Systems and methods for controlling silica dust during hydraulic fracturing operations
AssigneeSierra Dust Control, LLC
InventorKim R. Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for controlling silica dust generated during the transfer of frac sand from a storage container through a conveyor system includes a system of conduits having a plurality of inlets for collecting silica dust generated at selected points along the conveyor system. An air system pneumatically coupled to the system of conduits generates a negative pressure at each of the inlets to induce the collection of silica dust at the selected points along the conveyor.
Claims19
A system for controlling silica dust generated during the transfer of frac sand from a storage container through a conveyor system including a container conveyor for offloading sand from the container and a lateral conveyor for laterally transporting sand received from the container conveyor, comprising:
- an air system for generating a negative pressure;
- a system of conduits having inlets for collecting silica dust generated at selected points along the conveyor system during the transfer of sand from the container, the system of conduits comprising:
- at least one manifold extending along at least a portion of a lateral side of the lateral conveyor;
- and
- a plurality of flexible conduits pneumatically coupled to the air system through the at least one manifold and providing the inlets;
- and
- a flexible cover system enclosing a space extending substantially an entire length of the lateral conveyor, a discharge end of the container conveyor extending through an aperture in a selected wall of the flexible cover system to a discharge point within the enclosed space, wherein the at least one manifold is disposed below the discharge point within the enclosed space and at least one of the plurality of flexible conduits extends upward from the at least one manifold to provide at least one inlet disposed within the enclosed space to collect dust generated by the discharge of sand from the container conveyor,
- wherein the air system is pneumatically coupled to the system of conduits and generates a negative pressure at each of the inlets to induce the collection of silica dust at the selected points along the conveyor system.
A system for controlling silica dust in a frac sand transport system including a transportable conveyor system and a set of at least one trailer having a tank and a trailer discharge conveyor, comprising:
- an airflow system comprising:
- a manifold;
- for each trailer in the set, a corresponding first conduit coupled to the manifold of the airflow system for capturing silica dust generated during the transfer of sand from the trailer discharge conveyor to a lateral conveyor section of the transportable conveyor system;
- and
- for each trailer in the set, a corresponding second conduit coupled to the airflow system for capturing silica dust generated in a sand holding space within the tank of the trailer;
- a flexible cover defining an enclosed space extending substantially an entire length of the lateral conveyor section, wherein for each trailer in the set, a discharge end of the trailer conveyor extends through an aperture in a selected wall of the flexible cover to a discharge point within the enclosed space, wherein the manifold extends along at least a portion of a lateral side of the lateral conveyor and is disposed below the discharge point within the enclosed space and the first conduit extends upward from the manifold such that an inlet of the first conduit is disposed within the enclosed space adjacent to the discharge point;
- and
- an air unit coupled to the airflow system for creating airflow through the airflow system to induce capture of silica dust through the conduits and for separating the silica dust from the airflow.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.