# US 2019/0169479 A1 · Method of Enhancing Hydration of Viscosifiers Using Controlled Mechanically Induced Cavitation

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- Number: US 2019/0169479 A1
- Document ID: US20190169479A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/148,833
- Filed: 2018-10-01
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2015-04-24
- Assignees: Hydro Dynamics, Inc.
- Applicants: Hydro Dynamics, Inc.
- Inventors: Daniel A. Armstead; Douglas G. Mancosky
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190169479A1

## CPC

- C09K 8/035: Organic additives
- B01F 23/53: using driven stirrers
- B01F 27/2722: {provided with ribs, ridges or grooves on one surface}
- B01J 8/0015: {Feeding of the particles in the reactor; Evacuation of the particles out of the reactor}
- B01J 8/10: moved by stirrers or by rotary drums or rotary receptacles {or endless belts}
- B01J 8/20: with liquid as a fluidising medium
- B01J 13/00: Colloid chemistry, e.g. the production of colloidal materials or their solutions, not otherwise provided for; Making microcapsules or microballoons
- B01J 19/008: {Processes for carrying out reactions under cavitation conditions}
- B01J 2208/00575: Controlling the viscosity
- B01J 2208/00681: Agglomeration
- B01J 2208/00805: Details of the particulate material
- B01J 2208/00867: inside the bed, e.g. rotary mixer
- C09K: MATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- B01F: MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING (mixing paints B44D3/06)
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS

## Abstract

A method of hydrating a dry powdered viscosifier such as a powdered polymer is disclosed. The method includes mixing the powdered viscosifier with a solvent such as water to form a mixture; moving the mixture through a cavitation zone; inducing energetic shock waves and pressure fluctuations in the mixture by mechanically inducing cavitation events within the mixture, the shock waves and pressure fluctuations untangling, separating, and straightening polymer molecule chains and distributing the chains throughout the mixture, and extracting the resulting hydrated viscosifier from the cavitation zone.

## Claims

### Claim at position 1

-18. (canceled)

### Claim 19

A method of enhancing hydration of a non-hydrated viscosifier containing particles, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) obtaining a non-hydrated viscosifier to be hydrated;
(b) obtaining a solvent to be used to hydrate the non-hydrated viscosifier;
(c) combining the non-hydrated viscosifier and the solvent to produce a mixture;
(d) generating cavitation events within the mixture resulting in shock waves and pressure variations that propagate through the mixture;
(e) controlling one or more of a dwell time of the exposure of particles to the shock waves and pressure variations, an energy input, a rotor rotation rate, a temperature, a concentration of the mixture, or a particulate grind size to maximize straightening, separation, and untangling of polymer chains of the non-hydrated viscosifier particles without causing covalent bond breakage or polymer chain scission;
(f) as a result of steps (d) and (e), separating the particles in the viscosifier allowing the solvent to surround the particles;
(g) as a result of steps (d) and (e), forcing solvent molecules into and out of particles to untangle, straighten, and hydrate viscosifier molecule chains contained within the particles;
(h) distributing the untangled, straightened, and hydrated molecule chains substantially evenly throughout the mixture; and
(i) collecting the resulting mixture.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 where in step (a) the viscosifier comprises a polymer.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The method of claim 20 wherein the polymer comprises dehydrated polymer chains.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 where in step (b) the solvent comprises water containing H2O molecules.

### Claim 23 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein step (c) comprises establishing a flow of the solvent and introducing the non-hydrated viscosifier into the flow of solvent.

### Claim 24 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein step (d) comprises moving the mixture through the cavitation zone of a controlled cavitation reactor.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24 wherein the controlled cavitation reactor comprises a cylindrical housing having an interior wall and a cylindrical rotor having a peripheral surface rotatably mounted in the housing, the cavitation zone being formed between the peripheral surface of the rotor and the interior wall of the housing.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25 further comprising bores formed in the peripheral surface of the rotor, and wherein step (d) comprises rotating the rotor within the housing with the mixture within the cavitation zone.

### Claim 27 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 further comprising the step as a result of steps (d) and (e) of breaking up lumps of viscosifier particles to minimize fish eyes in the mixture.

### Claim 28 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein combining the non-hydrated viscosifier and the solvent to produce a mixture comprises subjecting the non-hydrated viscosifier and the solvent to a batch mixing process to produce the mixture.

### Claim 29 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of subjecting the mixture to a batch mixing process following step (i).

### Claim 30

A method of hydrating a viscosifier using a solvent, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) establishing a flow of the solvent through an inlet conduit;
(b) introducing the viscosifier into the flow of the solvent to produce a mixture of viscosifier and solvent flowing through the inlet conduit;
(c) directing the mixture from the inlet conduit into a controlled cavitation reactor having a generally cylindrical housing containing at least one cylindrical rotating rotor, the housing having an internal cylindrical wall and the rotor having a peripheral surface with radial bores spaced from the internal cylindrical wall to define a cavitation zone therebetween;
(d) moving the mixture through the cavitation zone of the controlled cavitation reactor;
(e) rotating the rotor to induce cavitation events in the mixture within the bores of the rotor, the cavitation events resulting in shock waves and pressure variations within the mixture in the cavitation zone, the rotation rate of the rotor of being controlled to maximize straightening, separation, and untangling of polymer chains of viscosifier particles without covalent bond breakage or polymer chain scission;
(f) as a result of step (e), separating particles of the viscosifier and distributing the separated particles substantially uniformly throughout the mixture;
(g) as a result of step (e), forcing molecules of the solvent into and out of the particles of the viscosifier to liberate and hydrate viscosifier molecules of the viscosifier; and
(h) directing the hydrated viscosifier out of the controlled cavitation reactor through an outlet conduit.

### Claim 31 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30 further comprising subjecting the hydrated viscosifier to a batch mixing process following step (h).

### Claim 32 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30 wherein the viscosifier comprises dehydrated polymer chains.

### Claim 33 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32 wherein the solvent comprises water.

### Claim 34

A method comprising the steps of mixing a dehydrated viscosifier with a solvent to form a mixture, mechanically inducing cavitation events within the mixture to cause shock waves and pressure variations to propagate through the mixture, separating particles of the viscosifier from each other and distributing the particles throughout the mixture as a result of the shock waves and pressure variations, forcing molecules of the solvent into and out of the separated particles of viscosifier as a result of the pressure variations to liberate viscosifier molecules from the particles, and allowing the viscosifier molecules to interact with the solvent molecules to hydrate the viscosifier, and further comprising controlling at least one parameter affecting the mechanically induced cavitation events and the resulting shock waves and pressure variations to maximize straightening, separation, and untangling of polymer chains of the dehydrated viscosifier particles without causing covalent bond breakage or polymer chain scission.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

The method of claim 34 wherein the viscosifier comprises dehydrated polymer chains.

### Claim 36 (depends on 35)

The method of claim 35 wherein the solvent comprises H2O molecules.

### Claim 37 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19 wherein the non-hydrated viscosifier comprises a powder.

### Claim 38 (depends on 30)

The method of claim 30 wherein the viscosifier comprises a powder.

### Claim 39 (depends on 34)

The method of claim 34 wherein the dehydrated viscosifier comprises a powder.