OPTIMIZING ENERGY PRODUCTION OF A LANDFILL GAS EXTRACTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of optimizing energy production of a landfill gas extraction system positioned at a landfill site, the landfill gas extraction system comprising a plurality of wellheads positioned around the landfill configured to extract landfill gas from the landfill, wherein each of the wellheads comprises a flow valve configured to control an amount of flow through the wellhead into the landfill gas extraction system, the method comprising:
- (a) receiving data regarding characteristics of at least some of the wellheads;
(b) determining adjustments to flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize energy production at the wellheads; and
(c) determining further adjustments to the flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize a total energy production of the landfill gas extraction system, wherein the further adjustments indicate that flow to certain wellheads should be decreased below levels indicated by the determined adjustments and flow to other wellheads should be further increased above levels indicated by the determined adjustments.
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Abstract
A computing system determines adjustments for each of a plurality of wellheads in a gas extraction system in order to increase a total energy production of the gas extraction system to at least an expected total energy production. The computing system determines preliminary adjustments for each of the wellheads and then determines further adjustments to certain of the wellheads based at least partly on a current energy production of respective wellheads, data regarding historical energy production of respective wellheads, and an affect the preliminary adjustment for a respective wellhead would have on the total energy production of the gas extraction system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of optimizing energy production of a landfill gas extraction system positioned at a landfill site, the landfill gas extraction system comprising a plurality of wellheads positioned around the landfill configured to extract landfill gas from the landfill, wherein each of the wellheads comprises a flow valve configured to control an amount of flow through the wellhead into the landfill gas extraction system, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving data regarding characteristics of at least some of the wellheads; (b) determining adjustments to flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize energy production at the wellheads; and (c) determining further adjustments to the flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize a total energy production of the landfill gas extraction system, wherein the further adjustments indicate that flow to certain wellheads should be decreased below levels indicated by the determined adjustments and flow to other wellheads should be further increased above levels indicated by the determined adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for optimizing energy production of a landfill gas extraction system positioned at a landfill site, the landfill gas extraction system comprising a plurality of wellheads positioned around the landfill configured to extract landfill gas from the landfill, wherein each of the wellheads comprises a flow valve configured to control an amount of landfill gas that flows through the respective wellhead into the landfill gas extraction system, the method comprising:
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means for receiving data regarding characteristics of at least some of the wellheads; means for determining adjustments to flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize energy production at the wellheads; and means for determining further adjustments to the flow valves of at least some of the wellheads in order to optimize a total energy production of the landfill gas extraction system, wherein the further adjustments indicate that flow to certain wellheads should be decreased and flow to other wellheads should be further increased. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A computer system for determining recommended adjustments to flow rates of at last some of a plurality of wellheads positioned at a landfill, the system comprising:
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a data collection module adapted to receive data regarding characteristics of the wellheads at the landfill, wherein the characteristics are usable to determine a current energy production for the wellheads, the data collection module also receives historical data for the wellheads, the historical data including historical energy production data and historical flow rate data regarding respective wellheads; an adjustment recommendation module adapted to determine suggested adjustments to the flow rates of at least some of the wellheads, wherein the suggested adjustments for a respective wellhead is determined based at least partly on the current energy production of the respective wellhead, the historical data for the respective wellhead, and an affect a preliminary suggested adjustment would have on a total energy production of the plurality of wellheads. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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- 15. A computing system for determining adjustments for each of a plurality of wellheads in a gas extraction system in order to increase a total energy production of the gas extraction system to at least an expected total energy production, the computing system determining preliminary adjustments for each of the wellheads and then determining further adjustments to certain of the wellheads based at least partly on a current energy production of respective wellheads, data regarding historical energy production of respective wellheads, and an affect the preliminary adjustment for a respective wellhead would have on the total energy production of the gas extraction system.
Specification