Method of Delivering, Storing, Unloading, and Using Proppant at a Well Site

摘要

A proppant discharge system has a container with an outlet formed at a bottom thereof and a gate slidably affixed at the outlet so as to be movable between a first position covering the outlet to second position opening the outlet, and a support structure having an actuator thereon. The container is removably positioned on the top surface of the support structure. The actuator is engageable with gate so as to move the gate from the first position to the second position. A conveyor underlies the container so as to receive proppant as discharged from the container through the outlet. The container is a ten foot ISO container.

主权项

1. A method of handling fracking proppant at a well site, the method comprising: removing one or more proppant containers that contain fracking proppant from a trailer of one or more transport road vehicles when positioned adjacent a well site at a location where hydraulic fracking is to be performed so as to provide a plurality of proppant containers that contain fracking proppant to the well site, each of the plurality of proppant containers having an outlet positioned at a bottom thereof with a plurality of slanted lower inner wall portions positioned to direct the fracking proppant toward the outlet, each of the one or more proppant containers having a closed and substantially rectangular upper proppant containing portion, the plurality of slated lower inner wall portions being positioned to underlie the upper proppant containing portion and having proppant also positioned therein, a pair of vertically-extending end walls and a pair of vertically-extending side walls defining the closed and substantially rectangular upper proppant containing portion, a frame including a plurality of structural support members positioned to enhance support of the end walls and the side walls when the proppant container is full of fracking proppant, and each of the plurality of containers has an open area positioned about the plurality of slated lower inner wall portions and below the upper proppant containing portion adjacent a bottom of the respective each of the plurality of proppant containers to allow for visual access of a respective exterior surface of the plurality of slanted wall portions when the container is full of fracking proppant, the open area being visible through one or more spatial gaps extending through the frame in a location positioned below at least each of the side walls of and above the bottom of the proppant container;
transferring, after removal from the trailer of the one or more transport road vehicles, each of the plurality of proppant containers to a support structure positioned at the well site so that each of the plurality of proppant containers is positioned to discharge by gravity feed the fracking proppant therefrom, the support structure including a plurality of cradles that correspond to the plurality of proppant containers transferred thereto; and discharging by gravity feed the fracking proppant contained within each of the plurality of proppant containers when positioned on the support structure and within the plurality of cradles from the outlet positioned at a bottom of each of the plurality of proppant containers so that the fracking proppant passes onto the common conveyor.