# US 10,865,611 B2 · Vertical cuttings dryer

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- Number: US 10,865,611 B2
- Document ID: US10865611B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/582,303
- Filed: 2017-04-28
- Published: 2017-11-02
- Granted: 2020-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2016-04-29
- Assignees: Elgin Separation Solutions Industrials, LLC
- Applicants: Elgin Separation Solutions Industrials, LLC
- Inventors: Michael Rai Anderson; Emad Tariq Babri
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10865611B2

## CPC

- E21B 21/065: {Separating solids from drilling fluids}
- B04B 1/2016: {Driving control or mechanisms; Arrangement of transmission gearing}
- B04B 3/04: discharging solid particles from the bowl by a conveying screw coaxial with the bowl axis and rotating relatively to the bowl
- B04B 9/08: Arrangement or disposition of transmission gearing {(for solid bowl screw centrifuges B04B1/2016); Couplings; Brakes}
- B04B 9/10: Control of the drive; Speed regulating {(for solid bowl screw centrifuges B04B1/2016)}
- B04B 11/08: Skimmers or scrapers for discharging {; Regulating thereof}
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- B04B: CENTRIFUGES (high-speed drum mills B02C19/11; domestic spin driers D06F; analysing, measuring or monitoring physical or chemical properties of samples during centrifuging, see the relevant subclasses for these procedures, e.g. G01N)

## Abstract

A vertical cuttings dryer (“VCD”) can be used to separate solid particulate from entrained liquid. In some examples, the VCD includes a screen mounted coaxially with an internal wiper housing that carriers a wiper sweeping out an annular space between the screen and wiper housing. The VCD may have a first motor connected through drive shaft to the screen and a second motor connect through a separate drive shaft to the wiper housing. A controller can independently control the speed of the first motor and the second motor to independently a magnitude of centrifugal force applied to material being processed as well as a residence time of the material being processed in the annular space.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A vertical cuttings dryer comprising:
a screen having an interior face and an exterior face;
a wiper housing positioned inside of the screen and mounted coaxially therewith, thereby defining an annular processing space between the interior face of the screen and an exterior surface of the wiper housing, the wiper housing carrying at least one wiper configured to sweep through the annular processing space;
a first motor operatively connected to the screen and configured to drive rotation of the screen;
a second motor operatively connected to the wiper housing and configured to drive rotation of the wiper housing;
a controller; and
a user interface,
wherein a speed of the first motor is adjustable independently of a speed of the second motor so as to control both a magnitude of centrifugal force applied to material being processed in the annular processing space as well as a residence time of the material being processed in the annular processing space, and
the controller is configured to receive a user input via the user interface and, responsive to receiving the user input, set the speed of the first motor and set the speed of the second motor;
a first drive shaft mechanically connecting the first motor to the screen and a second drive shaft mechanically connecting the second motor to the wiper housing;
a first vertically-oriented drive shaft,
a second vertically-oriented drive shaft, a first gear box, and a second gear box, wherein
the screen is mounted to the first vertically-oriented drive shaft,
the wiper housing is mounted to the second vertically-oriented drive shaft,
the first drive shaft is mechanically connected to the first vertically-oriented drive shaft through the first gear box, and
the second drive shaft is mechanically connected to the second vertically-oriented drive shaft through the second gear box.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein
the first motor and the second motor are positioned in a vertically stacked arrangement,
the first gear box and the second gear box are positioned in a vertically stacked arrangement, and
one of the first vertically-oriented drive shaft and the second vertically-oriented drive shaft comprises a hollow shaft and the other of the first vertically-oriented drive shaft and the second vertically-oriented drive shaft is positioned inside of the hollow shaft.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The dryer of claim 2, wherein the first motor is positioned above the second motor, the first vertically-oriented drive shaft comprises the hollow shaft, and the second vertically-oriented shaft is positioned inside of the first vertically-oriented shaft.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the screen is mounted on a terminal end of the first vertically-oriented drive shaft.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the screen and the wiper housing each have a conical shape.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, further comprising a housing defining an inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, wherein
the inlet is configured to convey the material being processed through an opening in the top of the screen and into the annular processing space,
the first outlet is located radially outside of and below the screen and is configured to convey matter having passed through the screen from the material being processed out of the dryer, and
the second outlet is located below the annular processing space and is configured to convey residual matter separated from the matter passed through the screen out of the dryer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the at least one wiper comprises a plurality of wipers positioned about the circumference of the wiper housing, each of the plurality of wipers extending radially outwardly from the exterior surface of the wiper housing.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the screen comprises apertures configured to allow some but not all of the material being processed to pass through the apertures, and the wiper housing is devoid of such apertures.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the user input comprises an indication of the magnitude of centrifugal force to be applied to material being processed and the residence time of the material being processed in the annular processing space.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to increase the magnitude of centrifugal force applied to the material being processed by increasing the speed of the first motor and thereby increase a rate of rotation of the screen.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The dryer of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to:
control the speed of the first motor and the speed of the second motor such that the screen rotates faster than the wiper housing;
decrease the residence time of the material being processed in the annular processing space by increasing the speed of the first motor and decreasing the speed of the second motor, thereby increasing a differential rate of rotation between the screen and the wiper housing, and
increase the residence time of the material being processed in the annular processing space by decreasing the speed of the first motor and increasing the speed of the second motor, thereby decreasing the differential rate of rotation between the screen and the wiper housing.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The dryer of claim 1, wherein the user input comprises an indication of at least one of a type of material being processed, a characteristic of the material being processed, and a target characteristic of a discharge stream from the vertical cuttings dryer.