Methods and Systems for Providing Steam

Abstract

A steam system is provided that includes a steam generator including boiler tubes that are modified to form a number of intermediate take-offs for removing water and steam from the boiler tubes. A number of intermediate separators are provided to separate the water and steam at each of the intermediate take-offs. Intermediate couplings are used to inject the water back into the boiler tubes downstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A steam system, comprising:
 a steam generator comprising boiler tubes that are modified to form a plurality of intermediate take-offs for removing water and steam from the boiler tubes;   a plurality of intermediate separators to separate the water and steam at each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs; and   a plurality of intermediate couplings to inject the water back into the boiler tubes downstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of intermediate separators comprises a plurality of condensate reservoirs in a single vessel, wherein each of the plurality of condensate reservoirs is separated from other condensate reservoirs by a weir. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , comprising a hydrocarbon development using at least one thermal recovery process, wherein the thermal recovery process is configured to utilize the steam produced by the steam generator. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the steam generator is configured to provide wet steam, dry steam, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , comprising a plurality of thermal recovery processes, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of thermal recovery processes utilize wet steam provided by the steam generator and at least a portion of the plurality of thermal recovery processes utilize dry steam provided by the steam generator. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the number of boiler tubes used downstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs is the same as the number of boiler tubes used upstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the number of boiler tubes used downstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs is less than the number of boiler tubes used upstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one intermediate separator comprises a gravity separator. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one intermediate separator comprises a centrifugal separator. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a section of boiler tubes beyond the last of the plurality of intermediate take-offs is duplicated to provide a spare section of boiler tubes. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the duplicated section of boiler tubes is shared by adjacent steam generators. 
     
     
         12 . A method for improving recovery from a hydrocarbon reservoir, the method comprising:
 matching a steam quality to a hydrocarbon development, wherein the steam is generated by a steam generator comprising:
 boiler tubes that are modified to form a plurality of intermediate take-offs for removing water and steam from the boiler tubes; 
 a plurality of intermediate separators to separate the water and steam at each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs; and 
   a plurality of intermediate couplings to inject the water back into the boiler tubes downstream of each of the plurality of intermediate take-offs; and
 adapting the steam generator to match a change in steam usage caused by a change in the hydrocarbon development. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 blending the water removed from at least one intermediate take-off with a boiler feed water stream to form a blended stream; and   injecting the blended stream back into the boiler tubes downstream of the at least one intermediate take-off.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising performing a plurality of thermal recovery processes on regions within the hydrocarbon reservoir, wherein different recovery processes are used for different regions or at different times. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising performing a thermal recovery process comprising steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), a steam flood process, a warm water extraction process, a Clark hot water extraction process, or any combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising subdividing the boiler tubes by separating each individual boiler tube. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising subdividing the boiler tubes by separating all the boiler tubes in a common separation system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising subdividing the boiler tubes by separating a fraction of the boiler tubes as a single entity. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 drilling a plurality of infill steam injection wells between each of a plurality of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) wellpairs;   injecting dry steam into a plurality of steam injection wells in the plurality of SAGD wellpairs; and   injecting wet steam into the plurality of infill steam injection wells.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 injecting dry steam into a plurality of steam injection wells in a plurality of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) wellpairs; and   injecting wet steam into a plurality of steam flood wells.