WO2021217262A1

WO2021217262A1 - Feeding device for a hydraulic fracturing blender unit

Info

Publication number: WO2021217262A1
Application number: PCT/CA2021/050592
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marlea SLEEMAN
Original assignee: Catapult Solutions Canada Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-04-30
Filing date: 2021-04-29
Publication date: 2021-11-04

Abstract

A feeding device is used between (i) a downstream hydraulic fracturing blender unit having an intake hopper for receiving a proppant and a material conveyor feeding the proppant from the intake hopper to a mixing vessel of the blender unit, and (ii) a storage system having a storage container storing a large volume of the proppant and a discharge conveyor for conveying the proppant from the storage container to the intake hopper of the blender unit. The feeding device has a containment vessel with an intake opening to receive and store a working volume of the proppant therein from the discharge conveyor of the storage system. A discharge opening of the feeding device is arranged to be located within the upper containment boundary of the intake hopper of the blender unit to allow automatic gravity feed of proppant from the feeding device to the blender unit without risk of overfilling.

Description

FEEDING DEVICE FOR A HYDRAULIC FRACTURING BLENDER UNIT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a feeding device for storing a surge volume of proppant and feeding the proppant into the intake hopper of a hydraulic fracturing blender unit to increase the available on-demand proppant within the intake hopper of the hydraulic fracturing blender unit.

BACKGROUND

In a hydraulic fracturing operation, it is common place to have a blender unit designed to integrate a slurry of water, proppant, dry chemicals and/or liquid chemicals to be used as fracturing fluid during the completion phase in the formation of a production wellbore. The blending unit typically includes a portable frame, for example a trailer deck, that supports a mixing vessel for mixing proppant with water and chemicals, a proppant intake hopper to collect a working volume of proppant, and a proppant conveyor for conveying the proppant from the intake hopper to the mixing vessel. The proppant conveyor typically comprises a set of 3 or 4 augers in which one or two augers are typically operated at a time.

The intake hopper is typically filled on a continuous basis from large- volume, long-term storage containers on site. Due to the large volumes of proppant used during a fracturing operation, the storage containers on site are typically very large so as to require the storage containers to be located a considerable distance from the blender unit. Furthermore, typical storage containers have a low discharge elevation intended to discharge to the intake hopper of conveying equipment substantially at ground level. For these reasons, a conveyor is typically provided for conveying proppant from the ground level discharge of the large storage container on site to the elevated and remotely located intake of the blender unit. Systems typically are desirable to be discharging sand into the intake hopper on the side of the intake hopper which has the augers operating, as it: (i) reduces the likelihood of overfilling the surge bin (which is a problem because it wastes very costly product and creates risk of increased silica occupational exposures for workers onsite, which can cause silica-related health effects such as silicosis); or (ii) starves the side were the augers are depleting from (which is a critical issue because it will impact the proppant concentrations designed for the frac such that it is a catastrophic mistake to starve the auger).

Currently, daily blender consumption in a typical fracturing operation has increased dramatically from recent past, for example going from 500 tons/day to 5000 tons/day of proppant consumed. The typical blending unit that are commercially available however have a limited sized intake hopper resulting in little room for error and increasing difficulty in preventing problems associated with starving the proppant conveyor or overfilling the intake hopper when operating at much greater flow rates than the blending units were originally intended for.

Because of the increasing daily consumption intensity of the proppant, most operations prefer to eliminate downtime risk by incorporating redundant conveyors, where if one conveyor fails, a second would immediately be engaged to ensure that the blender augers were not starved for proppant. However, regardless how short of a distance the storage containers are from the blender’s proppant intake containment is, the augers will likely have already consumed all the accessible proppant by the time the second conveyor would be engaged and the proppant would flow from its storage container to the conveyor, and become conveyed to the blender’s proppant intake containment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a feeding device for use with (i) a downstream unit having an intake hopper for receiving a flowable, granular material and a material conveyor feeding the granular material from the intake hopper and (ii) a storage system having a storage container storing a large volume of the granular material therein and a discharge conveyor for conveying the granular material from the storage container to the intake hopper of the downstream unit, the feeding device comprising: a containment vessel arranged to store a working volume of the granular material therein; an intake opening in the containment vessel through which the granular material is arranged to be received from the discharge conveyor of the storage system; at least one discharge opening in the containment vessel through which the granular material is arranged to be discharged by gravity into the intake hopper of the downstream unit. When the intake hopper of the blender unit is arranged to contain the proppant therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, preferably the containment vessel is arranged to be supported adjacent to or above the intake hopper such that the discharge opening of the containment vessel lies within containment volume below the upper containment boundary and such that the proppant discharged from the discharge opening cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary. The intake hopper may be arranged to receive the proppant piled therein such that the angle of repose of the proppant defines the upper containment boundary. By discharging under gravity through a discharge opening within the upper containment boundary, bridging off of the granular materials within the intake hopper will automatically stop the flow of granular material without overfilling.

Use of a containment vessel in proximity to the intake hopper of a blender unit allows the readily available volume of proppant at the blender unit to be increased considerably. This provides an ability to store a “surge” amount and automate the upstream equipment to ensure that blenders are never starved or overfilled, which is getting much harder to do now that daily blender consumption is going from 500 tons/day to 5000 tons/day in many instances.

