Systems and Methods of Generating Electric Power With Compressed Natural Gas

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to electrically driven systems, and more specifically to generation of electric power through compressed natural gas.

BACKGROUND

Field equipment associated with hydrocarbon-producing wellbores has typically been powered by diesel engines or other internal combustion engines. Such engines have certain disadvantages. Diesel is more expensive and is not environmentally friendly. These engines generate large amounts of exhaust and pollutants that may cause environmental hazards, and are extremely loud, among other problems. The amount of diesel fuel needed to power traditional fracturing and production operations requires constant transportation and delivery by diesel tankers onto the well site, resulting in significant carbon dioxide emissions.

There is a need for an improved system that generates power at one or more wellsites.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method for generating electric power at a pad site may include operating a generator to produce electric power from a fuel source. The method may further include actuating at least one electric motor coupled to at least one compression unit based on the produced electric power. The method may further include actuating the at least one compression unit to discharge a flow of gas at an increased pressure. The method may further include directing at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit to a location upstream of the generator. The generator may be configured to receive the at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit and to produce electric power from the at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit.

According to another embodiment, a system for generating electric power at a pad site may include at least one electric motor and at least one compression unit coupled to the at least one electric motor. The at least one electric motor may be configured to receive electric power produced by a generator and to convert the produced electric power into mechanical energy. The at least one compression unit may be configured to receive a flow of gas to be pressurized and to discharge the flow of gas at an increased pressure through a main conduit. The at least one compression unit may be actuated based on the mechanical energy provided by the at least one electric motor. There may be a secondary conduit fluidly coupled to the main conduit and disposed downstream of the at least one compression unit, wherein the secondary conduit may be configured to direct at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit to a location upstream of the generator. The generator may be configured to receive the at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit and to produce electric power from the at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit.

According to another embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor, may cause the processor to actuate a generator to produce electric power from a fuel source. The processor may be further configured to actuate at least one electric motor coupled to at least one compression unit based on the produced electric power. The processor may be further configured to actuate the at least one compression unit to discharge a flow of gas at an increased pressure. The processor may be further configured to direct at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit to a location upstream of the generator. The processor may be further configured to actuate the generator to produce electric power from the at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To assist in understanding the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example production system, according to certain embodiments; and

FIG. 2 illustrates an example operation for the example production system in FIG. 1, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail herein. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation may be described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation specific decisions may be made to achieve the specific implementation goals, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure.

The terms “couple,” “couples,” and “coupled,” as used herein, are intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection, or through an indirect electrical connection, or a shaft coupling via other devices and connections.

To facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure, the following examples of certain embodiments are given. The following examples are not to be read to limit or define the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments of the present disclosure and its advantages are best understood by referring to FIGS. 1 through 2, where like numbers are used to indicate like and corresponding parts. Described herein are various systems and methods that generate electric power through compressed natural gas.

During oilfield services, equipment used to produce hydrocarbons from a well need to be powered by a power source. Typically, a diesel generator has been used that burns diesel fuel to produce electricity used by the equipment. However, the logistics of providing diesel for burning is costly and unclean. Other attempts have been made to connect the equipment to a utility grid for access to electricity, but there are problems with electric transmission. Using natural gas as a fuel may be an improvement over these attempts as it is a result of the servicing operations that is readily available, burns cleaner compared to diesel, and is less expensive. The discloses systems and methods may provide an improved process of generating electricity by compressing natural gas and re-routing the compressed natural gas back to a generator for conversion to electricity.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example production system 100. Production system 100 may be disposed at a pad site having one or more wellbores 102 that intersect with a subterranean formation. In embodiments, surface and/or downhole equipment may be used to extract hydrocarbons from the subterranean formation through the one or more wellbores 102. When the hydrocarbons reach the surface, they may be processed in a number of ways, including by separating the fluid into different components (i.e., oil, gas, water, mud, etc.), placing the hydrocarbons in storage tanks, or flowing the hydrocarbons through one or more pipelines to a storage/processing center. To produce the hydrocarbons, the surface and/or downhole equipment may require power in order for operations.

