Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
ASSEMBLIES, APPARATUSES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR MATERIAL
EXTRACTION AND CONVEYANCE
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to assemblies, apparatuses, systems, and
methods for
extracting material from a source of the material and conveying material to a
desired location and,
more particularly, to assemblies and methods for extracting material from
environments providing
sources for the material and conveying material to elevated positions.
Background
[0002] Certain environments, such as, for example, work sites, industrial
sites, commercial sites,
residential sites, or natural sites, may often be sources of material that is
either deposited or
accumulates as a result of operations at the site or through natural
accumulation. The deposit or
accumulation of the material may be undesirable for a number of reasons, and
thus, removal of the
material from the site may be desirable or necessary. For example, the
presence of the material in
sufficient quantities may hinder operations at the site, may present an
undesirable environmental
condition, and/or may present recycling or remediation opportunities.
Traditional approaches to
remove the material from the site and/or to deposit the material may be
unsatisfactory or suffer
from drawbacks for various reasons. For example, the material may include a
variety of material
types (e.g., packing material, chemical fillers, insulation, etc.) or material
forms (e.g., liquids,
solids, emulsions, particulates, etc.), and/or the material may be located or
positioned, such that it
is difficult to efficiently extract the material from the site. In some
instances, it may be desirable
to convey a material to a desired location, for example, in large quantities
and/or in an efficient
manner. For example, it may be desirable to convey a material to an elevated
position relative to
a source of the material. This may be desirable, for example, when supplying
material to the top
or upper portion of a tower, such as a refinery tower. Traditional methods of
extracting and/or
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conveying material may be impracticable, inefficient, unduly time consuming,
and/or labor
intensive.
[0003] Accordingly, Applicant has recognized a desire to provide improved
assemblies,
apparatuses, systems, and methods for extracting material from a source and/or
depositing material
at a desired location, including a variety of different materials from a
variety of different
environments, that may be more practicable, more efficient, less time
consuming, and/or less labor
intensive. The present disclosure may address one or more of the above-
referenced drawbacks, as
well as other possible drawbacks.
Summary
[0004] As referenced above, it may be desirable to provide enhanced
assemblies, apparatuses,
systems, and methods for extracting material from a source of the material
and/or depositing the
material at a desired location, including a variety of different materials
from a variety of different
environments, that may be more practicable, more efficient, less time
consuming, and/or less labor
intensive. For example, the intentional generation or production of some
materials for desired
intermediate or final products may result in the deposit or accumulation of by-
product materials
that need to be removed from the environment in which the desired products are
generated or
produced. In some embodiments, the assemblies, apparatuses, systems, and
methods may provide
enhanced extraction of material to be removed from various environments, such
as, for example,
work sites, industrial sites, commercial sites, residential sites, natural
sites, etc. For example, in
some embodiments, the material may be extracted in a substantially continuous
manner and/or
may be extracted without significant contamination of the ambient environment
with the material
or portions thereof. In some embodiments, the assemblies, apparatuses,
systems, and methods
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may provide enhanced conveyance for the efficient delivery of material to be
loaded and/or
deposited in various environments and/or sites.
[0005] In some embodiments, a method to enhance extraction of pall rings from
a refinery
apparatus may include supplying a pressurized fluid to a plurality of vacuum
generators, and
generating, using the pressurized fluid, a vacuum flow. The method further may
include
associating a manifold with the refinery apparatus. The manifold may provide a
flow path for the
vacuum flow. The method also may include extracting pall rings from the
refinery apparatus via
the vacuum flow through the manifold to a material collector through which the
vacuum flow
passes, depositing at least a portion of the extracted pall rings in the
material collector. The method
further may include passing the vacuum flow into a sound attenuation chamber
to reduce a sound
level generated by one or more of the vacuum flow or generating the vacuum
flow.
[0006] In some embodiments, a material extraction assembly to enhance
extraction of pall rings
from a refinery apparatus may include a vacuum source including a plurality of
vacuum generators.
Each of the plurality of vacuum generators may be positioned to cause a vacuum
flow between the
refinery apparatus and the vacuum source. The material extraction assembly
further may include
a material collector including an interior collector volume positioned for
receipt of at least a portion
of the pall rings. The material extraction assembly further may include a
sound attenuation
chamber connected to the vacuum source. The sound attenuation chamber may
include an
attenuation housing at least partially defining a chamber interior volume
positioned to receive at
least a portion of the vacuum flow from the vacuum source and attenuate sound
generated by the
vacuum source.
[0007] In some embodiments, a method to enhance conveyance of pall rings from
a pall ring
source to a material discharge outlet providing fluid communication to a
refinery apparatus, the
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material discharge outlet being located at an elevated position relative to
the pall ring source, may
include supplying a pressurized fluid to a plurality of vacuum generators, and
generating, using
the pressurized fluid, a vacuum flow. The method further may include
associating a conveyance
manifold with the pall ring source. The conveyance manifold may provide a flow
path for the
vacuum flow between the pall ring source and the material discharge outlet.
The method also may
include conveying pall rings from the pall ring source via the vacuum flow
through the conveyance
manifold to the material discharge outlet, depositing at least a portion of
the pall rings in the
refinery apparatus. The method further may include passing the vacuum flow
into a sound
attenuation chamber to reduce a sound level generated by one or more of the
vacuum flow or
generating the vacuum flow.
[0008] In some embodiments, a method to enhance conveyance of a material from
a material
source to a material discharge outlet at an elevated position relative to the
material source may
include supplying a pressurized fluid to a plurality of vacuum generators, and
generating, using
the pressurized fluid, a vacuum flow. The method further may include
associating a conveyance
manifold with the material source. The conveyance manifold may provide a flow
path for the
vacuum flow between the material source and the material discharge outlet. The
method also may
include conveying the material from the material source via the vacuum flow
through the
conveyance manifold to the material discharge outlet, depositing at least a
portion of the material
from the material discharge outlet. The method further may include passing the
vacuum flow into
a sound attenuation chamber to reduce a sound level generated by one or more
of the vacuum flow
or generating the vacuum flow.
[0009] In some embodiments, a loading assembly to enhance conveyance of pall
rings from a pall
ring source to a material discharge outlet providing fluid communication to a
refinery apparatus,
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the material discharge outlet being located at an elevated position relative
to the pall ring source,
may include a vacuum source including a plurality of vacuum generators. Each
of the plurality of
vacuum generators may be positioned to cause a vacuum flow between the pall
ring source and
the material discharge outlet. The loading assembly further may include a
conveyance manifold
between the pall ring source and the material discharge outlet to load pall
rings into the refinery
apparatus. The flow path of the conveyance manifold may provide the vacuum
flow between the
pall ring source and the vacuum source. A sound attenuation chamber may be
connected to the
vacuum source. The sound attenuation chamber may include an attenuation
housing at least
partially defining a chamber interior volume being positioned to receive at
least a portion of the
vacuum flow from the vacuum source and attenuate sound generated by the vacuum
source.
[0010] In some embodiments, a loading assembly to enhance conveyance of a
material from a
material source to a material discharge outlet located at an elevated position
relative to the material
source may include a vacuum source including a plurality of vacuum generators.
Each of the
plurality of vacuum generators may be positioned to cause a vacuum flow
between the material
source and the material discharge outlet. The loading assembly further may
include a conveyance
manifold providing a flow path between the material source and the material
discharge outlet. The
flow path of the conveyance manifold may provide the vacuum flow between the
material source
and the material discharge outlet. The loading assembly also may include a
sound attenuation
chamber connected to the vacuum source. The sound attenuation chamber may
include an
attenuation housing at least partially defining a chamber interior volume
being positioned to
receive at least a portion of the vacuum flow from the vacuum source and
attenuate sound
generated by the vacuum source.
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0011] Still other aspects and advantages of these exemplary embodiments and
other
embodiments, are discussed in detail herein. Moreover, it is to be understood
that both the
foregoing information and the following detailed description provide merely
illustrative examples
of various aspects and embodiments, and are intended to provide an overview or
framework for
understanding the nature and character of the claimed aspects and embodiments.
Accordingly,
these and other objects, along with advantages and features of the present
disclosure, will become
apparent through reference to the following description and the accompanying
drawings.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that the features of the various
embodiments described herein
are not mutually exclusive and may exist in various combinations and
permutations.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further
understanding of the
embodiments of the present disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a
part of this
specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, and together
with the detailed
description, serve to explain principles of the embodiments discussed herein.
No attempt is made
to show structural details of this disclosure in more detail than may be
necessary for a fundamental
understanding of the embodiments discussed herein and the various ways in
which they may be
practiced. According to common practice, the various features of the drawings
discussed below
are not necessarily drawn to scale. Dimensions of various features and
elements in the drawings
may be expanded or reduced to more clearly illustrate embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an example material extraction
assembly including an
example vacuum generation and sound attenuation assembly, including detailed
end views of an
example vacuum source and an example sound attenuation chamber of the vacuum
generation and
sound attenuation assembly, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
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[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an example material conveyance
assembly including an
example vacuum generation and sound attenuation assembly, including detailed
end views of an
example vacuum source and an example sound attenuation chamber of the vacuum
generation and
sound attenuation assembly, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an example material collector
including an
example vacuum box for a material extraction system, according to embodiments
of the disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic side section view of an example material
collector, according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a schematic end section view of an example material
collector, according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example architecture for operating
point determination for
a material collector of a material extraction assembly, according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 7A is a schematic side view of an example material collector and
an example carrier
for transportation and/or orientation of the material collector, according to
embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 7B is a schematic end view of the example material collector and
example carrier
shown in FIG. 7A, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 8A is schematic side view of an example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0022] FIG. 8B is a schematic top view of the example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly shown in FIG. 8A, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
7
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[0023] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an example vacuum generator, according to
embodiments of
the disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 10A is a schematic perspective view of an example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 10B is a schematic end view of the example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly of FIG. 10A, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 10C is a schematic partial side view of the example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly shown in FIG. 10A, showing a side view of the example
vacuum source end,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0027] FIG. 10D is a schematic partial section view of the example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly shown in FIG. 10A taken along section A-A of FIG. 10C,
showing a top
view of the example vacuum source end, according to embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 10E is a schematic partial section view of the example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly shown in FIG. 10A taken along section B-B of FIG. 10C,
showing a top view
of the example vacuum source end, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 1OF is a schematic end view of the example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly shown in FIG. 10A, showing the example vacuum source end, according
to embodiments
of the disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 10G is a schematic end view of the example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly shown in FIG. 10A, showing an example sound attenuation chamber end,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
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[0031] FIG. 10H is a schematic top view of the example vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly shown in FIG. 10A, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 101 is a schematic first side view of the example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly shown in FIG. 10A, according to embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 10J is a schematic second side view, opposite the first side, of
the example vacuum
generation and sound attenuation assembly shown in FIG. 10A, according to
embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of an example vacuum generation
and sound
attenuation assembly, showing an example sound attenuation chamber end,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0035] FIG. 12 is a schematic top perspective view of an example vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly, with example filter media visible, according to
embodiments of the
disclosure.
[0036] FIG. 13 is a simplified schematic end section view of an example sound
attenuation
chamber, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0037] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example architecture for operating an
example sound
attenuation chamber of an example material extraction assembly or material
loading assembly,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0038] FIG. 15 is a schematic top view of example components of an example
material extraction
assembly, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0039] FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of an example separator housing for
conveyance of
material into an example reaction vessel, according to embodiments of the
disclosure.
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[0040] FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an example supervisory controllers for
coordinating
substantially continuous material conveyance by an example material conveyance
assembly,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0041] FIG. 18A is a block diagram of an example method for extracting
material from a source
of the material, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0042] FIG. 18B is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIG. 18A,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0043] FIG. 18C is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 18A and
18B, according
to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0044] FIG. 18D is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 18A,
18B, and 18C,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0045] FIG. 19A is a block diagram of an example method for extracting pall
rings from a source
of the pall rings, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0046] FIG. 19B is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIG. 19A,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0047] FIG. 19C is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 19A and
19B, according
to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0048] FIG. 19D is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 19A,
19B, and 19C,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0049] FIG. 20A is a block diagram of an example method for conveying material
from a source
of the material, according to embodiments of the disclosure.
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0050] FIG. 20B is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIG. 20A,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0051] FIG. 20C is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 20A and
20B, according
to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0052] FIG. 20D is a continuation of the block diagram shown in FIGS. 20A,
20B, and 20C,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
[0053] FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of an example material extraction
controller configured to
at least partially control a material extraction assembly or material
conveyance assembly,
according to embodiments of the disclosure.
Detailed Description
[0054] The drawings include like numerals to indicate like parts throughout
the several views, the
following description is provided as an enabling teaching of exemplary
embodiments, and those
skilled in the relevant art will recognize that many changes may be made to
the embodiments
described. It also will be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the
embodiments described
may be obtained by selecting some of the features of the embodiments without
utilizing other
features. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that many
modifications and
adaptations to the embodiments described are possible and may even be
desirable in certain
circumstances. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of
the principles of the
embodiments and not in limitation thereof.
[0055] The phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of
description and should
not be regarded as limiting. As used herein, the term "plurality" refers to
two or more items or
components. The terms "comprising," "including," "carrying," "having,"
"containing," and
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
"involving," whether in the written description or the claims and the like,
are open-ended terms,
in particular, to mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise
stated. Thus, the use of such
terms is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter, and equivalents
thereof, as well as
additional items. The transitional phrases "consisting of' and "consisting
essentially of," are
closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, with respect to any
claims. Use of ordinal
terms such as "first," "second," "third," and the like in the claims to modify
a claim element does
not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element
over another or the
temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as
labels to distinguish
one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same
name (but for use
of the ordinal term) to distinguish claim elements.
[0056] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an example material extraction
assembly 10 including
an example vacuum generation and sound attenuation assembly 12, according to
embodiments of
the disclosure. The example material extraction assembly 10 may be configured
to extract material
from a source of the material. For example, the material extraction assembly
10, in at least some
embodiments, may be used for extraction of a variety of different materials
from a variety of
different environments. For example, the intentional generation or production
of some materials
for desired intermediate or final products may result in the deposit or
accumulation of by-products
or other materials used to facilitate the production of the desired products
that need to be removed
from the environment. In some embodiments, the assemblies, apparatuses,
systems, and methods
may provide efficient extraction of the material to be removed from various
environments, such
as, for example, work sites, industrial sites, commercial sites, residential
sites, natural sites, etc.
The industrial site may include, for example, chemical reaction towers (or
other types of reaction
12
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vessels) in which chemical reactions are performed to obtain desirable
products. Waste material
may be generated as a byproduct from the chemical reactions.
[0057] For example, some types of chemical reactions may utilize a catalyst
material to mediate
the chemical reactions, for example, by causing the reaction to occur and/or
increasing/decreasing
a rate at which the reaction occurs, etc. In a chemical reaction tower (see,
e.g., FIG. 1), the catalyst
material may be loaded into the chemical tower at various tower levels. Other
materials, such as,
for example, gasses, liquids, etc., may thereafter be introduced into the
tower. The presence of the
catalyst material may cause, mediate, or otherwise facilitate a desired
chemical reaction to generate
a desired product. The chemical reaction may cause the reactivity, morphology,
or other properties
of the catalyst material to change, thereby reducing the ability of the
catalyst to perform its
function. For example, the catalyst may be used up or otherwise render its
presence in the chemical
tower undesirable.
[0058] In another example, some types of chemical reactions may utilize
devices and/or materials
to facilitate the chemical reactions. For example, a packing material may
increase the surface area
and number of edge surfaces over which the reaction occurs to improve reaction
efficiency and/or
to increase/decrease a rate at which the reaction occurs, etc. In a chemical
reaction tower (see,
e.g., FIG. 1), the facilitating material may be, for example, pall rings that
may be loaded into the
chemical tower at various tower levels and distributed as packing. The pall
rings may include
and/or be formed from one or more of metal, ceramic, or polymeric materials.
The pall rings may
have one or more of any known pall ring sizes, configurations, and/or
geometries.
[0059] The chemical reaction may also interact with the materials out of which
the chemical
reaction tower is formed. For example, some chemical reaction towers may be
formed from
concrete and steel. Chemical reaction towers may be formed from any number and
types of
13
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materials. The catalyst or the other materials in the chemical reaction tower
may react or otherwise
interact with these materials of the chemical reaction tower, forming
additional undesired products,
which may be referred to as "tower products."
[0060] The undesired reaction products and/or the tower products, which may be
referred to as
"waste material," may move within the chemical reaction tower. For example,
some of this
material may partially or completely cover the catalyst or other important
features of the chemical
reaction tower, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the catalyst, for
example, even in cases where
the catalyst is not depleted but remains active.
