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US 12,722,916 B2Granted
Apparatus and system for well site sand storage and handling
OwnerJacob Michael Roemeninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus is provided for improving sand storage at a well site, and a system and method are provided for using the apparatus. The apparatus, which may be referred to as a portable tunnel structure, include a hopper having a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets, a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets, and a support framework including a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams.
Claims16
An apparatus, comprising:
- a hopper having an open top, a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets;
- a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets;
- a support framework including a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams;
- and
- a wall closing off openings between the outer vertical beams on lateral sides of the support framework.
2 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a hopper having an open top, a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets;
- a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets;
- and
- a support framework including a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams, wherein the support framework further includes inner vertical support beams and sloped hopper reinforcement beams supported by the base structure, wherein the inner vertical support beams are supported by the horizontal base structure, and wherein the sloped hopper reinforcement beams are secured along the sloped surface of the hopper from the inner vertical support beams to the outer vertical support beams.
1 more element
An apparatus, comprising:
- a hopper having an open top, a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets;
- a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets;
- and
- a support framework including a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams;
- and
- a trailer including a trailer chassis, wherein the support framework is secured to the trailer chassis, and wherein the trailer chassis can be lowered so that the support framework rests on a surface of a load bearing strata.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a plurality of portable tunnel structures positioned in a side-by-side configuration with no more than a minimal gap between adjacent portable tunnel structures, wherein each portable tunnel structure includes a hopper having a rectangular storage area, wherein the side-by-side configuration of the plurality of portable tunnel structures forms a collective storage area that is the sum of the rectangular storage areas of each portable tunnel structure, wherein each portable tunnel structure further includes an open top, a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets, a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets, and a support framework, and wherein the support framework includes a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams;
- a portable radial stacking conveyor positioned to dump sand in a central point of the collective storage area;
- one or more truck-unloading road portable conveyors arranged to receive sand from a truck and deliver the sand to the road portable radial stacking conveyor;
- a crossover conveyor extending along delivery locations of each conveyor system;
- and
- a blender feed conveyor at the end of the crossover conveyor for supporting a hydraulic fracturing operation.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- a plurality of portable tunnel structures positioned in a side-by-side configuration with no more than a minimal gap between adjacent portable tunnel structures, wherein each portable tunnel structure includes a hopper having a rectangular storage area, and wherein the side-by-side configuration of the plurality of portable tunnel structures forms a collective storage area that is the sum of the rectangular storage areas of each portable tunnel structure;
- wherein each portable tunnel structure further includes an open top, a perimeter edge and surfaces that are sloped downward and inward to a plurality of hopper outlets, a conveyor system having a conveyor belt disposed below the plurality of hopper outlets, and a support framework, wherein the support framework includes a horizontal base structure for supporting the support framework on a load bearing stratum, horizontal hopper reinforcement beams secured along the outer perimeter edge of the hopper, and outer vertical support beams extending between the horizontal base structure and the horizontal beams, wherein, for each of the portable tunnel structures, the support framework further includes inner vertical support beams and sloped hopper reinforcement beams supported by the base structure, wherein the inner vertical support beams are supported by the horizontal base structure, and wherein the sloped hopper reinforcement beams are secured along the sloped surface of the hopper from the inner vertical support beams to the outer vertical support beams.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.