Method of delivering, transporting, and storing proppant for delivery and use at a well site

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10703587-B2
Application number	US-201715846488-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2017
Priority date	Dec 21, 2011
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

A method of delivering proppant to a well site has the steps of transporting a load of proppant in a vessel to a desired location, moving the load of proppant from the vessel into a container so as to create a proppant-loaded container, unloading the proppant-loaded container into a pneumatic bulk trailer, and transporting the unloaded proppant in the pneumatic bulk trailer to well site. The container is placed onto a bed of a truck and moved in proximity to the vessel. The proppant-loaded container is placed onto a tilting mechanism and then tilted so that the proppant is discharged through a flow gate of a container into a hopper. The proppant in the hopper can then be conveyed to the pneumatic bulk trailer.

First claim

That claimed is:

1. A method of loading and transporting proppant to a well drilling site, the method comprising:
positioning a plurality of empty proppant containers, each located on a trailer of a respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles and structurally strengthened to receive a large volume of proppant having a substantially spherical shape therein, at a selected first location so that each of the one or more empty proppant containers substantially underlies a source of proppant to load into the plurality of empty proppant containers, each of the plurality of empty proppant containers also being separate and removable from the trailer of the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles and including at least a first end surface and at least a second different end surface, each of the first and second end surfaces having a plurality of upright structural support members thereon to enhance integrity of each of the plurality of empty proppant containers for stacking the plurality of empty proppant containers and store proppant therein;
filling each of the plurality of empty proppant containers with proppant from the source of proppant thereby to produce a plurality of proppant filled containers;
staging the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles so that the trailer of the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles has at least one proppant filled container thereon;
transferring the at least one proppant filled container with the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles to a selected second location at a well drilling site, thereby to increase the efficiency with which proppant is transferred by the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles;
unloading the at least one proppant filled container from each of the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles with an unloader to provide a plurality of proppant filled containers at the second location;
vertically stacking the plurality of proppant filled containers with a loader at the selected second location so that one of the plurality of proppant filled containers overlies another one of the plurality of proppant filled containers in a vertically stacked configuration to reduce a footprint of an area at the well drilling site required for storage of the proppant; and
tracking, with bar codes associated with each of the plurality of proppant containers, one or more of the following: (1) an amount of proppant available in each of the plurality of proppant containers at a location based on the bar codes associated therewith; (2) a mesh size of proppant in each of the plurality of proppant containers based on the bar codes associated therewith; and (3) an amount of proppant available at the location based on mesh size of the proppant as indicated by the bar codes associated with each of the plurality of proppant containers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
emptying each of the plurality of proppant filled container at the second location to provide a plurality of spent proppant containers; and
delivering each of the plurality of spent proppant containers from the second location to a third location, thereby increasing the efficiency with which proppant is transferred by the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of empty proppant containers includes an outlet and a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet so as to retain proppant within a proppant container when the flow gate is in a closed position and allow proppant to flow from the outlet when the flow gate is an open position, the method further comprising opening the flow gate with one or more of hydraulic power and pneumatic power to allow large volumes of proppant to flow therefrom when in the open position.

4. A method of loading and transporting proppant to a well drilling site, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of proppant containers, each container having a first end surface, a second end surface, a plurality of upright structural support members thereon, an outlet and a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet so as to retain proppant within a proppant container when the flow gate is in a closed position and allow proppant to flow from the outlet when the flow gate is an open position, wherein each container is structurally strengthened to receive a large volume of proppant having a substantially spherical shape therein, and wherein the plurality of upright structural support members are configured for vertically stacking the plurality of proppant containers;
positioning each of the plurality of proppant containers in an empty state at on a trailer of a respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles at a first location substantially underlying a source of proppant for loading therein, each of the plurality of empty proppant containers being separate and removable from the trailer of the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles;
filling each of the plurality of proppant containers with proppant from the source of proppant thereby to provide a plurality of proppant filled containers;
staging the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles so that the trailer of each of the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles has at least one proppant filled container thereon;
transferring the at least one proppant filled container with the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles to a second location at a well drilling site, thereby to increase the efficiency with which proppant is transferred by the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles;
unloading the at least one proppant filled container from each of the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles with an unloader; and
vertically stacking the plurality of proppant containers with a loader at the second location so that one of the plurality of proppant containers overlies another one of the plurality of proppant containers to reduce a footprint of an area at the well drilling site required for storage of the proppant;
opening the flow gate of each container with one or more of hydraulic power and pneumatic power to allow large volumes of proppant to flow therefrom when in the open position such that the plurality of proppant containers are in a spent state; and
moving the plurality of proppant containers in the spent state via a loader onto the trailer of the respective plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles at the second location such that each of the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles has at least one proppant container in a spent state thereon.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises delivering the plurality of proppant containers in the spent state from the second location to a third location, thereby increasing the efficiency with which proppant is transferred by the plurality of proppant transporting road vehicles.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises tracking, with bar codes associated with each of the plurality of proppant containers, one or more of the following: (1) an amount of proppant available in each of the plurality of proppant filled containers at a location based on the bar codes associated therewith; (2) a mesh size of proppant in each of the plurality of proppant filled containers based on the bar codes associated therewith; and (3) an amount of proppant available at a location based on mesh size of the proppant as indicated by the bar codes associated with each of the plurality of proppant containers.

Assignees

• Oren Tech Llc

Inventors

• Oren John

Classifications

• B65G65/23 Primary

  Devices for tilting and emptying of containers · CPC title

• B61B1/005

  Rail vehicle marshalling systems; Rail freight terminals (transferring or trans-shipping at storage areas or railway yards; marshalling yard installations B65G63/00) · CPC title

• B65D88/70

  using fluid jets (B65D88/72 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65D90/008

  Doors for containers, e.g. ISO-containers (locking E05B83/12) · CPC title

• B65D88/022

  in multiple arrangement, e.g. stackable, nestable, connected or joined together side-by-side · CPC title