Boring or penetrating the earth – Processes – Boring with specific fluid
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-17
2001-01-09
Suchfield, George (Department: 3672)
Boring or penetrating the earth
Processes
Boring with specific fluid
C175S206000, C175S207000, C209S012100, C209S306000, C210S112000, C210S804000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170580
ABSTRACT:
SPECIFICATION
Background of the Invention
1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to the collection of fine drill cuttings from a shaker discharge trough and more particular to defluidizing the cuttings by compression and the collection of the defluidized cuttings for transport and disposal.
2. General Background
In oil well drilling operations, drilling fluids containing various lubricants and chemical agents called “additives” are circulated downwardly through the drill string to lubricate the drill bit and assist in the removal of cuttings as they are flushed to the surface through the annulus around the drill pipe. The cuttings are then processed by passing them over a series of cascading shaker screens thereby removing most of the drilling additives and oily residue. The drilling fluids are then recovered for reuse. The cuttings comprised of shell, rock, sand etc. which do not pass through the shaker screens are then collected for transport to a land reclamation site or may be further processed for reinjection into the annulus of the well bore being drilled.
Methods used for transporting cutting from the shaker screens, to cuttings collection boxes is well known within the art. Cuttings and any residual fluids may be simply gravity fed from a collection trough to a conveyor or pumped by any number of methods to a collection box. The use of vacuum systems or pneumatic conveying systems may also be employed, both of which are widely used in the oil and gas industry. Some attempts have been made to reduce the volume of the fine cuttings by separating the fluid from the cuttings by simply siphoning any residual fluids off the cuttings at the point of collection in a cuttings box such as that illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,857. Such methods have proven to be only partially effective leaving a large percentage of the residual fluids in the cuttings which must be transported.
It is an objective of the present invention to reduce the fluid content of the cuttings to its lowest possible level and recover the fluids separately for reuse or disposal thus reducing the weight of the cuttings to be transported and reducing the environmental impact.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides a method of collecting fine drill cuttings from the shaker screen collection trough via a vacuum line and passing the cuttings through a separating tank having a defluidizing screw press and delivering the defluized cuttings to a cuttings box for transport. The system comprising a suction line extending from a shaker screen, cuttings trough to a vertical cylindrical separating tank having a conical bottom, the tank being divided into an upper slurry portion and a lower liquid collection portion, further comprising a screw press passing through the upper slurry portion and liquid portion, a discharge means in the screw press for delivering defluidized material to a collection and transport box, a pump means for removing fluid from the lower liquid collection portion and a vacuum pump for creating a suction on the upper slurry portion thus importing the cuttings from the shaker trough.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3966607 (1976-06-01), Gaynor et al.
patent: 4528098 (1985-07-01), Treyssac et al.
patent: 4818402 (1989-04-01), Steiner et al.
patent: 5489383 (1996-02-01), Yoshikawa
patent: 5833851 (1998-11-01), Adams et al.
patent: 5842529 (1998-12-01), Dietzen
Montgomery Robert N.
Suchfield George
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