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US 7,135,107 B2Granted
Apparatus and system for concentrating slurry solids
OwnerRobert M. Palmerinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus to separate solids from drilling slurry, having an inlet positioned over an outlet of a concentration tank to displace water that would otherwise enter the down-stream centrifuges. Baffles are provided to direct solids to the outlet and minimize the time that solids spend in the concentration tank. Fluids having solids removed therefrom are removed from the apparatus at a location remote from the outlet.
Claims11
An apparatus for removing solids from a slurry stream of fluids and agglomerated solids, the apparatus comprising:
- a tank having a peripheral wall and a bottom, an inlet for supplying the slurry stream to said tank, and an outlet fluidly coupled to said bottom and substantially co-axial with and below said inlet, said outlet for receiving agglomerated slurry solids directly from said inlet;
- guiding means substantially co-axial with but positioned above said outlet and between said inlet and said outlet, for guiding agglomerated solids in the slurry stream from said inlet directly to said outlet, said guiding means comprises a baffle assembly including a plurality of concentric baffles that partition said tank into a plurality of fluidly coupled chambers, to form and maintain a substantially conical mass of agglomerated solids substantially co-axial with and over said outlet;
- and
- fluid removal means for removing the fluids from said tank from a location remote from said outlet.
1 more element
A system for removing solids from a slurry stream comprising fluids and entrained solids, the system comprising:
- agglomeration means for agglomerating the entrained solids within the slurry stream;
- inlet means for introducing the slurry stream to a solids concentrating apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a tank having a peripheral wall, a bottom, and an outlet fluidly coupled to said bottom and substantially co-axial with and below said inlet means, said outlet for receiving the agglomerated solids directly from said inlet;
- guiding means substantially co-axial with but positioned above said outlet and between said inlet means and said outlet, said guiding means for guiding the agglomerated solids from said inlet directly to said outlet, said guiding means comprises a baffle assembly including a plurality of concentric baffles that partition said tank into a plurality of fluidly coupled chambers, to form and maintain a substantially conical mass of agglomerated solids substantially co-axial with and over said outlet;
- and
- drain means for removing the fluids from said tank;
- sensor means for detecting the amount of each of the agglomerated solids and the fluids in said tank;
- solids removal means fluidly coupled to said outlet, for withdrawing the agglomerated solids through said outlet;
- and
- separation means fluidly coupled to said solids removal means, for separating residual water from the agglomerated solids withdrawn through said outlet.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.