Proppant Delivery System And Related Method

Abstract

A delivery system for feeding particulate matter to a target location at a well site, including a transportable conveyor belt assembly; one or more silos in fluid communication with a particulate supply line, each of the silo inlets extending through a side wall of the respective silo and disposed at a different location from the others along a longitudinal axis of the respective silo; and for each silo an enclosed chute detachably attachable thereto so as to receive into the chute particulate matter gravity fed out of the respective silo and convey such matter into the housing of the conveyor belt assembly. The silos, the chutes and the housing enclose the particulate matter as it passes from the silos through the chutes and conveyor belt assembly to the target location, to inhibit the release of dust generated from movement of the particulate matter from the silos to the target location.

That which is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for controlling the rate of feed of a particulate matter into a blender for mixing components of a desired fracturing fluid, comprising:
 feeding particulate matter into a plurality of transportable silos; and   feeding by gravity the particulate matter from one or more of the transportable silos to one or more enclosed chutes and into a conveyor belt assembly comprising a housing enclosing one or more conveyor belts; and   operating the one or more conveyor belts to convey a feed of particulate matter from the one or more silos into a hopper assembly in fluid communication with the blender;   wherein the one or more silos, the one or more chutes and the housing are configured to substantially enclose the particulate matter as it passes from the one or more silos through the one or more chutes and conveyor belt assembly to the hopper assembly, so as to inhibit the release of dust generated from movement of the particulate matter from the one or more silos to the hopper assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the feed of particulate matter from the one or more silos to the blender is substantially enclosed and under vacuum while the particulate matter is fed from the one or more silos to the blender. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the speed of the one or more conveyor belts through a conveyor belt speed controller, based at least in part upon signals from one or more hopper load and/or level sensors, from one or more silo load and/or level sensors or from both the hopper load and/or level sensors and the silo load and/or level sensors, indicative of either a weight or a level of particulate matter within the respective hopper or silos, as applicable.