Patent ID: 7909092

Claim:
A desander for positioning downhole for separating a formation fluid from other components of a downhole fluid mixture prior to pumping the formation fluid to the surface, the tool comprising: a generally tubular desander body having a desander body axis and an upper end adapted for a connection to a production tubing string, the desander body having one or more fluid inlets positioned circumferentially about the desander body for receiving the fluid mixture; a generally sleeve-shaped vortex body positioned within a desander body, the vortex body having a frustoconical interior surface with a vortex body axis substantially aligned with the desander body axis and containing one or more substantially tangential inlet ports for imparting a vortex flow to the fluid within the vortex body, the vortex body having a lower end with a reduced cross-sectional flow area compared to the flow area of the vortex body adjacent the one or more fluid inlets; and the lower end of the vortex body positioned below the one or more inlet ports having a discharge port, such that solid particles pass through the discharge port in the lower end of the vortex body, and formation fluids flow upward through an upper end of the vortex body and into a production tubing string.