The containment vessel can be further configured with multiple different discharge configurations having different discharge heights, different intake configurations to accommodate different intake heights, and different overall elevations of the vessel itself to optimally position the containment vessel for discharge directly into the intake hopper of a variety of different types of blender units.

This adjustability of the containment vessel also allows the containment vessel to be configured for gravity discharge into the intake hopper of the blender unit such that there is no risk of interrupting the supply of proppant to the intake hopper as can result when otherwise relying upon a conveyor system directly feeding the intake hopper of the blender unit.

The feeding device may include a plurality of discharge openings and may be operable in a plurality of different discharge configurations, each corresponding to a different one or more of the discharge openings being configured to discharge the granular material therethrough.

When the containment vessel comprises a plurality of outer walls, at least one partition member may be supported within a boundary of the outer walls so as to be movable relative to the outer walls so as to vary the working volume of the containment vessel according to the selected discharge configuration of the containment vessel.

Preferably at least two of the discharge openings are different in elevational relative to one another.

In the preferred embodiment, the discharge openings include (i) at least one bottom discharge opening operable between a closed position and an open position arranged to discharge the granular material downwardly through a bottom of the containment vessel, and (ii) at least one side discharge opening operable between a closed position and an open position arranged to discharge the granular material laterally through a side of the containment vessel. The discharge openings preferably include at least one side discharge opening arranged to discharge the granular material laterally therethrough. Preferably the side discharge opening is adjustable in height relative to outer walls of the containment vessel. The discharge openings may also include a plurality of side discharge openings at different elevations in a side wall of the containment vessel, each side discharge opening including a cover member associated therewith that is arranged to be selectively mounted across the discharge opening so as to close the discharge opening. When used with a downstream in which the intake hopper is arranged to contain the granular material therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, the side discharge opening may include a discharge chute associated therewith which extends downwardly and outwardly from a respective side wall of the containment vessel to a bottom end of the discharge chute defining the discharge opening thereon so that the bottom end of the discharge chute lies within the containment volume below the upper containment boundary such that the granular material discharged from the discharge chute cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary. The discharge openings preferably include at least one bottom discharge opening arranged to discharge the granular material downwardly therethrough, for example two bottom discharge openings at laterally spaced apart positions relative to one another. When used with a downstream unit in which the intake hopper is arranged to contain the granular material therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, and wherein the containment vessel is arranged to be supported above the intake hopper such that said at least one bottom discharge opening of the containment vessel lies within the containment volume below the upper containment boundary such that the granular material discharged from the bottom discharge opening cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary. The bottom discharge opening preferably includes a gate assembly associated therethrough which is operable between a closed position preventing discharge through the bottom discharge opening and an open position allowing granular material to be discharged downwardly through the bottom discharge opening. In the illustrated embodiment, the intake opening comprises an open top end of the containment vessel.

The intake opening may be adjustable in height relative to outer walls of the containment vessel. In this instance, the intake opening may include a lower boundary defined by an upright side wall portion of the containment vessel which is adjustable in height relative outer walls of the containment vessel.

The containment vessel may be supported on a base frame arranged to be supported on a ground surface, in which the base frame is adjustable in height such that a height of the containment vessel relative to the ground surface is adjustable.

The base frame may comprise a pair of side frames at laterally spaced apart positions so as to be arranged to receive the intake hopper of the downstream unit laterally between the side frames and vertically between the containment vessel and the ground surface.

The feeding device may include a level sensor associated with the containment vessel so as to be arranged to measure an amount of the granular material within the containment vessel and communicate the measured amount to an external device.

When the feeding device is used in combination with the discharge conveyor for conveying the granular material from the storage container, the feeding device may further comprise a controller in communication with the level sensor so as to be arranged to halt operation of the discharge conveyor in response to a measured amount which exceed an upper limit stored on the controller. The level sensor may comprise a height sensor arranged to measure a height of the granular material within the containment vessel, or a measurement sensor arranged to measure a quantity, for example a volume or weight, of the granular material within the containment vessel. Preferably the working volume of the containment vessel is greater than a containment volume within the intake hopper of the downstream unit.

Preferably the volume of the storage container is many times larger than the working volume of the containment vessel.

When the containment vessel is supported on a base frame arranged to be supported on a ground surface, the base frame may include a pair of lifting surfaces formed thereon so as to be arranged to support the base frame and the containment vessel on a pair of lift forks of a loader vehicle.

The feeding device may further include a plurality of lifting hooks connected to the containment vessel so as to be arranged to suspend the containment vessel from a crane. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is schematic representation of a prior art hydraulic fracturing blender unit receiving proppant discharged therein from a storage container storing a large volume of proppant therein via a discharge conveyor that conveys the proppant from the storage container to the intake hopper of the blender unit;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the feeding device according to the present invention in a side discharge configuration in which the feeding device receives the proppant from the large volume storage container by conveyor and discharges the proppant into the intake hopper of the blender unit;

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the feeding device according to the present invention in a bottom discharge configuration in which the feeding device receives the proppant from the large volume storage container by conveyor and discharges the proppant into the intake hopper of the blender unit;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the feeding device in the bottom discharge configuration showing a discharge side of the device;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the feeding device showing an intake side of the device; Figure 6 is a top plan view of the feeding device; and

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the feeding device in a side discharge configuration.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying figures, there is illustrated a feeding device 10 for feeding material received from a material storage system 12 into an intake hopper 14 of downstream equipment, for example a hydraulic fracturing blender unit 16.

