Systems and Methods for Extracting Sand from Raw Slurry Material

Abstract

A processing system for processing raw slurry material comprising at least liquid, sand, and contaminates comprises a barrel member, at least one transport member, at least one separator member, and a drive system. As the drive system rotates the barrel member about the barrel longitudinal axis, a portion of the raw slurry material is transported through a pre-processing portion of the processing chamber. At least a portion of the liquid and at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flows back down the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber towards a barrel inlet. At least one intermediate opening is arranged such that at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flowing down through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber passes through the at least one intermediate opening.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A processing system for processing raw slurry material comprising at least liquid, sand, and contaminates, the processing system comprising:
 a main trough;   an inlet conduit arranged to introduce the raw slurry material into the trough;   an upper trough in fluid communication with an upper portion of the main trough;   an outlet conduit arranged to allow liquid to flow out of the upper trough;   a barrel member defining a barrel inlet, a barrel outlet, and a barrel longitudinal axis, where
 the barrel member defines a processing chamber and at least one intermediate opening, 
 the processing chamber defines a pre-processing portion and a separator portion, and 
 the barrel inlet is arranged within the main trough; 
   at least one transport member arranged within the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber;   at least one separator member arranged within the separator portion of the processing chamber and configured to define at least one separator gap; and   a drive system for rotating the barrel member about the barrel longitudinal axis; wherein   as the drive system rotates the barrel member about the barrel longitudinal axis,
 the at least one transport member transports at least a portion of the raw slurry material away from the barrel inlet and through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber, 
 the at least one separator member transports at least a portion of the sand in the raw slurry material through the separator portion of the processing chamber and out of the barrel outlet, 
 at least a portion of the liquid and at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flows back down the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber towards the barrel inlet, and 
 the at least one intermediate opening is arranged such that at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flowing down through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber passes through the at least one intermediate opening. 
   
     
     
         2 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , in which the at least one transport member and the at least one separator member extend inwardly from an interior wall of the barrel member. 
     
     
         3 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , in which a portion of the pre-processing member extends out of the barrel member through the barrel inlet. 
     
     
         4 . A processing system as recited in  claim 3 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings. 
     
     
         5 . A processing system as recited in  claim 3 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings. spaced around a diameter of the barrel member. 
     
     
         6 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings spaced along the longitudinal axis of the barrel member. 
     
     
         7 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings spaced around a diameter of the barrel member and along the longitudinal axis of the barrel member. 
     
     
         8 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , in which the at least one separator member defines a plurality of separator gaps. 
     
     
         9 . A processing system as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
 a first processing conduit arranged to introduce rinse fluid into the processing chamber such that rinse fluid flows into the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber; and   a second processing conduit arranged to introduce rinse fluid into the processing chamber such that rinse fluid flows into the separator portion of the pre-processing chamber and then into the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber.   
     
     
         10 . A processing system for processing raw slurry material comprising at least liquid, sand, and contaminates, the processing system comprising:
 a main trough;   an inlet conduit arranged to introduce the raw slurry material into the trough;   an upper trough in fluid communication with an upper portion of the main trough;   an outlet conduit arranged to allow liquid to flow out of the upper trough;   a barrel member defining an inlet, and outlet, and a barrel longitudinal axis, where
 the barrel member defines a processing chamber and at least one intermediate opening, and 
 the processing chamber defines a pre-processing portion and a separator portion; 
   a continuous helical member arranged within the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber;   a plurality of discontinuous helical members arranged within the separator portion of the processing chamber such that the discontinuous helical members define at least one separator gap; and   a drive system for rotating the barrel member about the barrel longitudinal axis; wherein   as the drive system rotates the barrel member about the barrel longitudinal axis,
 the continuous helical member transports at least a portion of the raw slurry material away from the barrel inlet and through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber, 
 the plurality of discontinuous helical members at least a portion of the sand in the raw slurry material through the separator portion of the processing chamber and out of the barrel outlet, 
 at least a portion of the liquid and at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flows back down the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber towards the barrel inlet, and 
 the at least one intermediate opening is arranged such that at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flowing down through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber passes through the at least one intermediate opening. 
   
     
     
         11 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the at least one continuous helical member and the at least one discontinuous helical member extend inwardly from an interior wall of the barrel member. 
     
     
         12 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which in which a portion of the pre-processing member extends out of the barrel member through the barrel inlet. 
     
     
         13 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings. 
     
     
         14 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings spaced around a diameter of the barrel member. 
     
     
         15 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings spaced along the longitudinal axis of the barrel member. 
     
     
         16 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the at least one intermediate opening comprises a plurality of intermediate openings spaced around a diameter of the barrel member and along a longitudinal axis of the barrel member. 
     
     
         17 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , in which the plurality of discontinuous helical members define a plurality of separator gaps. 
     
     
         18 . A processing system as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising at least one of:
 a first processing conduit arranged to introduce rinse fluid into the processing chamber such that rinse fluid flows into the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber; and   a second processing conduit arranged to introduce rinse fluid into the processing chamber such that rinse fluid flows into the separator portion of the pre-processing chamber and then into the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber.   
     
     
         19 . A method of processing raw slurry material comprising at least liquid, sand, and contaminates, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a barrel member defining a barrel inlet, a barrel outlet, a processing chamber, at least one intermediate opening, and a longitudinal axis;   arranging at least one transport member within a pre-processing portion of the processing chamber;   arranging at least one separator member within a separator portion of the processing chamber such that the at least one separator member defines at least one separator gap;   arranging the barrel member such that the barrel inlet is within a main trough;   arranging an upper trough be in fluid communication with an upper portion of the main trough;   introducing the raw slurry material into the main chamber; and   rotating the barrel member such that
 the at least one transport member transports at least a portion of the raw slurry material away from the barrel inlet and through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber, 
 the at least one separator member transports at least a portion of the sand in the raw slurry material through the separator portion of the processing chamber and out of the barrel outlet, 
 at least a portion of the liquid and at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flows back down the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber towards the barrel inlet, and 
 at least a portion of the contaminates in the raw slurry material flowing down through the pre-processing portion of the processing chamber passes through the at least one intermediate opening.