# US 9,433,908 B2 · Accurate dry bulk handling system and method of use

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- Number: US 9,433,908 B2
- Document ID: US9433908B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/009,510
- Filed: 2012-04-04
- Published: 2014-01-30
- Granted: 2016-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 2011-04-04
- Assignees: Proven Technologies, LLC
- Applicants: Gary L. Stevenson; Daniel R. Whitcher
- Inventors: Gary L. Stevenson; Daniel R. Whitcher
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9433908B2

## CPC

- B01F 35/71745: {using pneumatic pressure, overpressure, gas or air pressure in a closed receptacle or circuit system}
- B01F 23/60: Mixing solids with solids
- B01F 33/406: {in receptacles with gas supply only at the bottom (B01F33/405 takes precedence)}
- B65G 53/66: Use of indicator or control devices, e.g. for controlling gas pressure, for controlling proportions of material and gas, for indicating or preventing jamming of material {(controlling the flow of coal firing systems C21B5/003)}
- B01F: MIXING, e.g. DISSOLVING, EMULSIFYING OR DISPERSING (mixing paints B44D3/06)
- B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D)

## 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.

## Claims

### Claim 1

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.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising selectively moving the first dry bulk material mixed with the second dry bulk material from the first pressure re-loader tank or from the second re-loader tank into a hopper for mixing with a fluid.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising storing information describing the volume and composition of the first dry bulk material, the second dry bulk material, and of the first dry bulk material mixed with the second dry bulk material moved by the dry bulk handling system for future evidential use.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
energizing a second fluidized bed membrane by engaging the air source to the second atmospheric storage tank for aerating and agitating the first dry bulk material and the second dry bulk material in the second atmospheric storage tank;
creating a vacuum to move the first dry bulk material and the second dry bulk material from the second atmospheric storage tank into the first pressure re-loader tank;
charging the pressure of the first pressure re-loader tank to move the first dry bulk material and the second dry bulk material into the discharge line from the first pressure re-loader tank; and
using the automated control system to fill the second pressure re-loader tank from the second atmospheric storage tank while concurrently emptying the first pressure re-loader tank into the discharge line.