Agitating – Having specified feed means – Impinging jets
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-08
2001-10-23
Walker, W. L. (Department: 1723)
Agitating
Having specified feed means
Impinging jets
C366S163200, C366S173200, C366S182400, C366S336000, C366S340000, C366S341000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305835
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The ability to mix various materials with fluids on a continuous high volume basis has been a goal in various industries for many years. The oil and gas drilling industry, for example, mixes large quantities of drilling fluid for downhole circulation during drilling. Such fluids are both water and oil based, and the materials added are varied, such as bentonite, barite, polymers, and many other liquids and powders. Other applications include a number of industries involving polymer mixing, water treatment, slurry walls, clay slurries, lime slurries, solubilizing dry chemicals, and horizontal drilling for industrial applications, such as river crossings.
Devices commonly utilized for such purposes, particularly in the oil and gas drilling industry, an eductor assembly generally, and a particular adaptation of an eductor assembly known as a venturi hopper, of the type having a base fluid inlet, a material funnel for feeding materials, a substantially vertical hopper throat, a hopper throat valve, and an eductor, having a mixing chamber, a jet, and a venturi discharge/diffuser which receives and discharges the jetted fluid, along with the materials drawn from the hopper throat into the jetted fluid by the venturi effect. Also utilized are low velocity shearing devices, which create turbulence in the fluid by moving the fluid through low shear plates and/or static mixers, as well as, high velocity shearing devices which typically involve dividing the fluid into two flows, then rejoining the flows in opposition to each other, the interaction causing beneficial impact and turbulence. The high velocity shearing devices typically involve jetting the fluid for additional turbulence.
The above devices have been combined into various systems, but such systems suffer from a lack of routing options among the devices, ineffective methods for adding special chemical powders, such as powdered polymers, ineffective secondary materials feed inlets in addition to the primary material funnel feed, a lack of routing for effective backflowing of the shearing devices, a failure to combine both the low and high velocity shearing devices, cumbersome service access to the jet, ineffective use of available space on location, and/or redundant power sources.
An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,946 which provides a continuous static mixing apparatus and process which includes an eductor assembly, at least one “mixing disk,” which create turbulence, and routing for the interaction of opposing flows. The processes which both the eductor and the mixing disks, include the base fluid entering either the eductor or the mixing disks first, then the other in series. No other routings are shown for the combined devices. The drawings do not depict alternate routings for an individual embodiment, nor is a routing suggested for backflowing through the mixing disks. More than one materials entry point into the eductor assembly is generally suggested, although the eductor assembly actually shown includes what appears to be a hopper throat only.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,222 discloses a spiral jet mixer for mixing fluids, which has a first inlet nozzle for the introduction of a primary fluid, a mixing chamber having a diverging wall and a converging wall, a plurality of angled helical passageways in the diverging wall for introduction of a secondary fluid into the mixing chamber in a spiraling turbulent, initially convergent flow pattern. The device is marketed by VORTEX VENTURES, INC., and is referred to as a radial eductor.
Another example is the LOBESTAR™ Mixing Eductor by VORTEX VENTURES, INC., includes a typical venturi hopper, modified to provide a “radial premixer,” which has an inner liner within the throat, through which a substantial portion of the base fluid is routed, the base fluid being tangentially directed through the liner to create a vortex, the materials from the hopper being premixed, to some extent, with this portion of the base fluid, as the material is drawn into the eye of such vortex. The base fluid entry into the hopper throat is substantially lower than the hopper throat valve. Also included is a small “vacuum gauge and chemical injection inlet” which discharges into the mixing chamber. This device diverts an unacceptably large amount of the base fluid from the jet, requiring a lower amount of jetted fluid to draw a larger amount of“pre-mixed” base fluid and materials into the venturi discharge. The device also allows a vacuum to be created against a closed hopper valve, in cases where the “chemical injection inlet” is the sole source of materials. Such a vacuum is undesirable in that accumulations of materials can be created when partially wetted materials are drawn into the hopper throat area beneath the hopper throat valve. Similarly, the “chemical injection inlet” is too small to use for the introduction of powdered chemicals, and is impractical for use in applications in which this inlet is the sole source of materials being added to the base fluid. This impracticality is made worse by the reduction in vacuum caused by the routing of a substantial amount of fluid through the radial premixer. An additional problem is the ineffective access to the jet for replacement.
Another example is the SHEAR TEARER™ In-Line Shearing device, which provides a low velocity shearing device to be combined with a venturi hopper, in parallel only, with no high velocity shearing device, and no routing option for using the devices in series, no routing option system bypass, and no routing option for backflowing the fluid through the shearing device.
An additional example is the JET SHEART™ II, continuous mixing system by Flo Trend™ Systems, Inc., which includes a venturi hopper in series with two shearing devices, with a routing option to bypass the shearing devices, but not the venturi hopper. No routing option is provided for backflowing through the shearing device, and no low speed-shearing device is provided.
Similar to this device is the JET SHEAR™ manufactured by Flow Process Technologies [S] Pte. Ltd., in which the primary difference is the orientation of the fluid recombination path in the shearing device, changing from an angled recombination to an inline recombination of the fluid. The entering liquid is divided into two equal and opposing streams through a yoke assembly. These streams are directed into a mixing chamber through discs containing nozzles located in each end of the mixing chamber, which form the lateral boundaries of the mixing chamber. These nozzle plates are positioned to oppose each other. The nozzles contained in these respective plates are equally spaced on a circle located near the outer perimeter of the nozzle plates and are precisely angled with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes of the mixing chamber. The nozzles are identical in both plates, and since these plates are geometrically opposed, the liquid streams directed through each nozzle plate are moving in opposite rotational directions, one clockwise and one counterclockwise. Product literature suggests installing the device in parallel with the drilling rig mixing hopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,528 discloses an apparatus and method for mixing water in a water-soluble emulsion polymer, which includes a pump means, a static mixing means, and a mixing chamber means, where a first circulation means connects the pump means to the mixing chamber means, a second circulation means connects the pump means to the static mixing means, and further connects the static mixing means to the mixing chamber means. A third circulation means connects the static mixing means to the mixing chamber means. Flow control means selectively circulates the combined stream of the water and the polymer alternatively through the first circulation means, the second circulation means, or the third circulation means. The pump means has an inlet adapted to receive and combine the water and the emulsion polymer to form a combined stream of water and emulsion polymer. The apparatus has a static mixing means for mixing water
Farrar Joseph Daniel
Lavoie Jimmy Phillip
Gray George S.
Sorkin David
Walker W. L.
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