In one or more embodiments, production system 100 and methods of operating said production system 100 may use any suitable power source. Without limitations, the production system 100 may be powered by combustion engines, an electric power supply, a hydraulic power supply, and any combination thereof. For example, the production system 100 may comprise a generator 104 configured to produce electric power from a fuel source (i.e., diesel or natural gas) for the surface and/or downhole equipment. The generator 104 may be a gas generator operable to receive and burn natural gas in order to produce the electric power. The natural gas received may be in any suitable form, such as cleaned or conditioned after being produced from the one or more wellbores 102. Without limitations, the generator 104 may be configured to produce any suitable value of electric power, such as at least about 200kW, about 400 kW, about 600 kW, about 800 kW, or about 1 MW. In embodiments, the generator 104 may be an 800kW natural gas generator.

The production system 100 may further comprise one or more compression units 106 operable to increase the pressure of a gas for operations associated with the one or more wellbores 102, such as for artificial lift. For example, each compression unit 106 may receive a flow of a gas and may discharge the flow of gas at an increased pressure. The flow of gas may be provided from a gas source, wherein the gas source may be the same as the fuel source for the generator 104. The one or more compression units 106 may be powered by the generator 104. In embodiments, each of the one or more compression units 106 may be coupled to an electric motor 108. The electric motor 108 may be configured to receive the produced electric power from the generator 104 and convert said electric power into mechanical energy that is usable by the compression unit 106. Each electric motor 108 may be directly coupled to the corresponding compression unit 106, and both the electric motor 108 and compression unit 106 may collectively be disposed in a modular arrangement. While FIG. 1 illustrates three compression units 106, the production system 100 is not limited to such a configuration. For example, there may be more than or less than three compression units 106 in the production system 100. Further, each compression unit 106 may operate at the same or at different rates. In embodiments, there may be at least one compression unit 106 operating at about 400 horsepower (hp). In other embodiments, there may be at least one compression unit 106 operating at about 200 hp.

Depending on the configuration of the production system 100, the electric motor 108 may receive the produced electric power directly from the generator 104 or from a variable frequency drive (VFD) 110 electrically coupled to the generator 104. For example, if the generator 104 produces electric power at a voltage level compatible with the electric motor 108, the electric motor 108 may receive the produced electric power directly from the generator 104. Otherwise, the generator 104 may transmit the produced electric power to the VFD 110, which may be configured to step-up or step-down the voltage level of the produced electric power. There may be a plurality of VFDs 110 configured to receive electric power from the generator 104. In embodiments, the VFD 110 may convert the received electric power from its initial voltage level to another voltage level that is compatible for the electric motor 108. In addition, the VFD 110 may be configured to alter the frequency and current of the electric power for the electric motor 108. Each VFD 110 and corresponding electric motor 108 with compression unit 106 may be collectively disposed on a trailer 112 operable to be transported. In embodiments, each trailer 112 may alternatively be a skid. While FIG. 1 illustrates three separate VFDs 110 communicatively coupled to a corresponding electric motor 108, the production system 100 is not limited to such a configuration. For example, there may be a singular VFD 110 communicatively coupled to each of the electric motors 108 in the production system 100.

In one or more embodiments, the production system 100 may further comprise a power distribution module 114. The power distribution module 114 may comprise a variety of components for distributing and processing electric power, such as transformers, power distribution components, switchgears, fuses, circuit breakers, and the like. The power distribution module 114 may be configured to receive the electric power from the generator 104 and distribute the electric power to each of a plurality of VFDs 110. In certain embodiments wherein there is a singular VFD 110 or a singular electric motor 108 and compression unit 106, the power distribution module 114 may not be needed for the production system 100.

