The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 08, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1997
Harold W Wahle, North Canton, OH (US);
Robert J Giammaruti, Caty, TX (US);
The Babcock & Wilcox Company, New Orleans, LA (US);
Abstract
A heat pipe heat exchanger for regulating the temperature of a wellstream fluid conveyed in a subsea pipeline from a wellhead has an annular reservoir surrounding a section of pipeline adjacent the wellhead. One or more heat pipes extend from the annular reservoir into the seawater. In a heat removal configuration, a working fluid is contained within the annular reservoir. The working fluid boils and is evaporated by heat from the wellstream fluid and forms a vapor, which rises upwardly into and is condensed within the heat pipes, releasing heat into the surrounding seawater. The recondensed working fluid flows back down into the reservoir to repeat the cycle. In a heat providing configuration, the working fluid is contained in the heat pipes, where it is boiled by heat transferred from the surrounding seawater. The resulting vapor rises upwardly into the annular reservoir and the heat is transferred to the cooler wellstream fluids. Other embodiments involve having the one or more heat pipes inserted through the pipeline wall.