -the opening in sec-tion 35 .
Chamber 32 has a rloor 45 for the samepurpose as in the first ernbodiment.
Claims (11)
1. An apparatus for extinguishing and caping of burning gas- and/or oil-wells, comprising a movable chamber, or movable parts which form a chamber in location over the well head, which cutts off the oxygen supply to the well head area.
2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the sealing of the chamber against the ground is achieved by a curtain of unburnable gases and/or vapors, preferably exhaust gases with water, and/or fireresistant flexible materials, preferable steel-asbestos combinations,
3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 or 2, in which the chamber can be lowered towards the ground by means of height-variable supports, preferably located away from the zone of maximum heat
4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1,2 or 3, in which the chamber has one or more openings which allow the superheated gases from the burning well to escape in a prescribed way, moving the zone of burning away from the well head, with or without cooling these openings by unburnable gases and/or water or other coolants.
5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, in which the openings can be sealed off by unburnable gases and/or vapors, and/or by mechanical means with or without providing additional escaps for the burnable materials, usually activated after the burnable materials are cooled below the temperature of ignition.
6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1,2,3,4 or 5, in which one or more doors allow workers and/or tools to be brought into the chamber filled with unburnable gases or vapors and/or burnable materials.
7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, in which the unburnable gases and/or vapors, and/or the burnable materials are cooled and transported to or away from the well head by means of ducts, preferably one or more steel pipes, with or without the use of coolants internally and/or externally.
8. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, in which one or more walls of the chamber are movable, preferably on turning axles located on the rest of the chamber.
9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 in which the unburnable gases are created by running jet and/or turbine engines, with or without afterburners, preferably located away from the well head on the distant ends of the pipes according to claim 7.
10. A well head replacement device, to be used with or without the apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, which is larger in diameter than the original well head, which is lowered over this broken well head and fixed to the well pipe and rest of the well head by pumping concrete or duroplastic material in the space between the well head and the replacement device.
11. A conical plug, preferably made of metal to be used with or without the apparatus as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, with or without an extension that guides the well head replacement device over the broken well pipe and can later be pulled out through the still open valve of the well head replacement device as defined in claim 1o.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2037785 CA2037785A1 (en) | 1991-03-07 | 1991-03-07 | Fire extinguishing apparatus for burning gas-and oil-wells |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2037785 CA2037785A1 (en) | 1991-03-07 | 1991-03-07 | Fire extinguishing apparatus for burning gas-and oil-wells |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2037785A1 true CA2037785A1 (en) | 1992-09-08 |
Family
ID=4147151
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2037785 Abandoned CA2037785A1 (en) | 1991-03-07 | 1991-03-07 | Fire extinguishing apparatus for burning gas-and oil-wells |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2037785A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN114000846A (en) * | 2021-11-01 | 2022-02-01 | 四川宏华石油设备有限公司 | Wellhead cutting device and cutting method thereof |
-
1991
- 1991-03-07 CA CA 2037785 patent/CA2037785A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN114000846A (en) * | 2021-11-01 | 2022-02-01 | 四川宏华石油设备有限公司 | Wellhead cutting device and cutting method thereof |
| CN114000846B (en) * | 2021-11-01 | 2023-08-18 | 四川宏华石油设备有限公司 | Wellhead cutting device and cutting method thereof |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FZDE | Dead |