The present disclosure relates generally to the field of hydrocarbon fracturing operations. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to embodiments of systems, apparatuses, and associated methods to recirculate silica dust during hydrocarbon fracturing operations at a hydrocarbon well site.
In enhanced hydrocarbon oil and gas recovery, a well completion technique known as hydraulic fracturing is commonly used to stimulate at a desired target zone. The technique injects a large volume of pressurized proppant sand and fluid mixtures into the desired target zone through an either horizontal or a vertical encased well bore to produce a network of fractures especially in tight rock formations with low permeability. The proppant sand holds open the fractures in the tight rock formations once the pressure from the pumped fluid mixtures releases, allowing the hydrocarbon oil and gas to flow out of the tight rock formations and into the well bore. The most commonly used proppant sand in hydraulic fracturing is frac sand which is composed by high-purity silica.
As field operators handle frac sand in various stages of hydraulic fracturing operations at the hydrocarbon well site, highly concentrated respirable tiny crystalline silica dust particles are produced and potentially released into the surrounding. As such, field operators who are positioned near the location where the frac sand is conveyed on a conveyor from a source to a blender before the frac sand is injected into the well bore, for example, are highly exposed to the released tiny crystalline silica dust particles.
According to numerous health studies, these tiny crystalline silica dust particles may risk causing lung irritation when inhaled in the lungs by the field operators. Although the need for controlling and mitigating the release of silica dust into the air to reduce exposure of the silica dust to the field operators, for example, has been recognized by others, effective systems to enhance field operations remains a technical and environmental problem at a hydrocarbon well site.
Thus, Applicants have recognized that there still remains a need for an effective system and related methods which may be used to mitigate the release of silica dust into the surrounding during hydraulic fracturing operations in ways that enhance field operations.
Applicants recognized the problems noted above herein and conceived and developed embodiments of a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system and associated methods, according to the present disclosure, for mitigating the release of silica dust into the surrounding and recirculating collected dust for continued use in field operations, namely during hydraulic fracturing operations at a hydrocarbon well site.
Such an embodiment of a system, for example, may provide a mechanism to control the exposure of silica dust and mitigate the release of the respirable silica dust into the surrounding. The embodiment of the present disclosure may limit the exposure of the field operators to respirable silica dust during the handling of frac sand at the hydrocarbon well site.
In one disclosed embodiment, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system for a hydrocarbon well site, for example, may include a blender hopper positioned to receive sand proppant, proppant silos positioned at a selected distance from the blender hopper at the hydrocarbon well site to store sand proppant therein, and a footed hood to overlie the blender hopper. The embodiment of the footed hood, for example, may include a main hood portion having outlets to provide a fluid outlet path from the footed hood to the proppant silos.
The embodiment of a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system may also include a conveyor having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. In yet disclosed embodiments, the silica dust mitigation and recirculation system may further include, for example, air amplifiers connected to the main hood portion of the footed hood to amplify air in the footed hood. The supplied compressed air may enhance drawing of air and generated silica dust in regions underlying the footed hood and overlying the blender hopper by vacuum pressure through the outlets of the main hood portion of the footed hood.
In one embodiment, the silica dust mitigation and recirculation system may include compressed air sources positioned to supply compressed air to the air amplifiers.
In another embodiment the silica dust mitigation and recirculation system may further include vacuum hoses in fluid communication with the outlets of the main hood portion of the footed hood. The embodiment of the vacuum hoses may extend away therefrom to the sand proppant silos to provide a path for the generated silica dust from the footed hood to sand proppant silos. In one embodiment, the generated silica dust may be removed from regions overlying the blender hopper and fluidly recirculated to the sand proppant silos for storage therein and to be supplied once again for conveyance on the conveyor.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the main hood portion may further include a main hood body having a shielded curtain portion positioned adjacent the distal end portion of the conveyor from which sand proppant is being conveyed into the blender hopper.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the shielded curtain portion may be transparent or translucent to allow an operator to view the interior of the footed hood during operation. The shielded curtain portion may be positioned as a cover for the opening of the main hood body to retain air and the silica within the footed hood.
