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:
May. 10, 2016
Filed:
Jun. 25, 2014
National Oilwell Varco, L.p., Houston, TX (US);
Thomas R. Larson, Montgomery, TX (US);
National Oilwell Varco, L.P., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
An apparatus is disclosed for separating minerals in drilling fluid based primarily on density. The separator creates and maintains a slurry with a controllable density for separating minerals from drill cuttings. The density is controlled through the use of an electric coil and magnets to create a magnetic field or electrode array. The separator comprises a primary separation chamber containing the dense slurry, and a multiple number of secondary separation chambers used to separate cuttings from the drilling fluid. The invention also contains inlet hardware allowing the mixed mineral suspension to enter the first separation chamber, and hardware allowing the three outlet (separated) streams to exit the device. One of the three outlet streams carries the minerals that have a density greater than the user selectable density set point, while the second carries the minerals that have a density less than the density set point, and the third carries clean drilling fluid.