Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02829003 2015-08-13 Patent Application Inventors: Gregory A. Molaro (Rocky View County, Alberta, Canada) Aaron J. Bishop (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) Randy R. Meyer (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) Assignee: Altex Energy Ltd. (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) Title Process and Facility for Fluid Transfer Between Tanker Trucks and Railroad Tank Cars Prior Art US 4,373,857 Method of Transporting Bulk Fluid or Particulate Material US 4,304,271 Tank Car and train thereof loading and unloading systems US 5,468,117 Heating of Tank Car walls for ejecting frozen or congealed cargo US 7,451,789 Tank Car loading control and monitoring system and method US 5,305,237 Method and apparatus for monitoring a flowable material in a transportable vessel - 1 - WSLegal\064456\00027\12120290v3 CA 02829003 2015-08-13 Field of the Invention The field of the invention relates to a method and system for accurate and safe fluid transfers to and from tanker trucks and railroad tank cars at a fixed facility ("terminal"). In particular, the process effectively deals with the loading and unloading of segregated products including bitumen, heavy crude oil, crude oil, natural gasoline condensates, diesel fuel, gasoline, ethanol and jet fuel and similar hydrocarbons or process fluids typical for petroleum extraction and production/collection operations. Background of the Invention Transload of bitumen, heavy oil and other fluids between Railroad tank cars and tank trucks is normally achieved using portable loaders and gantries similar to those identified in US Patents: US 8,109,300 "Fuel transfer system and method of use", US 7,156,134 "Fuel transferring system and method of use", and US 6,945,288 "Fuel transferring system and method of use". This invention offers a different method and system that achieves better fluid management. A further complication to the prior art processes, which creates significant delays, is the need to unload the tank cars before they can be loaded and then refill the tank cars and tanker trucks with different fluids. This invention aims to rectify shortcomings in the prior art. Brief Description of the Prior Art The movement of undiluted bitumen and semi-diluted bitumen (dilbits with densities more than 920 kg/m3) between tanker trucks and railroad tank cars is achieved by pumping the bitumen and dilbit rapidly through loading systems. Placed between the tanker truck and the railroad tank car, these prior art systems employ a gantry equipped with a meter which measures the mass and volume of the fluid while It is being loaded from the tanker truck in to the tank car. In order to not over weight the tank car, an operator shuts off fluid flow into the tank car as the tank car approaches either its maximum weight or its maximum holding capacity. Hence, the economic efficiency of the railroad tank car is achieved when the car is full to either its maximum weight or maximum operating capacity (volume). However, the operational efficiency of the entire loading process is dependent upon the availability of the railroad tank cars (and where the railroad places them) plus the availability of the bitumen being delivered by the tanker trucks, the size of the truck's pump, and the effectiveness of the physical transfer process into the tank cars. Without the railroad tank cars and the tanker trucks being on-site at - 2 - VVSLegak064456\00027\12120290v3 CA 02829003 2013-09-26 the same railway siding at the same time, the conditions for a transfer process are not met, and a transfer cannot proceed. Hence, the prior art and the knowledge of those skilled in the art can work, but these inventions do not solve at least one fundamental impediment to efficient operation (coordination between tank cars and trucks) in their processes. Moreover, any invention that aims to solve this fundamental condition must be robust enough to handle fluids in both directions and be able to maintain product segregation, in a modern hydrocarbon and fluids transshipment operation or facility. This invention aims to achieve loading and economic efficiencies which are not possible with the prior art processes and systems. The railcar-side of this process of transloading of bitumen was proposed by Altex Energy Ltd. in 2007. Greg Molaro and Glen Perry filed a disclosure in 2008 which resulted in the awarding of US Patent #8,393,359 ("DUAL PURPOSE BITUMEN/DILUENT RAILROAD TANK CAR") in 2013. In 2007, no one foresaw the need for transporting bitumen and other fluids by rail. In 2010, Altex began transporting bitumen by rail using simple transloaders, as described in the prior art. As explained, those facilities were bottlenecked by constraints imposed by the interdependencies of the rail logistics and the truck logistics. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a block diagram and flowpath drawing representing a simplified embodiment of a configured system of the invention. Summary of the Invention The invention described here is a major step forward in transload design and operation. The successful application of this invention, accounts for, manages, and delivers tailored product streams to both tank cars and tanker trucks in both directions (that is, where shipped product is either truck-bound or train- bound). In an embodiment, a fixed facility system is provided for offloading fluid in a petroleum extraction, production, or collection setting from a tanker truck to a railcar, having: a. A truck loading/unloading dock with connections and safety equipment for fluid connection with the truck's tank b. An intermediate buffer storage tank c. A first conduit in fluid connection between the truck loading/unloading dock and the intermediate buffer storage tank d. A second conduit in fluid connection between the intermediate buffer storage tank and a gantry