[0061] In some examples, the undesired reaction products and/or the tower
products, the "waste
material," may partially or completely cover the packing material (e.g., the
pall rings) or other
important features of the chemical reaction tower, thereby reducing the
effectiveness of the
packing material. This accumulation may inhibit the reactions of the chemical
reaction tower, for
example, even in instances where the packing material itself is not depleted
or damaged.
[0062] The presence of the depleted catalyst material, catalyst or packing
material covered in
waste material, and/or the waste material itself, may impair future
functioning of the chemical
reaction tower. For example, the presence of this material in the chemical
reaction tower may
reduce the conversion efficiency (e.g., the quantity of desirable products
produced versus the
quantity of input products) of the chemical reactions, increase a reaction
time, may render the
chemical reactions more difficult to control (or prevent them from occurring),
and/or may
otherwise reduce the ability of the chemical reaction tower to perform its
intended function.
[0063] Some embodiments disclosed herein may relate to assemblies,
apparatuses, systems, and
methods for extracting material from a source of the materials, such as, for
example, removing
undesired material from environments, such as, for example, industrial
environments. In some
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
embodiments, the extracted material may include one or more of pall rings,
beads, balls, pellets,
sand, or bricks. Embodiments may also relate to assemblies, apparatuses,
systems, and methods
for conveying and depositing new and/or recycled material from a source of the
material. In some
embodiments, the conveyed or deposited material may include one or more of
pall rings, beads,
balls, pellets, sand, or bricks. For example, some embodiments disclosed
herein may facilitate
extraction of undesired materials or deposition of new and/or recycled
material from or to an
industrial environment using, for example, a high-pressure vacuum flow.
Removing undesired
material from an industrial environment using a high-pressure vacuum flow may
provide for time-
efficient removal of the undesired materials and/or may reduce or prevent
contamination of the
ambient environment with the undesired material or portions thereof.
Similarly, depositing new
and/or recycled materials, such as packing material, using a high-pressure
vacuum flow may
provide for time-efficient replacement of said materials in the industrial
environment.
[0064] Industrial environments, chemical reaction towers, and the associated
material discussed
herein are merely examples, and other types of environments and/or other types
of materials are
contemplated.
[0065] FIG. 1 schematically depicts an example material source that is an
example reaction vessel
14. Reaction vessels 14 may generate desirable products by reacting multiple
materials with each
other. Once a desirable product is generated, the reaction vessel 14 may be
contaminated with the
presence of material, which may include undesired material 16 (e.g., waste
material, used pall
rings, etc.). Applicant has recognized that the undesired material 16 may be
distributed throughout
the reaction vessel 14, that reaction vessel 14 may be tall, and/or that the
reaction vessel 14 may
provide limited access to the location or locations of the undesired material
16. For example, as
shown in FIG. 1, the reaction vessel 14 may include a plurality of zones 18,
which may include
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
the presence of the undesired material 16. The plurality of zones 18 may be
located in different
regions of the reaction vessel 14, may be separated by different floors,
levels, or support members
22, such as, for example, platforms, beams, etc., of the reaction vessel 14.
This may render it
difficult to access the undesired material 16 for removal from the reaction
vessel 14. In some
instances, different zones of reaction vessel 14 may only be accessible using
a ladder, scaffolding,
or other types of elevated support structures that may render access to the
zones challenging.
[0066] As schematically depicted in FIG. 1, the material extraction assembly
10 and related
methods, according to at least some embodiments, may facilitate extraction of
material such as the
undesired material 16 from the source of the material, such as the reaction
vessel 14, using one or
more high-pressure vacuum flows. The use of high-pressure vacuum flows may
facilitate
extraction of the undesired material 16 (and/or other material), for example,
in situations in which
there is limited physical access to the plurality of zones 18 and 20, where
the undesired material
16 may be present. The use of high-pressure vacuum flows may facilitate
parallel removal of the
undesired material 16 from multiple locations within the source of the
material, such as the reaction
vessel 14.
[0067] For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the reaction vessel 14 may include a
plurality of reaction
vessel ports 24, which may provide only limited access to the plurality of
zones 18 from exterior
the reaction vessel 14. For example, the reaction vessel ports 24 may be
relatively small, such that
it may be difficult or impossible for a person to enter the interior of the
reaction vessel 14 through
the reaction vessel ports 24, or such that it may be difficult or impossible
to pass conventional
tools, such as shovels or material transportation carts, through the reaction
vessel ports 24.
[0068] In some embodiments, the material extraction assembly 10 may be
configured to efficiently
extract the undesired material 16 through the reaction vessel ports 24, for
example, by generating
16
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
a high-pressure vacuum flow and associating the high-pressure vacuum flow to
external portions
of respective reaction vessel ports 24. In some embodiments, the high-pressure
vacuum flow may
generate suction directed out of the interior of reaction vessel 14 through
the respective reaction
vessel ports 24. The suction may generate a vacuum induced vacuum flow 26 with
at least a
portion of the undesired material 16 entrained in the vacuum induced vacuum
flow 26.
[0069] Depending on, for example, the distribution of the undesired material
16, various fixtures
may be attached to the reaction vessel ports 24 to control application of
suction to the undesired
material 16. In some embodiments, conduits, such as hoses or other fluid flow
directing carriers
may be pneumatically connected to one or more of the reaction vessel ports 24,
for example, inside
of the reaction vessel 14. The conduits may be positioned such that the vacuum
flow 26 entrains
desired quantities of the undesired material 16 in the vacuum flow 26.
Exterior portions of the
reaction vessel ports 24 may be connected to other components of the material
extraction assembly
10, for example, to apply the high-pressure vacuum and/or process undesired
material 16 entrained
in the vacuum flow 26.
[0070] In some instances, at least a portion of zones 18 of the reaction
vessel 14 may not be
reasonably accessible via one or more of the reaction vessel ports 24, and
some undesired material
16 may be present in such zones. In some embodiments, one or more of the zones
18 of the
reaction vessel 14 may include substantially sealed zones. Such sealed zones
may not be readily
accessible via one or more of the reaction vessel ports 24 or other structures
through which fluid
flow paths may be established from the interior of the reaction vessel 14 to
outside the reaction
vessel 14. In some embodiments, to remove undesired material 16 from a sealed
zone, a temporary
access port may be formed in the reaction vessel 14. The temporary access port
may be drilled or
cut through the shell of the reaction vessel 14 to facilitate access to the
sealed zone from outside
17
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the reaction vessel 14. The temporary access port may facilitate access to the
sealed zone 28 from
outside of reaction vessel 14.
[0071] Applicant has recognized that the undesired material may present a
contamination threat
to areas near reaction vessels. The undesired material 16 may include
significant quantities of
small particles that may be difficult to control. In some embodiments, the
material extraction
assembly 10 may facilitate extraction of undesired material with an at least
partially sealed system.
For example, the at least partially sealed system may be configured to
transfer the undesired
material from the reaction vessel 14 using a substantially sealed fluid flow
path having a limited
number of potential exit points. In some embodiments, the flow path may be
filtered prior to
exiting the flow path to limit or prevent discharge of particulate forms of
the undesired material
from at least some embodiments of the material extraction assembly 10.
[0072] Applicant has recognized that the undesired material 16 may be
heterogeneous in nature
and/or may include material that ranges in size from particulates to one or
more inches in size.
The undesired material 16 may also be in various states of matter. For
example, some portions of
the undesired material 16 may be solid, and other portions may be liquid or
semi-liquid.
Conventional approaches to material removal may be unable to effectively
process heterogeneous
undesired materials. In some embodiments, the material extraction assembly 10
may facilitate
extraction of heterogeneous undesired material, for example, using the high-
pressure vacuum flow
26. In some embodiments, the high-pressure vacuum flow 26 may be capable of
moving a broad
range of materials in various states of matter. The use of a high-pressure
vacuum flow 26 for
material extraction may facilitate substantial containment of removed
undesired material 16,
thereby limiting or preventing release into or contamination of the ambient
environment with
portion of the extracted undesired material 16.
18
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0073] The example material extraction assembly 10 shown in FIG. 1 may be used
to extract
undesired material 16 from various environments. While described with respect
to an industrial
environment, at least some embodiments may be used to remove undesired
material 16 from other
environments, including, for example, commercial, residential, and natural
environments.
[0074] As shown in FIG. 1, the example material extraction system 10 may use a
high-pressure
vacuum flow 12 to extract materials from an industrial environment. For
example, the high-
pressure vacuum flow 26 may move the undesired material 16 along a flow path
to separate it from
the industrial environment. Once separated from the industrial environment, in
some
embodiments, the undesired material 16 may be transported to a site remote
from the industrial
environment, for example, for disposal, recycling, and/or remediation. In some
embodiments, for
example, as shown in FIG. 1, the material extraction assembly 10 may include a
material collector
36, a vacuum source 38, a sound attenuating chamber 40 connected to the vacuum
source 38, and
a fluid source 42 configured to provide pressurized fluid to the vacuum source
38. In some
embodiments, one or more of the material collector 36, the vacuum source 38,
the sound
attenuation chamber 40, or the fluid source 42 may be configured to be easily
transported between
geographical locations for use at different environments, for example, by
being supported on one
or more trailers including wheels, tracks, skids, or other devices for
facilitating movement between
geographical locations.
[0075] In some embodiments, one or more of the material collector 36, the
vacuum source 38, or
the sound attenuation chamber 40 may be arranged to form a flow path beginning
at the source of
the material (e.g., at the reaction vessel 14) and terminating at the sound
attenuation chamber 40.
The flow path may be used to extract undesired material 16 from the reaction
vessel 14 and, in
some embodiments, limit contamination of the ambient environment. For example,
the vacuum
19
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
source 38 may generate a vacuum in the flow path, thereby generating a fluid
flow along the flow
path. The fluid flow may be used to apply suction proximate the undesired
material 16 in the
reaction vessel 14 to draw the undesired material 16 into the flow path. The
fluid flow in the flow
path may cause the undesired material 16 to flow out of reaction vessel 14 and
into material
collector 36, thereby separating at least a portion of the undesired material
16 from the
environment. In some embodiments, a major portion of the undesired material 16
may be
deposited in the material collector 36. In some embodiments, a minor portion
of the undesired
material 16 may flow from the material collector 36, through the vacuum source
38, and into the
sound attenuation chamber 40. In some embodiments, the sound attenuation
chamber 40 may be
configured to remove (or reduce) the minor portion of the undesired material
16 in the fluid flow
prior to the fluid flow being exhausted into the ambient environment.
[0076] In some embodiments, to form the flow path, the material collector 36
may be
pneumatically connected to the source of the undesired material (e.g., the
reaction vessel 14). In
some embodiments, the pneumatic connection between reaction vessel 14 may be
formed using a
manifold 44. The manifold 44 may be connected to multiple reaction vessel
ports 24 of the reaction
vessel 14, thereby pneumatically connecting the material collector 36 to
multiple locations of the
reaction vessel 14. For example, the interior of the material collector 36 may
be pneumatically
connected to the reaction vessel 14. Pneumatically connecting the material
collector 36 to multiple
locations of reaction vessel 14 may facilitate extraction of undesired
material 16 from each of the
locations, for example, concurrently, simultaneously, sequentially, in
parallel, etc.
[0077] Some reaction vessels 14 may be tall. Due to the height of some
reaction vessels 14 and
the distribution of the zones along the height, it may be challenging to
access one or more of the
zones of the reaction vessel 14. In some embodiments, the manifold 44 may
include relatively
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
rigid piping (e.g., poly pipe or polyethylene pipe). The piping may render the
manifold 44 at least
partially self-supporting, which may facilitate pneumatic connection of the
manifold 44 to multiple
zones of the reaction vessel 14. The manifold 44, in some embodiments, may
pneumatically
connect the material collector 36 to any number of locations on the reaction
vessel 14, for example,
such as those that are difficult to reach or access. The piping may be of low
weight and/or easily
attachable to a wide variety of structures, which may reduce the need for
significant in-person
access to difficult-to-reach locations on/in the reaction vessel 14 to extract
undesired material 16.
[0078] In some embodiments, the manifold 44 may be pneumatically connected to
the material
collector 36, for example, via a conduit 46, such as a hose. In some
embodiments, the conduit 46
may be flexible to allow for pneumatic connection of the manifold 44 and the
material collector
36 in various orientations and positions with respect to one another. The
conduit 46 may be sized
so as not to limit the flow of fluid along the flow path.
[0079] In some instances, the undesired material 16 in the reaction vessel 14
may present a
clogging potential. For example, the undesired material 16 may include
relatively large
components that may tend to wedge or catch on structures through which the
undesired material
16 is drawn. In some embodiments, the conduit 46 may be, at least in part,
transparent, translucent,
and/or capable of providing an indication of the contents passing through the
conduit 46, which
may be usable to detect and/or diagnose whether the conduit 46 is clogging. As
noted herein, the
undesired material 16 may be heterogeneous and may include relatively large
components that
may tend to clog narrow passages (e.g., constrictions in the conduit 46). To
reduce the risk of
clogging, in some embodiments, the conduit 46 may include, at least in part, a
smooth inner
surface, such as may be present in poly pipe. A smooth inner surface may
reduce the risk of, or
prevent, clogging of the conduit 46.
21
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0080] Although the example suction manifold 44 is shown in FIG. 1 as only
being pneumatically
connected to one material collector 36, in some embodiments, the suction
manifold 44 may be
connected to multiple material collectors, and/or multiple suction manifolds
may be connected to
one or more material collectors. In some embodiments, the multiple material
collectors may be
connected in parallel to, for example, scale-up the extraction capacity of the
material extraction
assembly 10, for example, by increasing the pressure of the high-pressure
vacuum flow, etc., for
example, as shown in FIG. 15.
[0081] In some embodiments, the undesired material 16 may flow into the
material collector 36
after flowing through the manifold 44. A major portion of the undesired
material 16 may be
collected in the material collector 36. In some embodiments, however, some
(e.g., a minor portion)
of the undesired material 16 may flow out of the material collector 36 in the
flow path of the
high-pressure vacuum flow 26. In some embodiments, the material collector 36
may remove a
major portion of the undesired material 16 from the fluid flow it receives
along the flow path of
the vacuum flow 26. In some embodiments, the material collector 36 may receive
all, or a portion,
of the fluid flow out of the reaction vessel 14, and the material collector 36
may include one or
more structures configured to trap a major portion of the undesired material
16 in the fluid flow
received inside the material collector 36. Once trapped, the major portion of
the undesired material
16 may be retained in the material collector 36, for example, for disposal,
recycling, and/or
remediation.
[0082] Applicant has recognized that it may be desirable to rapidly convey
materials in large
quantities and/or in an efficient manner to desired locations, for example,
that may present unique
challenges. For example, it may be difficult to rapidly convey large
quantities of materials to an
elevated position relative to a source or supply of the material. Although
liquid materials may be
22
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
pumped to elevated positions using conventional pumps, other types of
materials, such as
semi-solid materials, sludge, particulates, sand, gravel, and discrete solid
materials of regular or
irregular sizes and shapes may be difficult efficiently to convey to elevated
locations.
[0083] For example, environments similar to the example environment
illustrated in FIG. 1 may
present a desire to convey a material to an elevated position relative to a
source or supply of the
material. For example, it may be desirable to replace the undesired material
16 that was extracted
from the reaction vessel 14, for example, as described with respect to FIG. 1,
with a material, such
as regenerated or new material. For example, it may be desirable to re-supply
the reaction vessel
14 with material 16, which may be, for example, fresh or regenerated catalyst,
packing materials
such as pall rings, and/or other materials after the undesired material 16 has
been removed.
Assemblies, apparatuses, systems, and methods similar to the embodiments
illustrated in FIG. 2
may provide for rapid deployment of desired materials in environments, for
example, such as the
example environment shown in FIG. 1.
[0084] FIG. 2 schematically depicts embodiments where the example reaction
vessel 14 is the
desired location for depositing a material 16, for example, new, regenerated,
and/or recycled
material. In some embodiments, a material conveyance 11 assembly may be
configured to rapidly
and/or efficiently convey the material 16 to an elevated material discharge
outlet 43 or port and
into the interior of the reaction vessel 14, for example, by generating a high-
pressure vacuum flow
and associating the high-pressure vacuum flow to external portions of the
reaction vessel 14. In
some embodiments, the high-pressure vacuum flow may generate suction directed
through a
conveyance manifold 41 and a suction manifold 44 external to the reaction
vessel 14. The suction
may generate a vacuum-induced vacuum flow 26 (as schematically represented by
the arrows in
FIG. 2), such that new and/or recycled material 16 may be drawn from a
material source 39 through
23
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
the conveyance manifold 41 and directed to, for example, a material discharge
outlet 43. The
vacuum flow may be induced through a vacuum source 38 (e.g., one or more
mobile fluid
supplies). The conveyance manifold 41 may provide a path through which the
vacuum flow 26
passes to transport the material 16 to the elevated position above the
reaction vessel 14.