The shielded curtain portion may include a plurality of vertically hanging strips. An embodiment of the plurality of vertically hanging strips may be formed of a flexible material. Each of the vertically hanging strips may have a pair of horizontal short edges separated by a selected vertical dimension. The selected vertical dimension may define a length of each of the vertically hanging strips to span the opening of the main hood body of the footed hood. Each of the vertically hanging strips may further have a pair of vertical long edges separated by a selected horizontal dimension. The selected horizontal dimension may define a width of each of the vertically hanging strips. The length and the width defining an area of each of the vertically hanging strips.
The pair of horizontal short edges of each of the vertically hanging strips may include a proximal short edge portion and a distal short edge portion. The proximal short edge portion may be suspended from adjacent an edge of the main hood portion. The distal short edge portion may be terminated adjacent a lower region of the main hood body of the footed hood to substantially cover height of the opening. Each of the vertically hanging strips may overlap one another to partially cover the opening into which the end of the conveyor enters the main hood body of the footed hood.
In one embodiment, the footed hood may further include support legs connected to and extending downwardly from lower peripheries of the main hood portion. The footed hood may also include, for example, feet which may be connected to a respective one of the support legs to enhance support for the footed hood on a support surface at the hydrocarbon well site.
The embodiment of the vacuum hoses may be connected to a sand silo filter arrangement positioned in an upper portion of each of the sand proppant silos to enhance filtering of the silica dust.
In another embodiment, each of the support legs of the footed hood may further include two or more leg segments and a leg adjustment arrangement positioned to adjust the extent of at least one of the two or more support leg segments to thereby adjust the overall vertical extent of each of the support legs and thereby, in turn, to adjust overall height of the footed hood to a selected height so that the main hood portion overlies the blender hopper at a desired elevational location.
In yet another disclosed embodiment, a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may involve, for example, conveying sand proppant on a conveyor from proppant silos to a blender hopper through a footed hood positioned to overlie the blender hopper.
In another disclosed embodiment, a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may also involve directing sand proppant from the conveyor into the blender hopper through an opening adjacent the lower portion of the footed hood to unload sand proppant from the conveyor into the blender hopper. The unloading of sand proppant may generate silica dust in regions underlying the footed hood and overlying the blender hopper.
In a further disclosed embodiment, a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may further involve supplying compressed air to air amplifiers connected to a main hood portion of the footed hood to create a vacuum in the main hood portion of the footed hood. The air and the generated silica dust being drawn under vacuum pressure from the regions underlying the footed hood and overlying the blender hopper and recirculated from outlets of the footed hood to the proppant silos via vacuum hoses.
An embodiment of a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may involve adjusting the extent of at least one of the two leg segments and the leg adjustment arrangement.
In another embodiment, a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may involve conveying sand proppant on a conveyor from proppant silos to a blender hopper positioned at the hydrocarbon well site through a dust hood positioned to overlie the blender hopper.
A method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site, for example, may further involve directing sand proppant from the conveyor into the blender hopper through an opening adjacent the lower portion of the dust hood to unload sand proppant from the conveyor into the blender hopper. The dust hood may have outlets to provide a fluid outlet path from the dust hood to the proppant silos. The unloading of sand proppant may generate silica dust in regions underlying the dust hood and overlying the blender hopper.
In another embodiment, a method of mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may involve supplying compressed air to air amplifiers connected to the dust hood from compressed air sources thereby to create a vacuum in the dust hood. The air and the generated silica dust being drawn under vacuum pressure from the regions underlying the dust hood and overlying the blender hopper and recirculated from the outlets of the dust hood to the proppant silos via vacuum hoses.
The foregoing aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be further appreciated when considered with reference to the following drawings:
The foregoing aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be further appreciated when considered with reference to the following description of the following embodiments and accompanying drawings. In describing the following embodiments of the disclosure illustrated in the appended drawings, specific terminology will be used for the sake of clarity. The disclosure, however, is not intended to be limited to the specific terms used, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.