system e. The gantry system including a third conduit in fluid connection with the second conduit and with connections and safety equipment for fluid connection with a railcar's tank car for loading/unloading of the railcar's tank VVSLegA064456\00027\9583798v1 - 3 - CA 02829003 2013-09-26 f. A railway siding with tracks to accommodate the railcar's movement to and away from the gantry, as well as the loading/unloading of the railcar's tank using the conduits and connections of the system = In another embodiment, the system is provided for offloading fluid from a railcar to a truck's tank. In yet another embodiment, either system will be provided with a pump within the fluid's circuit. In yet another embodiment, the system can simultaneously enable multiple truck tanks and railcar tanks to be loaded and unloaded without having the road-based vehicles' logistics or operations interfere with the rail-based tank car logistics, and vice versa. In another embodiment, the intermediate buffer storage tank can be used for, or can be supplemented with equipment for, mild processing of the fluid, such as heating, settling, measuring, filtering, de-watering, chilling, demulsifying, separating by gravity or inertia or evaporation or similar mild processing functionalities. Where there are two or more fluid types within a system of this invention, the configurable conduits, pumps, tanks and other elements may be used to mix two or more fluids together in a predesigned way. Detailed Description of the Invention: We have found that efficient fluid management can only be derived by creating two essentially independent processes or circuits,: one dealing specifically with Railroad tank car arrival/management, loading and unloading; and the other dealing specifically with scheduling and arrival/management and loading/unloading of tanker trucks ¨ carried out in a co-ordinated way, using the system (facility) and method of this invention. The following description is an overview of the system in operation. Fluid delivered to the terminal by truck Fluids which arrive by tank truck are weighed with a weight scale 1 or measured with a meter 1 for fluid density, volume, mass and temperature or weight scale, or both, and in parallel the fluid is sampled to determine quality (for example, sediment, water, and density of the fluid may be measure in an onsite lab). For safety reasons, H2S and flashpoint may also be measured. The measurements may be recorded with information about the fluid's source, location in the system, or destination. The truck may then be released from the testing area and can proceed to a load-offload box ("Load Box") where the trucker can connect an electrical ground clamp and cable to the truck and can place chocks under the truck's drive wheels to prevent accidental movement of the vehicle. The truck's tank may be equipped with a hose for loading or offloading fluids. Alternatively, a connection on the truck may be connected to a hose or conduit for loading or offloading fluid. Here, all of these and similar situations are described as the "truck's hose", but it is understood that this includes any means of connecting the truck's tank for loading or off-loading of fluid. The truck's hose is connected to the truck connection in the Load Box (typically, this is a Cam- lock fitting). The truck driver or an operator may then open a valve located in or adjacent to the truck Load Box, engage the truck's onboard pump (often PTO driven or hydraulically driven) and commence the transfer of fluid from the truck into the terminal's piping system. To ensure product integrity, prior to the transferring fluid into the heated and insulated piping system, a terminal operator or automated operation ensures the correct valves are either opened or closed so that the offloaded fluid flows to the correct storage tank. WSLega1\064456\00027\9583798v1 - 4 - CA 02829003 2013-09-26 As the fluid transfers from the truck tank to the facility's intermediate storage tank displaced air and vapors from the storage tank's headspace are pushed through a vent line to the headspace in the truck or to a scrubber or an incinerator to be either collected or destroyed. Once the fluid is in the tank, the fluid's temperature is maintained at a temperature adequate for pumping and/or below the flashpoint of the fluid by means of a fire tube heater and/or a heating system containing steam or another heat transfer fluid. After the truck transfer to the piping system and intermediate facility storage tank(s) is complete the trucker or operator closes the delivery valve located adjacent or inside the truck box to the piping system, disconnects the truck's hose from the truck Load Box, removes the safety equipment (ground cable(s) and wheel chocks), then moves the truck to exit the terminal facility (or goes to a staging area, or at least leaves the unloading area of the facility?). Prior to exiting, the truck can be weighed (often on an exit scale ¨Scale #2) and data is collected for custody transfer purposes or the data is collected from the custody transfer meter ( Meter #1) located at or near the truck unloading box and recorded for custody transfer purposes. Custody transfers typically involves obtaining and recording results from measuring the fluid for bottoms, sediment and water and volume and/or weight. The truck then leaves the loading/unloading area of the terminal. The transferred fluid is stored in the intermediate storage tank until a specific shipper's railroad tank car is available or the fluid in the tank can be blended to the desired specifications. Several other physical and economic transactions within the terminal can occur. Some of these transactions include: sharing of tanks, comingling fluid streams, comingling of tank car fleets, sales of fluid between shippers, sales of fluids to parties who are not shippers, and fluid sales to individuals and/or corporations