[0085] In some embodiment, the material conveyance assembly 11 shown in FIG. 2
may include
one or more parts and/or assemblies in common with a material extraction
assembly, such as, for
example, the material extraction assembly 10 shown in FIG. 1. In some such
embodiments, at
least some portions of the material extraction assembly 10 and the material
conveyance assembly
11 may be at least substantially interchangeable, facilitating rapid
conversion between the material
extraction assembly 10 and the material conveyance assembly 11. This may
provide flexibility of
use of the material extraction assembly 10 and the material conveyance
assembly 11, which may
result in efficiencies of use and/or adaptability of use.
[0086] The example reaction vessel 14 may be a refinery apparatus including a
tower separated
internally into various zones 18. The material source 39 may be, for example,
a desired source of
new, cleaned, regenerated, and/or recycled material, such as pall rings, and
the pall rings may
include and/or be formed from one or more of metal, ceramic, or polymeric
materials. The pall
rings may have one or more of any known pall ring sizes, configurations,
and/or geometries. In
some examples, the desired material 16 from the material source 39 may be new
and/or regenerated
catalyst or similar materials.
[0087] To provide for the rapid conveyance and/or deployment of desired
material 16, in some
embodiments, the material conveyance assembly 11 may include a separator
housing 45. The
separator housing 45 may be a device configured to rapidly convey and deploy
desired materials
16 into an interior of the reaction vessel 14. For example, the separator
housing 45 may be
24
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
positioned at an elevated location relative to the material source 39, for
example, toward an upper
portion of the reaction vessel 14, and may receive the desired material 16.
The separator housing
45, upon receipt of the desired material 16, may separate the desired material
16 from the high
pressure vacuum flow 26, in which the desired material 16 is entrained and
conveyed from the
material source 39, and in which is used to carry the desired material 16
through the conveyance
manifold 41 to the separator housing 45. The high pressure vacuum flow 26 may
be directed to
the separator housing 45 with the conveyance manifold 41.
[0088] In some embodiments, desired material 16 received in the separator
housing 45 may be
pumped, gravity fed, and/or otherwise directed through the material discharge
outlet 43 into the
interior of the reaction vessel 14. In some embodiments, the material
discharge outlet 43 may be
pneumatically connected to the reaction vessel 14 and located at an elevated
position relative to
the material source 39. The pneumatic connection between the material
discharge outlet 43 and
the reaction vessel 14 may be, for example, a conveyance chute 49. The
conveyance chute 49 may
extend at least partially into the interior of the reaction vessel 14 to
facilitate the delivery of the
conveyed material 16. In some embodiments, the conveyance chute 49 may include
one or more
flexible tubular members or other similar devices. The material discharge
outlet 43 may be
connected to the conveyance manifold 41 and the suction manifold 44 via the
separator housing
45. The separator housing 45 may be, for example, situated above the material
discharge outlet
43 and the reaction vessel 14, and may be provided with a diverter 47 or other
structure capable of
allowing the vacuum flow 26 to pass therethrough while directing conveyance of
the desired
material 16 toward the material discharge outlet 43 for deposit and/or
distribution within the
reaction vessel 14. The diverter 47 may include, for example, a porous element
(e.g., a screen
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
and/or filter media), a valve, and/or any device or devices capable of
separating at least a majority
of the desired material 16 from the vacuum flow 26 in the separator housing
45.
[0089] Although the example conveyance manifold 41 and suction manifold 44 are
shown in FIG.
2 as only being pneumatically connected to a single material discharge port 43
for conveying or
delivering the desired material 16 to the reaction vessel 14, in some
embodiments, one or more
manifolds may be connected to multiple discharge ports. In some embodiments,
the multiple
discharge ports may be connected in parallel to, for example, scale-up the
conveyance capacity of
the material conveyance assembly 11, for example, to more rapidly and/or more
evenly distribute
the desired material 16 within the reaction vessel 14. For example, multiple
discharge ports may
be arranged to more evenly disburse the desired material 16 within one or more
zones 18 of the
reaction vessel 14.
[0090] Although gravity, pumping, and/or other methods may be employed to
clear the separator
housing 45 and material discharge port 43 of blockages of the desired material
16 conveyed by the
material conveyance assembly 11 to the reaction vessel 14, there may be a
desire to dislodge any
material 16 collected in and around the material discharge port 43. In some
embodiments, desired
material 16 (e.g., new and/or recycled pall rings, catalyst, etc.) that has
accumulated in and around
the discharge port 43 and which has not been deposited into the interior of
the reaction vessel 14
may be dislodged by, for example, vibrating one or more of the components. For
example, a
vibration assembly 51 may be attached to the separator housing 47 and/or
conveyance chute 49
adjacent to the passage near the top of the reaction vessel 14. The vibration
assembly 51 may be
used to induce dynamic vibration in one or more of the surrounding separator
housing 47, the
conveyance chute 49, or the suction manifold 44, for example, to dislodge
accumulated material
and deposit the accumulated material into the interior of the reaction vessel
14.
26
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0091] In some embodiments, the suction manifold 44 may be pneumatically
connected to the
vacuum source 38, for example, via a conduit 46, such as a hose. In some
embodiments, the
conduit 46 may be flexible to allow for pneumatic connection of the suction
manifold 44 and the
vacuum source 38 in various orientations and positions with respect to one
another. The conduit
46 may be sized so as not to limit the flow of fluid along the flow path.
[0092] FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 are schematic views of example material
collectors 36, including
an example vacuum box 48, according to embodiments of the disclosure when used
for collecting
waste or undesired material 16. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective end view of
an example material
collector 36 including an example vacuum box 48. In some embodiments, the
vacuum box 48
may define a structure through which the vacuum flow 26, including entrained
undesired material
16, may traverse along the flow path of the vacuum flow 26. In some
embodiments, the vacuum
box 48 may include a housing 50, and the housing 50 may include one or more
walls at least
partially defining an interior 52 of the housing 50 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). In
some embodiments, the
interior 52 may be substantially sealed from the ambient environment by the
housing 50, for
example, so that a vacuum may be applied to the interior 52, and a flow path
through the interior
52 may be established via the vacuum flow 26.
[0093] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 5, a plurality of
ports may be
provided in/on the housing 50 to facilitate the flow of fluid into and out of
the interior 52 of the
housing 50. For example, each of the ports may (i) facilitate access to the
interior 52, (ii) facilitate
connection of conduits or other structures to provide fluid flow through the
interior 52 along a flow
path with other components of the material extraction assembly 10, and/or
(iii) to facilitate removal
of portions of undesired material 16 from the interior 52.
27
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0094] For example, the ports may include an inlet port 54, a vacuum port 56,
and a discharge port
58. The inlet port 54 may be positioned on the housing 50 and configured to
allow access to the
interior 52 from outside the housing 50. The inlet port 54 may include an
aperture through a wall
of the housing 50 that facilitates pneumatic connection of the interior 52 to
other components of
the material extraction assembly 10. In some embodiments, the inlet port 54
may be pneumatically
connected to the suction manifold 44 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the reaction vessel
ports 24 (FIGS. 1 and
2), and/or to one or more access devices 32 (FIG. 2B), for example, to
pneumatically connect the
interior 52 to one or more of the zones 18 and 20 of the reaction vessel 14.
When connected to
these reaction vessel ports 24, fluid flow including undesired material 16
from the reaction vessel
14 may flow into the interior 52 through the inlet port 54.
[0095] As shown in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the inlet port 54 may be
connected to one or
more conduits 60 and/or other fluid flow components to form a flow path to
various locations
outside the housing 50. In some embodiments, the inlet port 54 may be
connected to the one or
more conduits 60 to connect a location where the inlet port 54 passes through
housing 50 to a
location that is more easily accessible for a person to secure pneumatic
connections between the
inlet port 54 and other components of the material extraction assembly 10. For
example, with
reference to FIG. 3, the inlet port 54 may extend through a wall of the
housing 50 toward the top
of the housing 50 and may include conduits 60 to enable the inlet port 54 to
be accessible to a
person located at a lower portion 62 of the material collector 36.
[0096] Applicant has recognized that for applications when undesired material
16 is being
extracted from the reaction vessel 14, the vacuum box 48 may be able to store
only a limited
quantity of material and that the amount of the limited quantity may depend,
for example, on how
the material is distributed in the interior 52 of the housing 50. For example,
if material is deposited
28
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
in the interior 52 near locations where fluid flow may exit the interior 52,
significant quantities of
the material in the interior 52 may be drawn out of the interior 52 rather
than being retained in the
vacuum box 48. The reaction vessel 14 (or other sources of material to be
extracted) may include
a greater volume of material than the vacuum box 48 is able to hold.
[0097] In some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may be configured to facilitate
distribution of
material within (e.g., throughout) the interior 52 of the vacuum box 48.
Distributing the material
in the interior 52 may increase the amount of material that may be retained in
the interior 52
without increasing the rate at which the material exits vacuum box 48 due to
fluid flow through
the interior 52 of the vacuum box 48. This may result in the vacuum box 48
having an increased
effective material capacity (e.g., the maximum material capacity at which the
quantity of material
exiting a structure passes a threshold level) as compared to other structures
that do not distribute
material throughout their respective interiors. The increased effective
material capacity of some
embodiments of the vacuum box 48 may reduce the rate at which the vacuum box
48 may need to
be replaced as a result of being full due to the use of high-pressure vacuum
flow 26 for material
extraction. In some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may facilitate time-
efficient replacement in
a material extraction assembly, so as to enable the material extraction system
to substantially
continuously remove undesired material 16 using multiple vacuum boxes 48.
[0098] As shown in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may include
a conduit 64
configured to distribute the undesired material 16 within the interior 52 of
the vacuum box 48. For
example, the conduit 64 may be positioned in the interior 52 and connected to
a portion of the inlet
port 54 that passes through a wall of the housing 50, so as to position the
fluid flow inside the
interior 52 of the housing 50. In some embodiments, the conduit 64 may include
multiple conduit
ports 66 to facilitate distribution of the undesired material 16 within the
interior 52 of the housing
29
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
50, for example, by directing the fluid flow from the reaction vessel 14
traveling along the flow
path to multiple locations within the interior 52 of the housing 50. The
multiple locations may be
distributed along the length and/or width of the vacuum box 48, for example,
so that the undesired
material 16 entrained in vacuum flow 26 is distributed throughout the interior
52 (e.g., rather than
being generally deposited at a single location). The conduit ports 66 may be
positioned to direct
the undesired material 16 in the vacuum flow 26 toward the floor 68 of the
housing 50, which may,
in some embodiments, be shaped (e.g., V-shaped) to cause the undesired
material 16 to flow
toward the center of the floor 68, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. In some
embodiments, the
positioning of the conduit ports 66 may cause a major portion of the undesired
material 16 to fall
via gravity to the floor 68. For example, by being directed toward floor 68,
the undesired material
16 entrained in the vacuum flow 26 may fall below the vacuum port 56,
rendering the undesired
material 16 less likely to exit the interior 52 of the housing 50 due to the
force of gravity.
[0099] In some embodiments, the vacuum port 56 may be positioned on the
housing 50 to facilitate
access to the interior 52 from outside the housing 50, for example, to
facilitate the high-pressure
vacuum flow 26 to be applied to the interior 52 of the housing 50. The vacuum
port 56 may include
an aperture passing through a wall of the housing 50 and may allow for the
interior 52 to be
pneumatically connected to other components of the material extraction
assembly 10. In some
embodiments, the vacuum port 56 may be pneumatically connected to the vacuum
source 38 to
enable the vacuum source 38 to apply a vacuum to the interior 52 of the
housing 50. The one or
more conduits 70 and/or other fluid flow components may form a flow path from
the interior 52
to various locations outside the housing 50. In some embodiments, the one or
more conduits 70
may be connected at a location where the vacuum port 56 passes through a wall
of the housing 50
to a location more easily accessible to a person to make pneumatic connections
between the
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
vacuum port 56 and other components of the material extraction assembly 10.
For example, as
shown in FIG. 3, the vacuum port 56 may extend through a wall of the housing
50 toward the top
of the housing 50 and may include conduits 70 to enable the vacuum port 56 to
be accessible to a
person toward the lower portion 62 of the material collector 36.
[0100] In some embodiments, the interior 52 may be placed along the flow path
through which
the undesired material 16 flows. In some embodiments, the inlet port 54 and
the vacuum port 56
may be positioned with respect to the interior 52 of the housing 50 to
establish a flow path into
and out of the interior 52 of the housing 50. The flow path may cause fluid
flow directed into the
inlet port 54 to flow through the interior 52 and out the vacuum port 56. The
flow path through
the interior 52 may be placed along the flow path through the material
extraction assembly 10.
The flow path may be used in combination with other flow paths, for example,
flow paths parallel
to one another, to enhance the rate at which undesired material may be
removed, to enhance the
strength of the applied high-pressure vacuum flow 26 to facilitate removal of
materials presenting
a challenge to extraction (e.g., materials having a higher viscosity,
materials including significant
solid content, etc.), or for other purposes, for example, as shown in FIG. 15.
[0101] In some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may be configured to move the
undesired
material 16 in the interior 52 to reduce the likelihood of it flowing out the
vacuum port 56, which
may improve the capacity of the vacuum box 48. For example, the vacuum box 48
may include a
material mover 72 configured to move the undesired material 16 within the
interior 52, for
example, as shown in FIG. 4. Moving the undesired material 16 in the interior
52 may further
distribute the undesired material 16 in the interior 52, thereby further
increasing the effective
undesired material capacity of the vacuum box 48. In some embodiments, the
material mover 72
may apply force to various portions of the undesired material 16 in the
interior 52 to change the
31
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
locations of the portions within the interior 52. As shown in FIG. 4, in some
embodiments, the
material mover 72 may include an auger 74 and a drive unit 76 connected to the
auger 74 and
configured to drive (e.g., rotate) the auger 74.
[0102] In some embodiments, the auger 74 may be positioned in the interior 52
to distribute the
undesired material 16 within the interior 52. The auger 74 may include a
drill, one or more helical
flights, and/or other structures for applying force to the undesired material
16 in the interior 52 of
the housing 50. For example, when the auger 74 rotates, a drill or helical
flights of the auger 74
may apply force to the undesired material 16 to move it within the interior
52. The movement
caused by auger 74 may more evenly distribute the undesired material 16 within
the interior 52,
for example, to reduce the likelihood of the undesired material 16 flowing out
the exhaust port 56.
The drive unit 76 may include a motor or other type of actuator usable to
rotate the auger 74 by
application of a rotational force. In some embodiments, the drive unit 76 may
include a hydraulic
motor driven using electric power. The quantity of electric power required to
rotate auger 74 by
the drive unit 76 may be directly related to the quantity of undesired
material 16 in the interior 52.
For example, as the quantity of undesired material 16 in the interior 52
increases, it may require
progressively larger amounts of electric power for the drive unit 76 to rotate
the auger 74. As a
result, the quantity of electrical power used by the drive unit 76 may be used
to determine the load
on the auger 74 and/or the quantity of the undesired material 16 in the
interior 52 of the housing 50.
[0103] To manage the operation of auger 74, in some embodiments, the drive
unit 76 may be
operably connected to a drive controller 78, which may be coupled to system
level controllers.
The drive controller 78 may direct, instruct, or otherwise orchestrate
operation of the drive unit
76. The drive controller 78 may include computing hardware (e.g., processors,
memory, storage
devices, communication devices, other types of hardware devices including
circuitry, etc.) and/or
32
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
computing instructions (e.g., computer code) that when executed by the
computing hardware cause
the drive controller 78 to provide its functionality.
[0104] In some embodiments, the drive controller 78 may utilize its computing
hardware to set an
operating point 77 for the drive unit 76. For example, FIG. 6 is a block
diagram of an example
architecture for operating point 77 determination for a material collector 36
of a material extraction
assembly 10, according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, to set
the operating point
77 of for the drive unit 76, the drive controller 78 may receive information
from the drive unit 76
relating to the load placed on the drive unit 76 to drive, for example, the
auger 74. For example,
drive controller 78 may be configured to monitor the quantity of electric
power used by the drive
unit 76 to drive the auger 74 over time. For example, the drive unit 76 may
communicate one or
more signals indicative of its electrical power consumption to the drive
controller 78. The drive
controller 78 may include a data structure (e.g., a table, list, function,
etc., stored in the computer
hardware) usable to estimate the fill level 79 (e.g., a fill level
determination 79 as shown in FIG.
