Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G53/00—Conveying materials in bulk through troughs, pipes or tubes by floating the materials or by flow of gas, liquid or foam
  • B65G53/04—Conveying materials in bulk pneumatically through pipes or tubes; Air slides
  • B65G53/06—Gas pressure systems operating without fluidisation of the materials
  • B65G53/10—Gas pressure systems operating without fluidisation of the materials with pneumatic injection of the materials by the propelling gas
  • B65G53/12—Gas pressure systems operating without fluidisation of the materials with pneumatic injection of the materials by the propelling gas the gas flow acting directly on the materials in a reservoir

Definitions

• the present- invention relates to a method for handlin bulk material, in which method the material is stored in at least one container from which the material is conveyed pneumatically through a conveying pipe.
• the invention also relates to a system for handling bulk, material, said system comprising at least one materia storage container having on the one hand an inlet and an outlet for the material and, on the other hand, a pressure source connected thereto for pneumatically conveying the material through a conveying pipe connected to the outlet.
• the invention can be used generally for handling bulk material, preferably cement, bentonite, byerite etc., but will be described below as specifically used in the offshore industry, particularly on board supply vessels for providing offshore drilling platforms with such bulk material as mentioned above, to be used for injecting drill hole walls.
• bulk material preferably cement, bentonite, byerite etc.
• a prior art system on supply vessels for handling bulk material comprises a plurality of containers for storing the material. From these containers, the material is conveyed pneumatically by means of a compressor through a conveying pipe up to a discharge station on board the platform.
• the containers and the compressor are dimensioned for a working pressure of about 3 bars, which gives a conveying capacity of about 50 tons/h.
• the main object according to the invention is to considerably increase, without any reconstruction work, the capacity of existing systems for handling bulk ma ⁇ terial to make them cope with the large conveying ca ⁇ pacities in accordance with the requirements of today and even of tomorrow.
• a consequential object is to increase the capacity of existing systems in a relatively simple but yet re ⁇ liable and effective manner.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a connecting diagram for the system according to the present invention and of the main com ⁇ ponents included therein.
• Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a reloading tank comprised by the reloader unit.
• Fig. 3 is a lateral schematic view of the installation of the inventive system on board a supply vessel.
• Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the installation in Fig. 3.
• the system shown in the drawings for handling bulk material, such as cement, bentonite, byerite etc., is installed (see Figs. 3 and 4 ) in a supply vessel 1 for supplying primarily offshore drilling platforms. There the material is used, after admixture of a liquid and, optionally, further additives, for injecting the drill hole walls so as to reinforce them and prevent impurities from penetrating into the drill holes.
• bulk material such as cement, bentonite, byerite etc.
• the system comprises at least one, in this case four containers 2 mounted in the interior of the vessel 1 for storing the bulk ma- - terial.
• Each container 2 comprises an inlet 3 for filling the containers 2 with material from the hold (not shown) in the vessel 1 and/or from some larger special-type vessel, shore depots etc.
• Each container 2 further com ⁇ prises a material outlet 4 which is connected, via a conveying pipe 6, to a reloader unit generally desig- nated 5 and described below.
• a pressure source in the form of a compressor 7 or the like is connected to the containers 2 via pressure conduits 8, whereby the material can be conveyed pneumatically through the conveying pipe 6 to the reloader unit 5.
• the reloader unit 5 com ⁇ prises two reloading tanks 9 of steel or like material, each provided with an inlet 10 connected to the conveying pipe 6 and an outlet 13 connected to a feed pipe 12 which extends on board the platform to a material dis- charge station 11 (not shown).
• the reloader unit 5 in ⁇ cludes a pressure increasing device in the form of a compressor 14 or the like which increases the pressure on the material arriving from the containers 2 via the conveying pipe 6 and which consequently increases the material feeding rate through the feed pipe 12.
• the compressor 14 has a working pressure of about 7 bars, which is to be compared with the working pressure of the compressor 7 which is about 3 bars, and this pressure increase results in an increase of the conveying capacity from about 50 tons/h in the example chosen to about 150 tons/h.
• the reloading tanks 9 are alternately connectible to the conveying and feed pipes 6, 12 via automatic valves 15, 16, simultaneously as the compressor 14 is connected to the reloading tanks 9 and the feed pipe 12 via a main pressure conduit 17 and branch conduits 18, 19, 20 therefrom, via associated automatic valves 21, 22.
• the branch conduit 20 to the feed pipe 12 comprises an electrically operated valve 23 and a nonreturn valve 24 such that the ratio of compressed air in the feed pipe 12 can be adjusted to the material which is fed through the feed pipe.
• one reloading tank 9 can be filled with material from the containers 2 via the conveying pipe 6 , at the same time as the other reloading tank 9 is emptied of material via the feed pi e 12.
• each reloading tank 9 is provided with a fil- ter 27 in connection with the venting outlet 25.
• the filter 27 thus operates permanently against an excess pressure in each reloading tank 9.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Air Transport Of Granular Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20363107

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (1)

Citations (4)

• 1986
  • 1986-01-15 SE SE8600168A patent/SE8600168L/sv unknown
• 1987
  • 1987-01-15 AU AU68445/87A patent/AU6844587A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1987-01-15 WO PCT/SE1987/000012 patent/WO1987004415A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (4)

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