The production system 100 may be operable to inject a pressurized flow of gas into the one or more wellbores 102 in order to facilitate production of hydrocarbons. In embodiments, the discharge from the one or more compression units 106 may be received and collected by a manifold for consolidation and distribution to the one or more wellbores 102. In other embodiments, each of the one or more compression units 106 may be fluidly coupled to each of the one or more wellbores 102 and may selectively direct the discharged flow of gas to the one or more wellbores 102. As illustrated, there may be a valve 116 disposed downstream of at least one of the compression units 106. In one or more embodiments, there may be a plurality of valves 116, wherein each one of the plurality of valves 116 may be disposed downstream of a corresponding compression unit 106. Without limitations, the valve 116 may be any suitable valve or flow restriction device, such as a gate valve, ball valve, butterfly valve, knife gate valve, or plug valve. The valve 116 may be disposed on a main conduit 118, on a secondary conduit 120 coupled to the main conduit 118, or at a junction thereof. Both the main conduit 118 and the secondary conduit 120 may be any suitable tubular configured to transport a fluid. The main conduit 118 may be configured to receive the pressurized flow of gas discharged from the compression unit 106 and direct the pressurized flow of gas to the one or more wellbores 102. The secondary conduit 120 may be fluidly coupled to the main conduit 118 and may be configured to direct at least a portion of the pressurized flow of gas back upstream to the generator 104. The valve 116 may be actuated to allow the at least a portion of the pressurized flow of gas to divert from the main conduit 118 and flow through the secondary conduit 120. In one or more embodiments, the generator 104 may be further configured to receive the at least the portion of the flow of gas discharged from the compression unit 106 and to produce electric power from that portion of the flow of gas. The electric power produced from that portion of the flow of gas may then be transmitted to the surface and/or downhole equipment (i.e., the VFDs 110, electric motors 108, compression units 106, etc.) for operations.

In embodiments, the production system 100 may further comprise a control panel 122 configured to monitor and actuate the components within the production system 100. The control panel 122 may be communicatively coupled to each of the generator 104, power distribution module 114, VFDs 110, electric motors 108, and/or the compression units 106, such as through a wired or wireless connection. The control panel 122 may transmit and receive signals, such as instructions and/or measurements relative to operation of each of the generator 104, power distribution module 114, VFDs 110, electric motors 108, and/or the compression units 106. For example, a sensor 124 may be disposed downstream at least one of the compression units 106 for measuring a pressure of the flow of gas discharged from said compression unit 106. The sensor 124 may be any suitable sensor operable to measure pressure. In embodiments, the control panel 122 may receive pressure measurements from the sensor 124 and may actuate the valve 116 based on the pressure measurements.

As illustrated, the production system 100 may include a communication network 126 for facilitating communication between the control panel 122 and the surface and/or downhole equipment (i.e., the control panel 122, sensor 124, valve 116, etc.). The communication network 126 may include all or a portion of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), a mobile telephone network (e.g., cellular networks, such as 4G or 5G), a wireless data network (e.g., WiFi, WiGig, WiMax, etc.), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a Bluetooth network, and/or any other suitable network, operable to facilitate communication between the components of production system 100.

In one or more embodiments, software running on the control panel 122 may perform one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein or provides functionality described or illustrated herein. This disclosure contemplates the control panel 122 taking any suitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation, control panel 122 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, an augmented/virtual reality device, or a combination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, control panel 122 may be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple data centers; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, the control panel 122 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, the control panel 122 may perform in real-time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.

In particular embodiments, control panel 122 may include a processor 128, a memory 130, an input/output (I/O) interface 132, a communication interface 134, and a bus. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular control panel having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable control panel having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 128 may include hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 128 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 130, or storage; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 130, or storage. In particular embodiments, processor 128 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 128 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 128 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 130, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 128. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 130 for instructions executing at processor 128 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 128 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 128 or for writing to memory 130; or other suitable data. The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 128. The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 128. In particular embodiments, processor 128 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 128 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 128 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors 128. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 130 may include main memory for storing instructions for processor 128 to execute or data for processor 128 to operate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, control panel 122 may load instructions from storage or another source (such as, for example, another control panel 122) to memory 130. Processor 128 may then load the instructions from memory 130 to an internal register or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 128 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them. During or after execution of the instructions, processor 128 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor 128 may then write one or more of those results to memory 130. In particular embodiments, processor 128 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 130 (as opposed to storage or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 130 (as opposed to storage or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 128 to memory 130. A bus may include one or more memory buses, as described below. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 128 and memory 130 and facilitate access to memory 130 requested by processor 128. In particular embodiments, memory 130 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate. Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 130 may include one or more memories 130, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 132 may include hardware, software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communication between control panel 122 and one or more I/O devices. Control panel 122 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a person and control panel 122. As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 132 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 132 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 128 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 132 may include one or more I/O interfaces 132, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 134 may include hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between control panel 122 and one or more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communication interface 134 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication interface 134 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation, control panel 122 may communicate with the communication network 126. Control panel 122 may include any suitable communication interface 134 for said network, where appropriate. Communication interface 134 may include one or more communication interfaces 134, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication interface.

