US-12624834-B2 - Real-time flare optimization using an edge device

US12624834B2US 12624834 B2US12624834 B2US 12624834B2US-12624834-B2

Abstract

Automated systems and methods are provided for continuous monitoring of the flaring of waste gas at an industrial facility, which employ an RGB camera operably coupled to a gateway device by a data communication interface. The RGB camera is configured to capture time-series color image frames of a flare and communicate the time-series color image frames to the gateway device. The gateway device includes an image processing module and a flare optimization module executing on the gateway device. The image processing module is configured to process the time-series color image frames to determine at least one flare parameter that provides a qualitative measurement of the combustion efficiency of the flare over time. The flare optimization module is configured to adjust relative amount of waste gas to at least one assist gas for the flare based on the at least one flare parameter to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare.

Inventors

Gian-Marcio Gey
Andrew Emil Pomerantz

Assignees

SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220407

Claims (20)

1 . An automated system for continuous optimization of a flaring of waste gas at an industrial facility, the automated system comprising: an RGB camera operably coupled to a gateway device by a data communication interface; and a pressure sensor configured to measure a waste gas flowline pressure of the waste gas; wherein: the RGB camera is configured to capture time-series color image frames of a flare produced at the industrial facility and communicate the time-series color image frames to the gateway device; the gateway device includes an image processing module and a flare optimization module executing on the gateway device; the image processing module is configured to process the time-series color image frames to determine at least one flare parameter that provides a qualitative measurement of combustion efficiency of the flare over time; and the flare optimization module is configured to; evaluate the waste gas flowline pressure to determine if the waste gas is flowing to a flare tip of the flare, the evaluation including determining if the waste gas flowline pressure is greater than a predetermined criterion which indicates the waste gas is flowing to the flare tip; and adjust a relative amount of the waste gas to at least one assist gas for the flare based on the at least one flare parameter to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare.
2 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the flare optimization module is configured to control the relative amount of the waste gas to the at least one assist gas that produces the flare to optimize the at least one flare parameter.
3 . The automated system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a flare stack with the flare tip; a first flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the first flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of the waste gas; and a second flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the second flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of one or more assist gases; wherein: the first flow control device comprises a first electric valve and the second flow control device comprises a second electric valve; and the gateway device is configured to communicate signals or commands to at least one of the first electric valve or the second electric valve based on an execution of the flare optimization module in order to adjust the relative amount of the waste gas to the one or more assist gases supplied to the flare tip for mixing and combustion that produces the flare to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare.
4 . The automated system according to claim 3 , further comprising: the pressure sensor operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the pressure sensor configured to measure a flow line pressure of the waste gas supplied to the flare tip and communicate data representing the flow line pressure to the gateway device; and an ignitor operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the ignitor configured to supply an ignition flame to the flare tip when activated; wherein the gateway device is further configured to process the at least one flare parameter determined by the image processing module and the data representing the flow line pressure communicated from the pressure sensor, and selectively activate the ignitor based on such processing.
5 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the at least one assist gas comprises at least one of air, steam, or other assist gas.
6 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the at least one flare parameter further represents an amount of efficient combustion of the flare and an amount of inefficient combustion of the flare; and the flare optimization module optimizes the at least one flare parameter by yielding a more efficient combustion and a less efficient combustion of the flare.
7 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the at least one flare parameter represents at least one of a ratio of a smoke to a fire of the flare or a ratio of the fire to the smoke of the flare; and the flare optimization module optimizes the at least one flare parameter by minimizing the ratio of the smoke to the fire of the flare or by maximizing the ratio of the fire to the smoke of the flare.
8 . The automated system according to claim 7 , wherein: the time-series color image frames of the flare comprise an RGB image of the flare, the RGB image including pixels; the ratio of the smoke to the fire of the flare is represented by a first ratio of a first pixel count of the pixels representing the smoke to a second pixel count of the pixels representing the fire; and the ratio of the fire to the smoke of the flare is represented by a second ratio of the second pixel count to the first pixel count.
9 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the at least one flare parameter further represents a color temperature of a combustion of the flare; and the flare optimization module further optimizes the at least one flare parameter by adjusting the color temperature of the combustion of the flare.
10 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the image processing module comprises at least one machine learning model that determines the at least one flare parameter based on a first input including an RGB image of the flare.
11 . The automated system according to claim 10 , wherein: the at least one machine learning model includes a first machine learning model that is trained to generate a pixel-wise label mask for an arbitrary RGB image of the flare supplied as a second input to the first machine learning model; the pixel-wise label mask classifies pixels of the arbitrary RGB image of the flare as corresponding to a set of predefined labels; and the set of predefined labels include a first label representing an efficient combustion of the flare and a second label representing an inefficient combustion of the flare.
12 . The automated system according to claim 11 , wherein: the image processing module is further configured to process the pixel-wise label mask to determine a first pixel count and a second pixel count; the first pixel count represents an amount of the efficient combustion of the flare; and the second pixel count represents an amount of the inefficient combustion of the flare.
13 . The automated system according to claim 11 , wherein: the first machine learning model is trained with training data that includes at least one RGB image of the flare and a corresponding pixel-wise label mask for the at least one RGB image of the flare; and the pixel-wise label mask is generated by first image processing operations that segment pixels of the RGB image of the flare that correspond to the efficient combustion of the flare as well as second image processing operations that segment pixels of the RGB image of the flare that correspond to the inefficient combustion of the flare.
