US 4,546,783 AGranted

Apparatus for washing drill cuttings

AssigneeFlo Trend Shares, Inc.

InventorW. Gerald Lott

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Abstract

An apparatus for cleansing a stream of drilling fluid fouled drill cuttings having a housing divided into a plurality of compartments each designed to retain cleansing fluid. A spinning force is imparted into the incoming fouled drill cuttings in an inlet chamber wherein cleansing fluid is intimately mixed with the fouled drill cuttings. A decanting chamber removes liberated drilling fluid from the cuttings and disposes of such drilling fluid from the apparatus via a drain trough assembly. The underflow from the decanter is passed through a solids concentrating assembly wherein the coarse solids are deposited in a concentrating assembly bottoms chamber wherein the settled drill cuttings are removed from the apparatus. The overhead stream from the solids concentrating assembly is directed to a second decanter for removal of any remaining drilling fluid and fine drill cuttings entrained therein from the apparatus via the drain trough assembly. The remaining fluid in the concentrating assembly bottoms chamber is recirculated to the second decanting chamber and the inlet chamber.

Claims29

Dependent claims

An apparatus for cleansing a stream of drilling fluid fouled drill cuttings with a cleaning fluid comprising:

a unitary base;
a housing, said housing having a plurality of chambers, said chambers adapted to retain liquid;
an initial charge of cleansing fluid in said housing;
an inlet chamber;
said inlet chamber further formed of a substantially frusto-conical housing having:
a fluid inlet port wherein drilling fluid fouled drill cuttings may be admitted to the apparatus;
a first segment, said fluid inlet port connected to said first segment;
and
an oulet segment connected to said first segment, said first segment having nozzles therein to direct into said outlet segment a cleansing fluid;
a first decanting chamber formed of a substantially cylindrical housing having an open top, said first decanting chamber connected to said outlet segment of said inlet chamber;
said first decanting chamber separating said fouled drill cuttings into heavy solids in substantially a cleansing solution and lighter solids in substantially drilling fluid;
a solids concentrating assembly, said solids concentrating assembly being in fluid communication with said first decanting chamber, said solids concentrating assembly formed having an overhead outlet, said solids concentrating assembly formed having a bottom outlet, and said solids concentrating assembly formed having an inlet;
a pumping means in fluid communication with the lower end of said first decanting chamber for transporting fluid containing drill cuttings from near the bottom of said first decanting chamber to said inlet of said solids concentrating assembly;
a second decanting chamber formed of a substantially rectangular housing having an open top said first decanting chamber and said inlet chamber being substantially nested within said second decanting chamber;
a concentrating assembly bottoms chamber, said bottoms chamber disposed below said solids concentrating assembly and in flow communication with said bottoms outlet of said concentrating assembly and having a horizontally disposed bottom;
removal means for removing accumulated drill cuttings near the bottom of said concentrating assembly bottoms chamber from the apparatus;
means for recirculating the remaining fluid in said concentrating assembly bottoms chamber to said second decanting chamber and said inlet chamber;
a drain trough assembly, said drain trough assembly mounted near the top of said first and second decanting chambers and disposed to receive decanted drilling fluid from said open tops of said first and second decanting chambers and conduct the drilling fluid accumulated therein from the apparatus.

15 more elements

An apparatus for cleansing a stream of drilling fluid fouled drill cuttings with a cleaning fluid comprising:

a unitary base;
a housing mounted on said base, said housing having a plurality of chambers;
a cleansing fluid in said housing;
centrifugal means forming a substantially frusto-conical shaped first chamber in said housing for imparting a spinning action to an incoming stream of drilling fluid fouled drill cuttings thereby mixing said incoming stream with said cleansing fluid;
a first decanting means forming a substantially cylindrical second chamber in said housing for mixing the stream of fouled drill cuttings from said centrifugal means with a cleansing fluid and for substantially separating drilling fluid from the drill cuttings, said first decanting means producing a decanting overflow stream, and a decanting underflow stream wherein lighter drilling fluid can exit with said decanting overflow stream and the drill cuttings and the cleansing fluid can exit with said decanting underflow stream;
separating means for separating said decanting underflow stream into a clean fluid stream and a bottoms fluid stream, said clean fluid stream containing fine drill cuttings and said bottoms fluid stream containing coarse drill cuttings;
cuttings discharge means forming a third chamber in said housing for receiving said bottoms fluid stream and for moving cuttings from said bottoms fluid stream and discharge such cuttings from the apparatus and for storing said remaining bottoms fluid;
a second decanting means forming a substantially rectangular fourth chamber in said housing for separating fine drill cuttings and drilling fluid contained in said clean fluid stream from the cleansing fluid in said stream, said substantially cylindrical second chamber and said frusto-conical first chamber nested substantially within said fourth chamber;
recirculating means for recirculating said stored remaining bottoms fluid to said centrifugal means and said second decanting means for reuse;
drilling fluid discharge means adjacent the upper end of said substantially cylindrical second chamber and said substantially rectangular fourth chamber for removing drilling fluid and fine cuttings entrained therein from said second decanting means and said first decanting means and discharging the drilling fluid and fine cuttings entrained therein from the apparatus.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 06/536,942Filed 27 Sep 1983 · continuation in part
Priority: 2 May 1983
Granted: 15 Oct 1985
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

E21B 41/005
Equipment or details not covered by groups E21B15/00 - E21B40/00: waste disposal systems
B01D 21/0018
Separation of suspended solid particles from liquids by sedimentation: provided with a pump mounted in or on a settling tank
B01D 21/12
Settling tanks with multiple outlets for the separated liquids: with moving scrapers
B01D 21/26
Separation of suspended solid particles from liquids by sedimentation: separation of sediment aided by centrifugal force or centripetal force