who are not shippers within the terminal. After the railroad tank car which is proposed to be used to further transport the fluid in the intermediate storage tank is identified and inspected it is placed adjacent to a loading gantry, wheel chocks may be placed to prevent the tank car from moving on the rails, manual brakes are set and an electrical ground cable is secured between the gantry and the tank car; these safety procedures will be appropriate to the facility, the fluids, the equipment used, and the risk tolerance of the operator, among other things. If present, a security tag on the tank car's bottom outlet valve is removed; the cap on the bottom outlet valve is then removed. The bottom outlet valve is visually checked to ensure it is closed. The operator then accesses the top of the tank car, removes the security tags from the manway cover and the dome lid and opens the dome lid. The operator then removes the plug from the vent valve (typically a 1" ball valve). A vapor collection line is connected to the vent valve and then the vent line valve is slowly opened so that any pressure (positive or negative) that exists in the tank car is released in a safe manner. After the pressure is stabilized to atmospheric pressure, the manway lid is opened so the manway gasket can be inspected. If necessary, the manway gasket is replaced. Depending on the fluid transfer system being employed, the fill line connection is made through the manway, a false the manway lid, or through the tank car's eduction tube. In most cases the tank car remains sealed from atmosphere while the loading process is under way. Once the hose from the VVSLega1\064456\00027\9583798v1 - 5 - CA 02829003 2013-09-26 loading arm (the loading system is also heat traced, typically electrically) is connected to either the false manway cover or the eduction tube (after removing the eduction tube plug) the valve in the manway cover (if present) or the eduction tube valve is opened. The tank car loader then signals the pump operator that the car is ready to be loaded. The pump operator checks to make sure the proper valves are open (and other valves are closed) between the correct tank(s) and the tank car, then engages the pump. The loader confirms fluid is flowing to the tank car. The tank car is then filled until the car is close to the most limiting of the following factors: its maximum volumetric capacity, a targeted weight, or the tank car's maximum weight (as measured by Meter #2). After the tank car is filled, the loading and vent valves are closed and the hose connection to the tank car is undone. Fittings are removed from the vent and eduction tube valves and the plugs are replaced and tightened with a tool. If loading was achieved through the manway, then the false manway cover is removed and the manway cover is replaced, it's bolts are retightened thus sealing the tank car. The dome lid is closed and seals are placed on the manway cover, dome lid and the bottom outlet valve. The tank car's Bill of Lading and other shipment documents as are required, are prepared and the railroad or the shipper is notified the tank car is ready for transport to its destination. Fluid delivered to the terminal by railroad tank car: When a railroad tank car arrives it is checked to make sure that its payload product is still secure in the tank car. The tank car is then moved to a location on a siding, adjacent to a gantry, where its wheels are chocked and the tank car is grounded. Seals are then removed from the top and bottom of the tank car. Either the bottom outlet cap is removed and a fitting is attached, or the dome lid is opened ande plugs are removed from a vent valve and eduction tub and a hose connection fitting to both valves is attached. A vent line is attached to the vent valve fitting and the valve is slowly opened to allow any pressure differential (positive or negative) in the tank car's tank to adjust to atmospheric pressure. After the pressure in the tank car has equalized to atmospheric pressure a hose is connected to the bottom outlet valve or the eduction tube valve (located under the dome lid at the top of the Railroad tank car). Information about the tank car's readiness to unload is generated and pumping equipment associated with the unloading is readied. It is confirmed that the correct valves are open and the correct valves are closed and then the tank car's valve is opened so loading can commence. The pump is started and it is confirmed that fluid is flowing out of the tank car and into the correct intermediate or buffer storage tank. The hoses and lines between the tank car and the storage tank may be heated, for example they can be electrically heat traced, to heat the fluid in the line, thus reducing its viscosity. The fluid in the intermediate storage tank may be kept at a temperature below its flashpoint and any emissions from the tank may be either retained using a floating roof tank, or sent to a scrubber or sent to an incinerator for destruction. The fluid in the interim storage tank may be isolated from atmosphere, and the fluid may be: stored, heated or cooled or maintained at a set temperature, blended, treated, pressurized, agitated, etc. VVSLega1\064456\00027\9583798v1 - 6 - CA 02829003 2013-09-26 When a tanker truck is available to take some of this fluid from the terminal facility's systems, the tanker is first weighed to determine the tare weight of the vehicle. The truck then goes to a particular truck load box. Wheel chocks may be deployed under the truck's traction wheels, and an electrical ground line may be connected to the truck. A hose is connected from the truck's tank to the facility's load box. A vent line is connected from the truck to the load box so that any air displaced during loading from inside the truck's tank ends up either in the fluid tank or is sent to a scrubber or is destroyed in the terminal's incinerator. The hose