Methods of storing and moving proppant at location adjacent rail line

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9475661-B2
Application number	US-201615143893-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 2, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2011
Publication date	Oct 25, 2016
Grant date	Oct 25, 2016

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 storing and moving fracking proppant at a desired location, the method comprising:
a) stacking a plurality of containers separate from a vehicle on top of one another so that a bottom of one of the plurality of containers overlies the top of another one of the plurality of containers to thereby define a stack, the stack positioned at a desired location, the structural integrity of the plurality of containers being enhanced by a plurality of structural uprights positioned to extend from the bottom to the top of each of the plurality of containers and thereby increase the weight carrying capacity of each of the plurality of containers when fracking proppant is positioned therein;
b) placing one or more of the plurality of containers from the stack onto one or more trailers of one or more vehicles by use of a container loader/unloader;
c) moving the plurality of containers when positioned on the one or more trailers away from the stack of the plurality of containers; and
d) scaling the number of the plurality of containers according to the amount of proppant required at a particular location, each of the plurality of containers positioned to include an outlet adjacent the bottom for discharge of proppant therefrom, an opening adjacent the top thereof to load proppant therein, a pair of spaced-apart end walls connected to and extending between the bottom and the top, and a pair of side walls connected to and extending between the pair of end walls and the top and the bottom, each of the plurality of containers further includes one or more structural support members extending and positioned at intervals between the pair of end walls and the pair of side walls of each container.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
before step a), transporting proppant to the desired location, the desired location being on a rail line, on one or more railcars, each railcar configured to transport an amount of proppant equal to or greater than the amount of proppant required to fill at least two of the plurality of containers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the moving includes positioning each of the plurality of containers when proppant is contained therein adjacent a fracturing operation of a production field.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet to control flow of proppant through the outlet.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
tracking the amount of proppant on hand at the location with bar-codes or logging mechanisms, and injecting air into each of the plurality of containers to enhance flow of proppant from the outlet of each of the plurality of containers adjacent the flow gate.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
tracking the mesh size of the proppant in the containers at the location with bar-codes or logging mechanisms.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of containers each has proppant therein and includes up to four containers, wherein the up to four containers are positioned in the stack, wherein the stack comprises a first stack, wherein the method further comprises stacking another plurality of containers that each have proppant therein closely adjacent the first stack thereby to define a second stack, and wherein the one or more structural support members include a plurality of cross members.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising staging a plurality of empty containers at a proppant site.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outlet of each of the plurality of containers is positioned in a substantially central portion of the bottom of the container, wherein the one or more structural support members of each of the plurality of containers further includes a plurality of horizontal structural members extending between the plurality of structural uprights.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
positioning prongs of a forklift in one or more slots positioned adjacent the bottom of each of the plurality of containers in a defined region thereby to enhance lifting and positioning of the containers for stacking and moving.

11. A method of storing and moving fracking proppant at a desired location, the method comprising:
a) removing proppant for fracking from a railcar;
b) storing the proppant in a plurality of containers separate from the railcar, each container of the plurality of containers comprising:
an opening adjacent the top thereof to receive proppant into the container, a pair of spaced-apart end walls connected to and extending between the bottom and the top, and a pair of sidewalls connected to an extending between the pair of end walls and the top and the bottom, and one or more structural support members extending between the pair of end walls and one or more structural support members extending between the side walls;
an outlet adjacent a bottom for discharge of proppant therefrom;
a flow gate positioned adjacent the outlet to control flow of proppant through the outlet; and

c) transporting one or more of the plurality of containers with one or more vehicle trailers;
d) removing the one or more of the plurality of containers from the one or more vehicle trailers; and
e) scaling the number of containers at the desired location according to the amount of proppant required at a particular location, each of the plurality of containers has a plurality of structural uprights positioned to extend from the bottom to the top of each of the plurality of containers at intervals between the side walls and the end walls to thereby increase the weight carrying capacity of each of the plurality of containers.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein step b) further comprises:
stacking the plurality of containers on top of one another so that a bottom of one of the plurality of containers overlies the top of another one of the plurality of containers to thereby define a stack to reduce the footprint of the stored containers.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of containers that each has proppant therein includes two or more containers, wherein the two or more containers are positioned in the stack, wherein the stack comprises a first stack, and wherein the method further comprises stacking another plurality of containers that each have proppant therein closely adjacent the first stack thereby to define a second stack.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
before step a), transporting proppant to the location adjacent a rail line on one or more railcars, each railcar configured to transport an amount of proppant equal to or greater than the amount of proppant required to fill at least two of the plurality of containers.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transporting includes positioning each of the plurality of containers that has proppant contained therein adjacent a fracturing operation of a production field.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
tracking the amount of proppant on hand at a location with bar-codes or logging mechanisms.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
tracking the mesh size of the proppant in the containers at the location with bar-codes or logging mechanisms.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising staging a plurality of empty containers at a proppant site.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the outlet of each of the plurality of containers is positioned in a substantially central portion of the bottom of the container, and wherein the method further includes injecting air into each of the plural

Assignees

• Oren Tech Llc

Inventors

• Oren John

Classifications

• B65G65/32

  Filling devices · CPC title

• B65D88/022

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

• B65D88/70

  using fluid jets (B65D88/72 takes precedence) · 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

• B65D90/008

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