When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Any examples of operating parameters and/or environmental conditions are not exclusive of other parameters/conditions of the disclosed embodiments. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “certain embodiments,” or “other embodiments” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, reference to terms such as “above,” “below,” “upper”, “lower”, “side”, “front,” “back,” or other terms regarding orientation are made with reference to the illustrated embodiments and are not intended to be limiting or exclude other orientations.
An embodiment of a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 for a hydrocarbon well site as described herein may be used for recirculating silica dust generated during sand proppant handling to mitigate the release of the silica dust into the surrounding as illustrated in
Referring to
In one or more embodiments, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 for a hydrocarbon well site may include a blender hopper 110 positioned at the hydrocarbon well site and positioned to receive sand proppant P, one or more proppant silos 150 positioned at a selected distance from the blender hopper 110 at the hydrocarbon well site and having an interior chamber to store sand proppant P therein as illustrated in
The embodiment of a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 may also include a footed hood 210 configured to be positioned to overlie the blender hopper 110 as illustrated in
In one embodiment, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 may further include a conveyor 180 having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion as illustrated in
As illustrated in FIG, 4, the embodiment of a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 may also include, for example, one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 connected to the main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210 to amplify air adjacent the one or more outlets 222, 224 of the main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210 and thereby enhance drawing of air and generated silica dust in regions underlying the footed hood 210 and overlying the blender hopper 110 (not shown) by vacuum pressure through the one or more outlets 222, 224 of the main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 may further include one or more compressed air sources 260 positioned to provide compressed air to the one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 as shown in
In one embodiment, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 may also include one or more vacuum hoses 270 in fluid communication with the one or more outlets 222, 224 of the main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210 and extending away therefrom to the one or more sand proppant silos 150 to provide a path for the generated silica dust from the footed hood 210 to the one or more sand proppant silos 150. As shown in
As illustrated in
Shown in
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure and illustrated in
As will be recognized by those skilled in the art,
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 of the footed hood 210 further includes two or more leg segments and a leg adjustment arrangement 221 positioned to adjust the extent of at least one of the two or more support leg segments to thereby adjust the overall vertical extent of each of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 and thereby, in turn, to adjust overall height of the footed hood 210 to a selected height so that the main hood portion overlies the blender hopper 110 at a desired elevational location.
In one or more embodiments, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 for a hydrocarbon well site may include a footed hood 210 configured to be positioned to overlie a blender hopper 110 when positioned on a hydrocarbon well site.
In another embodiment, the footed hood 210 may have a main hood portion 220, a plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 connected to and extending downwardly from lower peripheries of the main hood portion 220, and a plurality of feet 211, 213, 215, 217 each connected to a respective one of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 to enhance support for the footed hood 210 on a support surface at the well site.
Embodiments of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 may extend downwardly so that each of the plurality of feet 211, 213, 215, 217 may contact the underlying support surface thereby to enhance support of the footed hood 210 on the underlying support surface.
As illustrated in
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 for a hydrocarbon well site may further include, for example, one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 in fluid communication with the one or more outlets 222, 224 of the footed hood 210 and connected to the footed hood 210 to amplify air being supplied adjacent the one or more outlets 222, 224 being supplied from one or more compressed air sources 260 and thereby enhance drawing of air and associated silica dust by vacuum pressure from the one or more outlets 222, 224 and from the footed hood 210. In one embodiment, the silica dust may be generated in a location underlying the footed hood 210 and overlying the blender hopper 110 when sand proppant P from the conveyor 180 is being conveyed into the blender hopper 110.
A silica dust mitigation and recirculation system 200 for a hydrocarbon well site may further include one or more vacuum hoses 270 connected to an outlet 242 of the one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 and in fluid communication therewith to provide a fluid flow path under vacuum pressure from the one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 and extending away therefrom to one or more sand proppant silos 150 each of which stores sand proppant P therein when positioned at the hydrocarbon well site.
