Oil and gas well cuttings disposal system

An oil well drill cuttings disposal apparatus for removing drill cuttings from a drilling platform that uses a drill bit supported with a drill string and a well drilling fluid comprising:

• a) a tank for collecting drill cuttings to be disposed of, said tank having a pair of collection chambers, each with an interior and an inlet opening that allows material to be added to the tank, and outlets that enable a selected chamber to be emptied;
• b) a first suction line for transmitting cuttings from the drill site to one of the inlet openings;
• c) a power source for forming a vacuum within a selected one of the chambers and comprising a powered blower;
• d) a second suction line for communicating between the tank interior and the power source;
• e) the tank defining a separator positioned in a suction line for preventing the travel of solid and liquid matter from the tank interior to the blower;
• and f) each collection chamber having a valve for valving the discharge of drill cuttings from the collection chamber.

A method of removing drill cuttings from an oil and gas well drilling platform that uses a drill bit supported with a drill string and a well drilling fluid during a digging of a well bore, comprising the steps of:

• a) separating drill cuttings from the well drilling fluid on the drilling platform so that the drilling fluids can be recycled into the well bore during drilling operations;
• b) transmitting the cuttings to a cuttings receiving area;
• c) suctioning the separated drill cuttings from the cuttings receiving area with a first suction line having an intake end portion that can be positioned at the cuttings receiving area;
• d) transmitting the drill cuttings via the suction line to a first vessel that has an interior and an outlet valve;
• e) forming a vacuum within the interior of the first vessel with a blower that is in fluid communication with the interior of the first vessel via a second vacuum line;
• f) separating liquids and solids from the first and second vacuum lines before said liquids and solids can enter the blower;
• g) separating drilling fluid entrained in the drill cuttings within the first vessel;
• and
• h) purging the first vessel of drill cuttings through the valve after some drilling fluid is separated from the cuttings in step "g".

An oil well drill cuttings disposal apparatus for removing drill cuttings from a drilling platform that uses a drill bit supported with a drill string and a well drilling fluid comprising:

• a) a cuttings collection hopper apparatus for collecting drill cuttings to be disposed of at a drill site, said hopper having a collection chamber with an interior;
• b) a first suction line for transmitting cuttings from the drill site to the hopper;
• c) a blower for forming a vacuum within the hopper;
• d) a second suction line for communicating between the hopper and the blower;
• e) the hopper defining a separator that is positioned in communication with one of the suction lines for preventing the travel of solid and liquid matter from the hopper to the blower;
• f) the hopper having an outlet for discharging drill cuttings from the hopper;
• and
• g) a disposal vessel for receiving cuttings that are discharged from the hopper through the outlet.

A method of removing drill cuttings from an oil and gas well drilling platform that uses a drill bit supported with a drill string and a well drilling fluid during a digging of a well bore, comprising the steps of:

• a) separating drill cuttings from the well drilling fluid on the drilling platform so that the drilling fluids can be recycled into the well bore during drilling operations;
• b) transmitting the cuttings to a cuttings collection area;
• c) suctioning the separated drill cuttings with a suction line having an intake end portion that can be positioned at the cutting collection area;
• d) transmitting the drill cuttings via the suction line to a first vessel that has an interior;
• e) forming a vacuum within the suction line and first vessel interior in steps "a" through "d" with a blower that is in fluid communication with the first vessel via a second vacuum line;
• f) discharging cuttings from the first vessel into a second vessel;
• and
• g) preventing liquids and solids that flow through the suction lines from entering the blower.

A method of removing drill cuttings from an oil and gas well drilling platform that uses a drill bit supported with a drill string and a well drilling fluid during a digging of a well bore, comprising the steps of:

• a) separating drill cuttings from the well drilling fluid on the drilling platform so that the drilling fluids can be recycled into the well bore during drilling operations;
• b) transmitting the cuttings to a cuttings collection area;
• c) suctioning the separated drill cuttings with a first suction line having an intake end portion that can be positioned at the cutting collection area;
• d) transmitting the drill cuttings via the suction line to a first vessel that has an interior;
• e) forming a vacuum within the first vessel interior with a blower that is in fluid communication with the vessel via a second vacuum line;
• f) valving the flow of cuttings from the first vessel with a valve;
• g) discharging cuttings from the first vessel into a second vessel by opening the valve;
• and
• h) separating liquids and solids from at least one of the vacuum lines before said liquids and solids can enter the blower.