| 主权项 |
1. A horizontal frac ball injector, comprising:
an injector spool having an intake end, a discharge end and an axial passage that extends from the intake end to the discharge end; and at least two independently operated ball injector assemblies respectively connected to respective radial ports through a sidewall of the injector spool, each ball injector assembly supporting a ball cartridge having a capacity to accommodate a plurality of frac balls, and each ball injector assembly further comprising a ball launcher with a ball chamber having a sidewall, a bottom wall and a side opening in the sidewall, the ball launcher being reciprocated by a ball launcher drive from a ball load position in which a frac ball is loaded from the ball cartridge into the ball chamber, to a ball release position in which the ball launcher is moved into the axial passage and the frac ball is moved out of the side opening of the ball chamber by fluid pumped through the axial passage wherein the ball launcher drive comprises one of a hydraulic and a pneumatic cylinder having a piston with a piston rod affixed to a rear end of the ball launcher, and the ball launcher further comprises a key way that runs a full length of a bottom of the ball launcher and accepts a guide key of the ball injector assembly to prevent the ball launcher from rotating as the ball launcher is reciprocated from the ball load position to the ball release position. |
