Patent Application
20200309114
The present disclosure relates to fluid pumps, and more particularly to a fluid pump employing a poppet valve having a construction which effectively senses a condition where fluid flow through the valve has ceased and primarily air is flowing past the poppet valve.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Poppet valves are frequently used in fluid pumps where pressurized air is the medium used to force fluid which has entered a fluid inlet of the pump. The pressurized air is used to force the collected fluid outwardly through a fluid discharge port of the pump, during which time the poppet valve is lifted off of its seat to allow fluid to flow past it toward the fluid discharge port. Typically a float may be used to sense when the fluid level in the pump has dropped to a lower predetermined limit, at which time the pressurized air signal is turned off. At this point the poppet valve falls back onto a valve seat used in a pump housing through the force of gravity. Thus, the poppet valve controls fluid flow so that fluid can only flow in one direction (i.e., outwardly through the fluid discharge port) each time the pump is cycled through a fluid discharge operation. As the pump is re-filling with fluid the pressurized air signal is exhausted until the float indicated that a predetermined upper fluid level is reached within the pump inlet chamber, and then the above cycle is repeated. The assignee of the present disclosure is a leader in the manufacture of such types of fluid pumps.
These types of fluid pumps are often used in pumping various types of fluids (e.g., hydrocarbons, water, etc.) because no electric signal needs to be sent to the pump to achieve intermittent cycling of the pump as needed to empty the fluid collecting within the pump. However, the different types of fluids that such pumps are required to pump often can lead to contaminants being entrained in the pumped fluid, which contaminants can eventually collect on interior pump walls and interfere with the free flow of fluids through the pump and/or proper operation of the poppet valve.
With such pumps as described above, it is also desirable to be to detect, as quickly as possible, when primarily air begins flowing past the discharge poppet valve during a fluid discharge cycle. This is because it is desirable to limit the amount of air that is directed into the fluid discharge line.
In one aspect the present disclosure relates to a pneumatically driven fluid pump apparatus. The apparatus may comprise an outer pump housing for collecting liquid to be pumped, and a valve assembly in communication with liquid admitted through an inlet end of the outer pump housing and collecting within the outer pump housing. The valve assembly may include a housing assembly and a poppet valve assembly disposed within the housing assembly to act as a one-way check valve when pumping collected liquid out from the outer pump housing. The poppet valve assembly may include a poppet valve component including a relief area that helps to depressurize an interior area of the valve assembly, to facilitate rapid movement of the poppet valve element from an open position within the housing assembly toward a closed position within the housing assembly, when only a pressurized fluid flow being used to eject the collected liquid is flowing past the poppet valve component. In another aspect the present disclosure relates to a pneumatically driven fluid pump apparatus. The apparatus may comprise an outer pump housing for collecting liquid to be pumped, and a valve assembly in communication with the liquid admitted through an inlet end of the outer pump housing and collecting within the outer pump housing. The valve assembly may include a housing assembly and a poppet valve assembly disposed within the housing assembly to act as a one-way check valve when pumping collected liquid out from the outer pump housing. The poppet valve assembly may include a poppet valve component including a sealing portion and at least one relief area spaced apart from the sealing portion, downstream from the sealing portion relative to a direction of flow of the collected liquid through the valve assembly. The at least one relief area helps to depressurize an interior area of the valve assembly, to thus facilitate rapid movement of the poppet valve element from an open position within the housing assembly toward a closed position within the housing assembly, when only a pressurized fluid flow being used to eject the collected liquid is flowing past the poppet valve component.
In still another aspect the present disclosure relates to a pneumatically driven fluid pump apparatus. The apparatus may comprise an outer pump housing for collecting liquid to be pumped. A valve assembly may be included which is in communication with liquid admitted through an inlet end of the outer pump housing and collecting within the outer pump housing. The valve assembly may include a housing assembly and a poppet valve assembly disposed within the housing assembly to act as a one-way check valve when pumping collected liquid out from the outer pump housing. The poppet valve assembly may include a poppet valve component having a sealing portion at one end thereof. The housing assembly may include a first ring sealing surface and a second ring sealing surface spaced apart from the first ring sealing surface, only the first ring sealing surface making contact with the poppet valve component when the poppet valve component is in the closed position and has not experienced any appreciable wear, and then only the second ring sealing surface making contact with the poppet valve component after a wear period in which a shape of a sealing portion of the poppet valve component is altered due to wear.