A typical blender unit 14 is designed to integrate a slurry of water, proppant, dry chemicals, and liquid chemicals for providing the desired fracturing components in a hydraulic fracturing operation that completes preparation of a wellbore for hydrocarbon production. In the illustrated embodiment, the blender unit 14 includes a portable frame 18 supported on wheels, for example a trailer frame that can be towed on roads between different sites. A mixing vessel 20 is supported on the portable frame 18 for mixing the slurry of water, proppant and chemicals that forms the fracturing fluid used in a hydraulic fracturing operation. The blender unit further includes the proppant intake hopper 14 that receives proppant therein from the feeding device 10 according to the present invention.

The intake hopper 14 has an open top end surrounded by a plurality of upright perimeter walls which taper downwardly and inwardly towards the bottom end of the hopper. Proppant can be filled into the intake hopper 14 by piling the proppant such that a peak of the pile extends above the upper edge of the perimeter walls as permitted by a prescribed angle of repose of the proppant. In this instance, the containment volume of material within the intake hopper includes the interior volume of the hopper as well as an additional volume of the piled material that may extend above the upper edge of the perimeter walls such that the upper boundary of the containment volume is defined by the angle of repose of material forming a pile within the boundary walls of the intake hopper. A set of 3 or 4 proppant conveyors 22 are supported in parallel and alongside one another such that each proppant conveyor 22 is arranged to convey material from the bottom of the intake hopper 14 to be discharged into the top end of the mixing vessel 20 for mixing. The proppant conveyors 22 are supported at respective laterally spaced positions across a width of the intake hopper and are independently operable such that the intake hopper can receive and discharge material primarily through only one side of the intake hopper if desired.

The intake hopper in prior art arrangements is typically fed directly from the material storage system 12 as shown in Figure 1 . The storage system 12 comprises one or more storage containers 24 having a respective containment volume which is many times larger than the containment volume of the intake hopper. In the illustrated embodiment, the storage container 24 is a large volume silo suitable for containing proppant therein and which discharges at a bottom end through a hopper bottom 26. The hopper bottom 26 is equipped with a gate which controls the rate of discharge from the storage container 24 into a discharge conveyor 28 having an inlet hopper positioned below the hopper bottom 26 to receive proppant discharged from the container thereabove. The discharge conveyor in the illustrated embodiment is a long linear conveyor extending at an upward and laterally outward slope from the inlet hopper below the storage container to a respective outlet 30 which can discharge downwardly into the open top end of the intake hopper 14 of the blender unit in a normal configuration as shown in figure 1. The feeding device may receive material from one or more storage containers, in which each storage container has one or more of the discharge conveyors 28 associated therewith for discharge into the same intake hopper 14 of the feeding device. The feeding device 10 according to the present invention is supported at an intermediate location between the storage system 12 and the blender unit 16. In this manner the feeding device 10 receives proppant material discharged into the feeding device from the outlet 30 of the one or more discharge conveyors 28, while feeding the proppant material received therein through a selected one of a plurality of discharge openings of the feeding device to discharge the proppant into the intake hopper 14 of the blender unit 16. The selected discharge opening of the feeding device corresponds to the discharge configuration of the feeding device 10 as described in further detail below. In figure 2, the feeding device is shown in a side discharge configuration with the feeding device being positioned laterally adjacent to the intake hopper 14 of the blender unit for discharging proppant laterally from the feeding device into the open top end of the intake hopper. In figure 3, the feeding device is shown in a bottom discharge configuration with the feeding device being positioned over top of the intake hopper 14 of the blender unit for discharging proppant downwardly from the feeding device into the open top end of the intake hopper. The feeding device 10 generally comprises a containment vessel 32 defining a working volume therein for containing proppant material therein. The working volume of the containment vessel 32 is larger than the containment volume of the intake hopper 14 with the containment vessel being arranged in operative communication with the intake hopper 14 to effectively expand the containment volume of the intake hopper by the additional working volume of the containment vessel 32. The working volume of the containment vessel however remains quite small compared to the storage container 24 which remains many times larger in storage capacity such that the storage container remains situated at a distance from the blender unit as opposed to the containment vessel 32 of the feeding device which is supported directly adjacent to the intake hopper of the blender unit in use. The containment vessel 32 comprises a plurality of outer walls which are upright in orientation about a perimeter of an open top end 36 of the containment vessel. Some of the outer walls are tapered downwardly and inwardly to define a hopper shape of the containment vessel 32. The vessel is elongate in a lateral direction between two opposed ends 38. A front intake side wall 40 spans across the width of the containment vessel in the lateral direction at the front side of the vessel and a rear discharge side wall 42 spans across the width of the containment vessel in the lateral direction at the rear side of the vessel such that the front and rear side walls are parallel to one another at longitudinally opposed front and rear sides, while each being connected between corresponding end walls 44 situated at the opposing ends 38 of the vessel.