6) of the vacuum box 48, for example, based at least in part on the electric
power consumption of
drive unit 76. For example, the data structure may include a lookup table that
provides the fill
level 79 of the vacuum box 48 as a function of its electrical power
consumption.
[0105] To set the operating point 77 of the drive unit 76, in some
embodiments, the drive controller
78 may obtain information from one or more sensors 80. For example, the one or
more sensors
80 may be positioned at various locations on/in the housing 50 (and/or other
locations) and may
be operably connected to the drive controller 78 (e.g., in communication with
the drive controller
78). The one or more sensors 80 may be configured to generate signals
indicative of one or more
physical properties, communicating the signals to the drive controller 78,
and/or displaying
information relating to the physical properties (or quantities determined from
the measured
33
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
physical properties, such as, for example, the fill level 79 of the vacuum box
48). The drive
controller 78 may include a data structure (e.g., a table, list, function,
etc.) usable to estimate the
fill level 79 of the vacuum box 48 based at least in part on the physical
properties measured with
the one or more sensors 80. The data structure may include a lookup table that
provides the fill
level 79 of the vacuum box 48 as a function of the measured physical
properties. The measured
physical properties may include, for example, temperatures, depths/heights of
material in the
interior 52, opacities of the material, quantities of light reflected by or
transmitted through the
material, etc.
[0106] To measure temperatures, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may
include one or
more sensors such as thermocouples or other devices for measuring temperature.
The one or more
sensors 80 may be positioned to measure the temperature of the housing 50, the
interior 52, or
other components of the vacuum box 48. In some embodiments, the data structure
may provide
the fill level 79 of the vacuum box 48 as a function of, for example, the
temperature of one or more
portions of the vacuum box 48.
[0107] To measure depths or heights of the undesired material in the vacuum
box 48, in some
embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may include one or more sensors 80 including
depth sensors,
such as float sensors, interferometers, etc. The depth sensors may be
positioned in the interior 52,
on the housing 50, and/or in other locations to measure the height of the
undesired material 16 in
the vacuum box 48. In some embodiments, the data structure may provide the
fill level 79 of the
vacuum box 48 as a function of, for example, the heights of the undesired
material 16 in the
vacuum box 48.
[0108] To measure available light, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may
include one or
more sensors 80 that include photo-sensors (e.g., charge-coupled devices,
etc.). The photo-sensors
34
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
may be positioned to measure the intensity of light reflected by or
transmitted by the undesired
material 16 in the interior 52 (or other visual indicators), so as to
determine the fill level 79 of the
vacuum box 48. In some embodiments, the data structure may provide the fill
level 79 of the
vacuum box 48 as a function of, for example, the measured light intensity of
the undesired material
16 in vacuum box 48.
[0109] To determine the fill level 79 of the vacuum box 48, in some
embodiments, the drive
controller 78 receives sensor signals from the one or more sensors 80 using
one or more wireless
or wired connections. The drive controller 78 may provide the measurements
and/or the load on
the drive unit 76 to system level controllers (e.g., supervisory
controller(s)) using the one or more
wireless or wired connections. The drive controller 78 may use the
measurements to determine
the fill level 79 of the vacuum box 48 using the data structures. Based on the
determined fill level
79 and/or a state of the system (e.g., provided by system supervisory
controller(s) 81), the drive
controller 78 may determine an operating point 77 for the drive unit 76. The
drive unit 76 may
consume electric power based on the operating point 77, thereby enabling the
drive controller 78
to control the rate at which undesired material 16 is moved within the vacuum
box 48.
[0110] FIG. 7A is a schematic side view and FIG. 7B is a schematic end view of
an example
material collector 36 and an example carrier 84 for transportation and/or
orientation of the material
collector 36, according to embodiments of the disclosure. When in an
industrial environment, for
example, the vacuum box 48 may be subject to forces applied to it by the
environment. To manage
these forces, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may include structural
housing support
members 82 positioned on/in the housing 50. The structural housing support
members 82 may be
positioned along the length of housing 50 and may at least partially encircle
multiple walls of the
housing 50. In some embodiments, the structural housing support members 82 may
at least
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
partially encircle three or more walls of the housing 48 (e.g., a top wall and
two side walls). The
structural housing support members 82 may have a thickness that extends away
from the housing
50 so as to reduce the likelihood of force being directly transmitted to the
housing 50. The
structural housing support members 82 may enable the housing 50 to be
efficiently repositioned
by distributing load for moving the vacuum box 48 across the housing 50. The
structural housing
support members 82 may also increase the rigidity of the housing 50 (e.g., by
enhancing the cross
section of the housing 50, where the structural housing support members 82 are
connected to the
housing 50), thereby allowing the vacuum box 48 to be moved with reduced risk
of damage (e.g.,
due to forces applied to the vacuum box 48 to move it).
[0111] In some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may include a floor 68 having a
V-shaped
cross-section or other features. Such a floor 68 or other features may tend to
make the housing 50
tip to one side or the other side if the housing 50 is placed directly onto a
planar surface. To orient
the vacuum box 48, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may be provided with
a carrier 84,
for example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The housing 50 and/or the structural
housing support
members 82 may be positioned on the carrier 84. The carrier 84 may be a
structure configured to
substantially maintain an upright orientation of the vacuum box 48. The
carrier 84 may include a
base plate 86 configured to apply force to the vacuum box 48 to move the
vacuum box 48 in a
manner that is unlikely to damage the vacuum box 48. In some embodiments,
lifting member
receivers 88 may be positioned on the base plate 86 and may extend into the
base plate 86 to allow
forks or other structures of heavy equipment to efficiently lift or otherwise
apply force to the base
plate 86. Forklifts or other types of machinery (e.g., cranes) may be capable
of lifting the carrier
84 and the vacuum box 48 using the lifting member receivers 88 (or other
features of the vacuum
box 48). The support members 82 may be positioned between base plate 86 and
the vacuum box
36
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
48 to distribute force from the base plate 86 to the vacuum box 48. The vacuum
box 48 may have
a floor 68 having a V-shaped cross-section, which may tend to cause the vacuum
box 48 to list to
one side or the other if positioned on a planar surface. The support members
82 may attach the
base plate 86 to the vacuum box 48, so that when the carrier 84 is positioned
on a flat surface, the
vacuum box 48 is maintained in a predetermined orientation, such as an upright
orientation. The
base plate 86 may be provided with wheels 90 (and/or tracks and/or skids) to
facilitate movement
of the vacuum box 48. The wheels 90 may be positioned relative to the base
plate 86 to allow the
carrier 84 with the vacuum box 48 to roll while being loaded, unloaded, and
moved around an
environment to which the vacuum box 48 is deployed.
[0112] Once the vacuum box 48 is filled with material, it may need to be
unloaded before it may
continue to be used. For example, extracted material 16 may include spent
catalyst and/or used
pall rings which may be effectively cleaned or recycled. To facilitate rapid
unloading of the
vacuum box 48, in some embodiments, the vacuum box 48 may include a door 92
(FIG. 4). The
door 92 may substantially extend across one end of the housing 50. The door 92
may enable the
interior 52 of the housing 50 to be physically accessed. The door 92 may
include a handle 94,
which facilitates opening and closing of the door 92. When opened, the end of
the housing 50 may
be unsealed, thereby allowing for large scale access to the undesired material
16 in the housing 52.
When the door 92 is closed, the interior 52 may generally be sealed. The door
92 may allow for
efficient removal of undesired material 16 from the interior 52, thereby
allowing for a full vacuum
box 48 to be quickly emptied and returned to use for undesired material 16
extraction purposes.
For example, to efficiently remove undesired material 16 from the interior 52,
the door 92 may be
opened, and the vacuum box 48 may be oriented, so that gravity force tends to
cause material in
the interior 52 to exit the housing 50 through the door 92.
37
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0113] FIG. 8A is schematic side view and FIG. 8B is a schematic top view of
an example vacuum
generation and sound attenuation assembly 12, according to embodiments of the
disclosure. To
transfer the material 16 from the reaction vessel 14 to the material collector
36, as shown in FIG.
1, a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 may be applied to the material collector 36.
Alternatively, or
in addition, to convey and deposit material 16 from a material source 39 to
the reaction vessel 14,
as shown in FIG. 2, a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 may be applied to the
suction manifold 44
pneumatically connected with the conveyance manifold 41 and material source
39.
[0114] In some embodiments, the vacuum generation and sound attenuation
assembly 12 may
include a vacuum source 38, which may be pneumatically connected to the
material collector 36
by a conduit 96 (e.g., a hose). The pneumatic connection may allow the vacuum
source 38 to
apply a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 to the material collector 36. For
example, the vacuum flow
26 may be applied to the interior 52 of the material collector 36 via the
conduit 96 (or through
other types of pneumatic connections between the components). The applied
vacuum flow 26 may
generate the vacuum induced fluid flow 26 along the flow path, thereby
conveying the undesired
material 16 from reaction vessel 14 to material collector 36.
[0115] In some embodiments, the vacuum generation and sound attenuation
assembly 12 may
include a vacuum source 38, which may be pneumatically connected to the
suction manifold 44
by a conduit 96 (e.g., a hose). The pneumatic connection may allow the vacuum
source 38 to
apply a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 to the suction manifold 44. For example,
the vacuum flow
26 may be applied to the suction manifold 44 and transmitted through the
conveyance manifold
41 to draw material from the material source 39. The applied vacuum flow 26
may generate the
vacuum induced fluid flow 26 along the flow path between the conveyance
manifold 41 and the
38
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
suction manifold 44 (see arrows in FIG. 2), thereby conveying the material 16
between the material
source 39 and the material discharge outlet 43 on the reaction vessel 14.
[0116] As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in some embodiments, the vacuum generation
and sound
attenuation assembly 12 may include a sound attenuation chamber 40 connected
to the vacuum
source 38. In some embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may include
an attenuation
housing 98 at least partially defining a chamber interior volume being
positioned to receive at least
a portion of the vacuum flow 26 from the vacuum source 38 and attenuate sound
generated by the
vacuum source 38 during operation. In some embodiments of the vacuum
generation and sound
attenuation assembly 12, the vacuum source 38 and the sound attenuation
chamber 40 may be
connected to one another to form a unified vacuum and attenuation module 100,
for example, as
shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 8A, and 8B. In some embodiments, the vacuum source 38 may
be directly
connected to the sound attenuation chamber 40. In the example embodiment
shown, the unified
vacuum and attenuation module 100 includes a chassis 102 supporting the vacuum
source 38 and
the sound attenuation chamber 40, and the chassis 102 may be configured to be
transported
between geographical locations. In some embodiments, wheels 104 may be
connected to the
chassis 102 to facilitate transportation, although tracks, skids, etc., may be
connected to the chassis
102 instead of, or in addition to, wheels 104, depending, for example, on the
type of terrain over
which the vacuum and attenuation module 100 may be expected to traverse. In
some
embodiments, the chassis 102 may be self-propelled, for example, including a
powertrain having
an engine, hydraulic motor, and/or electric motor. Mounting the vacuum and
attenuation module
100 on a mobile chassis 102 may facilitate rapid set-up, removal, and/or
reconfiguration of the
material extraction assembly 10 in accordance with embodiments of the
disclosure.
39
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0117] In some embodiments, the vacuum source 38 may be implemented using a
variety of
configurations, depending, for example, on the environment to which the
material collector 36 is
deployed for operation. For example, in some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 8A
and 8B, the
vacuum source 38 may generate a vacuum, which may be applied to the material
collector 36. For
example, the vacuum source 38 may include one or more vacuum generators 106
configured to
generate the vacuum flow 26, and the vacuum generators 106 may be
pneumatically connected to
one or more material collectors 36, for example, via a conduit 96. In some
examples, the one or
more vacuum generators 106 may receive at least some electrical power via
renewable means,
such as batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and/or other similar sources.
In other embodiments,
for example, the vacuum source 38 as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B may generate a
vacuum, which
may be applied to the suction manifold 44.
[0118] The one or more vacuum generators 106 may be configured to generate the
vacuum flow
26 in different ways, depending at least in part on, for example, the
environment to which the
vacuum and attenuation module 100 is deployed. For example, in some
embodiments, the vacuum
generators 106 may be configured to generate the vacuum flow 26 using the flow
of another fluid.
For example, the vacuum generators 106 may be connected to a fluid source 42
(see FIG. 1 and
FIG. 2) via a fluid supply conduit 46. In some such embodiments, the vacuum
generators 106 may
be configured to receive a pressurized supply of the fluid through the fluid
supply conduit 46. The
flow of the pressurized fluid may cause the vacuum generators 106 to generate
a high-pressure
vacuum flow 26, thereby applying a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 to one or more
material
collectors 36, which may, in turn, transfer the vacuum flow 26 from the one or
more material
collectors 36 to the vacuum source 38. The vacuum-induced fluid flow 26
received from the one
or more material collectors 36 may include a minor portion of the undesired
material 16 from the
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
one or more material collectors 36, for example, as described herein.
Alternately or in addition,
the flow of the pressurized fluid may cause the vacuum generators 106 to apply
a high-pressure
vacuum flow 26 to the suction manifold 44, which may, in turn, convey material
from the material
source 39 to the material discharge outlet 43 located at an elevated position
relative to the material
source.
[0119] When the one or more vacuum generators 106 generate the vacuum flow 26,
in some
embodiments, the vacuum generators 106 may combine vacuum-induced flow 26 and
a fluid
supply flow 108, and exhaust the combined flows as a vacuum exhaust fluid flow
110, which may
include the minor portion of the undesired material 16, for example, as
schematically shown in
FIG. 9. To limit or prevent contamination of the ambient environment with the
minor portion of
the undesired material 16, the vacuum generators 106 may be pneumatically
connected to the
sound attenuation chamber 40 via a conduit 112 (e.g., a hose). The vacuum
exhaust fluid flow 110
may flow from the vacuum source 38 into the sound attenuation chamber 40 via
the conduit 112.
Accordingly, the vacuum source 38 may be in the fluid flow path from the
reaction vessel 14 to
sound attenuation chamber 40.
[0120] In some embodiments, in order to generate a more powerful high-pressure
vacuum flow
26, multiple vacuum sources 38 and/or one or more sound attenuation chambers
40 may be
positioned on a common chassis 102 to form a more powerful vacuum generation
and sound
attenuation assembly 12 (e.g., a more powerful unified vacuum and attenuation
module 100). For
example, multiple vacuum sources 38 may each be pneumatically connected to the
(one or more)
sound attenuation chambers 40, which may cause two (or more) separate flow
paths (e.g., for each
of the vacuum sources 38) and which may be combined at the one or more sound
attenuation
chambers 40. In some embodiments, the vacuum sources 38 may be pneumatically
connected to
41
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
a common material collector 36 (e.g., to increase the strength of the high-
pressure vacuum flow
26 through the common material collector 36) or different material collectors
36 (e.g., to enable
the undesired material 16 to be transferred to multiple material collectors 36
in parallel). In some
embodiments, the vacuum sources 38 may be pneumatically connected to the
suction manifold 44
(e.g., to increase the strength of the high-pressure vacuum flow 26 through
the suction manifold
44) or to multiple inlets in parallel on the suction manifold 44.
[0121] In some embodiments, the vacuum source 38 may be implemented using a
variety of
different structures, depending at least in part on, for example, the
environment to which vacuum
source 38 is deployed. For example, in some embodiments, the vacuum source 38
may include
one or more vacuum generators 106, each having a venturi mechanism 114
configured to receive
pressurized fluid from the fluid source 42 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) and use a
venturi effect to
generate the vacuum flow 26 between the source of the material (e.g., the
reaction vessel 14 in
FIG. 1 or the material source 39 in FIG. 2) and the vacuum generation and
sound attenuation
assembly 12. For example, the venturi mechanism 114 may be a vacuum generation
mechanism
that generates a vacuum using another fluid flow.
[0122] As schematically depicted in FIG. 9, which shows an example vacuum
generator 38
according to embodiments of the disclosure, the venturi mechanism 114 may
include fluid supply
ports 116 through which the supply of pressurized fluid from the fluid source
42 used to generate
the vacuum is received. The venturi mechanism 114 also may include a vacuum
port 118 through
which the generated vacuum flow may be applied, and an exhaust port 120
through which the fluid
flow used to generate the vacuum flow and any material drawn into the vacuum
port 118 with the
generated vacuum flow may be exhausted from the venturi mechanism 114.