In still another aspect the present disclosure relates to a method for controlling a pneumatically actuated pump. The method may include sensing a predetermined maximum level of fluid which has collected within a housing of the pump. A controller may be used to actuate a pressurized air supply to begin applying pressurized air to the pump housing to begin lifting and ejecting the fluid collected within the pump housing outwardly past a poppet valve component of a poppet valve system. The method may further include using a first poppet valve component position sensor in communication with the electronic controller to detect when the poppet valve component has initially lifted off of a sealing surface to a fully lifted position, to indicate that a discharge of fluid has begun, and to supply a first corresponding signal to the electronic controller. The method may further include using a second poppet valve component position sensor to sense when the poppet valve component has just begun to descend from the fully lifted position. The method may involve controlling the application of the pressurized air signal to the pump in an iterative process until a total pump cycle time is achieved during which descending movement of the poppet valve component from the fully lifted position is not detected while the pressurized air is being applied to the pump.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
Referring to
Referring to
With further reference to
Referring briefly to
As days and months of use go by, the contact area will slowly grow in size to a wider sealing surface. This larger sealing surface will eventually reshape (i.e., wear) the poppet valve component 34 from a cylindrical cone to what looks more like a mushroom shape. This change in shape is undesirable as it allows for water leakage around the poppet valve component 34 back into the interior of the pump outer housing 14. With a conventional style poppet valve system, once this stage of wear is reached, the pump will fail as the ejected water column above the poppet valve will slowly drain back into the pump interior housing. This failure typically requires that the poppet valve be replaced.
The dual sealing ring surfaces 54a and 54b provide a significantly longer service life for the pump 10. The initial ring sealing surface 54a is formed on the inside wall portion 56 to make contact with the poppet valve component 34 during a phase when the pump 10 is new. As the initial ring sealing surface 54a “mushrooms” and wears down over time, the displacement of material from the initial ring sealing surface 54a allows the secondary ring sealing surface 54b to then be presented to form a surface where a positive, line contact engagement can be made with the poppet valve component 34.
The time period between when the initial ring sealing surface 54a wears down to the point that the secondary ring sealing surface 54b starts to make contact with the poppet valve component 34 may vary significantly depending on a number of factors including how often the pump 10 cycles on and off, the type of fluid(s) that the pump is being used to pump, and how deep the pump 10 is placed in the wellbore (i.e., which affects the water head PSI experienced by the poppet valve component 34). But in any case, the dual ring sealing surfaces 54a and 54b are expected to significantly extend the useful life of the pump 10.
Referring again to
In
Preventing the buildup of contaminants within pumps has heretofore been a challenge, and frequent removal of a pump from its associated well bore, along with disassembly and cleaning of the pump and/or replacement of internal parts, has typically been required. It will be appreciated that the manpower required to frequently remove, clean, repair and reinstall such pumps can introduce additional expense into the on-going operation of the pump at a given site. Such expense is expected to be significantly reduced with the pump 10 due to the design of the poppet valve assembly 32. Moreover, the shape of the poppet valve assembly 32 and the scrubbing action it provides helps to significantly reduce the buildup of contaminants within the lower housing 28 without introducing any additional parts into the pump 10, and without requiring modification to the basic design/configuration of the pump 10 and/or the valve assembly 12.
As will also be appreciated, an external sensor, for example a reed switch 61a, and an electronic controller 10a, may be used to sense when the poppet valve assembly 32 has moved from its fully closed position. Optionally, two or more distinct reed switches 61a and 61b could be spaced apart elevationally to detect exactly when the poppet valve component 34 has moved into its intermediate position and/or its fully opened position. In this example reed switch 61b is used to detect when the poppet valve component 34 has moved into its uppermost position. The optional ring magnet 36a could be located adjacent to the dual ring sealing surfaces 54a and 54b and, if included, will serve to provide an enhanced closing action, which may be beneficial if contaminated fluids are being pumped which tend to hinder closing movement of the poppet valve assembly 32. It will be appreciated, however, that the magnet 36 is not essential to operation of the poppet valve assembly 32; the magnet 36 merely provides a convenient means to sense when the poppet valve assembly has moved off of its closed position, and when the poppet valve assembly has moved back into its closed position. The magnet 36 also will align the magnet's poles. This is important if a round ball with a magnet is used. The aligning would allow for a repeatable location to effect a reed switch closure, assuming a reed switch is being used to sense the location of the poppet valve assembly 32.
Referring to
At operation 122 the operating program continues running and monitoring the poppet valve assembly 32 position until the assembly does not drop during the time that the pump 10 is actually ejecting fluid during a fluid ejection operation. At operation 124 the operating program runs for the next seven days while continuing to monitor/confirm that the poppet valve assembly 32 does not drop during a fluid ejection phase of operation (i.e., self-calibrating or “learning” how to pump the maximum amount of water without air being pumped). At operation 126, every seven days the operating program starts to increase the value of MAX3 until the poppet valve component 34 drops due to only air being present during the end of a fluid ejection cycle. This value becomes the new MAX. Then the next week starts and the sequence or loop runs until interrupted by manual intervention.
Further refinements can be made to the sequence of operation explained above in flowchart 100. Further modifications may include a separation in the operations 102 thru 104, and operations 104 thru 110, which is the pump duration cycle. The two parts would allow for system dependent variables to be measured, for example pump depth and true pumping time. The true pumping time could be used to better estimate the total number of gallons pumped by identifying the time range between operations 104 to 110.
