Systems and methods for remotely controlling proppant discharge system
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 and a 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 actuator and conveyor can be controlled remotely.
1 . A system for controlling proppant delivery to a blender, comprising:
one or more containers;
the blender;
a conveyor belt assembly comprising a conveyor belt configured for delivering proppant from at least one hopper to the blender, the at least one hopper comprising an opening having a plurality of slots formed therein;
a metering gate mated with the opening, the metering gate having a plurality of slots formed therethrough,
wherein in response to one or more slots of the plurality of slots of the metering gate being aligned with one or more slots of the plurality of slots of the opening, proppant is discharged onto the conveyor belt;
one or more sensors attached to the conveyor belt assembly;
a conveyor belt controller positioned on the conveyor belt assembly and configured to control movement of the conveyor belt;
a plurality of actuators, each actuator engageable with the metering gate;
an actuator controller attached to the plurality of actuators, the actuator controller adapted to receive electronic signals from a remote computer system to remotely control the plurality of actuators;
the remote computer system comprising one or more processors in communication with the conveyor belt controller and the actuator controller; and
non-transitory computer-readable media in communication with the one or more processors, the computer-readable media having one or more computer programs with computer-readable instructions stored therein that when executed cause the system to perform operations of:
determining, via the one or more processors, a discharge rate of the proppant from the container;
determining, based on the discharge rate, a rate of proppant delivery to the blender;
wherein when a desired proppant delivery rate is achieved, maintaining the discharge rate of the proppant from the container, and
wherein when the desired proppant delivery rate is not achieved, adjusting the discharge rate of the proppant from the container.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system performs an operation of calculating, via the one or more processors, a difference between a current proppant delivery rate and the desired proppant delivery rate.
3 . A method for controlling proppant delivery to a blender, comprising:
using a plurality of actuators controlled by an actuator controller, opening, at least partially, a metering gate to discharge proppant from a hopper onto a conveyor belt,
wherein the hopper comprises an opening comprising a plurality of slots formed therein,
wherein the metering gate is mated with the opening and comprises a plurality of slots formed therethrough,
wherein the actuator controller is attached with the plurality of actuators and adapted to receive electronic signals from a remote computer system to remotely control the plurality of actuators,
wherein each actuator is engageable with the metering gate,
wherein alignment of the plurality of slots of the metering gate with the plurality of slots of the hopper controls discharge of proppant from the hopper onto the conveyor belt; and
determining a discharge rate of the proppant from the hopper;
determining, based on the discharge rate, a rate of proppant delivery to the blender;
wherein when a desired proppant delivery rate is achieved, maintaining the discharge rate of the proppant from the hopper, and
wherein when the desired proppant delivery rate is not achieved, adjusting the discharge rate of the proppant from the hopper.
4 . The method of claim 3 , comprising calculating a difference between a current proppant delivery rate and the desired proppant delivery rate.
5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein adjusting the rate of proppant delivery comprises adjusting a position of the metering gate.
6 . The method of claim 3 , comprising moving the metering gate via the plurality of actuators such that the plurality of slots of the metering gate and the plurality of slots of the hopper are, at least partially, aligned such that discharge of proppant from the hopper onto the conveyor belt is permitted.
7 . The method of claim 3 , comprising moving the metering gate via the plurality of actuators such that the plurality of slots of the metering gate and the plurality of slots of the hopper are not aligned such that discharge of proppant from the hopper onto the conveyor belt is blocked.