Patent ID: 9651481
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: B01D,E21B,G01N,G01V

Claim:
1. An apparatus for liberating gases from drilling fluid, the apparatus comprising: a sample enclosure having a liquid inlet and a gas sample outlet; an agitator disposed within the sample enclosure and configured to agitate drilling fluid located within the sample enclosure to liberate gases entrained in the drilling fluid so that the gases can exit through the gas sample outlet; a brushless, DC motor rotatably coupled to the agitator to power the agitator; a motor cover covering at least a portion of the brushless, DC motor and an explosion proof seal secured to the motor cover, the explosion proof seal permitting electrical connections to be made to the DC motor; wherein the agitator comprises a shaft having a mixing portion shaped to facilitate agitation of the drilling fluid, and wherein the brushless DC motor comprises a stator and a rotor directly coupled to the shaft and rotatable relative to the stator in order to rotate the shaft; further comprising a sealing portion disposed around the shaft and between the DC motor and the sample enclosure, the sealing portion comprising a first sealing element configured to prevent solid particulates from entering the brushless DC motor and a second sealing element configured to prevent liquid from entering the brushless DC motor, wherein the first sealing element is nearer to the sample enclosure than the second sealing element, further comprising a flame path comprising a gap between the shaft and the sealing portion, the flame path acting to prevent combustible gases outside of the DC motor from igniting in the event that an explosion occurs within the DC motor.