As illustrated in
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the main hood portion 220 may include a main hood body having a shielded curtain portion 330 positioned adjacent an end of the conveyor 180 from which sand proppant is being fed into the blender hopper 110. Embodiments of the shielded curtain portion 330 may be formed of a material to allow viewing therethrough during operation in a region under the main hood portion 220 and into the blender hopper 110 when a system operator 115 is positioned adjacent thereto.
As illustrated in
In or more embodiments, a footed hood 210 configured to be positioned to overlie a blender hopper 110 for mitigating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site may include a main hood portion 220 having one or more outlets 222, 224 to provide a fluid outlet path from the footed hood 210 to one or more proppant silos 150 positioned at a selected distance from the blender hopper 110.
In one embodiment, the footed hood 210 may further include a main hood body having an opening 340 adjacent an end of a conveyor 180 from which sand proppant P is being fed into the blender hopper 110.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the footed hood 210 may further include a shielded curtain portion 330 being formed of a transparent or translucent material to allow viewing therethrough and without opening the shielded curtain portion 330 during operation. Embodiments of the shielded curtain portion 330 may be positioned as a cover for the opening 340 of the main hood body to thereby retain air and the silica dust within the footed hood 210.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the footed hood 210 may further include a plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 connected to and extending downwardly from lower peripheries of the main hood portion 220 and a plurality of feet 211, 213, 215, 217, 213, 215, 217 each connected to a respective one of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 to enhance support for the footed hood 210 on a support surface at the hydrocarbon well site.
In one embodiment, the shielded curtain portion 330 may include a plurality of vertically hanging strips 331 as shown in
In another embodiment, each of the plurality of vertically hanging strips 331 may have a pair of vertical long edges separated by a selected horizontal dimension and the selected horizontal dimension may define a width of each of the plurality of vertically hanging strips 331. The length and the width may define an area of each of the plurality of vertically hanging strips.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the pair of horizontal short edges of each of the plurality of vertically hanging strips 331 may include a proximal short edge portion and a distal short edge portion. The proximal short edge portion may be suspended from adjacent an edge of the main hood portion 220 and the distal short edge portion may be terminated adjacent a lower region of the main hood body of the footed hood 210 to substantially cover height of the opening 340. Each of the plurality of vertically hanging strips 331 may overlap one another to partially cover the opening 340 into which the end of the conveyor 180 enters the main hood body of the footed hood 210.
In another embodiment, each of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 of the footed hood 210 may further include two or more leg segments and a leg adjustment arrangement 221 positioned to adjust the extent of at least one of the two or more support leg segments to thereby adjust the overall vertical extent of each of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 and thereby, in turn, to adjust overall height of the footed hood 210 to a selected height so that the main hood portion 220 overlies the blender hopper 110 at a desired elevational location.
In one or more embodiments, a method 400 may be used for mitigating and recirculating silica dust at a hydrocarbon well site. For purposes of illustration, an embodiment of a plurality of a method 400 depicted in
In one embodiment, the method 400 may begin at step 410 by conveying sand proppant P on a conveyor 180 from one or more proppant silos 150 to a blender hopper 110 positioned at the hydrocarbon well site through a footed hood 210 positioned to overlie the blender hopper 110. The conveyor 180 may have a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. As illustrated in
In one or more embodiments in the present disclosure, the method 400 may continue with step 430 by directing sand proppant P from the conveyor 180 into the blender hopper 110 through an opening 340 adjacent the lower portion of the footed hood 210 to unload sand proppant P from the conveyor 180 into the blender hopper 110. The unloading of sand proppant P may generate silica dust in regions underlying the footed hood 210 and overlying the blender hopper 110.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method 400 may further involve step 450, for example, by supplying compressed air to one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 connected to a main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210 from one or more compressed air sources 260 thereby to create a vacuum in the main hood portion 220 of the footed hood 210. The air and the generated silica dust may be drawn under vacuum pressure from the regions underlying the footed hood 210 and overlying the blender hopper 110 and recirculated from one or more outlets 222, 224 of the footed hood 210 to the one or more proppant silos 150 via one or more vacuum hoses 270.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the footed hood 210 may further include a plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 connected to and extending downwardly from lower peripheries of the main hood portion 220, and a plurality of feet 211, 213, 215, 217 each may be connected to a respective one of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 to enhance support for the footed hood 210 on a support surface at the hydrocarbon well site, and each of the plurality of support legs 212, 214, 216, 218 of the footed hood 210 may include two or more leg segments.
