System and method for blending of bulk dry materials in oil well cementing

A method especially adapted for mixing dry material components for use as oil well cement during cementing operations, said method comprising:

• providing a plurality of tanks;
• providing a plurality of supply lines wherein each of the plurality of supply lines has a first and a second end, the first end being in fluid communication with a corresponding tank of said plurality of tanks;
• providing a common mixing line, wherein the second end of each of the plurality of supply lines is in fluid communication with an upstream end of the common mixing line;
• wherein at least one the plurality of product supply lines or the blended product supply lines includes a static mixer disposed therein to mix products passing through the line in which the static mixer is installed;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of product supply lines includes a mass flow meter to measure a mass of a product passing through said at least one supply line;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of product supply lines includes a flow throttling valve to control components passing through the at least one supply line;
• providing a controller to automatically determine control parameters for delivery of the products to include material weights or delivery rates of the products;
• determining a desired composition for a blended product, wherein the blended product is a mixture of a plurality of products;
• and
• delivering each of the products through each of the respective supply lines at a determined rate such that the blended product is formed in the mixing line having a desired blended product composition;
• and
• wherein at least one current material ratio set point value is determined and subsequently utilized by said controller to control delivery of the components to achieve a desired blended product.

A mixing apparatus especially adapted for mixing dry material components for use as oil well cement during cementing operations, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of supply lines wherein each of the plurality of supply lines has first and second ends, the first end being in fluid communication with a corresponding tank of said plurality of tanks;
• a common mixing line, wherein the second end of each of the plurality of supply lines is in fluid communication with an upstream end of the common mixing line;
• wherein at least one the plurality of supply lines or the common mixing line includes a static mixer disposed therein to mix components passing through the line in which the static mixer is installed;
• wherein at least one of the plurality of supply lines includes a mass flow meter to measure a mass of a dry product passing through said at least one supply line;
• wherein at least one of the supply lines includes a flow throttling valve to control components passing through the at least one supply line;
• and
• a controller communicating with at least said mass flow meter and said throttling valve wherein a measured mass of a selected component material product as an input to said controller allows said controller to issue a control command to said throttling valve to meter a desired amount of a component material there through;
• and
• at least one user interface generated by said controller for viewing by the user, said user interface providing an indication of a real-time status of at least one component material delivery rate or weight.