The front and rear side walls 40 and 42 are substantially vertical in orientation across the full height of the containment vessel. The end walls 44 each include an upper portion 46 which is generally vertical in orientation and extends downwardly from the upper perimeter edge about the top opening 36 of the vessel and a lower portion 48 extending downwardly from the respective upper portion 46 at a laterally inward slope towards the opposing end wall 44. The front wall 40, the rear wall 42 and both end walls 44 are all connected with one another about the perimeter of a bottom wall 50 spanning horizontally across the bottom end of the containment vessel 32. A plurality of upper frame member 52 are mounted along the top edges of the front wall 40, the rear wall 42, and both end walls 44 to be connected to one another about a perimeter of the open top end for structural reinforcement of the outer walls of the containment vessel. A set of lifting hooks 54 are mounted at the four corners of the upper frame members extending about the perimeter of the open top end. The lifting hooks are suitable for connection to rigging for suspending the feeding device from a crane if desired. This is particularly suited for lowering the feeding device 10 over top of an intake hopper 14 of a blender unit in the bottom discharge configuration shown in figure 3.

The feeding device 10 further includes a base frame 56 for being engaged upon a ground surface and supporting the containment vessel thereon at a location spaced above the ground surface. The base frame 56 generally includes a lower portion that is engaged upon the ground surface and an upper portion connected to the containment vessel 32 such that the upper portion and containment vessel 32 supported thereon are adjustable in height together relative to the lower portion. The lower portion of the base frame 56 includes two side frames 58 at laterally opposed ends of the feeding device. Each side frame includes a footer beam 60 extending the width of the vessel between the front and rear sides thereof and two sleeves 62 extending vertically upward from the footer beam adjacent the opposing ends thereof so that the sleeves are parallel to one another and longitudinally spaced apart adjacent the front and rear sides respectively of the feeding device 10.

The upper portion of the base frame 56 similarly comprises two side frames 64 at laterally opposing ends of the feeding device. Each side frames 64 includes two legs 66 which are telescopically received within the two sleeves 62 at the same end of the device 10. In this manner, each leg is slidably received within a respective sleeve 62 to allow relative vertical sliding to raise and lower the leg relative to the ground surface. The upper ends of the two legs 66 of each side frame 64 are fixed at spaced apart positions on a respective one of the end walls 44 of the vessel. A lateral crossbar 68 extends across each of the front and rear side walls 40 and 42 of the vessel for connection at opposing ends of the lateral crossbar 68 to a corresponding pair of the legs 66 at opposing ends of the front or rear side of the vessel. An upper crossbar 70 is also included within each side frame 64 to extend across the respective end wall 44 between the two legs 66 of the respective side frame 64.

The base frame 66 further comprises a plurality of lateral bars 72 in which each lateral bar 72 is fixed at an outer end onto a respective one of the legs 66 and extends horizontally inward to an inner end fixed onto the lower portion of a respective one of the end walls 44 in line with a respective one of the front or rear side walls of the containment vessel. Each lateral bar 72 provides support between the lower portion of the containment vessel and the base frame. The lateral bars all lie in a common horizontal plane. The lateral bars also include horizontal lifting surfaces along the bottom sides thereof. The bottom lifting surfaces of the lateral bars 72 are suitably spaced apart to receive a pair of lifting forks beneath the lateral bars such that the lifting surfaces on the bottom sides of the lateral bars are engaged upon the upper surfaces of the lifting forks 76 of a loader vehicle for lifting, positioning and general handling of the feeding device at a worksite. The lateral distance between the lifting surfaces of the lateral bars 72 towards opposing ends 38 of the feeding device corresponds to the lateral distance between the lifting forks 76 of a commercially available loader vehicle. Furthermore the longitudinal distance between the lateral bars 72 at the front side and the lateral bars at the rear side of the feeding device is less than the length of commercially available lifting forks 76 such that the two lateral bars 72 at each end of the vessel cooperatively define an effective lifting pocket that receives a respective lifting fork whereby the bottom sides of the lateral bars 72 are able to suitably distribute the load of the feeding device onto the lifting forks in a stable manner.

Each side frame 64 of the upper portion of the base frame further includes a lifting crossbar 78 connected between the respective legs 66 at that end of the feeding device at an intermediate location thereon so as not to interfere with telescoping movement of the lower ends of the legs 66 within the sleeves 62 respectively. Each lifting crossbar 78 is parallel and spaced above a corresponding footer beam 60 of the corresponding side frame 58 of the lower portion of the base frame. A lift actuator 80 is mounted at each end of the feeding device 10 so as to be mounted at a bottom end to a respective one of the footer beams 60 and mounted at the top end onto the corresponding lifting crossbar 78. The lift actuator 80 is a hydraulic linear actuator which is vertically oriented at a central location between the corresponding legs at the front and rear of the feeding device. Both lift actuators 80 are actuated together to be extended and retracted in unison. The lifting actuators 80 may be locked at a selected height to fix the intake hopper immovably relative to the base frame at the selected height. Alternatively, locking pins or another form of mechanical may be provided between the legs 66 and the corresponding sleeves 62 to fix the intake hopper immovably relative to the base frame at a selected height. When extended, the lifting crossbars 78 are raised relative to the footer beams to raise the upper portion of the base frame 56 relative to the lower portion, which in turn raises the containment vessel 32 towards an uppermost position spaced above the footer beams on the ground surface at greatest height. When retracted, the lifting crossbars 78 are lowered relative to the footer beams to lower the upper portion of the base frame relative to the lower portion which in turn lowers the containment vessel 32 towards a lowermost position spaced above the footer beams on the ground surface at the lowest height. The height of the containment vessel above the ground is typically selected based upon whether the feeding device is operated in a side discharge configuration or a bottom discharge configuration and based upon the size and configuration of the intake hopper 14 with which the feeding device 10 operatively communicates in the selected working configuration.

