Solid material comminution or disintegration – Processes – With heating or cooling of material
Patent
1991-08-29
1994-03-15
Phan, Hien H.
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Processes
With heating or cooling of material
241 65, 2411881, 208407, 209 11, B02C 1108, B02C 1306
Patent
active
052940616
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a method of reducing the oil content of cuttings, which have been removed from a drilling mud consisting essentially of oil or contaminating oil, in which the cuttings are treated for oil to be extracted from them. The cuttings are fed to a drum-shaped space in which an elevated temperature is predominate and then subjected to a hammering treatment in that space, the temperature being selected so high that oil and water present in the cuttings are substantially converted to corresponding mist and/or vapor, which mist and/or vapor is removed from the drum-shaped shaped space and passed to another space, where any residual dust is removed from the mist and/or vapor, the cuttings being removed from the drum-shaped space in more or less dry form. The invention further relates to an apparatus for the application of the method.
A similar method and apparatus are known from GB patent application 2 165 259. In the known method the elevated temperature in the drum-shaped space is brought about by the heat of friction, which is produced by the rotation of the hammers provided in the drum for carrying out the hammering treatment and by the hammers beating the cuttings. The publication mentioned does not specify what temperature is required in the drum. It is merely observed that the temperature is permitted to be substantially lower than in the then known methods, where temperatures of 260.degree. C. and over were utilized. In its discussion of test results the GB publication mentions a temperature of 172.degree. C., beyond which it is suggested no further changes occur.
Practice has shown that the known method does not lead to satisfactory results. It appears, in particular, that it is difficult to maintain a desired temperature. If the heat of friction generated in the drum brings about a desired high temperature at all, that temperature cannot be controlled.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method which does not exhibit the drawback described above and an apparatus for applying that method.
The object contemplated is achieved in accordance with the invention by the method of the type described in the preamble being characterized in that the drum-shaped space is permanently heated from without, so that during the performance of the hammering treatment the temperature in the interior is maintained throughout in the vicinity of, but below, the cracking temperature of the oil in the cuttings being treated, and further the pressure in the spaces is maintained at a value of at least 0.3 bar above atmospheric pressure.
In the method according to the invention the drum-shaped space is continuously heated from without in a suitable manner, so that in the interior an elevated temperature of for instance at least 185.degree. C. or even more is predominate. In accordance with the invention the temperature in the interior is just below the cracking temperature of the oil present in the cuttings. At such a high temperature the water present in the cuttings will, as it were, explode to form superheated steam, this process being enhanced by the hammering treatment applied to the cuttings. Residual oil in the cuttings will be entrained, so that a fine oil mist or vapor will be formed. The cuttings themselves are pulverized by the hammering treatment, so that a fine and quite homogeneous dust is formed. Pulverizing the cuttings allows the largest possible amount of oil and water to pass from the cuttings. By externally heating the drum-shaped space in which the hammering treatment is conducted, the temperature within the drum can be maintained at a required high level quite accurately, so that the explosive formation of steam entraining with it oil particles from the cuttings, continues without interruption.
In practicing the method according to the invention a gauge pressure of at least 0.3 bar is maintained in the drum and in the space connected to it for separating dust from the water vapor and the oil mist. Such a pressure will be brought about by the generated steam itself if the spa
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Dexter Clark F.
Phan Hien H.
SCS Environmental B.V.
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