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

• US 7,895,134 B2
• 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:
  US12/410,022
• Publication Number:
  US 20100250468A1
• Time in Patent Office: 700 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705 7- 8, 705/10, 705 37- 38, 705/400, 702/6, 709/223, 166/308.1
• US Class Current: 705/400
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A system 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. A system for computing an actual sales value or an actual delivery value for all of a plurality of commodities of a commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream, comprising:

a. a first processor with first processor data storage in communication with a plurality of sampling devices obtaining a plurality of samples using computer instructions to obtain a plurality of hydrocarbon samples, wherein each hydrocarbon sample is representative of each of a plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams;

b. a plurality of computer instructions in first processor data storage, wherein the computer instructions instruct the first processor to;

determine a member of the group consisting of;

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

determine a plurality of molecular compositions for each of the plurality of hydrocarbon samples, wherein each of the plurality of molecular compositions comprises a plurality of components;

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

communicate the virtual tagged components to a process simulation model for a specified facility;

use the process simulation model 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, component energy, or combinations thereof, for each of the plurality of components of the theoretical commingled hydrocarbon stream molecular composition using the mass, the volume, the energy or combinations thereof; and

pro-rate the theoretical commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream using the theoretical commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream molecular composition with an agreed upon volume, an agreed upon mass, or an agreed upon energy or combinations thereof, between a buyer and a seller, to form the actual sales value or actual delivery value for the plurality of components in the commingled hydrocarbon fluid stream;

c. a buyer processor in communication with the first processor over a first network, wherein the buyer processor is in communication with buyer processor data storage with computer instructions to operate a buyer executive dashboard using information from the first processor, and

d. a seller processor in communication with the first processor over the first network, wherein the seller processor is in communication with seller processor data storage with computer instructions to operate a seller executive dashboard using information from the first processor.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising computer instructions that perform concurrently with the process simulation model calculating the location of any one of the plurality of components as any one of the plurality of components is processed through any part of the specified facility, and further wherein that calculation accommodates any phase change experienced by any portion of one of the components.

3. The system 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 system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of commodities 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 system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fluid streams include at least one production stream.

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

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

retrograde”

condensate.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein virtual tag can be a number, a color, an alphanumeric indicator, an identified production source or combinations thereof.

9. The system 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 system of claim 1, wherein the process simulation model comprises:

an equation of state.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the mass, volume, energy, or combinations thereof, is determined using a meter, a metering station, a remote terminal unit with a meter, a virtual meter, or combinations thereof.

12. The system 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.

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

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

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of components comprise:

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

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual tag comprises:

a chemical name of the component and a member of the group comprising;

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

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the specified facility is geographically identifiable.

17. The system 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 or component masses for each components of the commingled hydrocarbon fluid streams.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the network can be a worldwide communication network, a satellite network, a wireless network, a local area network, or combinations thereof.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a. computer instructions that instruct the buyer processor to maintain a buyer executive dashboard concerning the molecular compositions and the plurality of components for continuous monitoring and review; and

b. computer instructions that instruct the seller processor to maintain a seller executive dashboard concerning the molecular compositions and the plurality of components for continuous monitoring and review.