Halliburton Company

Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Herbert John Horinek

Stanley Vernon Stephenson

Max Lynn Phillippi

Leslie N Berryman

Vincent G Reidenbach

David A Prucha

Harold Grayson Walters

Billy F Slabaugh

Jason E Bryant

Leonard R Case

Michael Segura

Tommy Slabaugh, Legal Representative

Von Parkey

Jonn Thompson

Gerald C Kierbow

Bob D Cooper

Richard L Krivy

Calvin Lynn Stegemoeller

Ed B Hagan

Karl W Blanchard

Stephen F Crain

Gail F Davis

John Gilbert Heaton

John Hanton

Robert Douglas Hayworth

Paul W Heilman

Charles D Donaghe

Mark W Fikes

Chad A Heitman

Shaun Burns

Stan V Stephenson

Harvard L Tomlinson

Jerry N Browning

Neil A Pritchard

Shaun Bums

Lloyd Mcneel

Blending particulate and liquid to make slurry for use in oilfield operations is addressed. The blender has an upwardly facing particulate expeller with a flat base, raised hub, and generally radially extending, circumferentially spaced vanes extending upwardly from the base. The vanes extend from leading edges spaced about a vane inner diameter to tips spaced about a vane outer diameter. Adjacent expeller vanes define expeller passageways therebetween. The particulate expeller does not serve as a meaningful liquid impeller and the blender does not act significantly as a pump. The expeller has a several preferred diameter, clearance, height and length dimensions and ratios. Wide, deep expeller inlets and shallow, narrow outlets enhance particulate entry and minimize expeller torque. Vane extensions impart velocity to the particulate upon contact and minimize sensitivity to particulate entry velocity. Maximized circumferential overlap of adjacent vanes reduces liquid back-flow.

Method and apparatus for centrifugal blending system

A transfer system includes a conduit, a support, and a conveyor. The conduit has a first end and a second end and is configured to transfer dry material from the first end to the second end. The support is in contact with at least a portion of the conduit and is configured to maintain the second end of the conduit in a desired position relative to the first end of the conduit during transfer of the dry material from the first end to the second end. The conveyor is adjacent to the conduit and is configured to deliver the dry material to the first end of the conduit from a floating vessel configured to transport the dry material.

Proppant transfer system

The invention is for a method of forming and delivering a treatment fluid into a wellbore. In one aspect, a method is provided for pumping a first fluid having a relatively high concentration of a particulate suspended therein and pumping a second fluid having either none of the particulate or a relatively low concentration of the particulate suspended therein, and then merging at least the first and second fluids to form a treatment fluid having a merged concentration of the particulate. According to this aspect, the first fluid has a relatively high concentration of a hydratable additive and the second fluid has either none or a relatively low concentration of the hydratable additive.

Methods of pumping fluids having different concentrations of particulate at different average bulk fluid velocities to reduce pump wear and maintenance in the forming and delivering of a treatment fluid into a wellbore

Methods of pumping fluids having different concentrations of particulate with different concentrations of hydratable additive to reduce pump wear and maintenance in the forming and delivering of a treatment fluid into a wellbore

The present invention relates generally to well servicing operations, and, more particularly, to devices, systems and methods useful in stimulation blending for fluids, mixtures, and/or slurries used in well servicing operations. A device, system and/or method is provided comprising a suction centrifugal pump capable of receiving an inlet fluid and providing a suction pressure arranged to substantially minimize a geyser effect in a proppant inlet and a mixer capable of receiving the inlet fluid provided by the suction centrifugal pump and mixing the inlet fluid with a proppant received from the proppant inlet, the mixer arranged to be substantially optimized for mixing. The device, system and/or method also comprises a discharge centrifugal pump capable of receiving the inlet fluid mixed with the proppant from the mixer and discharging the inlet fluid mixed with the proppant from the mixer downhole, the discharge centrifugal pump arranged to be substantially optimized for pumping. The system also comprises at least one downhole pump capable of receiving the inlet fluid mixed with the proppant from the mixer discharged downhole by the discharge centrifugal pump.

Centrifugal blending system

A cement mixing and pumping simulator comprises actual and virtual equipment. In response to an operator controlling this equipment, signals representing operating characteristics of a cement mixing system realistically represented by the actual and virtual equipment are generated. These signals are communicated for displaying the operating characteristics to the operator so that the operator obtains real-time responses to the operator's control of the actual and virtual equipment. A method of simulating operation of a cement mixing system comprises: operating, at a master control location within actual equipment of the cement mixing system, at least one actual control device of the cement mixing system; operating, at the respective location of each, at least one of the actual equipment located away from the master control location; determining characteristics of material flow through the cement mixing system in response to the operation of the at least one actual control device and the at least one actual equipment without actually flowing material through the cement mixing system; and displaying the determined characteristics in real time with the operating and determining steps. This method preferably further comprises recording data identifying a performance evaluation of an operator in response to a comparison between at least one of the determined material flow characteristics and a corresponding predetermined characteristic.