The containment vessel 32 includes an intake opening 82 formed by the open top end 36 of the vessel. The boundary of the intake opening 82 is defined by the top edge of the perimeter walls surrounding the open top end. The front wall 40 includes a recessed opening 84 formed at the top end thereof in open communication with the open top of the vessel for cooperation with an adjustable wall panel 86 that selectively spans across the recessed opening. The adjustable wall panel 86 is slidably mounted at the exterior side of the front wall so as to be movable between a raised position and a lowered position. The wall panel 86 may be supported for sliding movement by providing channels 88 fixed onto the exterior side of the front wall 40 of the containment vessel which receive respective ones of the upright side edges of the wall panel 86 therein for relative vertical sliding therebetween. A suitable actuator 90, for example a hydraulic linear actuator, can be operatively connected between the wall panel 86 and a portion of the front wall 40 of the containment vessel therebelow such that extending and retracting the actuator displaces the wall panel between the raised and lowered positions thereof. In other embodiments, the slideable wall panel 86 may be secured by bolts or fasteners at a predetermined setting prior to its use.

In the raised position, a top edge of the wall panel 86 lies in a common plane with the top edges of the remaining walls of the vessel such that the wall panel 86 fully spans the recessed opening 84. In the lowered position, the top edge of the wall panel 86 is recessed relative to the top end of the vessel so as to be spaced below the top edges of the remaining walls of the vessel. In this manner, a portion of the recessed opening 84 above the wall panel 86 is open with the open top end of the vessel to define part of the intake opening 82 which is recessed in elevation relative to the top end of the vessel. In this manner, raising and lowering the wall panel which forms a section of the perimeter wall of the vessel about the open top end effectively permits the lower boundary of the intake opening to be adjusted in height relative to the vessel. It is preferred that the wall panel 86 be maintained in the raised position to maximize the working volume within the interior of the containment vessel 32 capable of storing proppant therein; however, in instances where the outlet end 30 of the one or more discharge conveyors 28 of the storage system at maximum height cannot reach the top end of the containment vessel, the wall panel 86 may be lowered for receiving the conveyor 28 therethrough while maintaining the containment vessel 32 at a suitable elevation above the ground for cooperation with the intake hopper of the blender unit.

As noted above, the feeding device 10 also comprises a plurality of discharge openings. These include two bottom discharge openings 92 formed in the bottom wall 50 for use in the bottom discharge configuration and one or more side discharge openings 94 located in the rear wall 42 for use in the side discharge configuration.

The two bottom discharge openings are laterally spaced apart from one another within the bottom wall 50 so as to lie in a common horizontal plane at the bottom of the containment vessel 32. When opened, each discharge opening at the bottom is arranged to discharge material downwardly therethrough. A gate assembly 96 is associated with each bottom discharge opening in which a gate panel 98 is supported on a respective pair of rails forming a track 100 such that each gate panel is movable between a closed position spanning across the respective bottom discharge opening 92 and an open position in which the gate panel is slidably displaced laterally outwardly away from the opposing gate assembly so that the bottom discharge opening is substantially unobstructed by the gate assembly.

A suitable gate actuator is associated with each gate assembly, for example a hydraulic linear actuator or a hydraulic orbit motor driving a rack and pinion gear arrangement. The gate actuators are operable independently of one another and can position each gate assembly at any one of a plurality of different positions between the fully open and fully closed positions thereof such that the size of the open area of the bottom discharge opening is variable for controlling the rate of discharge of material therethrough if desired.

By providing two bottom discharge openings which are laterally spaced apart from one another in the same lateral direction that the multiple proppant conveyors 22 of the blender unit are spaced apart from one another, one of the bottom discharge openings can be opened corresponding to activation of one or more proppant conveyors on the same side of the blender unit while the other bottom discharge opening remains closed due to the proppant conveyors 22 in alignment therewith being inactive.

When used in the bottom discharge configuration, the containment vessel 32 is provided directly above the intake hopper 14 such that the side frames 58 of the lower base frame are positioned at laterally opposing sides of the intake hopper and the vessel 32 spans across the width of the intake hopper between the side frames 58. In this manner the intake hopper 14 is fitted laterally between the legs of the feeding device while fitting vertically between the ground surface and the bottom discharge openings at the bottom wall of the containment vessel 32.

Ideally the height of the containment vessel is adjusted such that the bottom discharge openings 92 are sufficiently close to the open top end of the intake hopper that the bottom discharge openings are within the containment volume when the upper boundary of the containment volume is defined by the angle of repose of material piled within the intake hopper. In this manner, the bottom discharge openings can remain fully open with material being gravity discharged from the containment vessel 32 directly into the intake hopper without concern for spilling because the angle of repose of a pile of material extending below each discharge opening remains within the perimeter boundary of the intake hopper.

In the illustrated embodiment, one or more side openings 102 are provided in the rear wall to define a range of different discharge elevations relative to the containment vessel 32. A cover 104 is associated with the one or more side openings 102 to span across the one or more openings in a closed position of the side discharge, for example when in the bottom discharge configuration. When one or more of the side openings 102 are opened or partially opened, material can be discharge laterally therethrough in the side discharge configuration.

In preferred embodiments, the cover 104 comprises a sliding gate which is movable relative to the side openings between respective open and closed positions thereof. The cover may be moved upwardly from the closed position of Figure 4 to open and expose a lower portion of the one or more discharge openings 102 below the cover 104 in a lower side discharge configuration. Alternatively, the cover may be moved downwardly from the closed position of Figure 4 to open and expose an upper portion of the one or more discharge openings 102 above the cover 104 in an upper side discharge configuration.

