Computer instructions to form an actual sales or delivery value for all components of a commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream

• US 7,895,052 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2009
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Southern Petroleum Laboratories, Inc. (SPL Holdings LLC (Delaware))
• Original Assignee: SPL, Inc.
• Inventors: Theriot, William Joseph, Wild, William Jeffrey, Brown, Mark Reese, Landes, Joseph Edward, Brown, Herman Reese
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes; John W
• Assistant Examiner(s): NELSON, FREDA ANN
• Application Number:
  US12/410,051
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/7, 705/10, 705 37- 38, 705/400, 166/267, 709/223
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Computer instructions to instruct a processor to form an actual sales value or actual delivery value for all components of a commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream using mass, volume and energy, to create a theoretical commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream molecular composition and present the information on individual components in the commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream instantaneously to a buyer and a seller.

Claims

1. Computer instructions in data storage of a processor for instructing the processor to compute an actual sales value or an actual delivery value for all of a plurality of components in a commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream, comprising the steps of:

a. determining a member of the group consisting of;

a mass, a volume, an energy, or combinations thereof, for each of a plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams;

b. obtaining a plurality of hydrocarbon samples, one hydrocarbon sample from each of the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams, wherein each hydrocarbon sample is representative of each of the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams;

c. determining a plurality of molecular compositions, one molecular composition for each of the hydrocarbon samples, wherein each of the molecular compositions comprises a plurality of components;

d. applying a virtual tag to each of the plurality of components, forming a plurality of tagged components for each hydrocarbon sample;

e. entering the plurality of tagged components into a process simulation model (PSM) for a specified facility;

f. using a processor with the process simulation model (PSM) for the specified facility to compute a theoretical commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream molecular composition and compute a member of the group consisting of;

a component mass, a component volume, a component energy, or combinations thereof, for each theoretical commingled hydrocarbon stream molecular composition using the mass, the volume, the energy, or combinations thereof of the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams; and

g. using at least one processor, pro-rate the theoretical commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream molecular composition to an agreed upon volume, an agreed upon mass, an agreed upon energy, or combinations thereof, between a buyer and a seller, to form the actual sales value or actual delivery value for each component in the commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream.

2. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the processor is instructed to perform concurrently with step (g), the step of calculating the location of any one of the plurality of tagged components as any one of the plurality of tagged components is processed through any part of the specified facility, and wherein the step of calculating the location accommodates any phase change experienced by any portion of any one of the tagged components.

3. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the process simulation model comprises at least one phase change for at least one of the plurality of tagged components.

4. The computer instructions of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities forming the hydrocarbon fluid stream can include a member of the group consisting of:

a crude oil, a condensate, a natural gas, a liquefied natural gas, a liquefied petroleum gas, or combinations thereof.

5. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams include at least one production stream.

6. The computer instructions of claim 5, wherein the at least one production stream is an offshore production stream.

7. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams include a pipeline condensate, a “

retrograde”

condensate or combinations thereof.

8. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein virtual tag includes an identified production source.

9. The computer instructions of claim 8, wherein the identified production source comprises:

a geographic location, an arbitrary name given by a production source or equipment owner, a leased production field name, a name of an operator of a field, a name of an operator of a well, a name of a hydrocarbon producer, a name of a purchaser of one of the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams, or combinations thereof.

10. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the process simulation model comprises:

an equation of state.

11. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of hydrocarbon samples is obtained through a continuous sampling system, a batch sampling system or another spot sampling system.

12. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the step for determining at least one of the plurality of molecular compositions is by a member selected from the group:

gas chromatography, distillation, pressure volume temperature analysis, infrared analysis, titration, thermal spectral analysis, or combinations thereof.

13. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the plurality of components of the molecular composition comprise:

nitrogen, argon, helium, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur and sulfur species, water, C1 through C-100 hydrocarbons, and combinations thereof.

14. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the virtual tag comprises:

a chemical name of one of the plurality of component and a member of the group consisting of;

a number, a bar code, a color, an alphanumeric indicator, an animation, a series of objects, a biometric indicator, a hexadecimal code or combinations thereof.

15. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the specified facility of the PMS is a geographically identifiable facility.

16. The computer instructions of claim 1, wherein the actual sales value or actual delivery value is computed when custody transfer of the commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream occurs from the seller to the buyer and money is assigned to the seller based on component volumes, component energies, component masses or combinations thereof for each component of the commingled hydrocarbon fluid streams.

17. The computer instructions of claim 1, further comprising computer instructions that can instruct a buyer processor to maintain a buyer executive dashboard concerning the molecular compositions and the plurality of components for continuous monitoring and review and, computer instructions that can instruct a seller processor to maintain a seller executive dashboard concerning the molecular compositions and the plurality of components for continuous monitoring and review.