The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 17, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 12, 2008
Peringandoor Raman Hariharan, Houston, TX (US);
Robert Arnold Judge, Houston, TX (US);
Dat Nguyen, Houston, TX (US);
Greg Bailey, Kingwood, TX (US);
Peringandoor Raman Hariharan, Houston, TX (US);
Robert Arnold Judge, Houston, TX (US);
Dat Nguyen, Houston, TX (US);
Greg Bailey, Kingwood, TX (US);
Hydril USA Manufacturing LLC, Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
In a dual-gradient drilling apparatus, a subsea solids processing unit includes a housing, a solids processing mechanism disposed in the housing between a drilling mud inlet and a drilling mud outlet, and a flushing mechanism configured to flush the solids processing mechanism with a flushing fluid. A subsea solids processing unit may be controlled by rotating the solids processing mechanism in a forward direction and increasing a drive torque when a measured speed of the solids processing mechanism is below a desired rotation speed. The desired rotation speed may be decreased when a measured torque exceeds a selected maximum and a rotation direction of the solids processing mechanism may be reversed when the measured speed falls below a selected minimum.