When one or more of the side openings are opened in the side discharge configuration, a discharge chute 106 is attached in communication with the uncovered and exposed portion of the side opening 102 which is in open use for discharging material from the containment vessel through the discharge chute. The discharge chute 106 extends from the side opening in the rear wall of the containment vessel at a downward and laterally outward slope to a bottom end of the chute which is open and which defines the elevation of the side discharge opening 94 of the containment vessel in the side discharge configuration. In other embodiments, the cover panels 104 may be fixed panels that are removed and replaced with a discharge chute 106 covering the side opening 102 or portion thereof that is in use for discharging.

When the cover 104 is a sliding gate as shown in Figure 4, channels may be mounted externally on the rear wall to function as a track receiving respective opposing upright side edges of a gate panel which incorporates the discharge chute 106 integrally therein. The discharge chute 106 communicates with the exposed portion of the side opening 102 above or below the gate panel in this instance and may be movable together with the gate panel relative to one or more side openings in the rear wall. In this instance the gate panel may be moved into a closed position in which the discharge chute is misaligned with any side openings 102 in the wall to close all side openings in the rear wall and prevent discharge therethrough as shown in the configuration of Figure 4. The gate panel may also be moved through a range of open positions in which the discharge chute is aligned with one or more selected side openings 102 in the rear wall corresponding to the different discharge elevations of the upper and lower side discharge configurations relative to the remaining walls of the vessel. Accordingly, material can be discharged through the discharge chute 106 in the side discharge configuration at any one of a plurality of different discharge elevations with material being discharge laterally through the chute in each side discharge configuration. When the discharge chute 106 is operated in a side discharge configuration at an elevation where the active side opening 102 of the vessel through which material is discharged is located spaced above the bottom wall of the containment vessel, the working volume of the containment vessel is effectively reduced as the material between the active side opening 102 and the bottom end of the containment vessel trap an unusable portion of proppant material stored therein; however, this unusable portion of material can be removed through the bottom discharge openings subsequent to use in the side discharge configuration.

In each instance of the side discharge configuration, the feeding device is positioned adjacent to the intake hopper 14 as shown in figure 2. The discharge chute is positioned at a suitable elevation such that the open bottom end of the discharge chute which defines the elevation of the side discharge opening 94 of the vessel is lowered into the containment volume of the intake hopper. In this arrangement the bottom end of the side discharge opening is either located below the perimeter boundary of the open top end of the intake hopper, or is lowered to be within a containment volume in which the containment volume of material within the intake hopper is defined as having an upper boundary formed by an angle of repose of material piled within the hopper. In this instance, open communication through the discharge chute from the containment vessel 32 to the open top end of the intake hopper allows material to be gravity discharged through the discharge chute without any risk of overfilling the intake hopper. Any material forming a pile with a peak at the side discharge opening at the bottom end of the discharge chute will have an angle of repose resulting in the upper boundary of piled material remaining within the perimeter walls of the intake hopper. The containment vessel 32 may also include one or more partition walls 108 formed therein which are positioned directly against the outer walls to maximize the interior volume of the containment vessel in the bottom discharge configuration. Winning the side discharge configuration, the partition walls may be moved inwardly to minimize the unusable portion of material occupying the lower portion of the containment vessel between the active side opening 102 and the bottom end of the containment vessel. As shown schematically in figure 7, the partition wall 108 may be pivotally supported against the inner side of the front wall opposite the side openings 102 used for the side discharge configuration. When in the side discharge configuration, the partition wall 108 is pivoted about a hinge at the top edge of the wall such that the bottom and of the partition wall is displaced inwardly to form a lower boundary of the containment volume within the containment vessel that is sloped downwardly and rearwardly towards the side openings 102 in the rear wall.

When it is desirable to use the feeding device to increase the working volume of the intake hopper of a blender unit, the containment vessel 32 is preferably supported by the base frame at a sufficient elevation that the intake hopper can be received below the containment vessel in the bottom discharge configuration. If the containment vessel at the uppermost extension of the base frame does not provide sufficient clearance to receive the intake hopper therebelow, or if the intake hopper is too wide to fit between the side frames at opposing ends of the base frame, then the feeding device is instead configured in the side discharge configuration by positioning the base frame directly adjacent to the intake hopper instead of straddling over the intake hopper according to the bottom discharge configuration.

In the side discharge configuration, the vessel 32 is raised such that the discharge chute 106 can be used in the lowermost elevation where possible to maximize the working volume within the containment vessel, however if there is insufficient clearance below the discharge chute when the base frame is at maximum extension, then the discharge chute can be raised relative to the vessel to provide further clearance below the discharge chute for the intake hopper of the blender unit to be received therebelow. With the discharge chute in the lowermost position possible, the containment vessel is typically provided in the lowest elevation possible while still providing clearance to receive the intake hopper below the discharge chute such that the side discharge opening located at the bottom end of the discharge chute can be located below the upper boundary of the containment volume of the intake hopper 14 in a manner that prevents overfilling of the intake hopper as described above. The feeding device 10 also includes a level sensor of some form capable of detecting the quantity of material within the vessel. In the illustrated embodiment the level sensor comprises load cells 110 connected in line with each of the lift actuators 80 such that the load cells generate a signal proportional to the weight of the containment vessel 32 on the base frame. The signal generated by the load cells is communicated to a controller which can then calculate the weight of material within the containment vessel based on the magnitude indicated by the signal from the load cells. The controller communicates this calculated quantity of material within the vessel to adjacent equipment to perform various additional functions. In one instance, the discharge conveyor of the adjacent storage system is activated if it is determined that the quantity of material within the containment vessel falls below a prescribed lower limit stored on the controller, and the discharge conveyor of the adjacent storage system is deactivated if it is determined that the quantity of material within the containment vessel is above a prescribed upper limit stored on the controller.