As illustrated in
In another embodiment, the main hood portion 220 may include a main hood body having a shielded curtain portion 330 positioned adjacent the distal end portion of the conveyor 180 from which sand proppant P is being fed into the blender hopper 110. According to an embodiment to the present disclosure, the shielded curtain portion 330 may be transparent or translucent to allow viewing therethrough during operation in a region under the main hood portion 220 and into the blender hopper 110.
As illustrated in
For purposes of illustration, an embodiment of a plurality of a method 500 depicted in
The conveyor 180 may have a proximal end portion and a distal end portion. The proximal end portion may be positioned adjacent lower portion of the one or more proppant silos 150 and the distal end portion may be positioned adjacent a lower portion of the dust hood 300 and positioned to feed sand proppant to the blender hopper 110.
In yet another disclosed embodiment, the method 500 may also involve directing 530 sand proppant P from the conveyor 180 into the blender hopper 110 through an opening 340 adjacent the lower portion of the dust hood 300 to unload sand proppant P from the conveyor 180 into the blender hopper 110. The dust hood 300 may have one or more outlets 310, 320 to provide a fluid outlet path from the dust hood 300 to the one or more proppant silos 150 and the unloading of sand proppant P may generate silica dust in regions underlying the dust hood 300 and overlying the blender hopper 110.
In one embodiment, the method 500 may further involve supplying 550 compressed air to one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 connected to the dust hood 300 from one or more compressed air sources 260 thereby to create a vacuum in the dust hood 300.
In another embodiment, the method 500 may further involve directing 570 sand proppant P from the blender hopper 110 to a blender 130 via an augur 120 having an end thereof positioned to underlie the blender hopper 110 and thereby to blend sand proppant P prior to injection of blended sand proppant under pressure down into a hydrocarbon well located at the hydrocarbon well site.
In one embodiment, the dust hood 300 may have a shielded curtain 330 positioned adjacent the distal end portion of the conveyor 180 from which sand proppant P is being fed into the blender hopper 110 as illustrated in
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the shielded curtain may include a plurality of vertically hanging strips and being formed of a flexible material positioned as a cover for the opening 340 of the dust hood 300 to thereby retain air and the silica dust within the dust hood 300.
As illustrated in FIGS.12-14, embodiments of the one or more vacuum hoses 270 may be connected to a sand silo filter arrangement 160 positioned in an upper portion of each of the one or more sand proppant silos 150 to provide enhance filtering of the silica dust before the silica dust to be supplied again for conveyance on the conveyor 180.
Shown in FIGS.10-11 are the one or more air amplifiers 240, 250. Each of the one or more air amplifiers 240, 250 may include a transvector jet arrangement to enhance drawings of the compressed air and the generated silica dust in the dust hood and thereby to remove the silica dust under vacuum pressure from the one or more outlets of the dust hood.
The present application is a non-provisional application which claims priority to, and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/819,721, titled “SILICA DUST MITIGATION AND RECIRCULATION SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHODS,” filed Mar. 18, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
It should be understood that the order of activity as depicted in the figures above are conceptual and may deviate without departing from the various embodiments disclosed. Moreover, the specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosure. While different embodiments of the disclosure, including apparatuses, systems, and methods, have been shown or described in only some of its forms, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosure is not so limited, but is susceptible to various changes without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the above disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present disclosure. Accordingly, numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
The present application is a non-provisional application which claims priority to, and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/819,721, titled “SILICA DUST MITIGATION AND RECIRCULATION SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHODS,” filed Mar. 18, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62819721 | Mar 2019 | US |