Cidra Corporation

Cidra Corporate Services Inc.

Weatherford/lamb, Inc.

United Technologies Corporation

Expro Meters, Inc.

Other

Byk-chemie Gmbh

Honeywell G.m.b.h.

Cidra Corporation Services LLC

Weatherford Technology Holdings, LLC

Timothy J Bailey

Mark R Fernald

Alan D Kersey

Martin A Putnam

Michael A Davis

James M Sullivan

Paul Eric Sanders

Robert N Brucato

Matthew B Miller

Paul Joseph Rothman

Christopher J Wright

Paul Dolan

Christian Victor O'Keefe

Michael Stephen Ryan

James R Dunphy

Trevor Wayne MacDougall

Robert J Maron

Peter A Amelunxen

Richard Todd Jones

James S Sirkis

Patrick Tuxbury

Kirk Johnson

Daniel P Courtney

Douglas H Loose

Alex M Van Der Spek

John Viega

ChangJiu Dang

Daniel L Gysling

Kevin Rodney Lassila

Guy A Daigle

Thomas Wolfgang Engel

Allen R Davis

Adam Jordens

Allison K Greene

Joseph Nord

Michael D Coppola

Sandeep Balasubramanyam

John J Grunbeck

Douglas H Adamson

Jay Walter Dawson

Joseph Francis Pinto

Charles Winston

Gary A Ball

Francis K Didden

Arthur D Hay

Carl M Ferrar

Paul S Szczepanek

Phillip E Pruett

Peter C Ogle

John Biesak

Joseph T Fournier, Jr

F Kevin Didden

Richard Niezgorski

Daniel J Fritz

Jon T Kringlebotn

Joseph L Poplawski

Daneil L Gysling

Trevor W Macdougall

Charles R Winston

John V Viega

Changjiu Dang

Christian Victor O'keefe

Alison K Greene

Christian O'keefe

Alex Van Der Spek

A substrate for use in an aqueous slurry has a polymeric coating to provide a compliant and sticky surface. The polymer coating has a chemical to render the surface hydrophobic so as to attract hydrophobic or hydrophobized mineral particles in the slurry. The substrate can take the form of a conveyor belt, a bead, a mesh, an impeller, a filter or a flat surface. The substrate can also be an open-cell foam. The polymeric coating can be modified with tackifiers; plasticizers; crosslinking agents; chain transfer agents; chain extenders; adhesion promoters; aryl or alky copolymers; fluorinated copolymers and/or additives; hydrophobizing agents such as hexamethyldisilazane; inorganic particles such as silica, hydrophobic silica, and/or fumed hydrophobic silica; MQ resin; and/or other additives to control and modify the properties of the polymer.

Polymer-coated member having a reticulated foam substrate with an open-cell foam structure and at least one polymeric coated surface

A process of coating an open-cell foam substrate includes the steps of arranging two rollers separated by a gap; positioning the substrate above the gap; providing a coating material onto the substrate, feeding the substrate through the gap so as to achieve a layer of the coating material on the substrate, wherein the coating material is selected from the group consisting of a polysiloxane derivative, acrylic polymer, butyl rubber, natural rubber, nitriles, styrene block copolymers with ethylene, styrene block copolymers with propylene, styrene block copolymers with isoprene and polyvinyl ether and modifying the coating with tackifiers; plasticizers; crosslinking agents; chain transfer agents; chain extenders; adhesion promoters; aryl or alky copolymers; fluorinated copolymers; hexamethyldisilazane; and silica.

Processes for coating reticulated foams

Apparatus uses engineered collection media to recover mineral particles in a mineral extraction process, e.g., for processing a tailings stream at the end of a flotation separation process. The engineered collection media are added to slurry/tailings containing the mineral particles. The engineered collection media have collection surfaces coated with a chemical selected for attracting the mineral particles to the collection surfaces so the engineered collection media becomes mineral laden media in the slurry/tailings in a loading stage. The apparatus include three stages: removing unwanted material from mineral laden media; using a stripping agent to strip the mineral particles from the mineral laden media; and separating the engineered collection media from the mineral particles and the stripping agent. The stripping agent is reused for stripping, and the engineered collection media are returned to the loading stage. The engineered collection media can have a smooth or foam-like surface.

Utilizing engineered media for recovery of minerals in tailings stream at the end of a flotation separation process

A reactor system has a number of stations arranged to recover mineral particles in a slurry. The system includes a hopper to receive the slurry and barren media having hydrophobic coating to attract the mineral particles. The hopper provides a mixture of barren media and slurry to a tumbler arranged to stir the mixture in order to increase the contact between the slurry and the barren media so as to allow the mineral particles to attach to the barren media to form mineral laden media. The mineral laden media are conveyed to a rinsing station where water jets are used to wash the gangue materials off the mineral laden media. The rinsed mineral laden media are mixed with a surfactant so that the mineral particles are released from the mineral laden media. High-pressure water and air jets are then used to remove remaining surfactant from the released media.