In particular embodiments, a bus may include hardware, software, or both coupling components of control panel 122 to each other. As an example and not by way of limitation, a bus may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. A bus may include one or more buses, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.

Although a particular implementation of production system 100 is illustrated and primarily described, the present disclosure contemplates any suitable implementation of production system 100, according to particular needs. Moreover, although various components of production system 100 have been depicted as being located at particular positions, the present disclosure contemplates those components being positioned at any suitable location, according to particular needs. Further, although certain actions have been described as being performed by certain components of production system 100, the present disclosure contemplates those actions, and any other actions, as being performed by any suitable component of production system 100, according to particular needs. In addition, while production system 100 is depicted as having a certain number of components, the present disclosure contemplates production system 100 having any suitable number of any one of the components, according to particular needs.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a process 200 for the production system 100 (referring to FIG. 1). The production system 100 may employ process 200 for diverting at least a portion of pressurized natural gas to the generator 104 (referring to FIG. 1) for producing electric power. At operation 202, processor 128 (referring to FIG. 1) of the control panel 122 (referring to FIG. 1) may transmit an instruction to actuate the generator 104 to produce electric power from a fuel source. In embodiments, the produced electric power may be transmitted to any one of the power distribution module 114 (referring to FIG. 1), the VFD 110 (referring to FIG. 1), or the electric motor 108 (referring to FIG. 1). If the produced electric power is not directly transmitted to the electric motor 108, the produced electric power may be manipulated by either the power distribution module 114 or the VFD 110 to a voltage level compatible with the electric motor 108. During operation 202, the processor 128 may instruct the VFD 110 to step-up or step-down the received electric power prior to transmission to the electric motor 108.

At operation 204, the processor 128 may transmit an instruction to actuate at least one electric motor 108 coupled to at least one compression unit 106 (referring to FIG. 1) based on the produced electric power. The electric motor 108 may convert the produced electric power into mechanical energy that can be used by the compression unit 106.

At operation 206, the processor 128 may transmit an instruction to actuate at least one compression unit 106 to discharge a flow of gas at an increased pressure. In embodiments, the at least one compression unit 106 may receive the flow of gas to be pressurized. The flow of gas may be sourced from the same source as the fuel provided to the generator 104. During operation 206, the sensor 124 (referring to FIG. 1) may be measuring the pressure of the discharged flow of gas and may be communicating pressure measurements to the control panel 122.

At operation 208, the processor 128 may transmit an instruction to direct at least a portion of the flow of gas discharged from the at least one compression unit 106 to a location upstream of the generator 104 or to the generator 104. In embodiments, the transmission of this instruction may occur in response to the pressure of the discharged flow of gas exceeding a threshold value stored in the memory 130 (referring to FIG. 1) of the control panel 122. In other embodiments, transmission of the instruction may occur based on a different system parameter or desired output. The instruction may be transmitted to the valve 116 (referring to FIG. 1), wherein the instruction may be to actuate the valve 116 to open at least a portion to allow fluid flow through the secondary conduit 120 (referring to FIG. 1).

At operation 210, the processor 128 may transmit an instruction to actuate the generator 104 to produce electric power from the portion of the flow of gas discharged from compression unit 106 and received through the secondary conduit 120. In embodiments, the control panel 122 may continuously monitor and control the production system 100 to provide a portion of the discharged flow back to the generator 104 for production of electric power. After an initial start-up process, the generator 104 may be configured to operate solely on the received portion of discharged flow rather than from the fuel source. In alternate embodiments, the received portion of discharged flow may supplement fuel received from the fuel source. The process 200 may then proceed to end.

Although a particular implementation of process 200 is illustrated and primarily described, the present disclosure contemplates any suitable implementation of process 200, according to particular needs. For example, process 200 may include more or fewer steps, and each step may be performed in any order relative to the other steps. Further, although certain actions have been described as being performed by certain components of production system 100 throughout the process 200, the present disclosure contemplates those actions, and any other actions, as being performed by any suitable component of production system 100, according to particular needs.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. That is, the steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providing particular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, or all of these advantages.