Safe and Accurate Method of Chemical Inventory Management on Location

• US 20080271927A1
• Filed: 04/27/2007
• Published: 11/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Original Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services Incorporated (Halliburton Company)
• Inventors: Segura, Michael, Crain, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 7,735,365 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 177/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 13/16 Means for automatically discharging weigh receptacles under control of the weighing mechanism
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 17/04 for weighing fluids, e.g. gases, pastes
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/08 for incorporation in vehicles

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of measuring an amount of a substance depleted from a storage unit, including the steps of: supporting the storage unit on a vehicle, measuring a first weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit, allowing a quantity of the liquid substance to be discharged from the storage unit, measuring a second weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit, and determining the amount of liquid substance discharged or allowed to be discharged from the storage unit based on the first weight measurement and the second weight measurement.

Claims

1. A method for measuring an amount of a substance depleted from a storage unit, the method comprising:

supporting the storage unit on a vehicle;

measuring a first weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit;

allowing a quantity of the liquid substance to be discharged from the storage unit;

measuring a second weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit; and

determining the amount of liquid substance discharged or allowed to be discharged from the storage unit based on the first weight measurement and the second weight measurement.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeatedly measuring the weight of the storage unit and liquid substance contained in the storage unit; and

determining, substantially in real-time, the amount of liquid substance discharged or allowed to be discharged based on any two or more of the weight measurements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein an empty weight of the storage unit is measured with a high-precision scale before the storage unit is loaded into the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the weight of the storage unit and liquid substance is calculated based on information provided by one or more load-measuring devices.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein four of said load-measuring devices are arranged in a rectangular pattern and used to determine the amount of liquid substance remaining in the tank.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering the discharged liquid substance to a blender for use in a well service operation.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the storage units are located on mobile pallets, and wherein the one or more load-measuring devices are attached to the pallets.

8. A mobile chemical management system, comprising:

one or more storage units;

a vehicle operable to transport the storage unit and any contents thereof;

one or more industrially useful substances contained within the one or more storage units;

one or more discharge control mechanisms operable to control discharge rates of the one or more industrially useful substances from the one or more storage units; and

at least two measuring devices coupled to each storage unit and operable to produce a signal corresponding to the force of gravity upon the storage unit and the contents thereof.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the measuring devices comprise weight-, mass-, pressure- or load-sensing means such as load cells.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the measuring devices are arranged symmetrically.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the measuring devices are configured such that a force measured by one of the measuring devices, other than the gravitational force of the storage unit and its contents, is reduced or cancelled by summation with the forces measured by the remaining measuring devices.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the industrially useful substance comprises a chemical to be used in conjunction with a well service operation.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising a processing system operable to receive and process electrical signals from at least the measuring devices.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is further operable to communicate with the discharge control mechanism to change the discharge rate of the industrially useful substance.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein two or more industrially useful substances are allowed to be discharged for combination in one or more desired ratios;

and

wherein the processing system is operable to monitor the signals produced by the measuring devices substantially in real-time and to adjust two or more discharge control mechanisms to achieve the desired ratios of the two or more industrially useful substances.

16. A method for determining the weight of a substance contained in a storage unit, the method comprising:

transporting an industrially useful substance with a vehicle;

using one or more measurement devices to produce one or more weight measurements of the industrially useful substance in the storage unit without removing the storage unit from the vehicle;

measuring a degree of deviation along an axis from a level position of the storage unit or the measurement device; and

processing the one or more weight measurements and the degree of deviation to produce a second, more accurate weight measurement.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

measuring a second weight of the industrially useful substance in the storage unit; and

calculating, based on the time elapsed between the first and second measurements, a calculated discharge rate of the industrially useful substance from the storage unit.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of automatically adjusting a discharge rate of the industrially useful substance based on the calculated discharge rate.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein an inclinometer is used to perform the measuring of the degree of deviation from a level position.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising measuring a degree of deviation from a level position along a second axis.