Reactor system for separation and enrichment of minerals from a slurry containing minerals and other materials

Apparatus uses engineered collection media to recover mineral particles in a slurry. The apparatus has a tumbler cell and a rotation device to rotate the tumbler cell. The tumbler cell has a container to hold a mixture of the engineered media and the slurry containing the mineral particles. The container is turned such that at least part of the mixture in the upper part of the container is caused to interact with at least part of the mixture in the lower part of the container. As such, the contact between the engineered media and the mineral particles is enhanced. The surfaces of the engineered media are functionalized with a chemical having molecules to attract the mineral particles to the surfaces so as to form mineral laden media. After the mineral laden media are discharged from the tumbler cell, the mineral particles can be separated from the engineered media by stripping.

Tumbler cell for mineral recovery using engineered media

The invention provides a signal processor that receives a signal containing information about an acoustic signal that is generated by at least one acoustic transmitter, that travels through an aerated fluid in a container, and that is received by at least one acoustic receiver arranged in relation to the container, including inside the container; and determines the gas volume fraction of the aerated fluid based at least partly on the speed of sound measurement of the acoustic signal that travels through the aerated fluid in the container. The signal processor also sends an output signal containing information about the gas volume fraction of the aerated fluid. The signal processor may be configured together with at least one acoustic transmitter, the at least one acoustic receiver, or both.

Method and apparatus for determining GVF&#x2014;gas volume fraction&#x2014;for aerated fluids and liquids in flotation tanks, columns, drums, tubes, vats

An engineered collection medium for use in mineral separation is described. The engineered collection medium has a solid phase body configured with a three-dimensional open-cell structure like foam or sponge to provide collection surfaces. The surfaces are functionalized with a hydrophobic chemical having molecules with a functional group for attaching mineral particles to the collection surfaces. The engineered collection medium can be a foam block, a filter or conveyor belt to be placed in a slurry to collect mineral particles in the slurry. The engineered collection medium carrying the mineral particles is provided to a release apparatus where the mineral particles can be released by using mechanical agitation, sonic agitation and so forth.

Recovery media for mineral processing

Apparatus features a container and a transducer. The container is made of a selected material and has a container wall with a selected thickness, and configured to hold a fluid therein. The transducer is configured on the outside of the container wall, and is also configured to provide a standing wave into the fluid. The selected thickness and material of the container wall is chosen to ensure about a &#xbd; wavelength of a desired frequency exists within the container wall, so as to substantially reduce back reflections toward the transducer due to any mismatch in acoustic impedance at the interface between the container wall and the fluid, and so as to substantially maximize the amount of energy delivered to the fluid, thus improving the operating efficiency of the apparatus.

Optimizing acoustic efficiency of a sonic filter or separator

Apparatus is provided featuring an acoustic driver and a transducer. The acoustic driver is configured to provide an acoustic driver signal having a frequency that can be adjusted to yield a given wavelength, which in turn, will selectively capture a particular particle size of particles in a fluid, mixture or process flow. The transducer is configured to respond to the acoustic driver signal and provide an acoustic signal having a standing wave at the frequency in order to yield the given wavelength that will selectively capture the particular particle size of the particles in the fluid, mixture or process flow, in order to determine the mass of the particles having the particular particle size in the fluid, mixture or process flow.

Sonic filter for measuring and capturing particles having a particular particle size in a fluid, mixture or process flow

The present invention provides new techniques for non-invasive and real-time measurement of the velocity profile of slurry flow in horizontal pipes, as well as the measurement and trending of pipe wear on slurry lines. In the first case, this information can be used to determine the approach and onset of solid deposition on the bottom of the pipe. Having this information in real time can enable operation at lower velocities or higher solids concentration or both while avoiding solids deposition or plugging and their associated operational costs. In the second case, the present invention uses a permanently or semi-permanently installed ring of conformable ultrasonic transducers clamped onto the outside of the pipe. These transducers are used to measure the thickness of the pipe under their respective locations.

Flow and pipe management using velocity profile measurement and/or pipe wall thickness and wear monitoring

Apparatus for determining a thickness of a wall of a pipe, featuring a signal processing module configured to respond to signaling containing information about traveling stress waves transmitted to and reflected back from a wall of a pipe by a sensor band that includes a series, ring or array having multiple transducers circumferentially arranged and mounted around, and attached to or clamped onto, an outside wall of the pipe; determine a profile of a thickness of the wall of the pipe corresponding to circumferential locations of the multiple transducers based on the signaling received from the sensor band, and the provides corresponding signaling containing information about the profile of the thickness of the wall of the pipe; and another module configured to receive the corresponding signaling and provide a visual indication of either data or a graph of the thickness of the wall of the pipe.

Graphical user interface re wear monitoring

Apparatus for determining a thickness of a wall of a pipe, featuring a signal processing module configured to respond to signaling containing information about traveling stress waves transmitted to and reflected back from a wall of a pipe by a sensor band that includes a series, ring or array having multiple transducers circumferentially arranged and mounted around, and attached to or clamped onto, an outside wall of the pipe; and determine a profile of a thickness of the wall of the pipe corresponding to circumferential locations of the multiple transducers based on the signaling received from the sensor band; and one or more orientation or rotation sensors, each responding to its orientation in relation to its displacement on the pipe and to provide an orientation signal containing information about the same.

Wear monitoring with rotational sensor and sensor thickness

Growing community of inventors

Longmeadow, MA, United States of America

Timothy J Bailey