Patent ID: 7080960

Claim:
An apparatus for transporting solid waste drill cuttings material produced in the drilling of an oil or gas well, said solid waste drill cuttings material in a stream produced by separation of said material from a mixture of said material with drilling fluid, the apparatus comprising a waste supply apparatus, a variable rate screw feeder to transport said solid waste drill cuttings material from the waste supply apparatus to a pneumatic conveying apparatus, said screw feeder having variable positive rotation, said pneumatic conveying apparatus having a tube within which said solid waste drill cuttings material is transferred from the feeder to a downstream waste collector, at least one blockage sensing device in said tube, control apparatus for controlling feed rate of the feeder, the control apparatus including electronic data processing apparatus to process data output from the blockage sensing device for controlling the rate of the feeder feeding said solid waste drill cuttings material to the pneumatic conveying apparatus.