Referring further to
The poppet valve component 200 includes a dual retention configuration for a magnet 212 which is disposed within the bore 206. As with the poppet valve component 34, a pair of O-rings 214 may be used to absorb the shock load experienced by the magnet 212 when the poppet valve component 200 moves from an open position to a closed position, or from a closed position to an open position. However, instead of a threaded retention screw, the poppet valve component 200 incorporates a press-fit retention element 216 which is press fit into the bore 206 such that a shoulder portion 218 thereof engages within a circumferential groove 220 in the bore 206. This forms a first retention feature. A second retention feature is formed by a pin 222 which is press fit into a bore 216a in the retention element 216, and through bores 202a in the body portion 202. The pin 222 may include at least one raised portion 222a to further aid in retaining it in the bores 202a.
To aid in aligning the bore 216a with the bores 202a, the retaining element 216 may include a keyed (e.g., square shaped or rectangular shaped) depression 216b. The keyed depression 216b may be orientated parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bore 216a so that a visual alignment of the retaining element 216 may be made during assembly when the retaining element is press fit into the body portion 202.
The two retention features described above are important because they help to ensure against the magnet 212 becoming dislodged from the bore 206 during repeated opening and closing of the poppet valve component 200. This can significantly reduce or eliminate the damage that may occur internally to a pump if the magnet 212 were to become free to move within the bore 216 during operation of the pump.
Referring to
In this example, at operation 302, the sensor S1 has reported a “high water” signal to the electronic controller 10a and the electronic controller 10a has turned on the pressurized air source 10b to begin applying pressurized air through the air line 16 to the pump 10. At operation 304 the poppet valve component 34 has been lifted up inside the lower housing 28 by the displaced water volume which is beginning to be ejected past the poppet valve component 34 using the pressurized air flow. The fully raised condition of the poppet valve component 34 is detected by the reed switch 61b (
With further reference to
At operation 312 the air inlet valve (not shown) supplying pressurized air to the pump 10 is closed to interrupt the flow of the pressurized airflow into the pump 312. At operation 314 air is then vented from the interior of the pump casing 14 (i.e., the pump's pumping chamber). At operation 316 an operating program 10e running in the electronic controller memory 10c tracks the time duration T1 (i.e., from operations 302-304) and the time duration T2 (i.e., from operations 304-310). At operation 318 the operating program 10e modifies T2 to T2′ by using stored, known pump performance data from the look-up table 10d. T2′ thus represents a time duration value that takes into account various factors that may affect pump performance, and more precisely the cycle time for the pump to fully eject a predetermined maximum quantity of fluid during a single pump cycle (e.g., fluid temperature, type of fluid being pumped, etc.). The time duration T2′ therefore is a time duration which is less than T2, and represents the amount of time required to pump the maximum amount of water without pumping any air past the poppet valve component 34.
At operation 320, the operating program 10e than adds T1 to T2′ to obtain time duration T3. Time duration T3 represents a total pump cycle time, which includes all the variables described which affect pressurization of the pump 10, as well as the time it takes to move the maximum quantity of water (or other fluid) out from the pump housing 14, which may also be viewed collectively as the total “pump cycle” time.
At operation 322, on the very next pump cycle, a check is made by the electronic controller 10a if the poppet valve component 34 starts to descend from its fully raised position before T3 has expired. If the answer to this inquiry is “No”, then no further adjustments to T2′ are needed, and the electronic controller 10a continues to use the current value for T3 in controlling cycling of the pump 10. At operation, 326, the program 10e continues to count the pump cycles executed cycle as the pump 10 continues to operate. At operation 328 a check is made if a predetermined number of pump cycles, for example 10,000 pump cycles, has been reached, and if not, normal pump operation continues at operation 326. If the check at operation 328 indicates that 10,000 pump cycles has been reached, then the operating program 10e loops back to operation 302 to repeat operations 302-322.
If the check at operation 322 indicated that the poppet valve component 34 was detected as beginning to fall from its raised position (indicating air is now flowing past the poppet valve component 34) before T3 has expired, then the electronic controller 10a modifies T2′ by reducing it by a fixed time value, for example 0.25 seconds. It then adds the new value of T2′ to T1 to create a new value for T3. Operation 322 is then repeated to check if during the following pump cycle, the poppet valve component 34 begins to descend from its fully lifted position before T3 has expired, and if so operation 324 is repeated. Operations 322 and 324 are repeated until the inquiry at operation 322 produces a “No” answer.
The methodology described in connection with flowchart 300 is unique in that achieves a level of control over the pump cycling which virtually eliminates the introduction of pressurized air into the fluid discharge conduit 18 at the very end of a pump eject cycle, which as will be appreciated is a highly undesirable event. The methodology described in
The pump 10 construction is expected to significantly reduce operating costs due to its ability to effecting a scrubbing action on the interior of the pump 10 housing during every fluid ejection cycle. The dual ring sealing surfaces 54a and 54b further extend the intervals between needed pump servicing by two distinct ring sealing surfaces that are used as the internal wall surfaces of the lower housing 28 wear. It is a particular advantage that no disassembly of the pump is needed to re-configure the pump to use the secondary ring sealing surface 54b; the use of this sealing surface comes into play automatically when the initial ring sealing surface 54a experiences a predetermined level of wear.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/607,708, filed on Dec. 19, 2017. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2018/066229 | 12/18/2018 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62607708 | Dec 2017 | US |
