Patent Document ID: 10065812
Application ID: 15437158
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. An oilfield material reservoir, comprising: a body, the body having an upper end, a lower end, a sidewall extending between the upper end and the lower end, the sidewall defining a recess within the body, an opening defined by the upper end, and a first orifice defined by the lower end; a metering gate connected to the body at the lower end, the metering gate comprising a base having a second orifice and a knife gate connected to the base, the knife gate configured to slidably cover the second orifice, wherein the second orifice overlaps with the first orifice; and a control system comprising an actuator and a computer, the actuator adapted to move the knife gate relative to the second orifice, wherein the actuator is controlled by the computer controlling a discharge rate of an oilfield material by adjusting the knife gate in accordance with an equation: Y = L ⁡ ( B - A ) _ 2 ⁢ ( X / L ) 2 + LA ⁡ ( X / L ) ( Equation ⁢ ⁢ I ) wherein: Y represents an opening area of the metering gate; L represents a height of the second orifice of the metering gate; A represents a top length of the second orifice of the metering gate; B represents a bottom length of the second orifice of the metering gate; and X represents a height of the opening area of the metering gate, and wherein logic for the equation is stored on the computer.