42
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0123] In some embodiments, to generate the vacuum flow 26, the fluid supply
ports 116 are
pneumatically connected to the fluid source 42, which may be a mobile fluid
supply. For example,
the fluid supply ports 116 may be pneumatically connected to a compressed
fluid stored at or in
the fluid source 42. The compressed fluid may be used to generate the fluid
supply flow 108 from
the fluid source 42. The fluid supply flow 108 may be received through the
pneumatic connection
and into the fluid supply ports 116. The fluid supply flow 108 may be
configured to drive the
venturi mechanism 114, thereby generating the vacuum flow 26 produced by the
vacuum source
38, which may be applied to other devices via the vacuum port 118.
[0124] The strength of the vacuum flow 26 generated by the venturi mechanism
114 may depend
at least in part on, for example, the rate of the fluid supply flow 108 used
to drive the venturi
mechanism 114. In order to achieve higher vacuum pressure generation, in some
embodiments,
the vacuum source 38 may include a combiner 122. The combiner 122 may include
a manifold
for combining multiple fluid supply flows 108 received by the fluid supply
ports 116 into a single
fluid flow and directing the single fluid flow into the venturi mechanism 114
for generating the
vacuum flow 26.
[0125] In some embodiments, to manage or control the flow rate, pressure,
and/or volume of the
fluid supply flow 108 into the venturi mechanism 114, which may be used to
control or regulate
the strength of the vacuum flow 26, fluid flow control valves 124 may be
positioned between the
fluid supply ports 116 and the fluid source 42. In some embodiments, the
strength of the vacuum
flow 26 generated by the venturi mechanism 114 may be substantially
proportional to the flow
rate, pressure, and/or volume of fluid flow into the fluid supply ports 116.
The fluid flow control
valves 124 may be used to limit (e.g., reduce, stop, etc.) the rate of fluid
flow into the venturi
mechanism 114 from the fluid supply ports 116.
43
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0126] In some embodiments, the vacuum port 118 may be pneumatically connected
to the one or
more material collectors 36 and/or the suction manifold 44 to apply a vacuum
to the one or more
material collectors 36 and/or suction manifold 44. Applying the vacuum may
generate the
vacuum-induced fluid flow 26 into the vacuum port 118. When connected to one
or more material
collectors 36, the vacuum-induced fluid flow 26 may draw material 16 into the
one or more
material collectors 36 from the source of the material (e.g., the reaction
vessel 14). A major portion
of the material 16 may be trapped by and within the material collector 36, and
a minor portion of
the material 16 may flow into the vacuum source 38 in vacuum-induced fluid
flow 26.
[0127] To prevent or limit contamination of the ambient environment by a
portion of any
undesired material 16, in some embodiments, the exhaust port 120 may be
pneumatically
connected to the sound attenuation chamber 40. For example, the exhaust port
120 may be
pneumatically connected to the sound attenuation chamber 40, which may exhaust
the vacuum-
induced fluid flow 26, which may include the minor portion of the undesired
material 16, and the
fluid supply flow 108, for example, as a combined fluid flow into the sound
attenuation chamber
40.
[0128] In some embodiments, the pneumatic connections between the ports 116,
118, and/or 120
of the vacuum source 38 may be made using conduits, such as hoses or other
flexible tubular
structures. The conduits may enable the pneumatic connections to be
efficiently made, thereby
reducing the setup time for assembling the material extraction assembly 10,
for example, shown
in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the conduits may include relatively rigid
piping (e.g., poly pipe
or polyethylene pipe). The piping may render the conduits at least partially
self-supporting, for
example, when conveying high pressure or high vacuum pressure.
44
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0129] Applicant has recognized that the use of conduits, such as hoses or
other flexible tubular
structures may present a potential hazard to a person near the conduits. For
example, the vacuum
flow 26 generated by the vacuum source 38 may cause the conduits to flex or
move due to the
forces applied to them by the fluid flows. A person may be impacted by the
conduits if the flexing
or movement of the conduits is significant and/or unexpected. In some
embodiments, the material
extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 may reduce or
eliminate one of more
of the conduits, for example, by pneumatically connecting one or more of the
components of the
material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 to one
another in a manner
that eliminates a need for at least some of the conduits (e.g., connecting
components directly to
one another). For example, the material extraction assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly
11, in some embodiments, may include direct attachment of the vacuum source 38
to one or more
material collectors 36, the suction manifold 44, and/or to the sound
attenuation chamber 40. By
directly attaching the vacuum source 38 to the one or more material collectors
36, the suction
manifold 44, and/or the sound attenuation chamber 40, conduits, additional
hoses or other flexible
structures may not be necessary. As a result, the potential hazard of impact
by uncontrolled
movement by the conduits or other flexible structures to a person may be
reduced or eliminated.
[0130] As shown in FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C, FIG. 10D, FIG. 10E, FIG. 10F,
FIG. 10G,
FIG. 1011, FIG. 101, FIG. 10J and FIG. 11 (also FIGS. 8A and 8B), in some
embodiments, the
vacuum source 38 may be directly connected to the sound attenuation chamber 40
forming a
unified vacuum and attenuation module 100. Directly connecting the vacuum
source 38 to the
sound attenuation chamber 40 may result in the vacuum-induced fluid flow to
flow from the
vacuum source 38 (e.g., as part of the vacuum exhaust fluid flow 110) directly
into the sound
attenuation chamber 40. In some such embodiments, both the vacuum source 38
and the sound
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
attenuation chamber 40 may be rigid structures able to absorb forces applied
to them by the vacuum
flow 26 without significantly deforming or moving. The unified module 100 may
be fitted with
lifting receiver members 99 so the vacuum source 38 and sound attenuation
chamber 40 may be
easily transported to and deployed by operators of the site using a forklift,
crane, or other
appropriate equipment and/or methods.
[0131] Applicant has recognized that the material 16 may, in some instances,
be challenging to
move via fluid flow by virtue of, for example, the state of matter of the
material 16, the weight of
the material 16, the viscosity and/or surface tension of the material 16,
and/or other physical
properties of the material 16. Such characteristics of the material 16 may
limit the rate at which
the material 16 may flow through the fluid flow path if only a limited level
of the vacuum flow 26
is generated by the vacuum generators 106. In some embodiments, the material
extraction
assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 may be configured to provide a
high-pressure
vacuum flow 26, which may be suitable to expedite flow of the material 16
through the fluid flow
path. To expedite the flow of the material 16, the vacuum source 38, in some
embodiments, may
include two or more vacuum generators 106, such as two or more venturi
mechanisms 114, which
may be operated in parallel with each other in order to enhance the pressure
of the vacuum flow
26 generated by the vacuum source 38. Each of the two or more vacuum
generators 106 may be
driven using the pressurized fluid from the fluid source 42 (and/or other
sources of pressurized
fluid, such as other fluid sources (e.g., mobile fluid supplies)).
[0132] FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, and 10E are schematic views of an example
vacuum generation
and sound attenuation assembly 12 showing an example vacuum source end,
according to
embodiments of the disclosure. The example vacuum generation and sound
attenuation assembly
12 shown in FIGS. 10A through 10E includes an embodiment of vacuum source 38
having
46
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
multiple venturi mechanisms 114. For example, as illustrated, the vacuum
source 38 includes four
venturi mechanisms 114. The four venturi mechanisms 114 may be operated
simultaneously in
parallel to provide a high-pressure vacuum flow 26 and different levels of
vacuum pressure.
[0133] In some embodiments, to manage the pressure generated by vacuum source
38, the venturi
mechanisms 114 maybe divided into two dual vacuum sources 126. Each of the
venturi
mechanisms 114 of the two dual vacuum sources 126 may be fluidly connected in
parallel to each
other, for example, so that they each may be driven using a common fluid
supply port 116, may
commonly exhaust out of a common exhaust port 120, and/or may apply vacuum
using a common
vacuum port 118. In this example manner, each dual vacuum source 126 may
provide a higher
pressure vacuum flow 26 than may be provided using a single venturi mechanism
114 driven by a
similar rate of fluid flow received from the fluid source 42.
[0134] A plurality of vacuum conduits 121 may be provided with the vacuum
source 38 to provide
a flow path between one or more of the vacuum sources 126 and the sound
attenuation chamber
40. The vacuum conduits 121 may be, for example, ducts of flexible steel
conduits, such as
flexible corrugated steel conduits. The vacuum conduits 121 may be capable of
absorbing reaction
loads at the joints with the vacuum sources 126 and/or the sound attenuation
chamber 40, for
example, while resisting collapse under the negative pressures of the vacuum
flows 26 from the
venturi mechanisms 114 of the vacuum sources 126.
[0135] To control the generation of the vacuum flow 26 by the one or more
vacuum sources 38,
in some embodiments, the ports 116, 118, and/or 120 of each dual vacuum source
126 may be
controlled by corresponding respective control valves 128, 130. The control
valves 128, 130, may
be usable to control the rate of fluid flow through each of the respective
ports.
47
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0136] In some embodiments, to manage the process of generating the high-
pressure vacuum flow
26, the vacuum source 38 may include a vacuum source controller 136. The
vacuum source
controller 136 may be in communication with one or more of the control valves
128, 130. The
vacuum source controller 136 may be configured to control operation of one or
more of the control
valves 128, 130 to provide vacuum flows having desired pressures. For example,
the vacuum
source controller 136 may be operably coupled to an adjustor, such as a
switch, dial, or other
mechanism that a person may operate to achieve a desired level of vacuum
pressure to be generated
by the vacuum source 38. The vacuum source controller 136 may use one or more
signals from
the adjustor to set the operation points for the one or more control valves
128, 130 to generate the
desired vacuum pressure with, for example, the venturi mechanisms 114.
[0137] The vacuum source controller 136 may include computing hardware (e.g.,
processors,
memory, storage devices, communication devices, other types of hardware
devices including
circuitry, etc.), and/or computing instructions (e.g., computer code) that
when executed by the
computing hardware cause the vacuum source controller 136 to provide its
functionality. The
vacuum source controller 136 may include a lookup table or other data
structure usable to
determine the operating points for the one or more control valves 128, 130
based on a desired
vacuum flow level. Once operating points are determined, the vacuum source
controller 136 may
modify operation of one or more of the control valves 128, 130 based on the
operating points. For
example, vacuum source controller 136 may modify the quantities of power used
to drive control
valves 128, 130 to set the quantity of fluid flow through each of the ports
116, 118, and/or 120.
[0138] In some embodiments, to limit or prevent contamination of the ambient
environment with
any undesired material 16, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may be configured
remove undesired
material 16 from the vacuum-induced fluid flow 26 prior to exhaustion into the
ambient
48
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
environment. To do so, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may be pneumatically
connected to the
vacuum source 38. In some embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber 40 is
pneumatically
connected to the vacuum source 38 by a conduit (e.g., a hose). In some
embodiments, for example,
as shown in FIGS. 10A-10J, the sound attenuation chamber 40 is directly and
pneumatically
connected to the vacuum source 38, thereby reducing reliance on a conduit,
which may provide a
potential hazard during operation.
[0139] In some embodiments, the vacuum source 38 and the sound attenuation
chamber 40 may
be configured such that the vacuum source 38 and the sound attenuation chamber
40 may be
relatively easily separated from one another. This may facilitate maintenance
and/or cleaning of
the vacuum source 38 and/or the sound attenuation chamber 40. In some
embodiments, this may
facilitate conversion of the unified vacuum and attenuation module 100 for
tailoring it to different
uses. For example, this may facilitate attachment of different vacuum sources
(e.g., having
different features, sizes, and/or capacities) to the sound attenuation chamber
40, and/or attachment
of different sound attenuation chambers (e.g., having different features,
sizes, and/or capacities) to
the vacuum source 38. FIGS. 10H, 101, and 10J schematically depict an
embodiment of sound
attenuation chamber 40 that has been separated from a vacuum source and that
is configured for
attachment to a vacuum source.
[0140] Applicant has recognized that some industrial environments, such as the
example
environments including a reaction vessel 14 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, may
include personnel
tasked to operate the equipment in these environments. The presence of such
personnel may
restrict the acceptable level of sound that may be produced for undesired
material removal
purposes. The sound attenuation chamber 40, according to some embodiments, may
be configured
to attenuate sound generated by the vacuum source 38 and/or the fluid source
42 to sufficient
49
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
levels, such that personnel may not need to wear protective hearing due to the
sound generated by
the material extraction assembly 10 and/or material conveyance assembly 11. In
some
embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may be configured to reduce the
sound level
generated by the material extraction assembly 10 and/or material conveyance
assembly 11 by an
amount ranging from ten percent to forty percent (e.g., by twenty-five
decibels). For example,
without the sound attenuation chamber 40, according to some embodiments, the
assembly 10, 11
may generate approximately 115 decibels of sound. In contrast, when the sound
attenuation
chamber 40 is incorporated into the assembly 10, 11, the sound level may be
reduced to about 89
decibels.
[0141] The sound attenuation chamber 40, in some embodiments, may both filter
materials
received from fluid flows before exhausting the received fluid flows and
attenuate sound from
received fluid flows before exhausting the received fluid flows into the
ambient environment. In
some embodiments, the sound may be attenuated to an extent that personnel in
the area need not
wear hearing protection, although personnel may need to wear hearing
protection for other reasons.
[0142] FIGS. 10G, 10H, 11, 12, and 13 illustrate examples of embodiments of a
sound attenuation
chamber 40. The sound attenuation chamber 40, in some embodiments, may include
an attenuation
housing 138 at least partially defining a chamber interior volume 140
positioned to receive at least
a portion of the vacuum flow 26 from the vacuum source 38 and attenuate sound
generated by the
vacuum source 38 during operation. The attenuation housing 138 may
substantially seal the
interior volume 140 from the ambient environment. The attenuation housing 138
may include one
or more walls or other structural members to at least partially seal the
interior volume 140.
[0143] In some embodiments, to filter undesired material 16 entering the sound
attenuation
chamber 40, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may include one or more inlet
ports 142, one or
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
more discharge ports 144, and/or one or more exhaust ports 146. At least some
of the ports may
be positioned on the attenuation housing 138 to provide access to the interior
volume 140 from
outside the attenuation housing 138. For example, the respective ports may
include holes,
apertures and/or other structures through one or more walls of the attenuation
housing 138 that
enable access to interior volume 140.
[0144] The inlet ports 142 may be pneumatically connected to the vacuum source
38. When
pneumatically connected to the vacuum source 38, the inlet ports 142 may
receive vacuum-induced
flow 26 from the vacuum source 38. The minor portion of the undesired material
16 may be
entrained in vacuum-induced flow 26, thereby presenting a potential
contamination hazard if
exhausted into the ambient environment without further filtering and/or
treatment.
[0145] The exhaust ports 146, in some embodiments, may be pneumatically
connected to the
ambient environment. The fluid flow path through the material extraction
assembly 10 may end
at the exhaust ports 146. Consequently, in some embodiments, vacuum-induced
flow 26 drawn
from the source of the fluid (e.g., the reaction vessel 14, FIG. 1) and
through the flow path may
exit the flow path through the exhaust ports 146. The interior volume 140 may
be in the flow path
between the inlet ports 142 and the exhaust ports 146, such that vacuum-
induced flow 26 flows
through the interior volume 140 prior to being exhausted into the ambient
environment.
[0146] In some embodiments, to partially attenuate sound, the exhaust ports
146 may be of
substantially larger size than the inlet ports 142. The size difference
between these ports may
reduce or eliminate backpressure on the vacuum-induced flow 26. The flow path
may expand
greatly in cross-sectional area as the vacuum-induced flow 26 transitions from
the inlet ports 142
into the interior volume 140. As a result, any sound generated by the vacuum-
induced flow 26
may generally occur at an interface between the inlet ports 142 and the
interior volume 140. In
51
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
some embodiments, accordingly, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may, in part,
dissipate the
sound generated by the vacuum-induced flow 26 by generating it within the
sound attenuation
chamber 400, for example, such that the sound will dissipate prior to exiting
the sound attenuation
chamber 40.
[0147] In some embodiments, to filter undesired material 16 prior to
exhaustion to the ambient
environment, the interior volume 140 may include a filter media region 148.