Cement mixing system simulator and simulation method

A mixing apparatus is provided for mixing slurries, particularly high density, high viscosity fracturing fluid slurries containing a large proportion of proppant material. A mixing tub has a generally round horizontal cross-sectional shape. A relatively large, low-speed rotating agitator is utilized to mix the slurry. The design of the agitator is such that a radially inwardly rolling toroidal shaped slurry flow zone is created adjacent the upper surface of the slurry within the tub. A stream of clean fracturing fluid is introduced into the tub near the center of the toroidal shaped flow zone. Dry proppant material is introduced into the tub and carried by the radially inwardly rolling flow into contact with the clean fracturing fluid. Foraminous baffles, preferably constructed from expanded metal sheets, are radially oriented within the tub to reduce rotational motion of the slurry within the tub without causing dropout of proppant from the slurry. A double suction vertical sump pump is utilized to pump the slurry from the tub.

Slurry mixing apparatus

A mixing apparatus is provided for mixing slurries, particularly high density, high viscosity fracturing fluid slurries containing a large proportion of proppant material. A mixing tub has a generally round horizontal cross-sectional shape. A relatively large, low-speed rotating agitator is utilized to mix the slurry. The design of the agitator is such that a radially inwardly rolling toroidal shaped slurry flow zone is created adjacent the upper surface of the slurry within the tub. A stream of clean fracturing fluid is introduced into the tub near the center of the toroidal shaped flow zone. Dry proppant material is introduced into the tube and carried by the radially inwardly rolling flow into contact with the clean fracturing fluid. Foraminous baffles, preferably constructed from expanded metal sheets, are radially oriented within the tub to reduce rotational motion of the slurry within the tub without causing dropout of proppant from the slurry. A double suction vertical sump pump is utilized to pump the slurry from the tub.

A transportable material conveying apparatus includes a frame having a surge bin mounted on the frame for receiving, holding and discharging particulate material. A gathering conveyor is mounted on the frame for gathering the particulate material and delivering the particulate material into the surge bin. A discharge conveyor is mounted on the frame below an outlet of the surge bin for receiving the particulate material from the outlet and for conveying the particulate material to a discharge point.

Transportable material conveying apparatus

An additive material storage and metering system includes a transportable frame having a plurality of dry material storage bins mounted thereon. The plurality of dry material storage bins includes smaller dry material storage bins and larger dry material storage bins. The metering system for the larger dry material storage bins has a flow rate range varying from a low end to a high end. The metering system for the smaller dry material storage bins has a second flow rate range varying from a low end to a high end. The low end of the second range is lower than the low end of the first range, and the high end of the second range is between the low and high ends of the first range, so that any given dry material may be dispensed at any rate within an overall flow rate range from the low end of the second range to the high end of the first range by placing said material in the proper dry material storage bin. The dry material storage bins are partially supported from the transportable frame by load cells which are mounted on an extendable hydraulic cylinder so that the load cells may be withdrawn from engagement with the storage bin when the transportable frame is being moved, and may be extended into load supporting engagement with the storage bin when transportable frame is at rest.

Additive material metering system with weighing means

A transportable frame includes a plurality of liquid material storage tanks and dry material storage bins mounted thereon. There are smaller liquid material storage tanks and larger liquid material storage tanks. The metering system for the larger liquid material storage tanks has a flow rate range varying from a low end to a high end. The metering system for the smaller liquid material storage tanks has a second flow rate range varying from a low end to a high end. The low end of the second range is lower than the low end of the first range, and the high end of the second range is between the low and high ends of the first range. There are also larger and smaller dry material storage bins with similarly sized metering systems for the dry material storage bins. The dry material storage bins are partially supported from the transportable frame by load cells which are mounted on extendable hydraulic cylinders. The system also includes apparatus for controlling the storage and metering of the additives within the tanks and bins. This apparatus includes an element which determines how much additive is being discharged from an additive storage tank and an element for sensing how much of a primary substance is being discharged from a primary substance container. Based on the operation of these two elements, a third element controls the amount of additive discharged. This third element includes a microprocessor which controls the metering based on inputs from load cells, flowmeters, and manual data entry members of which the additive determining and primary substance sensing elements and the control element are comprised.

Controlled additive metering system

A land vehicle for use as a blender for the mixing of dry, particulate, and liquid materials comprising a chassis having an articulated frame thereon, the articulated frame including a first translatable portion and a second translatable, rotatable portion rotatably secured to the first translatable portion whereby movement of the articulated frame with respect to the chassis between a first retracted position and a second extended position causes translational movement of the first translatable portion of the articulate frame and translational and rotational movement of the second translatable, rotatable portion of the articulated frame. The land vehicle further comprises an engine mounted upon the first translatable portion of the articulated frame, a blender tub mounted upon the second translatable, rotatable portion of the articulated frame for the mixing of dry, particulate and liquid materials therein, a suction pump mounted upon the second translatable, rotatable portion of the articulated frame for supplying liquid material to the blender tub, and a boost pump mounted upon the second translatable, rotatable portion of the articulated frame for discharging the mixture of the dry, particulate, and liquid materials from the blender tub.

Chassis having articulated frame

Ground fed blender

Growing community of inventors

Duncan, OK, United States of America

Herbert John Horinek