In further embodiments, the level sensor may comprise mechanical switches, lasers, lidars, radars, or optic sensors of various types for detecting the height of the material within the containment vessel which can also be used for calculating the overall quantity of material contained within the vessel. Such height sensors may be used instead of or in a redundant manner relative to the weight sensors noted above.

As described herein, the feeding device 10 provides the function of a surge bin, but with enhanced functionality to specifically cater to the needs of a wellsite. The surge bin has both lifting hooks and forklift pockets for maneuvering onsite. It would be setup downstream of a conveyor, such as one that would be discharging from a wellsite storage system. It is most suitable for dry granular materials but could also be used with wet materials. It allows operators of the upstream conveying equipment to discharge into the surge bin in order to store a constant amount of material, and gives extra “reaction” time to remove human error associated with meeting the blender demands. This enables easier controlling of upstream equipment discharge rates as downstream blender materials may only store 1-2 tonnes of material yet there are very significant pumping issues caused if the blender runs out of sand. Upstream storage units may be 10 to 100 feet away from the blender, which means that predicting consumption at the blender is the only way to prevent either overfilling or starving the blender.

Because of the increasing daily consumption intensity of the proppant, most operations eliminate risk of site downtime by incorporating redundant conveyors from the wellsite storage system, where if one conveyor fails, a second would immediately be engaged to ensure that the blender’s augers were not starved for proppant. However, regardless how short of a distance the storage containers are from the blender’s proppant intake containment is, the augers will likely have already consumed all the accessible proppant by the time the second conveyor would be engaged and the proppant would flow from its storage container to the conveyor, and become conveyed to the blender’s proppant intake containment. The invention solves to eliminate the risk of starving the blender as it permits adequate volumes of proppant to be stored for discharge on demand to the blender.

The surge bin will have level sensors in it to prevent overfilling, and would likely have more than 1 system on it such as (i) load cells on the legs, and/or (ii) level sensors (lasers, radar, or mechanical) inside the body of the surge bin.

The surge bin can be erected in a number of fashions, which is important because there are so many different styles, designs and heights of blenders.

There are hydraulic lifting legs on the surge bin to enable lowering/raising the surge bin to a variety of heights of downstream customer’s blenders. There is a section at the back face of the surge bin which can be lowered, to accommodate a variety of heights of discharges on the one or more conveyors feeding the surge bin from the upstream storage units.

If set over the blender, it has left and right gates which could be manually or automatically configured to open to discharge material to the customer’s downstream blender equipment, providing more or less to either the left/right/centre as blenders typically have 3 augers. Alternatively, the discharge gates on the surge bin may be set at pre-determined opening in order to permit the angle of repose of the discharging material into the blender equipment to manage adequate discharge so that the blender is neither starved nor overfilled.

If the blender is too large/high to place the surge bin over it, then it has front gates with sliding adjustable height discharge into the blender. The side discharge configuration has bolt on chutes, which directs the material to stockpile in the customer’s blender, but which also backs up and bridges the material off, preventing it from overfilling the downstream surge bin. There are plates forming the interior walls that are adjustable inside the surge bin to narrow the sides and bottom to funnel the material to the discharge chute.

Discharge chute height is adjustable using a slideable discharge that fits into the customer’s downstream blender. Ideally, a lower height is used, enabling the surge bin to hold the full volume of granular material.

If a downstream blender unit is very tall, then the upper discharge would be used. While effectively reducing the usable surge bin capacity, it still enables the autofill functions.

When the project is complete, one would merely open the bottom gates to get out the hundreds of kgs of material which was not accessible to discharge because of using the upper gate in a side discharge configuration.

The surge bin could be set up with load cells, level sensors, lasers, etc to ensure that they tie in with the upstream storage and conveying equipment, using automation to maintain a constant surge bin level, and programming/machine learning can be used to tie in the automation between the autofill function on the surge bin to the upstream conveyors and storage.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A feeding device for use with (i) a downstream unit having an intake hopper for receiving a flowable, granular material and a material conveyor feeding the granular material from the intake hopper and (ii) a storage system having a storage container storing a large volume of the granular material therein and a discharge conveyor for conveying the granular material from the storage container to the intake hopper of the downstream unit, the feeding device comprising: a containment vessel arranged to store a working volume of the granular material therein; an intake opening in the containment vessel through which the granular material is arranged to be received from the discharge conveyor of the storage system; at least one discharge opening in the containment vessel through which the granular material is arranged to be discharged by gravity into the intake hopper of the downstream unit.

2. The feeding device according to claim 1 in combination with the downstream unit wherein the intake hopper is arranged to contain the granular material therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, and wherein the containment vessel is arranged to be supported in proximity to the intake hopper such that said at least one discharge opening of the containment vessel lies within the containment volume below the upper containment boundary such that the granular material discharged from the discharge opening cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary.

