Proppant Dispensing System

#The presently disclosed instrumentalities pertain to the field of containerized equipment for the transport of sand and, particularly, for the delivery of sand or other proppant for use in hydraulic fracturing operations.

#Hydraulic fracturing is a well-known well stimulation technique in which pressurized liquid in utilized to fracture rock. In the usual case, this liquid is primarily water that contains sand or other proppants that hold open fractures which form during this process. The resulting “frac fluid” may sometimes benefit from the use of thickening agents, but these fluids are increasingly water-based. Originating in the year 1947, use of fracturing technology has grown such that approximately 2.5 million hydraulic fracturing operations have been performed worldwide by 2012. The use of hydraulic fracturing is increasing. Massive hydraulic fracturing operations on shales now routinely consume more than a million pounds of sand. Hydraulic fracturing makes it possible to drill commercially viable oil and gas wells in formations that were previously understood to be commercially unviable. Other applications for hydraulic fracturing include injection wells, geothermal wells, and water wells.

#The widespread use of hydraulic fracturing creates significant demand for sand and other proppants. Considering the Permian Basin alone, demand has recently increased by almost 70% year over year. The Permian is thought to have consumed approximately 10.8 billion pounds of proppant in 2017. The most common proppant in use is sand. Sand suppliers typically mine or quarry the sand, sort it by size and dry the sand. The sand is then placed into containers and loaded onto trucks or rail cars for transport to a well site where there is a need for the sand. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,758,082 to Eiden III et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as though fully replicated herein, shows one system for containerizing the sand for use at a wellsite, as well as a conveyor sled for transporting the sand from the containers to a blending unit where frac fluid is mixed.

#FIG. 1 is a midsection view of proppant container of the prior art, showing a problem that arises with the use of wet sand;

#FIG. 2 shows a proppant container that has been fitted with a vibrator enabling the use of wet sand;

#FIG. 3 provides additional detail regarding the proppant container with the vibrator;

#There will now be shown and described, by way of non-limiting examples, various instrumentalities for overcoming the problems discussed above.

#The ability to dispense wet sand has advantages in cost reduction, as discussed above, as well as dust mitigation. However, the surface equipment presently in use for dispensing sand during a hydraulic fracturing operation is incapable of dispensing wet sand. The instrumentalities disclosed below advance the art by permitting the use of wet and/or unprocessed sand while providing also for dust mitigation sufficient to meet newly emerging regulatory requirements.

#⋅Vibratory Action