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Proppant discharge system having a container and the process for providing proppant to a well site

  • US 9,718,610 B2
  • Filed: 07/23/2012
  • Issued: 08/01/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A process for providing fracking proppant to a well site, the process comprising:

  • delivering the proppant to a loading station, the proppant having a substantially round, spherical shape and a tightly-graded particle distribution;

    providing a plurality of proppant containers, each of the plurality of proppant containers comprising;

    lateral sidewalls,a top,a bottom distal from the top,an outlet in the bottom,ramps extending upwardly at an angle from the bottom toward the lateral sidewalls and each ramp of the ramps terminating at a portion lower than a vertical extent of the lateral sidewalls, the ramps positioned to funnel the proppant toward the outlet along substantially smooth, planar surfaces and being surrounded by the sidewalls extending to the bottom;

    an inner volume defined by the top, bottom and lateral sidewalls enclosing the ramps within the inner volume, anda gate adjacent the outlet, the gate being moveable between an open position and a closed position to enable the proppant to flow out of the inner volume;

    loading each of the plurality of containers with the delivered proppant at the loading station, such that the inner volume is substantially filled with proppant, the proppant substantially being evenly distributed in the inner volume of each of the one or more containers upon loading completion;

    transporting each of the plurality of containers to the well site;

    positioning each of the plurality of containers on a top surface of a support structure positioned at the well site, the support structure having spaced apart rails extending continuously from a first end to a second end and being positioned to receive the plurality of the containers thereon at discrete cradles so that the plurality of containers are arranged in a side-by-side arrangement and separately moveable on and off of the support structure; and

    discharging the loaded proppant from one or more of the plurality of containers positioned on the support structure by selectively moving the gate so that the proppant flows from within the inner volume through the outlet.

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