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US 9,162,603 B2Granted
Methods of storing and moving proppant at location adjacent rail line
AssigneeOren Technologies, LLC
InventorJohn Oren
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of delivering proppant to a well site has the steps of transporting a load of proppant in a vessel to a desired location, moving the load of proppant from the vessel into a container so as to create a proppant-loaded container, unloading the proppant-loaded container into a pneumatic bulk trailer, and transporting the unloaded proppant in the pneumatic bulk trailer to well site. The container is placed onto a bed of a truck and moved in proximity to the vessel. The proppant-loaded container is placed onto a tilting mechanism and then tilted so that the proppant is discharged through a flow gate of a container into a hopper. The proppant in the hopper can then be conveyed to the pneumatic bulk trailer.
Claims29
A method of storing and moving proppant at a location adjacent a rail line, the method comprising:
- a) removing a plurality of containers containing fracking proppant from a rail car;
- b) after step a), stacking the plurality of containers separate from the rail car on top of one another so that a bottom of one of the plurality of containers overlies the top of another one of the plurality of containers to thereby define a stack, the stack positioned at a location adjacent a rail line, the structural integrity of the plurality of containers enhanced by a plurality of structural uprights positioned to extend from the bottom to the top of each of the plurality of containers and thereby increase the weight carrying capacity of each of the plurality of containers;
- c) placing one or more of the plurality of containers from the stack adjacent the rail line onto one or more of a plurality of flatbeds by use of a container loader/unloader;
- d) moving the plurality of containers when positioned on the plurality of flatbeds away from the stack of the plurality of containers and away from the adjacent rail line;
- and
- e) scaling the number of the plurality of containers at the location adjacent the rail line according to the amount of proppant required at a particular location, each of the plurality of containers positioned to include an outlet adjacent the bottom for discharge of proppant therefrom, an opening adjacent the top thereof to load proppant therein, a pair of spaced-apart end walls connected to and extending between the bottom and the top, and a pair of side walls connected to and extending between the pair of end walls and the top and the bottom, each of the plurality of containers further includes one or more cross members rigidly extending between the pair of end walls and a plurality of cross members rigidly extending between the side walls at intervals between the end walls of each container.
3 more elements
A method of storing and moving proppant at a location adjacent a rail line, the method comprising:
- a) removing proppant for fracking from a railcar;
- b) storing the proppant separate from the rail car and adjacent a rail line in a plurality of containers that are located near the rail line, each container comprising:
- an opening adjacent the top thereof to receive proppant into the container, a pair of spaced-apart end walls connected to and extending between the bottom and the top, and a pair of sidewalls connected to an extending between the pair of end walls and the top and the bottom, and one or more cross members rigidly extending between the pair of end walls and one or more cross members rigidly extending between the side walls;
- an outlet adjacent a bottom for discharge of proppant therefrom;
- a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet to control flow of proppant through the outlet;
- and
- c) transferring one or more of the plurality of containers from the location adjacent the rail line onto one or more of a plurality of flatbeds by use of a loader/unloader;
- d) removing the one or more of the plurality of containers away from the rail line;
- and
- e) scaling the number of containers at the location adjacent the rail line according to the amount of proppant required at a particular location, each of the plurality of containers has a plurality of structural uprights positioned to extend from the bottom to the top of each of the plurality of containers at intervals between the side walls and the end walls to thereby increase the weight carrying capacity of each of the plurality of containers, and a plurality of horizontal structural members extending between the plurality of structural uprights.
7 more elements
A method of storing and moving proppant at a location adjacent a rail line, the method comprising:
- a) removing proppant for fracking from a railcar;
- b) storing the proppant separate from the rail car and adjacent a rail line in a plurality of containers that are located near the rail line, each container comprising:
- an opening adjacent the top thereof to receive proppant into the container, a pair of spaced-apart end walls connected to and extending between the bottom and the top, and a pair of sidewalls connected to an extending between the pair of end walls and the top and the bottom, and one or more cross members rigidly extending between the pair of end walls and one or more cross members rigidly extending between the side walls;
- an outlet adjacent a bottom for discharge of proppant therefrom;
- a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet to control flow of proppant through the outlet;
- and
- c) transferring one or more of the plurality of containers from the location adjacent the rail line onto one or more of a plurality of flatbeds by use of a loader/unloader;
- d) removing the one or more of the plurality of containers away from the rail line;
- and
- e) tracking the amount of proppant on hand at the location adjacent the rail line with bar-codes or logging mechanisms, and injecting air into each of the plurality of containers to enhance flow of proppant from the outlet of each of the plurality of containers adjacent the flow gate.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.