3. The feeding device according to claim 1 wherein the intake hopper is arranged to receive the granular material piled therein such that the angle of repose of the granular material defines the upper containment boundary.

4. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 3 said at least one discharge opening comprises a plurality of discharge openings, the feeding device being operable in a plurality of different discharge configurations, each corresponding to a different one or more of the discharge openings being configured to discharge the granular material therethrough.

5. The feeding device according to claim 4 wherein the containment vessel comprises a plurality of outer walls and at least one partition member supported within a boundary of the outer walls so as to be movable relative to the outer walls so as to vary the working volume of the containment vessel according to the selected discharge configuration of the containment vessel.

6. The feeding device according to either one of claims 4 or 5 wherein at least two of the discharge openings are different in elevational relative to one another.

7. The feeding device according to any one of claims 4 through 6 wherein the discharge openings include (i) at least one bottom discharge opening operable between a closed position and an open position arranged to discharge the granular material downwardly through a bottom of the containment vessel, and (ii) at least one side discharge opening operable between a closed position and an open position arranged to discharge the granular material laterally through a side of the containment vessel.

8. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 7 wherein said at least one discharge opening includes at least one side discharge opening arranged to discharge the granular material laterally therethrough.

9. The feeding device according to claim 8 wherein said at least one side discharge opening is adjustable in height relative to outer walls of the containment vessel.

10. The feeding device according to either one of claims 8 or 9 wherein said at least one discharge opening includes a plurality of side discharge openings at different elevations in a side wall of the containment vessel, each side discharge opening including a cover member associated therewith that is arranged to be selectively mounted across the discharge opening so as to close the discharge opening.

11. The feeding device according to any one of claims 8 through 10 in combination with the downstream unit wherein the intake hopper is arranged to contain the granular material therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, wherein said at least one side discharge opening includes a discharge chute associated therewith which extends downwardly and outwardly from a respective side wall of the containment vessel to a bottom end of the discharge chute defining the discharge opening thereon, the bottom end of the discharge chute lies within the containment volume below the upper containment boundary such that the granular material discharged from the discharge chute cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary.

12. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 11 wherein said at least one discharge opening includes at least one bottom discharge opening arranged to discharge the granular material downwardly therethrough.

13. The feeding device according to claim 12 wherein said at least one bottom discharge opening includes two bottom discharge openings at laterally spaced apart positions relative to one another.

14. The feeding device according to either one of claims 12 or 13 in combination with the downstream unit wherein the intake hopper is arranged to contain the granular material therein within a containment volume having an upper containment boundary, and wherein the containment vessel is arranged to be supported above the intake hopper such that said at least one bottom discharge opening of the containment vessel lies within the containment volume below the upper containment boundary such that the granular material discharged from the bottom discharge opening cannot overfill the intake hopper above the upper containment boundary.

15. The feeding device according to any one of claims 12 through 14 wherein said at least one the bottom discharge opening includes a gate assembly associated therethrough which is operable between a closed position preventing discharge through the bottom discharge opening and an open position allowing granular material to be discharged downwardly through the bottom discharge opening.

16. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 15 wherein the intake opening comprises an open top end of the containment vessel.

17. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 16 wherein the intake opening is adjustable in height relative to outer walls of the containment vessel.

18. The feeding device according to claim 17 wherein the intake opening includes a lower boundary defined by an upright side wall portion of the containment vessel which is adjustable in height relative outer walls of the containment vessel.

19. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 18 wherein the containment vessel is supported on a base frame arranged to be supported on a ground surface and wherein the base frame is adjustable in height such that a height of the containment vessel relative to the ground surface is adjustable.

20. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 19 wherein the containment vessel is supported on a base frame arranged to be supported on a ground surface, the base frame comprising a pair of side frames at laterally spaced apart positions so as to be arranged to receive the intake hopper of the downstream unit laterally between the side frames and vertically between the containment vessel and the ground surface.

21. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 20 further comprising a level sensor associated with the containment vessel so as to be arranged to measure an amount of the granular material within the containment vessel and communicate the measured amount to an external device.

22. The feeding device according to claim 21 in combination with the discharge conveyor for conveying the granular material from the storage container, the feeding device further comprising a controller in communication with the level sensor arranged to halt operation of the discharge conveyor in response to a measured amount which exceed an upper limit stored on the controller.

23. The feeding device according to either one of claims 21 or 22 wherein the level sensor comprises a height sensor arranged to measure a height of the granular material within the containment vessel.

24. The feeding device according to either one of claims 21 or 22 wherein the level sensor comprises a measurement sensor arranged to measure a quantity of the granular material within the containment vessel.

25. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 24 in combination with the downstream unit wherein the working volume of the containment vessel is greater than a containment volume within the intake hopper of the downstream unit.

26. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 25 in combination with the storage system wherein the volume of the storage container is many times larger than the working volume of the containment vessel.

27. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 26 wherein the containment vessel is supported on a base frame arranged to be supported on a ground surface, the base frame including a pair of lifting surfaces formed thereon so as to be arranged to support the base frame and the containment vessel on a pair of lift forks of a loader vehicle.

28. The feeding device according to any one of claims 1 through 27 further comprising a plurality of lifting hooks connected to the containment vessel so as to be arranged to suspend the containment vessel from a crane.