The filter media
region 148 may include a portion of the interior volume 140 in which filter
media 150 may be
positioned. The filter media region 148 may be positioned, for example, such
that the
vacuum-induced flow 26 must substantially flow through the filter media region
148 and filter
media 150 prior to being exhausted through the exhaust ports 146 to the
ambient environment. In
some embodiments, the interior volume 140 may include a filter media support
plate 152. The
filter media support plate 152 may be configured to support the filter media
150 within the filter
media region 148. In some embodiments, the filter media support plate 152 may
generally divide
the interior volume 140 into two or more sections and may include holes
through which the
vacuum-induced flow 26 may travel between the sections. One or both sides of
the filter media
support plate 152 may include one or more baffles 154 configured to attenuate
sound. The one or
more baffles 154 may attenuate sound generated by the vacuum-induced flow 26,
for example,
prior to exhaustion out of the sound attenuation chamber 40.
[0148] In some embodiments, to filter undesired material 16 prior to
exhaustion to the ambient
environment, the filter media 150 may be configured to filter at least a
portion of the minor portion
of the undesired material 16 from the vacuum-induced flow 26. The filter media
150 may include
any type of filter media for removing material from fluid flows. The filter
media 150 also may be
sound absorptive and, in part, help to dissipate the sound generated by the
vacuum-induced flow
52
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
26. The filter media 150 may, in some examples, exhibit a relatively limited
filtration capacity.
As filter media 150 filters the undesired material 16, its permeability to
fluid flow may decrease.
[0149] To manage the filtration capacity of the filter media 150, in some
embodiments, the sound
attenuation chamber 40 may include one or more jet generators 156 positioned
relative to the sound
attenuation chamber 40 to generate jets of fluid flow directed toward the
filter media 150 to at least
partially maintain the filtration capacity of the filter media 150. For
example, the jet generators
156 may be positioned to generate jets of fluid flow directed toward the
filter media 150 to at least
partially refresh or restore the filtration capacity of filter media 150. For
example, the jet
generators 156 may be positioned outside the attenuation housing 138 and
oriented facing into the
filter media region 148.
[0150] When the jet generators 156 generate the jets, the jets may transfer
undesired material 16
filtered by the filter media 150 out of the filter media 150 and into the
interior volume 140. This
may, in some embodiments, at least partially restore the permeability and/or
the filtration capacity
of the filter media 150. For example, the jets may cause undesired material 16
trapped in the filter
media 150 to drop out of the filter media region 148, for example, through
holes in the filter media
support plate 152 and into interior volume 140.
[0151] To drive the jet generators 156, in some embodiments, the sound
attenuation chamber 40
may include a jet fluid supply 158. The jet fluid supply 158 may be configured
to store compressed
fluid. In some embodiments, the jet fluid supply 158 may include a storage
tank in which the
compressed fluid is stored. The compressed fluid may be a gas, such as, for
example, compressed
air. The jet fluid supply 158 may be pneumatically coupled to the jet
generators 156. The jet
generators 156 may include one or more ports and one or more electrically
driven actuators
configured to control the rate at which the compressed fluid from the jet
fluid supply 158 exits the
53
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
jet generators 156. Thus, the jet generators 156 may modulate one or more of a
strength of the jets
of fluid flow, timing of the jets of fluid flow, or one or more other
characteristics associated with
the jets of fluid flow.
[0152] To fill the jet fluid supply 158, in some embodiments, the sound
attenuation chamber 40
may include a fluid supply port 160. The fluid supply port 160 may be
pneumatically connected
to the jet fluid supply 158 to refill the jet fluid supply 158 with compressed
fluid, for example,
when another source of compressed fluid (e.g., the fluid source 42) is
pneumatically coupled to
the fluid supply port 160.
[0153] In some embodiments, due to a limited size of the interior volume 140,
only a finite quantity
of undesired material 16 may be stored in the interior volume 140. Over time
the interior volume
140 may become filled with undesired material 16 as undesired material 16 is
removed from the
source of the material (e.g., the reaction vessel 14). Once the interior
volume 140 is filled, the
sound attenuation chamber 40 may become inoperable, for example, undesired
material 16 may
block fluid flow through the interior volume 140.
[0154] To manage the fill level 79 of the interior volume 140, in some
embodiments, the sound
attenuation chamber 40 may include one or more discharge ports144. The
discharge ports 144
may facilitate removal of undesired material 16 from the interior volume 140.
In some
embodiments, undesired material 16 may be removed from the interior volume 140
through the
discharge port(s) 144 while the vacuum-induced flow 26 flows through the
interior volume 140.
[0155] To remove undesired material 16 from the interior volume 140, in some
embodiments, the
discharge port 144 may be pneumatically connected to a material collector 36
(e.g., a vacuum box
48). For example, the discharge port 144 may be pneumatically connected to a
material collector
36 via a conduit 162 (e.g., such as a restrictive hose). When a high-pressure
vacuum is applied to
54
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
the material collector 36, undesired material 16 in the interior volume 140
may be drawn out of
the interior volume 140, through the conduit 162, and into the material
collector 36. Thus, both
the major portion and the minor portion of the undesired material 16 extracted
from the source of
the material (e.g., the reaction vessel 14) may be transferred to a material
collector 36. The
discharge port 144 may be pneumatically connected to other components for
undesired material
discharge purposes without departing from embodiments disclosed herein.
[0156] To control when and/or the rate of removal of the undesired material 16
from the interior
volume 140, in some embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may include
a discharge
port control valve 164. The discharge port control valve 164 may be positioned
to control the rate
of fluid flow through the discharge port 144. For example, the discharge port
control valve 164
may include an electrically driven actuator usable to control the rate of
fluid flow through
discharge port 144. In some embodiments, the discharge port control valve 164
may control the
rate of fluid flow through discharge port 144 to selectively remove undesired
material 16 from the
interior volume 140.
[0157] To determine when and/or at which rate to remove undesired material 16
from the interior
volume 140, in some embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may include
one or more
sensors 166. The sensors 166 may be positioned to monitor the filtration
capacity of the filter
media 150, the fill level 79 of the interior volume 140, and/or the flow rate
of undesired material
16 out of the discharge port 144. The sensors 166 may be configured to
generate signals indicative
of any physical property of the sound attenuation chamber 40 and use the
signals to determine
these quantities. For example, the sensors 166 may include photo-sensors that
measure the
filtration capacity of the filter media 150 based on a quantity of light
transmitted by the filter media
150. In some embodiments, the sensors 166 may include a transducer configured
to measure the
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
mass of undesired material 16 to determine the fill level 79 of the interior
volume 140. The sensors
166 may include other components for measuring the same or different types of
physical properties
without departing from embodiments disclosed herein.
[0158] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example architecture for operating an
example sound
attenuation chamber 40 of an example material extraction assembly 10 or an
example material
conveyance assembly 11, according to embodiments of the disclosure. To
coordinate operation of
the sound attenuation chamber 40, in some embodiments, the sound attenuation
chamber 40 may
include a chamber controller 168 in communication with one or more of a
discharge port control
valve actuator, one or more jet generators 156, and the one or more sensors
166. For example, the
chamber controller 168 may be operably connected to the discharge port control
valve 164, the jet
generators 156, and the sensors 166. The chamber controller 168 may obtain
information from
sensors 166 and selectively drive the discharge port control valve 164 and/or
the jet generators 156
based on the information to ensure that (i) the filter media 150 is capable of
continuing to filter
fluid flows through the interior volume 140 and (ii) the interior volume 140
is not overfilled with
undesired material 16.
[0159] In some embodiments, the chamber controller 168 may include computing
hardware (e.g.,
processors, memory, storage devices, communication devices, other types of
hardware devices
including circuitry, etc.), and/or computing instructions (e.g., computer
code) that when executed
by the computing hardware cause chamber controller 168 to provide its
functionality. The
chamber controller 168 may include a lookup table or other data structure
usable to make an
operating points determination 170 for the discharge port control valve 164
and/or the jet
generators 156 based at least in part on the fill level 79 and filtration
capacity of the filter media
150. Once the operating points are determined, the chamber controller 168 may
be configured to
56
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
modify operation of the discharge port control valve 164 and/or the jet
generators 156 based at
least in part on the operating points. For example, the chamber controller 168
may be configured
to modify the quantities of power used to drive the discharge port control
valve 164 and/or the jet
generators 156 to set the quantity of fluid flows through each of the
discharge port control valves
164 and/or the jet generators 156. As a result, in some embodiments, the sound
attenuation
chamber 40 may be more likely to be able to substantially continuously
operate.
[0160] In some embodiments, to enable a person to control operation of the
sound attenuation
chamber 40, the sound attenuation chamber 40 may include a user input device
172. The user
input device 172 may be in communication with to the chamber controller 168.
The user input
may be communicated to the chamber controller 168 via the user input device
172. The user input
device 172 may include, for example, one or more buttons, touch sensitive
displays, levers, knobs,
and/or other devices (e.g., control panels, tablet computers, and/or smart
phones) that are operable
by a person to provide the chamber controller 168 with information for
operating or controlling
the sound attenuation chamber 40.
[0161] The chamber controller 168 may be configured to receive information
from a person via
the user input device 172 regarding how frequently to refresh the filtration
capacity of the filter
media 150 and/or information regarding how frequently to discharge undesired
material 16 from
the interior volume 140. The chamber controller 168 may use such information
when determining
the operating points for the discharge port control valve 164 and/or the jet
generators 156. For
example, a person may provide operational preferences or other information
using the user input
device 172 to configure operation of the sound attenuation chamber 40.
[0162] In some embodiments, the chamber controller 168 may be powered using
electricity. The
sound attenuation chamber 40 may include one or more solar panels 174 that
provide electrical
57
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
power to the chamber controller 168. The chamber controller 168 may include
one or more
batteries in which power from the one or more solar panels 174 may be stored
prior to use by the
chamber controller 168 (and/or other controllers of the material extraction
assembly 10).
[0163] Applicant has recognized that some environments, such as industrial
environments similar
to the environment illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, may include volatile
hydrocarbon fluids (and/or
other types of volatile materials) or other types of fluids susceptible to
combustion. Some
embodiments of the material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance
assembly 11, or one
or more components thereof, may not be powered by combustible power sources.
Rather, the
material collector 36, the vacuum source 38, the sound attenuation chamber 40,
and/or the fluid
source 42 may be powered with electricity and/or compressed fluid. In some
such embodiments,
the material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 may be
capable of
removing undesired materials from an environment, such as an industrial
environment, without
the risk of igniting combustible materials in the environment (or with a
reduced risk).
[0164] In some embodiments, various components may utilize fluid flows to
provide their
functionalities. To operate these components, the material extraction assembly
10 or material
conveyance assembly 11 may include the fluid source 42, which may be a mobile
fluid supply.
The fluid source 42 may be configured to supply pressurized or compressed
fluid to the vacuum
source 38 and/or the sound attenuation chamber 40. The fluid supplied may be
may be
pneumatically connected to the vacuum source 38 (e.g., to generate vacuums)
and/or the sound
attenuation chamber 40, for example, to refresh the filtration capacity of the
filter media 150.
[0165] To supply pressurized or compressed fluid, the fluid source 42 may
compress fluid and
store the compressed or pressurized fluid for future use. In some embodiments,
the fluid source
42 may include an air compressor, and the air compressor may be configured to
compress air from
58
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
the ambient environment to generate the compressed or pressurized fluid. The
fluid source 42 may
compress other fluids without departing from embodiments disclosed herein.
[0166] To limit or prevent combustion risk, in some embodiments, the fluid
source 42 may
compress fluid using electricity. The fluid source 42 may obtain the
electricity from any electricity
source. In some embodiments, the fluid source 42 may include one or more
batteries for providing
the electricity to the fluid source 42. In some embodiments, the fluid source
42 may include a
power cable and/or other componentry for obtaining electricity from another
source (e.g., from a
utility company or other large scale supplier, a solar setup, and/or or other
non-combustion-based
electricity producers, etc.).
[0167] Applicant has recognized that environments, such as industrial
environments, such as the
site illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, may require a high uptime by their
operators. As a result, the
time required to setup the material extraction assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly 11
may be a significant cost to the operators of the site. In some embodiments,
the material extraction
assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 disclosed herein may provide
for the efficient
setup, operation, and removal of the assembly in many environments, including
industrial
environments. In some embodiments, any of the components of the material
extraction assembly
or material conveyance assembly 11 may be placed or mounted on chassis
including trailers or
other types of high mobility structures to enable them to be efficiently
placed and oriented with
respect to, for example, a reaction vessel.
[0168] Applicant has recognized that environments, such the example
environment shown in
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, may have different requirements for material removal. For
example, different
industrial environments may have different quantities of undesired material
and/or undesired
material at different industrial environments may have different physical
properties. The material
59
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11 in accordance with
embodiments
disclosed herein may provide for rapid deployment of a material extraction
assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly 11 that is customized or tailored to meet the requirements
of each industrial
environment. As a result, different numbers of components may be deployed and
connected (e.g.,
pneumatically connected) in parallel and/or in series to provide desired
levels of vacuum strength
and/or desired storage capacities for undesired material.
[0169] For example, as shown in FIG. 15, in some embodiments, a material
extraction assembly
may include multiple material collectors 36 (e.g., vacuum boxes 48), vacuum
sources 38, sound
attenuation chambers 40, and/or fluid sources 42. For example, each material
collector 36 may be
pneumatically connected to a reaction vessel 14 via a divider 176 and manifold
178 through
conduits 180. The divider 176 may be a pneumatic splitter that establishes two
separate fluid flow
paths through the respective material collectors 36.
[0170] By pneumatically connecting both material collectors 36, for example,
to the source of the
material (e.g., the reaction vessel 14) in parallel, undesired material 16
from the source of the
material may be transferred to both material collectors 36 concurrently or
substantially
simultaneously. As a result, the material extraction assembly 10 may be
capable of removing
twice as much undesired material 16 before the material collectors 36 are
filled. The material
removal capacity of a material extraction assembly 10 in accordance with some
embodiments may
be scaled up (or down) as desired in this example manner to meet environment-
based requirements.
In such embodiments, any of the components may include any number of ports to
facilitate the
formation of multiple fluid flow paths. For example, as seen in FIG. 15, the
material collectors 36
may include four ports (e.g., two inlet ports and two vacuum ports). The
components shown in
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
FIG. 15 may include different numbers of ports without departing from
embodiments disclosed
herein.
[0171] Each material collector 36 may be pneumatically connected to two vacuum
sources 38
through hoses 182. By pneumatically connecting two vacuum sources 38 to a
single material
collector 36, the strength of the high-pressure vacuum in the material
collector 36 may be
increased. Consequently, a higher degree of suction may be applied to
undesired material 16 in
reaction vessel 14, thereby increasing the transfer rate of undesired material
16 from reaction
vessel 14 and allowing more difficult material to be transferred out of
reaction vessel 14. The
suction strength of the material extraction assembly 10 in accordance with
embodiments may be
scaled up (or down) as desired in this example manner to meet environment
requirements.
[0172] In some embodiments, each of the vacuum sources 38 pneumatically
connected to a
material collector 36 may be driven with fluid flow from a corresponding fluid
source 42 (e.g., a
mobile fluid supply). For example, the fluid sources 42 (e.g., gas supplies)
may be pneumatically
connected to corresponding vacuum sources 38 through conduits 184.
[0173] In some embodiments, each of the vacuum sources 38 pneumatically
connected to a
material collector 36 and/or suction manifold 44 may also exhaust through a
corresponding sound
attenuation chamber 40. For example, the vacuum sources 38 that exhaust
through a
corresponding sound attenuation chamber 40 may be positioned on a trailer
together to form a
mobile unit. In this manner, the material extraction assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly
11 may be quickly and efficiently deployed and scaled up (or down) as
desirable to meet
environment requirements.
[0174] To facilitate efficient reconfiguration of the material extraction
assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly 11, any of the pneumatic connections may be implemented
using quick
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
connect-disconnect connections and/or pneumatic isolators. The quick connect-
disconnect
connections may allow for any of the pneumatic connections to be quickly made
and removed.
The pneumatic isolators may automatically seal the material removal system
when a pneumatic
connection is disconnected. For example, pneumatic isolators may be positioned
between the
divider 176 and the material collectors 36. When one of conduits 180 is
disconnected from the
divider 176, the pneumatic isolator may automatically seal the opening in the
divider 176, to which
the disconnected conduit was connected. In this manner, the disconnection of a
conduit may not
impact the other fluid flow paths. For example, the fluid flow path between
the divider 176 and
the remaining connected material collector 36 (e.g., with the other conduit)
may not be impacted.
Quick connect-disconnect connections and/or pneumatic isolators may be used to
facilitate the
pneumatic reconfiguration of any of the fluidic topologies illustrated
throughout this application.
[0175] Applicant has recognized that environments similar to the example
illustrated in FIG. 1
may need to be filled with desired material after the undesired material 16
has been removed. For
example, the reaction vessel 14 may need to be refilled with catalyst, packing
materials such as
pall rings, or other materials after undesired material 16 is removed.
