US 9,433,908 B2Granted

Accurate dry bulk handling system and method of use

AssigneeProven Technologies, LLC

InventorsGary L. Stevenson, Daniel R. Whitcher

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Abstract

Rapid evacuation and deployment of dry materials is achieved by the dual structure of this device and the method of using it to fill and empty vacuum reloading tanks automatically. This permits materials such a bentonite, barite or cement to be handled easily and without dust on a rig floor and mixed appropriately as needed for well control and completion operations. Dry bulk material is offloaded from an offshore supply vessel into atmospheric tanks, which provide fluidized bed systems to aerate and agitate and move material through piping into the vacuum re-loader tanks. The dual re-loader tank system allows one tank to be emptied while another fills thereby providing sufficient flexibility to expertly manage receiving, storage, transfer, filtration and control of the bulk material on various space-critical platforms, including offshore rigs and service vessels, that require the handling of dry bulk materials in an accurate and dust-free manner.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A method for accurately mixing dry bulk materials in a confined space comprising:

filling a first atmospheric storage tank with a first dry bulk material;
energizing a first fluidized bed membrane by engaging an air source to said first atmospheric storage tank for aerating and agitating the first dry bulk material in the first atmospheric storage tank;
creating a vacuum to move the first dry bulk material from the first atmospheric storage tank into a first pressure re-loader tank;
charging the pressure of the first pressure re-loader tank to move the first dry bulk material into a discharge line from the first pressure re-loader tank;
using an automated control system to fill a second pressure re-loader tank from the first atmospheric storage tank while concurrently emptying the first pressure re-loader tank into the discharge line;
moving the first dry bulk material from the discharge line into a second atmospheric tank, the second atmospheric tank including a second dry bulk material therein, for mixing the first dry bulk material with the second dry bulk material and,
tracking a total amount of the first dry bulk material and the second dry bulk material moved into and out of the first and second pressure re-loader tanks through the automated control system.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/009,510Filed 4 Apr 2012 · us provisional application
Priority: 4 Apr 2011
Published: US 2014/0030031 A130 Jan 2014
Granted: 6 Sep 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

B01F 35/71745
Characterised by the means for feeding the components to the mixer: using pneumatic pressure, overpressure, gas or air pressure in a closed…
B01F 23/60
Mixing according to the phases to be mixed, e.g. dispersing or emulsifying: mixing solids with solids
B01F 33/406
Mixers using gas or liquid agitation, e.g. with air supply tubes: in receptacles with gas supply only at the bottom
B65G 53/66
Details: use of indicator or control devices, e.g. for controlling gas pressure, for controlling proportions of material and gas, for indicating or…

Family

Application61/471,555Us provisional application · filed 4 Apr 2011
US 2014/0030031 A1Pre-grant publication · published 30 Jan 2014
US 9,433,908 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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