Abrasive slurry delivery systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11260503-B2
Application number	US-201415106244-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2014
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

An abrasive slurry delivery system configured to discharge a high pressure mixture of water ( 30 ) and abrasives ( 54, 54′ ) for further admixture with a flow of high pressure water ( 30 ) to generate an abrasive slurry and ultimately an abrasive slurry jet is provided. The delivery system includes a storage chamber ( 56 ), a discharge chamber ( 58 ) and a shuttle chamber ( 60 ) positioned therebetween. The shuttle chamber ( 60 ) is configured to intermittently receive abrasives ( 54 ) from the storage chamber ( 56 ) and intermittently supply the abrasives ( 54, 54′ ) mixed with high pressure water ( 30 ) to the discharge chamber ( 58 ) to be selectively discharged therefrom. High pressure abrasive slurry cutting systems and related methods are also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An abrasive slurry jet cutting system comprising:
a cutting head including a nozzle configured to receive a flow of abrasive slurry and generate an abrasive slurry jet during a processing operation; and
a vessel assembly configured to discharge a mixture of water and abrasives for further admixture with a flow of water to form the flow of abrasive slurry, the vessel assembly including:
a storage chamber to house abrasives;
a discharge chamber having an outlet to selectively discharge the mixture of water and abrasives into the flow of water and toward the nozzle of the cutting head during the processing operation, the discharge chamber having a supply port;
a supply branch coupling the flow of water to the supply port;
a shuttle chamber positioned downstream of the storage chamber and upstream of the discharge chamber to intermittently receive the abrasives from the storage chamber and to intermittently supply the abrasives to the discharge chamber via a supply line, the shuttle chamber coupled to a source of water to intermittently supply water to the shuttle chamber to intermittently pressurize the shuttle chamber to create the mixture of water and abrasives to be transferred to the discharge chamber; and
a return line coupling the discharge chamber, via the supply port, to the shuttle chamber such that a path, remote from the supply line, is provided for at least one of water and abrasives in the discharge chamber to the shuttle chamber.

2. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein the storage chamber, the shuttle chamber and the discharge chamber are fixedly coupled together to form a multi-stage vessel.

3. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 2 , further comprising: a positioning system coupled to the cutting head to manipulate the cutting head in space, and wherein the multi-stage vessel is attached to the positioning system.

4. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 3 wherein the multi-stage vessel is attached to the positioning system such that the multi-stage vessel remains in close proximity to the cutting head during movement of the cutting head.

5. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 4 wherein the positioning system includes a robotic arm and the multi-stage vessel is attached to the robotic arm.

6. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 4 wherein the positioning system includes a carriage movably coupled to a bridge, and wherein the cutting head and the multi-stage vessel are coupled to the carriage to move therewith.

7. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 1 , further comprising: an abrasive hopper coupled to the storage chamber of the vessel assembly to supply abrasives to the storage chamber.

8. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 1 wherein:
the mixture of water and abrasives is a mixture of water and abrasives of at least 2,000 psi;
the flow of water is a flow of water of at least 2,000 psi; and
the source of water is a source of water of at least 2,000 psi.

9. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 8 wherein the vessel assembly includes a first valve between the storage chamber and the shuttle chamber and a second valve between the shuttle chamber and the discharge chamber, and wherein the abrasive slurry jet system further comprises: a control system communicatively coupled to each of the first valve and the second valve to sequentially open and close the first valve and the second valve to dose the abrasives from the storage chamber to the discharge chamber via the shuttle chamber.

10. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 9 wherein the shuttle chamber of the vessel assembly includes an outlet port coupled to a dump valve, and wherein the control system is communicatively coupled to the dump valve to control the dump valve to selectively release pressure from the shuttle chamber to prepare the shuttle chamber to receive the abrasives from the storage chamber.

11. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 9 wherein the shuttle chamber of the vessel assembly includes an inlet port coupled to a pressure supply valve, and wherein the control system is communicatively coupled to the pressure supply valve to control the pressure supply valve to intermittently supply water to the shuttle chamber to intermittently pressurize the shuttle chamber to create the mixture of water and abrasives to be transferred to the discharge chamber.

12. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 9 wherein the discharge chamber of the vessel assembly is coupled to a metering device, and wherein the control system is communicatively coupled to the metering device to control the metering device to selectively discharge the mixture of water and abrasives into the flow of water to form the flow of abrasive slurry.

13. The abrasive slurry jet cutting system of claim 8 wherein the flow of water to form the flow of abrasive slurry is supplied to the outlet of the discharge chamber at a pressure of at least 40,000 psi.

14. A vessel assembly configured to discharge a mixture of water and abrasives for admixture with a flow of water for generating an abrasive slurry, the vessel assembly comprising:
a storage chamber to temporarily store abrasives;
a discharge chamber having an outlet to selectively discharge the mixture of water and abrasives into the flow of water to mix therewith and generate the abrasive slurry, the discharge chamber having a supply port;
a supply branch coupling the flow of water to the supply port;
a shuttle chamber positioned downstream of the storage chamber and upstream of the discharge chamber to intermittently receive the abrasives from the storage chamber and to intermittently supply the abrasives mixed with water to the discharge chamber via a supply line, the shuttle chamber including an inlet port coupleable to a source of water to intermittently receive the water and intermittently pressurize the shuttle chamber to create the mixture of water and abrasives to be transferred to the discharge chamber; and
a return line coupling the discharge chamber, via the supply port, to the shuttle chamber such that a path, remote from the supply line, is provided for at least one of water and abrasives in the discharge chamber to the shuttle chamber.

15. The vessel assembly of claim 14 wherein the storage chamber, the shuttle chamber and the discharge chamber are fixedly coupled together to form a multi-stage vessel.

16. The vessel assembly of claim 15 wherein the multi-stage vessel is an elongated, generally cylindrical vessel having three distinct stages arranged in a generally collinear manner.

17. The vessel assembly of claim 14 wherein the discharge chamber includes a water conduit terminating within an upper region of the discharge chamber, such that the water conduit introduces water of at least 2,000 psi into the upper region of the discharge chamber during operation.

18. The vessel assembly of claim 14 wherein the supply port is located within an upper end of the discharge chamber to introduce water between 2,000 psi and 75,000 psi into the upper end of the discharge chamber during operation.

19. The vessel assembly of claim 14 , further comprising: a plurality of tie rods arranged to compressively sandwich the shuttle chamber between the storage chamber and the discharge chamber.

20. The vessel assembly of claim 14 wherein:
the mixture of water and abrasives is a mixture of water and abrasives of at least 2,000 psi;
the flow of water is a flow of

Assignees

• Flow Int Corp

Inventors

• Hashish Mohamed A
• Niblock Robert
• Craigen Steven J
• Schuman Bruce M

Classifications

• B24C3/04

  stationary · CPC title

• B24C7/0007 Primary

  the abrasive material being fed in a liquid carrier · CPC title

• B24C1/045

  for cutting (energy dissipating devices therefor B26F3/008) · CPC title

• B24C5/02

  Blast guns, e.g. for generating high velocity abrasive fluid jets for cutting materials {(perforating by fluid jet B26F1/26)} · CPC title