Assemblies, apparatuses,
systems, and methods similar to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 and
accordance with
embodiments disclosed herein may provide for rapid deployment of desired
materials in certain
environments.
[0176] An enlarged view of an embodiment similar to FIG. 2 to provide for the
rapid conveyance
and deployment of desired materials to a refinery apparatus is shown in FIG.
16. For example, a
material conveyance assembly 11 may include a receiver 186. The receiver 186
may be a physical
device to rapidly deploy desired materials into a reaction vessel 14. The
receiver 186 may be
positioned toward an upper portion of the reaction vessel 14 and may receive
desired materials
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
from a material source positioned below the receiver 186. The receiver 186 may
separate the
desired material from a high pressure fluid flow in which the desired material
is entrained and used
to carry it to the receiver 186. In some examples, the high pressure fluid
flow may be directed to
the receiver 186 with a conduit 188. The high pressure fluid flow may be
generated by, for
example, the one or more fluid sources 42.
[0177] The receiver 186 may be pneumatically connected to one or more conduits
or chutes 190
through which the desired material 192 is deployed to various locations in the
reaction vessel 14.
The one or more chutes 190 may extend from the receiver 186 at least partially
inside the reaction
vessel 14. Desired material 192 in the receiver 186 may be, for example,
pumped, gravity fed, or
otherwise directed through the one or more chutes 190 into the reaction vessel
14. The desired
material 192 may be deployed in one or more locations within the reaction
vessel 14. The chute
190 may include various sections which may be removed, blocked, or otherwise
separated from
the flow of desired material 192 as different zones are filled. By doing so,
the length of the conduit
190 may be adjusted to match each of the zones (or the heights of structures
in the respective
zones).
[0178] The desired material may take different forms. For example, in some
embodiments, the
desired material 192 may include new or recycled pall rings or other devices
to facilitate a reaction
in the reaction vessel 14. In some embodiments, the desired material 192 may
be a catalyst
material that was previously removed from the reaction vessel 14. The desired
material 192 may
be replacement catalyst or any other types of material without departing from
embodiments
disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the desired material 192 may be a
different type of
material that was not previously in the reaction vessel 14.
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0179] Some embodiments of the material extraction assembly 10 or material
conveyance
assembly 11 may include a number of components configured to cooperatively
operate to provide
its functionality. To orchestrate the operation of these components, in some
embodiments, the
operation of the material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance
assembly 11 may be
coordinated in an at least partially automated manner. For example, as
explained herein, any of
the components of the material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance
assembly 11 may
include a supervisory controller 81, which may coordinate operation of one or
more of the
components.
[0180] As shown in FIG. 17, the material extraction assembly 10 or material
conveyance assembly
11 may include one or more supervisory controllers 81, which may be in
communication with one
or more of the drive controller 78 associated with operation of one or more
material collectors, a
vacuum source controller 136 associated with operation of one or more vacuum
sources, and/or a
chamber controller 168 associated with controlling operation of one or more
sound attenuating
chambers 40. The aforementioned supervisory controller(s) and other
controllers may be in
communication with one another via a network 194. The network 194 may include
one or more
wired and/or wireless networks through which the supervisory controller(s) 81
and other
controllers may communicate.
[0181] FIG. 18A, FIG. 18B, FIG. 18C, and FIG. 18D are a block diagram of an
example method
1800 for extracting material from a source of the material, for example, any
one or more of the
example sources of material described herein, as well as others. The example
method 1800 is
illustrated as a collection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represent
a sequence of
operations. In some embodiments of the method 1800, one or more of the blocks
may be manually
and/or automatically executed. In the context of software, where applicable,
the blocks may
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represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or more computer-
readable storage
media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited
operations. Generally,
computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects,
components, data structures,
and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular data
types. The order in
which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a
limitation, and any number
of the described blocks may be combined in any order and/or in parallel to
implement the method.
[0182] FIGS. 18A through FIG. 18D are a block diagram of an example method
1800 for
extracting material from a source of the material, according to embodiments of
the disclosure. At
1802 (see FIG. 18A), the example method 1800 may include operating a fluid
source to supply
pressurized fluid, for example, as described herein.
[0183] The example method 1800, at 1804, may include supplying the pressurized
fluid to a
vacuum source configured to generate a vacuum flow using the pressurized
fluid, for example, as
described herein. In some embodiments, one or more conduits may be provided
between one or
more fluid sources and the vacuum generator to supply pressurized fluid from
the one or more
fluid sources to the vacuum source, for example, as described herein.
[0184] At 1806, the example method 1800, may include generating a vacuum flow
via the vacuum
source, for example, as described herein. For example, the vacuum source may
include a plurality
of vacuum generators configured to use the pressurized fluid to generate the
vacuum flow. In
some embodiments, the vacuum source may include two or more, three or more, or
four of more
vacuum generators. In some embodiments, one or more of the vacuum generators
may include a
venturi mechanism configured to use the pressurized fluid flow the generate
the vacuum flow.
[0185] The example method 1800, at 1808, may include determining whether a
vacuum pressure
of the vacuum flow is sufficient to extract the material from the source of
the material, for example,
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
as described herein. For example, pressure sensors and/or flow rate sensors
may be provided
upstream and/or downstream of the vacuum source, and a controller may receive
sensor signals
from the sensors and determine whether the vacuum pressure is sufficient. In
some embodiments,
the controller may be configured to compare the pressure and/or flow rate
determined based at
least in part of the sensor signals and compare the pressure and/or flow rate
to pressure and/or flow
rate information stored in memory (e.g., via a look-up table) for different
types of materials that
may be extracted. In some embodiments, an operator of the system may input,
for example, via a
user input device, the type of material being extracted, and the controller
may be configured to
determine the pressure and/or flow rate appropriate for extracting the type of
material input by the
operator. In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to
automatically determine the
type of material being extracted, for example, via infra-red sensors, image
sensors, optical sensors,
and/or laser sensors, such as LIDAR, and analytical models, such as, for
example,
machine-learning-trained analytical models. Other ways of determining
sufficient vacuum
pressure are contemplated.
[0186] If, at 1808, is determined that the vacuum pressure is not sufficient
to extract the material,
at 1810, the example method 1800 may include increasing one or more of a flow
rate of the
pressurized fluid supplied to the vacuum source or increasing the pressure of
the pressurized fluid
supplied to the vacuum source.
[0187] Thereafter, the example method 1800 may include returning to 1808 to
determine whether
the vacuum pressure of the vacuum flow is sufficient to extract the material
from the source of the
material.
[0188] If, at 1808, it is determined that the vacuum pressure of the vacuum
flow is sufficient to
extract the material from the source of the material, at 1812, the example
method 1800 may include
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determining whether the vacuum pressure is too high to efficiently extract the
material from the
source of material. This may be performed in a manner at least similar to the
example manner
described with respect to 1808.
[0189] If, at 1812, it is determined that the vacuum pressure is too high, at
1814, the example
method 1800 may include reducing one or more of a flow rate of the pressurized
fluid supplied to
the vacuum source or reducing the pressure of the pressurized fluid supplied
to the vacuum source.
[0190] Thereafter, the example method 1800 may include returning to 1808 to
determine whether
the vacuum pressure of the vacuum flow is sufficient to extract the material
from the source of the
material.
[0191] If, at 1812, it is determined that the vacuum pressure is not too high,
at 1816, the example
method 1800 may include drawing material from the material source into a
material collector via
the vacuum flow to collect extracted material from the material source, for
example, as described
herein. One or more manifolds and/or one or more conduits may be provided
between the source
of the material and the material collector to convey the extracted material to
the material collector,
for example, as described herein.
[0192] At 1818 (see FIG. 18B), the example method 1800 may include collecting
a major portion
of the extracted material in the material collector, for example, as described
herein.
[0193] The example method 1800, at 1820, may include determining whether the
material
collector has reached a first threshold amount of extracted material, for
example, as described
herein. In some embodiments, one or more sensors may be provided to generate
signals indicative
of the amount of extracted material in the material collector, for example, as
described herein. In
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some examples, a controller may be provided and configured to receive the
sensor signals, and
based at least in part on the sensor signals, determine whether the first
threshold has been met.
[0194] If, at 1820, it is determined that the material collector has reached
the first threshold
amount, at 1822, the example method 1800, may include operating a drive unit
connected to a
device in the material collector configured to distribute the extracted
material collected in the
material collector throughout the material collector, for example, as
described herein. For
example, the drive unit may be connected to an auger configured to rotate via
the drive unit and
redistribute at least some of the extracted material within the material
collector, for example, as
described herein.
[0195] At 1824, the example method 1800 may include determining whether the
material collector
has reached a second threshold amount of extracted material approaching
maximum capacity of
the material collector, for example, as described herein. In some embodiments,
as noted above at
1820, one or more sensors may be provided to generate signals indicative of
the amount of
extracted material in the material collector. In some examples, a controller
may be provided and
configured to receive the sensor signals, and based at least in part on the
sensor signals, determine
whether the second threshold has been met.
[0196] If, at 1824, it is determined that the material collector has reached
the second threshold
amount of extracted material, at 1826, the example method 1800 may include
causing the vacuum
flow through the material collector to stop. This may include, for example,
closing a valve in the
conduit between the source of the material and the material collector to
prevent the extracted
material from continuing to flow into the material collector. In some
embodiments, this may
include ceasing the method 1800 until, for example, the material collector may
be emptied or the
conduit may be connected to a different material collector. In some
embodiments, the conduit
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
connecting the material collector to the source of the material may be
disconnected from the source
of the material and another material collector may be connected to the
conduit. Thereafter, the
method 1800 may be restarted. The full material collector may be taken to a
location for disposal
of the extracted material, recycling of the extracted material, or remediation
of the extracted
material.
[0197] If, at 1824, it is determined that the material collector has not
reached the second threshold
amount of extracted material approaching maximum capacity of the material
collector, at 1828,
the example method 1800 may include conveying a minor portion of the extracted
material to a
sound attenuation chamber via the vacuum flow, for example, as described
herein. For example,
a conduit may be provided between the material collector and the sound
attenuation chamber
providing a flow path for the vacuum flow to convey the minor portion of the
material (e.g.,
material not trapped in the material collector) to the sound attenuation
chamber. In some
embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber of the vacuum source may be
connected to one
another (e.g., directly connected to one another), for example, to form a
unitary vacuum and
attenuation module, for example, as described herein.
[0198] At 1830, the example method 1800 may include attenuating, via the sound
attenuation
chamber, sound generated by the vacuum flow and/or generation of the vacuum
flow, for example,
as described herein.
[0199] The example method 1800, at 1832, may include passing the vacuum flow
including the
minor portion of the extracted material through filter media associated with
the sound attenuation
chamber (e.g., at least partially enclosed within the sound attenuation
chamber) to capture at least
a portion of the minor portion of extracted material in the filter media, for
example, as described
herein.
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[0200] At 1834 (see FIG. 18C), the example method 1800 may include determining
whether flow
of the vacuum flow through the filter media may be at least partially impeded
by build-up of the
extracted material in the filter media. This may be determined, for example,
by determining
whether a pressure change associated with the vacuum flow between opposite
sides of the filter
media has reached a threshold level indicative of the vacuum flow through the
filter media being
at least a partially impeded by a build-up of the extracted material in the
filter media. Other ways
of determining whether the vacuum flow through the filter media is at least a
partially impeded by
a build-up of the extracted material in the filter media are contemplated.
[0201] If, at 1834, it is determined that the flow of the vacuum flow through
the filter media may
be at least partially impeded by build-up of the extracted material in the
filter media, at 1836, the
example method 1800 may include generating jets of fluid flow directed toward
the filter media to
dislodge at least a portion of the extracted material from the filter media,
for example, as described
herein. In some embodiments, the example method 1800 may include periodically
generating the
jets of fluid flow directed toward the filter media instead of, or in addition
to, determining whether
flow of the vacuum flow through the filter media may be at least partially
impeded by build-up of
the extracted material in the filter media. For example, the jets of fluid
flow directed toward the
filter media may be initiated based on parameters, such as, for example, the
amount of time the
material extraction assembly has been operating, the pressure level and/or
flow rate of the vacuum
flow, and/or the type of material being extracted from the material source.
One of more of these
parameters may be determined based at least in part on, for example, sensor
signals, a controller,
and/or operator input.
[0202] At 1838, the example method 1800 may include collecting the dislodged
extracted material
in an attenuation housing of the sound attenuation chamber, for example, as
described herein. For
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
example, the jets of fluid, when generated may cause at least a portion of the
extracted material
trapped in the filter media to fall from the filter media into the attenuation
housing for collection.
[0203] The example method 1800, at 1840, may include determining whether the
attenuation
housing has reached a first threshold amount of extracted material, for
example, as described
herein. This may be performed in a manner at least similar to the example
manner described with
respect to 1820 above.
[0204] If, at 1840, it is determined that the attenuation housing has reached
the first threshold
amount, at 1842, the example method 1800, may include operating a drive unit
connected to a
device in the attenuation housing configured to distribute the extracted
material collected in the
attenuation housing throughout the attenuation housing, for example, as
described herein. For
example, this may be performed in a manner at least similar to the manner
described with respect
to 1822 above.
[0205] At 1844, the example method 1800 may include determining whether the
attenuation
housing has reached a second threshold amount of extracted material, for
example, as described
herein. This may be performed in a manner at least similar to the example
manner described with
respect to 1824 above.
[0206] If, at 1844, it is determined that the second threshold has been
reached, the example method
1800 may include, at 1846 (see FIG. 18D), conveying at least a portion of the
extracted material
collected in the attenuation housing to a material collector, for example, as
described herein. For
example, a discharge valve in the attenuation housing may be opened, and the
vacuum flow may
be used to convey at least a portion of the extracted material collected in
the attenuation housing
to a material collector connected to the attenuation housing via a conduit.
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[0207] At 1848, the example method 1800 may include returning to, for example,
1808 and
continuing the material extraction operation until it has been completed.
[0208] It should be appreciated that at least some subject matter presented
herein may be
implemented as a computer process, a computer-controlled apparatus, a
computing system, or an
article of manufacture, such as a computer-readable storage medium. While the
subject matter
described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that
execute on one or
more computing devices, those skilled in the art will recognize that other
implementations may be
performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally,
program modules
include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of
structures that perform
particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
[0209] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that aspects of the
subject matter described
herein may be practiced on or in conjunction with other computer system
configurations beyond
those described herein, including multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based
or programmable
consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, handheld computers,
mobile
telephone devices, tablet computing devices, special-purposed hardware
devices, network
appliances, and the like
[0210] FIG. 19A, FIG. 19B, FIG. 19C, and FIG. 19D are a block diagram of an
example method
1900 for extracting pall rings from a refinery apparatus, according to
embodiments of the
disclosure. The pall rings may be, for example, used pall rings in a reactor
vessel, which have
been at least partially covered with material that may reduce the
effectiveness of the pall rings
during operations associated with the reactor vessel. At least some steps for
the generation of a
vacuum flow and extraction of the pall rings may be at least similar to those
described in
method 1800. The example method 1900 is illustrated as a collection of blocks
in a logical flow
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
graph, which represent a sequence of operations. In some embodiments of the
method 1900, one
or more of the blocks may be manually and/or automatically executed. In the
context of software,
where applicable, the blocks may represent computer-executable instructions
stored on one or
more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more
processors, perform
the recited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions include
routines, programs,
objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular
functions or implement
particular data types. The order in which the operations are described is not
intended to be
construed as a limitation, and any number of the described blocks may be
combined in any order
and/or in parallel to implement the method.
[0211] At 1902 (see FIG. 19A), the example method 1900 may include operating a
fluid source to
supply pressurized fluid, and at 1904 supplying the pressurized fluid to a
vacuum source
configured to generate a vacuum flow using the pressurized fluid. At 1906 the
vacuum flow is
generated. The vacuum source may include a plurality of vacuum generators, and
the plurality of
vacuum generators may include venturi mechanisms configured to use the
pressurized fluid flow
the generate the vacuum flow as described herein.
