Patent ID: 6391094
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: B01D,E21B

Abstract:
An apparatus used for removing gas from drilling mud from natural gas and oil well-bores, comprising:a hollow cylindrical reaction vessel defining a chamber, the vessel having a dome-shaped top end and a conical bottom end; a flare tube extending from the top end of said vessel for exhausting gas from said vessel; at least one inlet tube extending through the bottom end of said vessel, the inlet tube extending upward in said vessel and terminating in an open discharge end having a funnel-shaped flange; a set of rotatable helical contact blades disposed immediately above the discharge end of said inlet tube; a set of blower blades mounted above said helical blades, the blower blades rotating when said helical blades rotate in order to create a vacuum to exhaust gas from said vessel through said flare tube; a set of conical trays attached to said vessel and said inlet tube; a truncated cone disposed at the bottom end of said chamber about said inlet tube, and defining a liquid trap and partial vacuum for preventing air from entering the bottom end of said vessel; and a discharge tube concentric with and disposed around said inlet tube to define an annular pathway, the discharge tube extending into and spaced apart from said truncated cone; wherein drilling mud having gas entrained therein enters the inlet tube and is discharged radially against said helical blades, causing said helical blades and said blower blades to rotate and form a vacuum for exhausting gases through said flare tube, the drilling mud falling successively in a laminar flow on said conical trays to release the entrained gas, the cleaned drilling mud flowing into the truncated cone and through the annular pathway, being discharged from said vessel through said discharge tube.