Patent ID: 7377311

Claim:
A safety valve system for enabling the removal of down-hole tools such as a submersible water pump from a coal-bed methane well, comprising: first and second horizontally opposed stuffer-blocks, wherein each of said first and second stuffer-blocks has opposite rear and front ends, wherein each of said front ends comprises a recess; a stuffer-box housing for housing said stuffer-blocks, said housing having an interior volume; means for attaching said stuffer-box housing to a coal-bed methane wellhead; means for delivering fluid to move said opposed stuffer-blocks between an open position and a closed position, such that when said first and second stuffer-blocks are in the closed position said stuffer-block front ends define an aperture; and a controller, at least one methane sensor, a stuffer-box position sensor, and a stuffer-block activation system, wherein a control algorithm is stored on or in communication with said controller, further wherein said controller operates in response to said control algorithm, wherein said stuffer-box position sensor determines the position of at least one of said stuffer-blocks and reports this information to said controller, and wherein said at least one methane sensor reports methane concentration data to said controller, and further wherein, using said algorithm and based on a predetermined methane threshold value, said controller determines whether the stuffer-block activation system should move said stuffer-blocks into an open configuration or a closed configuration.