[0212] The example method 1900, at 1908 and 1912, may include determining
whether a vacuum
pressure of the vacuum flow is sufficient or too high to efficiently extract
the pall rings from the
refinery apparatus, for example, as described herein. For example, pressure
sensors and/or flow
rate sensors may be provided and a controller may receive sensor signals from
the sensors and
determine whether the vacuum pressure is sufficient. In some embodiments, an
operator of the
system may specify, for example, via a user input device, that the extracted
type of material is pall
rings of a certain size and/or configuration. If, at 1908, is determined that
the vacuum pressure is
not sufficient to extract the material, at 1910, the example method 1900 may
include increasing
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
one or more of a flow rate or a pressure of the pressurized fluid supplied to
the vacuum source. If,
at 1912, it is determined that the vacuum pressure is too high, at 1914, the
example method 1900
may include reducing one or more of a flow rate or a pressure of the
pressurized fluid supplied to
the vacuum source. After each of 1910 and 1914, the method 1900 may return to
1908 to determine
whether the vacuum pressure of the vacuum flow within the desired bounds.
[0213] If, after 1912, it is determined that the vacuum pressure lies within
the desired range, the
example method 1900 may include drawing the pall rings from the refinery
apparatus into a
material collector via the vacuum flow to collect extracted pall rings from
reactor vessel, for
example, as described herein. One or more manifolds and/or one or more
conduits may be
provided to convey the extracted pall rings to the material collector.
[0214] At 1918 (see FIG. 19B), the example method 1900 may include collecting
a major portion
of the extracted pall rings in the material collector, for example, as
described herein.
[0215] The example method 1900, at 1920, may include determining whether the
material
collector has reached a first threshold amount of extracted pall rings, for
example, as described
herein. In some embodiments, one or more sensors and a controller may be
provided to determine
whether the first threshold has been met.
[0216] If, at 1920, it is determined that the material collector has reached
the first threshold amount
of pall rings, at 1922, the example method 1900, may include operating a drive
unit connected to
a device in the material collector configured to distribute the extracted pall
rings in the material
collector throughout the material collector, for example, as described herein.
[0217] At 1924, the example method 1900 may include determining whether the
material collector
has reached a second threshold amount of extracted pall rings approaching
maximum capacity of
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the material collector, for example, as described herein. In some embodiments,
as noted above at
1920, one or more sensors and a controller may be provided to determine
whether the first
threshold has been met.
[0218] If, at 1924, it is determined that the material collector has reached
the second threshold
amount of pall rings, at 1926, the example method 1900 may include causing the
vacuum flow
through the material collector to stop, for example, as described herein. In
some embodiments,
this may include ceasing the method 1900 until, for example, the material
collector may be emptied
or the conduit may be connected to a different material collector. In some
embodiments, the
conduit connecting the material collector to the reactor vessel may be
disconnected from the source
of the material and another material collector may be connected to the
conduit. Thereafter, the
method 1900 may be restarted. The full material collector may be taken to a
location for disposal,
recycling, or remediation of the extracted pall rings.
[0219] If, at 1924, it is determined that the material collector has not
reached the second threshold
amount of extracted pall rings approaching maximum capacity of the material
collector, at 1928,
the example method 1900 may include conveying a minor portion of the extracted
pall rings to a
sound attenuation chamber via the vacuum flow, for example, as described
herein. In some
embodiments, the sound attenuation chamber of the vacuum source may be
connected to one
another to form a unitary vacuum and attenuation module, for example, as
described herein.
[0220] At 1930, the example method 1900 may include attenuating, via the sound
attenuation
chamber, sound generated by the vacuum flow and/or generation of the vacuum
flow, and at 1932
may include passing the vacuum flow including the minor portion of the
extracted pall rings
through filter media associated with the sound attenuation chamber to capture
at least a portion of
the extracted pall rings in the filter media, for example, as described
herein.
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
[0221] At 1934 (see FIG. 19C), the example method 1900 may include determining
whether flow
of the vacuum flow through the filter media may be at least partially impeded
by build-up of the
extracted pall rings in the filter media. If it is determined that the flow of
the vacuum flow through
the filter media may be at least partially impeded, 1936 may include
generating jets of fluid flow
directed toward the filter media to dislodge at least a portion of the
extracted pall rings from the
filter media, as described herein.
[0222] At 1938, the example method 1900 may include collecting the dislodged
extracted pall
rings in an attenuation housing of the sound attenuation chamber, and at 1940,
may include
determining whether the attenuation housing has reached a first threshold
amount of extracted pall
rings similar to the example manner described with respect to 1920 above, for
example, as
described herein. If it is determined that the attenuation housing has reached
the first threshold
amount, 1942 may include operating a drive unit connected to a device in the
attenuation housing
configured to distribute the extracted pall rings throughout the attenuation
housing, as described
herein. For example, this may be performed in a manner at least similar to the
manner described
with respect to 1922 above.
[0223] At 1944, the example method 1900 may include determining whether the
attenuation
housing has reached a second threshold amount of extracted pall rings, for
example, in a manner
described with respect to 1924 above. If, at 1944, it is determined that the
second threshold has
been reached, at 1946 (see FIG. 19D) the method may include conveying at least
a portion of the
extracted pall rings collected in the attenuation housing to a material
collector, for example, as
described herein. At 1948, the example method 1900 may include returning to,
for example, 1908
and continuing the pall ring extraction operation until it has been completed.
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[0224] Similar to the example method described in 1800, it should be
appreciated that at least
some subject matter presented herein in method 1900 may be implemented as a
computer process,
a computer-controlled apparatus, a computing system, or an article of
manufacture. Additionally,
those skilled in the art will also appreciate that aspects of the subject
matter described herein may
be practiced on or in conjunction with other computer system configurations
beyond those
described herein.
[0225] FIG. 20A, FIG. 20B, FIG. 20C, and FIG. 20D are a block diagram of an
example method
2000 for conveying material from a material source to an elevated position and
depositing the
material into a refinery apparatus, according to embodiments of the
disclosure. The material may
be, for example, new, regenerated, and/or recycled catalyst, pall rings,
and/or other packing
material for a reaction vessel. Other types of materials are contemplated,
such as, for example,
beads, balls, pellets, and/or bricks of material. The steps for the generation
of a vacuum flow and
extraction of the material from the material source may be at least similar to
those described in
methods 1800 and 1900 above. The example method 2000 is illustrated as a
collection of blocks
in a logical flow graph, which represent a sequence of operations. In some
embodiments of the
method 2000, one or more of the blocks may be manually and/or automatically
executed. In the
context of software, where applicable, the blocks may represent computer-
executable instructions
stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by
one or more
processors, perform the recited operations. Generally, computer-executable
instructions include
routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that
perform particular
functions or implement particular data types. The order in which the
operations are described is
not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described
blocks may be
combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement the method.
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[0226] In FIG. 20A, at 2002, the example method 2000 may include operating a
fluid source to
supply pressurized fluid, and at 2004, supplying the pressurized fluid to a
vacuum source
configured to generate, at 2006, a vacuum flow.
[0227] The example method 2000, at 2008 and 2012, may include determining
whether a vacuum
pressure of the vacuum flow is sufficient or too high to efficiently draw the
material from the
material source to an elevated position (e.g., above the refinery apparatus)
in a manner similar to
those described herein. If, at 2008 and 2012, is determined that the vacuum
pressure is not
sufficient or too high, the example method 2000 may include at 2010 and 2014
adjusting one or
more of a flow rate or a pressure of the pressurized fluid supplied to the
vacuum source. After
each of 2010 and 2014, the method 2000 may return to 2008 to determine whether
the vacuum
pressure of the vacuum flow within the desired range for conveying the
material to the elevated
position.
[0228] If, after 2012, it is determined that the vacuum pressure lies within
the desired range, the
example method 1900 may include drawing the material from the material source
to the elevated
position through a conveyance manifold and into a separator housing, for
example, as described
herein. The separator housing may have, for example, a diverter to separate
the conveyed material
from the vacuum flow. Once in the separator housing, at 2018 (see FIG. 20B),
the example method
2000 may include depositing at least a portion of the extracted material in
the refinery apparatus,
for example, as described herein. The flow of material may pass, for example,
through a material
discharge outlet and may be directed within the interior of the refinery
apparatus by a conveyance
chute extending at least partially within the refinery apparatus.
[0229] The example method 2000, at 2020, may include dislodging any material
collected, for
example, as described herein. In some embodiments, a vibrating apparatus or
other suitable device
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and/or method may be used to agitate and dislodge the material from the
separator housing,
material discharge outlet, and/or other nearby components, for example, as
described herein.
[0230] At 2022, the example method 2000, may include conveying a portion of
the material not
directed into the refinery apparatus to a sound attenuation chamber using the
vacuum flow, and, at
2024, using the sound attenuation chamber to attenuate the sound generated by
the vacuum flow,
and/or the sound produced during the generation of the vacuum flow. The
method, at 2026, may
thereafter include, for example, passing the vacuum flow including the portion
of the conveyed
material through filter media associated with the sound attenuation chamber to
capture at least a
portion of the conveyed material in the filter media, for example, as
described herein.
[0231] At 2028 (see FIG. 20C), the example method 2000 may include determining
whether flow
of the vacuum flow through the filter media may be at least partially impeded
by build-up of the
conveyed material in the filter media. If it is determined that the flow of
the vacuum flow through
the filter media may be at least partially impeded, at 2030, the example
method 2000 may include
generating jets of fluid flow directed toward the filter media to dislodge at
least a portion of the
conveyed material from the filter media, for example, as described herein.
[0232] At 2032, the example method 2000 may include collecting the dislodged
conveyed material
in an attenuation housing of the sound attenuation chamber, and, at 2034, may
include determining
whether the attenuation housing has reached a first threshold amount of
conveyed material similar
to the example manner described with respect to 1920 of the method 1900 above.
If it is
determined that the attenuation housing has reached the first threshold
amount, at 2036, the
example method 2000 may include conveying at least a portion of the material
collected in the
attenuation housing to a material collector, for example, as described herein.
The material
collected in the material collector thereafter may be, for example, disposed,
regenerated, recycled,
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CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
and/or returned to the material source. At 2038, the example method 2000 may
include returning
to, for example, 2008, and continuing to draw material until the material
conveyance operation has
been completed.
[0233] FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of an example material controller 200
configured to at least
partially control a material extraction assembly 10 and/or a material
conveyance assembly 11,
according to embodiments of the disclosure. The material controller 200 may
include one or more
of the controllers described herein. The material controller 200 may include
one or more
processor(s) 2100 configured to execute certain operational aspects associated
with implementing
certain systems and methods described herein. The processor(s) 2100 may
communicate with a
memory 2102. The processor(s) 2100 may be implemented and operated using
appropriate
hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Software or firmware
implementations
may include computer-executable or machine-executable instructions written in
any suitable
programming language to perform the various functions described. In some
examples, instructions
associated with a function block language may be stored in the memory 2102 and
executed by the
processor(s) 2100.
[0234] The memory 2102 may be used to store program instructions that are
loadable and
executable by the processor(s) 2100, as well as to store data generated during
the execution of
these programs. Depending on the configuration and type of the material
controller 200, the
memory 2102 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/or non-
volatile (such
as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.). In some examples, the memory
devices may
include additional removable storage 2104 and/or non-removable storage 2106
including, but not
limited to, magnetic storage, optical disks, and/or tape storage. The disk
drives and their associated
computer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage of computer-readable
instructions,
CA 03169942 2022- 8- 29
data structures, program modules, and other data for the devices. In some
implementations, the
memory 2102 may include multiple different types of memory, such as static
random access
memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or ROM.
[0235] The memory 2102, the removable storage 2104, and the non-removable
storage 1906 are
all examples of computer-readable storage media. For example, computer-
readable storage media
may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media
implemented in any
method or technology for storage of information, such as computer-readable
instructions, data
structures, program modules, or other data. Additional types of computer
storage media that may
be present may include, but are not limited to, programmable random access
memory (PRAM),
SRAM, DRAM, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
(EEPROM),
flash memory, or other memory technology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-
ROM), digital
versatile discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic
tapes, magnetic disk
storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium, which may be
used to store the
desired information and which may be accessed by the devices. Combinations of
any of the above
should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
[0236] The material controller 200 may also include one or more communication
connection(s)
2108 that may facilitate a control device (not shown) to communicate with
devices or equipment
capable of communicating with the material controller 200. The material
controller 200 may also
include a computer system (not shown). Connections may also be established via
various data
communication channels or ports, such as USB or COM ports to receive cables
connecting the
material controller 200 to various other devices on a network. In some
examples, the material
controller 200 may include Ethernet drivers that enable the material
controller 200 to communicate
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with other devices on the network. According to various examples,
communication connections
2108 may be established via a wired and/or wireless connection on the network.
[0237] The material controller 200 may also include one or more input devices
2110, such as a
keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, gesture input device, and/or touch
input device. It may
further include one or more output devices 2112, such as a display, printer,
and/or speakers. In
some examples, computer-readable communication media may include computer-
readable
instructions, program modules, or other data transmitted within a data signal,
such as a carrier
wave or other transmission. As used herein, however, computer-readable storage
media may not
include computer-readable communication media.
[0238] Turning to the contents of the memory 2102, the memory 2102 may
include, but is not
limited to, an operating system (OS) 2114 and one or more application programs
or services for
implementing the features and embodiments disclosed herein. Such applications
or services may
include remote terminal units 2116 for executing certain systems and methods
for controlling
operation of the material extraction assembly 10 or material conveyance
assembly 11 (e.g., semi-
or full-autonomously controlling operation of the assembly), for example, upon
receipt of one or
more control signals generated by the material controller 200. In some
embodiments, one or more
remote terminal unit(s) 2116 may be located on one or more components of the
material extraction
assembly 10 or material conveyance assembly 11. The remote terminal unit(s)
2116 may reside
in the memory 2102 or may be independent of the material controller 200. In
some examples, the
remote terminal unit(s) 2116 may be implemented by software that may be
provided in
configurable control block language and may be stored in non-volatile memory.
When executed
by the processor(s) 2100, the remote terminal unit(s) 2116 may implement the
various
functionalities and features associated with the material controller 200
described herein.
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[0239] As desired, embodiments of the disclosure may include a material
controller 200 with more
or fewer components than are illustrated in FIG. 21. Additionally, certain
components of the
example material controller 200 shown in FIG. 21 may be combined in various
embodiments of
the disclosure. The material controller 200 of FIG. 21 is provided by way of
example only.
[0240] References are made to block diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses,
and computer
program products according to example embodiments. It will be understood that
at least some of
the blocks of the block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block
diagrams, may be
implemented at least partially by computer program instructions. These
computer program
instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, special
purpose hardware-based computer, or other programmable data processing
apparatus to produce a
machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other
programmable data
processing apparatus create means for implementing the functionality of at
least some of the blocks
of the block diagrams, or combinations of blocks in the block diagrams
discussed.
[0241] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-
transitory computer-
readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data
processing apparatus to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the
computer-readable memory
produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement
the function
specified in the block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also
be loaded onto a
computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of
operational steps
to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a
computer
implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or
other
programmable apparatus provide task, acts, actions, or operations for
implementing the functions
specified in the block or blocks.
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[0242] One or more components of the systems and one or more elements of the
methods
described herein may be implemented through an application program running on
an operating
system of a computer. They may also be practiced with other computer system
configurations,
including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or
programmable
consumer electronics, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like.
[0243] Application programs that are components of the systems and methods
described herein
may include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that may
implement certain
abstract data types and perform certain tasks or actions. In a distributed
computing environment,
the application program (in whole or in part) may be located in local memory
or in other storage.
In addition, or alternatively, the application program (in whole or in part)
may be located in remote
memory or in storage to allow for circumstances where tasks may be performed
by remote
processing devices linked through a communications network.
[0244] Having now described some illustrative embodiments of the disclosure,
it should be
apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative
and not limiting, having
been presented by way of example only. Numerous modifications and other
embodiments are
within the scope of one of ordinary skill in the art and are contemplated as
falling within the scope
of the disclosure. In particular, although many of the examples presented
herein involve specific
combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that
those acts and those
elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives.
Those skilled in the
art should appreciate that the parameters and configurations described herein
are exemplary and
that actual parameters and/or configurations will depend on the specific
application in which the
systems, methods, and/or aspects or techniques of the disclosure are used.
Those skilled in the art
should also recognize or be able to ascertain, using no more than routine
experimentation,
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equivalents to the specific embodiments of the disclosure. It is, therefore,
to be understood that
the embodiments described herein are presented by way of example only and
that, within the scope
of any appended claims and equivalents thereto, the disclosure may be
practiced other than as
specifically described.
[0245] Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure shall be construed to
cover various
modifications, combinations, additions, alterations, etc., above and to the
above-described
embodiments, which shall be considered to be within the scope of this
disclosure. Accordingly,
various features and characteristics as discussed herein may be selectively
interchanged and
applied to other illustrated and non-illustrated embodiment, and numerous
variations,
modifications, and additions further may be made thereto without departing
from the spirit and
scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.
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