Conveyor apparatus

Details Conveyor apparatus Conveyor apparatus

2001-06-25

2003-09-16

Dillon, Joseph A. (Department: 3651)

Conveyors: fluid current

Having means for maintaining load in suspension along flow path

By fluid whirling action

C406S122000, C406S136000, C406S140000, C406S146000, C406S154000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06619889

ABSTRACT:

This invention relates to conveyor apparatus and particularly though not exclusively to conveyor apparatus for conveying solid material such as sand, from a process vessel.
Most oil and gas producing wells, whether onshore or offshore, typically produce oil, gas, water and solids. The role of an offshore platform or an onshore field facility is to separate these four phases and route only the hydrocarbon streams to the receiving export terminal or refinery. It will be appreciated that often in practice, the associated gas is reinjected or flared. The water is separated i.e. solids are removed, de-oiled and either disposed overboard or reinjected back into the periphery of the oil or gas reservoir or into a separate aquifer.
Solids often appear as sand, clay or silt. These solids generally originate from the reservoir but may also be produced as corrosion by-products from the well tubing and process equipment or as frac sand which has been deliberately injected downhole to increase the permeability of the reservoir. The amount, type, size and production variability of the solids produced varies widely from field to field.
Solids production rates do not have to be particularly high before they begin to affect processing of the well output. For example, solids cause particular problems with process vessels such as production gravity separators since the solids settle out in these vessels due to the quiescent environment within the vessels. Typically, as the solids accumulate, the residence times for the liquid phase(s) decline for a given liquid throughput and therefore separation performance is impaired. The solids accumulation in these vessels also forms a good breeding ground for bacterial growth which can cause severe corrosion of the vessel walls.
Also, erosion damage to pipework and valves as a result of sand production is common, particularly in high pressure production. Furthermore, solids can block and disrupt instrumentation such as in line flowmeters and pressure indicators.
The present invention provides conveyor apparatus for conveying solid material in a process vessel comprising, a vessel housing having a housing inlet and a housing outlet, and an eductor having a jet inlet and a solids inlet, positioned within and generally at the bottom of the housing and aligned generally along a path from the housing inlet to the housing outlet, the housing inlet being arranged to feed jetting fluid into the jet inlet of the eductor and the housing outlet being arranged to receive the output of the eductor.
The present invention also provides a process vessel for holding a fluid including the apparatus of the paragraph immediately above.
In a method aspect, the invention provides a method of conveying solids in a process vessel, comprising the step of locating one or more eductor in the bottom of the vessel to form a localised solids jetting flow along the bottom of the vessel.
According to another aspect, the invention provides conveyor apparatus for conveying solids out of a process vessel, including one or more eductor located within the process vessel and arranged to entrain solids and generate a localised solids jetting flow.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides conveyor apparatus for conveying solid material out of a process vessel comprising, a vessel housing having a housing inlet for receiving a jetting fluid and a housing outlet for the exit of solid material, and at least one transverse eductor positioned within the housing, spaced along a path from the housing inlet to the housing outlet and aligned generally transversely of the path and arranged to direct solid material generally downwardly towards the path.


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