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[0001] The present invention relates to servicing equipment for oil wells generally, and in particular relates to a means of containing fluids, such as oil and salt water, leaking from a wellhead, and storing such fluids for further use.
[0002] An environmental and economic problem at oil and gas wellsites is the leakage of oil and/or other produced fluids, such as salt water and related oil by-products. Typically, the seals in a suffing box of a wellhead pumped by a pumpjack wear out over time and begin to leak oil down the wellhead and into the surrounding soil before the leak is detected and new seals are installed. This pattern may repeat itself many times over the life of a wellsite, resulting in contamination of the wellsite with oil and produced fluids. Such contamination can result in water table damage and may spread to residential water wells and the like. Reclamation costs of such wellsites are time consuming and expensive. Some earlier attempts have been made to address such leaks, but have failed, partly because, until recently, the scope of the problem has either not been know or not taken very seriously.
[0003] Some of the earlier attempted solutions to the problem have failed because of ineffective sealing at the lower flange of the stuffing box, thus allowing the oil and/or produced fluid to leak out of the fluid containment device along the wellhead piping onto the surrounding soil. Other products have not been adopted as they require disruption of the oilwell operation for their installation, and some even require modification to the stuffing box and/or wellhead piping and components. Another drawback is that such prior products require considerable time (one or more hours) and tooling for installation.
[0004] What is therefore desired is a product that overcomes these disadvantages and problems.
[0005] According to the present invention, there is provided in one aspect an apparatus for containing fluids, such as oil and salt water leaking from a wellhead, and storing such fluids for re-use or disposal. The apparatus should be capable of quick installation without interfering with wellhead operation, and should require few if any tools.
[0006] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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[0055] The figures show an apparatus (generally designated by reference numeral
[0056] The wellhead apparatus
[0057] Several integral tabs
[0058] A compressible rubber or neoprene gasket
[0059] As the size of stuffing boxes is not uniform, the base's bottom opening
[0060] The base
[0061] The dome of the cover has a second, upper opening
[0062] The operation and many advantages and features of the present invention may now be better understood and summarized.
[0063] Good results have been achieved for the base and lid construction using flexible lightweight plastic materials adapted for either standard (i.e. down to −50 C ambient) or high temperature (up to 122 C) applications. The standard temperature wellhead Skirt design allows for installation on conventional oil pumping operations, whereas the high temperature wellhead Skirt design allows for installation on high temperature heavy oil pumping operations.
[0064] The present containment apparatus
[0065] No special tools are required, thus facilitating Skirt installation.
[0066] The Skirt does not utilize replaceable absorbent materials. Any leakage is drained through a the drain hole
[0067] The base
[0068] The Skirt is closed and secured to the stuffing box with the lockable latching buckle
[0069] The two sections of the lid
[0070] The lid is secured to the base by two locking pin and lanyard arrangements located opposite to each other on each half of the lid. The lid sections are placed over the base and the pins are placed through aligned pre-drilled holes in the lid and base to secure the lid to the base. Such arrangement provides ease of access to the stuffing box for wellhead maintenance.
[0071] Once the base
[0072] The completely assembled containment apparatus
[0073] The Skirt protects the stuffing box seals from damage by snow, wind and sand.
[0074] The Skirt controls against wellhead freeze up and wax problems, and helps deter wellhead surface casing rust and corrosion.
[0075] The Skirt reduces or eliminates ground and water contamination from the stuffing box, thus reducing costly land reclamation and well abandonment costs due to excessive wellhead leakage.
[0076] The Skirt reduces costly wellhead steam cleaning.
[0077] The reservoir
[0078] In one variation of the lid, an elongated or extended top portion
[0079] In yet another variation of the present invention one or both halves of the lid may be constructed of a clear UV protected plexi-glass material to allow the operator a convenient, unobstructed view into the base.
[0080] Installation of the Skirt requires no expensive modifications to the wellhead, moving of equipment, valves, or removal of the Presco (line pressure) switch.
[0081] The Skirt may be used on all types of rod pump oil wells, including wells with Rodaflex™ pumping units, and allows for installation and use of polish rod lubricators.
[0082] The above description is intended in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and variations to the specific configurations described may be apparent to skilled persons in adapting the present invention to other specific applications. Such variations are intended to form part of the present invention insofar as they are within the spirit and scope of the claims below.