PROPPANT DISCHARGE METHOD AND A CONTAINER FOR USE IN SUCH A PROPPANT DISCHARGE METHOD
A proppant discharge system has a container with an outlet positioned in a bottom thereof and a gate affixed adjacent the outlet so as to be movable between a first position covering the outlet to 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 container can be a ten foot ISO container.
1 . A method for storing and unloading of fracking proppant at a well site for use when hydraulic fracking is to be performed, the method comprising:
loading one or more of a plurality of containers filled with fracking proppant onto one or more trailers of one or more transport vehicles, each of the one or more containers of the plurality of containers having an upper portion defined by a pair of end walls and a pair of side walls, a top, a bottom having an outlet, a plurality of structural support members positioned at intersections between the pair of end walls and the pair of side walls, and a lower portion extending from the upper portion to the bottom shaped to direct the fracking proppant out of the container, the lower portion being positioned at a lower elevation than the upper portion and a vertical extent of the pair of side walls and the pair of end walls when in an upright position;
transporting the one or more of the plurality of containers via the one or more transport vehicles to a well site adjacent an area where hydraulic fracturing is to be performed;
removing the one or more of the plurality of containers from the one or more trailers of the one or more transport vehicles when the one or more transport vehicles is proximate the well site, the well site having a staging area to store the plurality of containers until hydraulic fracturing is to be performed with proppant from the one or more containers of the plurality of containers;
arranging the plurality of containers in a stacked configuration in the staging area such that the one or more containers of the plurality of containers are stacked on top of another one of the plurality of containers and such that the plurality of structural support members of the one or more containers of the plurality of containers is substantially aligned the plurality of the another one of the plurality of containers;
removing one or more of the plurality of containers having proppant stored therein from the stacked configuration;
positioning the one or more containers onto a support structure, the support structure being positioned proximate the well site and arranged to receive the plurality of containers in a side by side arrangement; and
dispensing the fracking proppant from each of the one or more containers positioned on the support structure in the side by side arrangement such that the fracking proppant flows out of the outlet via gravity feed to direct it away from the one or more containers.
2 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling the flow of fracking proppant from the container onto a conveyor with a flow gate positioned adjacent the container and the conveyor, the flow gate configured to move between closed and open positions.
3 . The method as defined in claim 2 , further comprising:
controlling the flow gate with one or more actuators attached to the flow gate and configured to move the flow gate between the closed and open positions to allow for selected and controlled discharge of proppant.
4 . The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the support structure further comprises:
a plurality of hoppers each positioned to receive fracking proppant from one of the plurality of containers.
5 . The method as defined in claim 4 , wherein each hopper of the plurality of hoppers corresponds to one of a plurality of cradles associated with a top surface of the support structure, each of the plurality of cradles being positioned to receive only one of the plurality of containers.
6 . The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein movement of the plurality of containers from the one or more trailers of the one or more transport vehicles and movement of the plurality of containers to the support structure from the stacked configuration each is done via one or more forklifts.