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US 4,304,609 AGranted
Drill cuttings treatment apparatus and method
OwnerJames B. N. Morrisinventor
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OwnerJames B. N. Morrisinventor
Estimating the term…
Hydrocarbons are removed from solids such as drill cuttings in apparatus including a rotating cylindrical retort vessel having a counter rotating auger-type conveyor therein, the auger-type conveyor is eccentrically located at the bottom of the vessel, the vessel is heated by an induction heating coil surrounding the vessel and traveling along the length thereof, and a retention device is inserted at the downstream end of the retort vessel in order to impede the discharge of solids traveling therethrough, to ensure more complete hydrocarbon removal, and the apparatus includes a general assembly of a pair of retort vessels, each with a counter rotating auger-type conveyor therein, located generally in the same vertical plane, with the downstream end of the upper vessel being in communication with the upstream end of the lower vessel. The method and apparatus find particular utility on off-shore oil and gas wells, wherein the drill cuttings can be rendered environmentally acceptable by removal of hydrocarbons therefrom, so that the drill cuttings can be simply discharged overboard without environmental pollution, and the hydrocarbon removal step is accomplished with reduced risk of fire and/or explosion.
Apparatus for removing hydrocarbons from drill cuttings, said apparatus including
In an apparatus for removing hydrocarbons from solid materials, said apparatus comprising at least one cylindrical, substantially horizontal retort vessel, an auger-type conveyor in said vessel and means to rotate said conveyor to move solids from an upstream portion to a downstream portion of said vessel, feed means for introducing solid materials containing hydrocarbons into said upstream portion of said retort vessel, solids removal means for removing solids from a downstream portion of said vessel, heating means for heating said solid materials containing hydrocarbons between said feed means and said solids removal means, and gas removal means for removing gas from said vessel, the improvement comprising means for rotating said vessel in a direction which is opposite the rotational direction of said auger-type conveyor, whereby the possibility of material hold up in said vessel is reduced and more uniform temperatures are established, and said heating means being induction heating means, and traveling means for causing said induction heating means to travel along the major axis of said retort vessel during operation of said apparatus.
Method for removing hydrocarbons from oil and/or gas well drill cuttings to render said drill cuttings disposable from an environmentally acceptable view, said method comprising introducing drill cuttings containing hydrocarbons into a rotatable, cylindrical, substantially horizontal retort vessel at an upstream end of said vessel, transporting said drill cuttings through said vessel while it is rotating by a rotatable, auger-type conveyor which is rotated in a direction opposite the rotation of said vessel, heating the drill cuttings during passage through the vessel by an induction heating coil to a temperature which gasifies hydrocarbons in the drill cuttings, moving the induction heating coil along the length of said retort vessel during the heating step, discharging drill cuttings substantially free of hydrocarbons from said vessel, and discharging gaseous hydrocarbons removed from said drill cuttings from said vessel.
Apparatus for removing hydrocarbons from drill cuttings, said apparatus including
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.