Vessel to condition dry drill cuttings
AssigneeNational Oilwell Varco, L.P.
InventorDavid Largent
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Dry earthen material from an oil/gas well drilling rig is injected into an elongated vessel with a number of rings of nozzles that are arranged in conjunction with a number of water and/or chemical spray nozzles and a baffling system to knock the air/gas out of the cuttings and vent it. A relatively thick muddy waste is produced which may be easily disposed of.
Claims26
A vessel that is adapted to receive and process drilling cuttings from an earth boring operation and to separate said processed drilling cuttings into a separated gas and a liquid slurry mixture, the vessel comprising:
- a plurality of fluid supply rings, wherein each of said plurality of fluid supply rings is adapted to receive flushing fluid from a flushing fluid supply system;
- a plurality of fluid injection nozzles, wherein each of said plurality of fluid injection nozzles is adapted to receive flushing fluid from at least one of said plurality of fluid supply rings and to spray said received flushing fluid on drilling cuttings that are received by said vessel so as to generate said liquid slurry mixture, said liquid slurry mixture comprising said flushing fluid and solids material comprising said received drilling cuttings;
- a first segmental flow baffle extending from a first side of said vessel;
- and
- a second segmental flow baffle extending from a second side of said vessel that is substantially opposite of said first side, wherein said first segmental flow baffle is positioned above and overlaps said second segmental flow baffle.
A system for processing drilling cuttings from an earth boring operation, the system comprising:
- a vessel that is adapted to receive drilling cuttings, process said drilling cuttings, for processing and separate said drilling cuttings into a separated gas and a liquid slurry mixture comprising a flushing fluid and solids material comprising said drilling cuttings, wherein said vessel is a vertically oriented elongate vessel having a substantially cylindrical shape and comprises a first segmental flow baffle extending from a first side of said vessel and a second segmental flow baffle extending from a second side of said vessel that is substantially opposite of said first side, wherein said first segmental baffle is positioned above and overlaps said second segmental flow baffle;
- first and second pluralities of fluid injection nozzles, wherein each injection nozzle of said first and second pluralities of injection nozzles is adapted to spray a flow of said flushing fluid on drilling cuttings that are received by said vessel so as to generate said liquid slurry mixture;
- a first fluid supply ring that is adapted to supply said flushing fluid to said first plurality of injection nozzles;
- a second fluid supply ring that is adapted to supply said flushing fluid to said second plurality of injection nozzles;
- and
- a flushing fluid supply system that is adapted to supply flushing fluid to said first and second fluid supply rings.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.