The HydroFlame Steam Generator
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Dr. Rao working on the 750,000 Btu/hr steam generator in his lab at the University of Calgary, Canada. |
The concept of flame in the vortex core of rotating water, referred to as the HydroFlame Concept, was invented and developed by Dr. Dandina N. Rao in the 1980s in Calgary, Canada. Dr. Rao built HydroFlame's earliest prototypes - a 340,000 But/hr atmospheric pressure hot water heater and a 750,000 Btu/hr steam generator at 50 psi. He also successfully conducted propane firing with enriched-air on the 750,000 Btu/hr steam generator.
In the HydroFlame steam generator, the combustion process is carried out in the vortex core of two films of rotating water protecting the combustion chamber walls from the high temperature flame.
The novel HydroFlame direct-contact combustion process has been adapted for use in a Downhole Steam Generator (DHSG), which enables the cost-effective development of the world's largely untapped Heavy Oil and Bitumen reserves.
This unique design concept enables the HydroFlame steam generator:
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To use oxygen for combustion if required instead of air
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To utilize, with minimal pre-treatment, the enormous amount of produced water for steam generation
The HydroFlame Downhole Steam Generator can be operated on the surface near the wellbore for shallow reservoirs (less than 2500 feet) or placed downhole in the well. The skid based HydroFlame system is highly mobile and can be transported from one location to another fairly easily.
The HydroFlame Downhole Steam Generator design is the first and only one that outperforms every surface steam generator and downhole steam generator in the marketplace, making possible the production of huge amounts of heavy crude oil that until now have been "stranded," or economically and logistically unreachable.
HydroFlame DHSG presents an economic and environmentally friendly solution to the production of Heavy Oil and Bitumen.
The HydroFlame Concept Video