connections, deployment of the wheel chocks and an effective ground to the truck are confirmed at the facility and the loading process starts (it is to be understood that these safety measures are by way of example, and terminal or system or truck operators may follow different safety procedures ¨ these procedures are not particular to this invention). Information that the truck is ready for loading is available, it is confirmed all valves are in the correct position, and either the terminal's pump system is engaged to fill the tanker truck or the truck's on- board pump is engaged and filling the truck's tank commences. It is confirmed that fluid is flowing to the truck. After the truck is loaded the hoses (loading and vent) are disconnected from the loading box and the grounding cable and wheel chocks are returned to their respective stations (for example). The truck then exits the terminal by crossing the terminal's exit scale where the gross weight of the tanker truck is gathered. Alternatively, the truck can go directly to a specific truck loading box to be loaded using a meter which measures both mass and volume of fluid loaded. In this manner, the tanker truck is not over filled and is not over weight (unless there is a mistake), and the truck's loaded payload is identified and quantified during loading by metering. As above, safety procedures are followed, along the following lines: The trucker deploys wheel chocks under the truck's traction wheels, and connects a ground line to the truck. A hose may then be connected from the truck to the load box. A separate vent line may be connected from the truck to the load box so that any air inside the truck's tank ends up either in the fluid storage tank as it is displaced during loading, or is sent to a scrubber or is destroyed in the terminal's incinerator. It is confirmed that the hose connections, deployment of the wheel chocks and an effective grounding of the truck, or similar safety procedures, have been followed and that the truck's tank is in condition to be loaded. In an embodiment, the terminal's loader then signals the pump operator the truck is ready. The operator confirms the valves are in the correct position, and, if required, engages one of the terminal's pumps to fill the tanker truck or the trucker engages the truck's on-board pump and commences filling the truck's tank. The loader and truck driver confirm fluid is flowing to the truck. After the truck is loaded, the hoses (loading and vent) are disconnected from the truck loading box and the grounding cable and wheel chocks are returned to their respective stations. Because the mass and volume were recorded by the loading meter there is no need for the truck to exit using a truck scale. The truck can exit the terminal once the transfer is complete and equipment is returned to its "starting position". The piping system, meter and load box between the intermediate storage tank and the truck loading box can be heat traced and/or insulated. Heat can be applied at one or several portions of the conduits, piping, storage tanks, gantry, or hoses in the facility's systems to increase, decrease, or maintain the temperature of various fluids in the system, primarily to reduce or control the viscosity of the fluid in the terminal to ease its handling. VVSLega1\064456\00027\9583798v1 - 7 - CA 02829003 2013-09-26 The fluids are pumped from the railcar tank cars through a controllable and configurable piping and manifold system of valves, pipes, tanks and hoses to an appropriate intermediate product storage tank or tanks and are held until a tanker truck is available to remove the fluid from the terminal. Typically, the fluid removed from the storage tank is measured using a coriolis meter so that the mass, density, temperature and volume can be recorded during removal. This data may be the foundation information for recording, tracking and permitting custody transfer between the terminal and the customer, either for accounting or possession purposes (among other purposes). These fluids can include: diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, natural gasoline condensates, and ethanol, and the system is meant to handle hydrocarbons and other similar fluids common to the petroleum extraction, production and collection (upstream and mid-stream) operations In accordance with the invention is a method and process for the operation of a fluid transfer system between tanker trucks and railroad tank cars that produces a plurality of streams and is capable of: accurately loading and unloading tanker trucks and railroad tank cars, segregating those streams into distinct product flows, comprised of bitumen, heavy crude oil, crude oil, diluent, natural gasoline condensates, diesel fuel, gasoline, ethanol and jet fuel, and managing these streams through a system storage such that the loss and blending of streams in the process is minimized, and some processing of some streams is possible (such as heating, settling, filtering, demulsification, separation by gravity or evaporation, and similar mild processes). In addition, heat may applied to specific product streams at specific portions of the facility during movement or storage in the facility to minimize the time required to load and unload these products by affecting the fluid's viscosity, and can make the management of these products more efficient, and simplify the user's ability to account for these products while they are at the terminal. Heat may be supplied to products through one or a combination of sources: electrical heat trace, steam and/or fire tube in the piping system, tank storage and in the railway tank cars. Moreover, the correct implementation of this invention enables railroad tank cars to be unloaded while others are being filled using the same gantry system. While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention claimed. VVSLegaN64456\00027\9583798v1 - 8 -