14 . The automated system according to claim 11 , wherein: the first machine learning model comprises a convolution encoder-decoder machine learning model.
15 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the image processing module is further configured to process an arbitrary RGB image of the flare to generate output data that represents a color temperature of combustion of the flare.
16 . The automated system according to claim 1 , wherein: the industrial facility comprises an oil production site, a refinery, or a chemical processing plant.
17 . A method for continuous optimization of a flaring of waste gas at an industrial facility, the method comprising: providing an RGB camera operably coupled to a gateway device by a data communication interface, wherein the RGB camera is configured to capture time-series color image frames of a flare produced at the industrial facility and communicate the time-series color image frames to the gateway device; providing a pressure sensor configured to measure a waste gas flowline pressure of the waste gas; and configuring the gateway device to execute an image processing module and a flare optimization module, wherein: the image processing module is configured to process the time-series color image frames to determine at least one flare parameter that provides a qualitative measurement of combustion efficiency of the flare over time; and the flare optimization module is configured to; evaluate the waste gas flowline pressure to determine if the waste gas is flowing to a flare tip of the flare, the evaluation including determining if the waste gas flowline pressure is greater than a predetermined criterion which indicates the waste gas is flowing to the flare tip; and adjust a relative amount of the waste gas to at least one assist gas for the flare based on the at least one flare parameter to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare.
18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein: the flare optimization module is configured to control the relative amount of the waste gas to the at least one assist gas that produces the flare to optimize the at least one flare parameter.
19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein: the at least one assist gas comprises at least one of air, steam, or other assist gas.
20 . The method according to claim 17 , further comprising: providing a flare stack with the flare tip at the industrial facility, a first flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the first flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of the waste gas, and second flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by the data communication interface, the second flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of one or more assist gases; configuring the gateway device to communicate signals or commands to at least one of a first electric valve of the first flow control device or a second electric valve of the second flow control device based on the execution of the flare optimization module in order to adjust the relative amount of the waste gas to the one or more assist gases supplied to the flare tip for a mixing and a combustion that produces the flare to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) The present application is a National Stage Entry of International Application No. PCT/US2022/071602, filed on Apr. 7, 2022, which claims priority from U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 63/171,660, filed on Apr. 7, 2021, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that monitor and control flare stacks over time. BACKGROUND Flare stacks are commonly used in many industries to safely burn off harmful combustible waste gases and byproducts, which is referred to as waste gas herein. For example, flare stacks are used extensively to dispose of waste gases from refineries, gases produced with oil from oil wells, vented gases from blast furnaces, unused gases from coke ovens, and gaseous wastes from chemical industries. Typically, the waste gases flared from refineries, petroleum production, and chemical industries are composed largely of low molecular weight hydrocarbons with high heating value. All of these industries have the challenge of minimizing harmful emissions, complying with regulations, and managing the high cost of manual monitoring and maintenance. The combustion efficiency of flare stack relates to the relative amount of hydrocarbons of the waste gas that are consumed by the combustion process as compared to the amount of hydrocarbons of the waste gas that are not consumed by the combustion process. If the flare stack is operating with low combustion efficiency, carbon particles (soot), unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide are emitted from the flare stack. If the flare stack is operating with high combustion efficiency, the emission of carbon particles (soot), unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide is significantly reduced. In order to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and potential safety hazards, it is beneficial to operate the flare stack with high combustion efficiency. Existing technologies are used to monitor the flare produced by a flare stack. For example, infrared cameras and/or spectrometers are used to characterize the combustion efficiency of the flare stack by measuring hydrocarbon (typically methane) concentration and carbon dioxide concentration of the flare. This technology provides a quantitative estimate of combustion efficiency, although the infrared equipment is relatively expensive. The combustion efficiency of the flare stack can also be measured in controlled conditions by sampling the air around the flare and measuring the hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide concentrations. However, that method is difficult to apply in the field and can be expensive. SUMMARY Automated systems and methods are provided for continuous monitoring of the flaring of waste gas at an industrial facility wherein an RGB camera is operably coupled to a gateway device by a data communication interface. The RGB camera is configured to capture time-series color image frames of a flare produced at the industrial facility and communicate the time-series color image frames to the gateway device. The gateway device includes an image processing module and a flare optimization module executing on the gateway device. The image processing module is configured to process the time-series color image frames to determine at least one flare parameter that provides a qualitative measurement of the combustion efficiency of the flare over time. The flare optimization module is configured to adjust relative amount of waste gas to at least one assist gas (e.g., air, steam, other assist gas, or a combination thereof) for the flare based on the at least one flare parameter to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare. In embodiments, the flare optimization module can be configured to control the relative amount of waste gas to the at least one assist gas that produces the flare to optimize the at least one flare parameter. In embodiments, the systems and methods further employ a flare stack with a flare tip, an electric valve or flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by a data communication interface, the electric valve or flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of waste gas, and at least one additional electric valve or flow control device operably coupled to the gateway device by a data communication interface, the at least one additional electric valve or flow control device fluidly coupled to a supply of one or more assist gases (e.g., air, steam, other assist gas, or a combination thereof). The gateway device can be configured to communicate signals or commands to at least one of the electric valve or flow control device and the at least one additional valve or flow control device based on the execution of the flare optimization module in order to adjust the relative amount of waste gas to the one or more assist gases supplied to the flare tip for mixing and combustion that produces the flare to continuously optimize the combustion efficiency of the flare. In embodiments,