Apparatus and process for removing liquids from drill cuttings
AssigneeClean Cut Technologies, LLC
InventorBarry E. McIntyre
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Drill cuttings associated with drilling fluid are thermally cleaned. The wet cuttings are fed into a vessel chamber having mechanical mixers, such as ribbon blenders, extending lengthwise of the chamber. Direct heating is applied to the chamber contents by introducing hot combustion gas from a heater. A combination of direct heating and mechanical back mixing of wet colder cuttings with drier hotter cuttings results in conditioning and conduction heating of the wet cuttings. The drilling fluid is evaporated and removed as gas. Dried cuttings are separately recovered. Caking and agglomeration of the solids is reduced.
Claims12
A method for removing drilling fluid from wet drill cuttings, comprising:
- providing a processor having a fixed chamber containing already partly dried, heated drill cuttings;
- adding wet drill cuttings into the chamber, said wet drill cuttings being colder than the heated drill cuttings;
- introducing a flow of hot gas into the chamber;
- mechanically back-mixing added wet drill cuttings with heated drill cuttings to promote conductive heat transfer therebetween and simultaneously advancing and directly heating the mixture of drill cuttings with the hot gas, so that sufficient drilling fluid is evaporated from the drill cuttings, as they are heated, to produce drill cuttings that have been dried to a pre-determined drilling fluid content;
- separately removing produced vapors and gas from the vessel chamber;
- and
- separately removing the dried drill cuttings from the vessel chamber.
Apparatus for removing drilling fluid from wet drill cuttings, comprising:
- a fixed vessel forming a fixed chamber;
- a source of wet drill cuttings;
- first means for feeding wet drill cuttings from the source into the chamber;
- second means for generating hot gas and forcing it through the chamber;
- third means for mechanically back-mixing and advancing drill cuttings within the chamber;
- so that wet drill cuttings introduced into the chamber may be mixed with already partly dried, relatively hot drill cuttings present in the chamber to cause conductive heat transfer between drill cuttings and the produced drill cuttings mixture may simultaneously be directly heated by the hot gas, whereby drilling fluid may be evaporated to produce gases and dried drill cuttings are produced;
- fourth means for removing produced gas and heating gas from the chamber as a separate stream;
- and
- fifth means for removing dried drill cuttings from the chamber as a separate stream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.