High power microwave petroleum refinement

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for using high-power microwave radiation to process (e.g., refine) recovered oil. In certain embodiments, relatively low-power microwave radiation is propagated into a recovered oil emulsion to process the emulsion into a more useful product. For example, the radiation may be used to refine the oil emulsion into a light crude oil.

1 . A system for processing recovered oil, the system comprising:
 an oil transport pipe, adapted to receive an oil emulsion;   a microwave generation system, adapted to generate microwave radiation substantially at a microwave frequency and substantially at a power level; and   a radiation system, operatively coupled with the microwave generation system, and adapted to transmit at least a portion of the microwave radiation at the microwave frequency into the oil emulsion in the oil transport pipe to generate processed oil.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the oil emulsion comprises non-oil constituents, and the microwave radiation is adapted to at least partially separate the processed oil from the non-oil constituents. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the oil emulsion comprises macromolecules of hydrocarbons, and the microwave radiation is adapted to break down at least a portion of the macromolecules. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the microwave generation system comprises:
 a magnetron, adapted to generate microwave radiation at the microwave frequency, the microwave frequency being substantially 2.45 GHz.   
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the microwave generation system comprises:
 a klystron, adapted to generate microwave radiation at the microwave frequency, the microwave frequency being substantially 2.45 GHz.   
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the microwave generation system comprises:
 a magnetron, adapted to generate microwave radiation at the power level, the power level being substantially between two and five kilowatts.   
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the microwave generation system is located within the oil transport pipe. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the radiation system comprises:
 a wave guide, operatively coupled with the microwave generation system, and adapted to guide the propagation of substantially all of the microwave radiation at the microwave frequency from the microwave generation system to a radiation source location in the oil transport pipe.   
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the radiation system comprises:
 a plurality of wave guides, each being operatively coupled with the microwave generation system, and adapted to guide the propagation of a portion of the microwave radiation at the microwave frequency from the microwave generation system to one of a plurality of radiation source locations in the oil transport pipe,   wherein the wave guide is one of the plurality of wave guides and the radiation source location is one of the plurality of radiation source locations.   
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the radiation system further comprises a shield. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the wave guide comprises an aperture adapted to propagate at least a portion of the microwave radiation into the oil transport pipe;   the shield comprises an interface surface and is adapted to be substantially opaque to radiation at the microwave frequency; and   the interface surface is adapted to couple with the aperture so that radiation passing through the aperture is blocked by the shield when the shield is engaged.   
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the wave guide comprises an aperture adapted to propagate at least a portion of the microwave radiation into the oil transport pipe;   the shield comprises an interface surface and is adapted to mitigate harmful physical exposure of the aperture to the oil emulsion in the oil transport pipe; and   the interface surface is adapted to couple with the aperture so that the oil emulsion is blocked by the shield from coming into contact with the aperture when the shield is engaged.   
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the radiation system further comprises:
 a window, comprising two faces and adapted to be substantially transparent to radiation at the microwave frequency, wherein one of the faces of the window is optically coupled with the wave guide.   
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein at least a portion of the window is located within the oil transport pipe. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the shield comprises an interface surface and is adapted to be substantially opaque to radiation at the microwave frequency,
 wherein the interface surface is adapted to couple with the window so that radiation passing through the window is blocked by the shield when the shield is engaged.   
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the shield comprises an interface surface and is adapted to mitigate harmful physical exposure of the window to the oil emulsion in the oil transport pipe,
 wherein the interface surface is adapted to couple with the window so that the oil emulsion is blocked by the shield from coming into contact with the window when the shield is engaged.   
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the radiation system further comprises:
 a shield control system, adapted to at least partially control operation of the shield, controlling operation of the shield comprising engaging and disengaging the shield.   
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein a portion of the shield control system is located at a location remote from the shield, such that at least a portion of the operation of the shield is controllable from the location remote to the shield. 
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the radiation system passes through an exterior boundary of the oil transport pipe such that the portion of the radiation system crosses from outside of the oil transport pipe to inside of the oil transport pipe at a crossing region of the oil transport pipe, and the radiation system comprises:
 a sealing assembly, adapted to seal the crossing region of the oil transport pipe to prevent leakage at the crossing region.   
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the oil transport pipe comprises an upper region and a lower region, the upper region and the lower region being separated by a separator, the separator comprising at least one aperture, the aperture being adapted to allow the processed oil to pass from the lower region to the upper region. 
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein at least a portion of the radiation system is adapted to direct microwave radiation at the microwave frequency into the lower region of the oil transport pipe. 
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein at least a portion of the radiation system is operatively coupled with the separator. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the at least one aperture is adapted to substantially prevent leakage of microwave radiation at the microwave frequency from the lower region into the upper region. 
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a power management system, operatively coupled with the microwave generation system, and adapted to manage power supplied to the microwave generation system.   
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the power management system is further adapted to recycle at least a portion of constituents released during processing of the oil emulsion for use by the power management system. 
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an oil collection system, adapted to collect constituents released during processing of the oil emulsion.   
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensor system, adapted to generate feedback information as a function of at least one environmental condition inside the oil transport pipe.   
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the at least one environmental condition relates to at least one of a composition of the oil emulsion; a composition of the non-oil constituents; a temperature; or a pressure. 
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 a feedback control system, adapted to:
 receive feedback information from the sensor system; and 
 make a reconfiguration determination as a function of the feedback information, wherein the reconfiguration determination relates to at least one of: the microwave frequency; the power level; a polarity of the microwave radiation; a direction of propagation of the microwave radiation; a depth of transmission of the microwave radiation; a location of transmission of the microwave radiation; or a status of the shield. 
   
   
   
       30 . A method for processing recovered oil, the method comprising:
 receiving an oil emulsion in an oil transport pipe;   generating microwave radiation substantially at a microwave frequency; and   transmitting at least a portion of the microwave radiation into the oil emulsion in the oil transport pipe to generate processed oil.   
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 transporting at least a portion of the processed oil from the oil transport pipe to a collection location.   
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 sensing feedback information as a function of at least one environmental condition; and   making a reconfiguration determination as a function of the feedback information, wherein the reconfiguration determination relates to at least one of: the microwave frequency; a power level; a polarity of the microwave radiation; a direction of propagation of the microwave radiation; a depth of transmission of the microwave radiation; a location of transmission of the microwave radiation; or a status of the shield.   
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the oil emulsion comprises non-oil constituents, and the microwave radiation is adapted to at least partially separate the processed oil from the non-oil constituents. 
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the oil emulsion comprises macromolecules of hydrocarbons, and the microwave radiation is adapted to break down at least a portion of the macromolecules.