Patent Application
20130039780
Many hydrocarbon wells are unable to produce at commercially viable levels without assistance in lifting the formation fluids to the earth's surface. In some instances, high fluid viscosity inhibits fluid flow to the surface. More commonly, formation pressure is inadequate to drive fluids upward in the wellbore. In the case of deeper wells, extraordinary hydrostatic head acts downwardly against the formation and inhibits the unassisted flow of production fluid to the surface.
A common approach for urging production fluids to the surface uses a mechanically actuated, positive displacement pump. Reciprocal movement of a string of sucker rods induces reciprocal movement of the pump for lifting production fluid to the surface. For example, a reciprocating rod lift system 20 of the prior art is shown in
The production fluid F may not produce naturally reach the surface so operators use the reciprocating rod lift system 20 to lift the fluid F. The system 20 has a surface pumping unit 22, a rod string 24, and a downhole rod pump 50. The surface pumping unit 22 reciprocates the rod string 24, and the reciprocating string 24 operates the downhole rod pump 50. The rod pump 50 has internal components attached to the rod string 24 and has external components positioned in a pump-seating nipple 31 near the producing zone and the perforations 15.
As best shown in the detail of
As the surface pumping unit 22 in
On the following downstroke, the standing valve 70 closes as the standing ball 72 seats upon the lower seat 74. At the same time, the traveling valve 90 opens so fluids previously residing in the chamber 62 can pass through the valve 90 and into the plunger 80. Ultimately, the produced fluid F is delivered by positive displacement of the plunger 80, out passages 61 in the barrel 60. The moved fluid then moves up the wellbore 10 through the tubing 30 as shown in
The conventional rod pump 50 holds pressure during a pumping cycle by using sliding mechanical and/or hydrodynamic seals disposed between the plunger's outside diameter and the barrel's inside diameter. Sand in production fluids and during frac flowback can damage the seals. In particular, the differential pressure across the seals causes fluid to migrate past the seals. When this migrating fluid contains sand, the seals can become abraded by the sand so the seals eventually become less capable of holding pressure. Overtime, significant amounts of sand can collect between the plunger and the barrel, causing the plunger to become stuck within the barrel.
Production operations typically avoid using such a rod pump in wellbores having sandy fluids due to the damage that can result. However, rod pumping in sandy fluids has been a goal of producers and lift equipment suppliers for some time. To prevent sand damage, screens can be disposed downhole from the pump 50 to keep sand from entering the pump 50 altogether. Yet, in some applications, using a screen in such a location may not be feasible, and the screen and the rathole below can become fouled with sand. In other application, it may actually be desirable to produce the sand to the surface instead of keeping it out of the pump 50.
One solution to deal with sandy fluids uses extra tight seals in the pump 50 to exclude the sand. In pumping operations, however, there will always be some fluid leakage due to the pressure differential so eventually the sand will wear the seal. Extra loose hydrodynamic seals with long sealing surfaces are sometimes used to let sand pass. These long, loose hydrodynamic seals can extend the life of the pump because the longer seals can accommodate more damage than conventional rod pumps. However, damage still occurs; there is just more sacrificial surface to accept the damage. Thus, the life of the pump is extended even though damage continues.
Another solution to deal with sandy fluids shown in
During a downstroke of the plunger 80, the chamber 86 decreases in volume, and fluid displaces from the chamber 86 through the ports 83 and into the interior 82 of the plunger 80. Thus, any sand and silt that may have entered the chamber 86 through the upper sealing zone 84a is discharged into the plunger 80 to be removed with the main body of fluid. In this way, the sand or silt is prevented from reaching the lower sealing zone 84b and causing damage during a subsequent upstroke.
In a related solution to the rod pump 50 of
Again, the pump 50 has a barrel 60 with a plunger 80 located therein and has standing and traveling valves 70 and 90. The plunger 80 has a first portion 83 having a first seal 84a with the barrel 60, and the plunger 80 has a third portion 87 having a second seal 84b with the barrel 60. The first seal 84a has resilient members, while the second seal 84b is a fluid seal. An opening 81 at the top of the plunger 80 allows lifted fluid to pass up the barrel 60 and the production tubing (not shown) to be produced.
In between the first and second portions 83 and 87, the plunger 60 has a second portion 85 that forms a balancing chamber 86 between the barrel 60 and the plunger 80. The plunger's second portion 85 also has an opening 88 to allow communication between the plunger's interior 82 and the balancing chamber 86. A wall 89 is located relative to the opening 88 and forms a sand snare chamber 100 between the balancing chamber 86 and the plunger interior passage 82.
To pump fluid from a sandy well, the plunger 80 reciprocates with respect to the barrel 60. Pressure equalizes across the first seals 84a by venting pressure from inside of the plunger 82 to outside of the plunger 80 in the balancing chamber 86 between the two seals 84a-b. In the meantime, the pump 50 uses the wall 89 to capture sand from the fluid exiting the opening 88 in the sand snare chamber 100. This collection isolates the sand from the sets of seals 84a-b to reduce wear.
Unfortunately, the sand snare chamber 100 on the pump 50 has some drawbacks. For example, the volume available to collect sand can be limited. In addition, the chamber 100 can create turbulence during pumping which can tend to keep the sand flushed out of the sand snare chamber 100 and into the sealing areas 84a-b.
The subject matter of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
A downhole pump has a barrel and a plunger movably disposed therein. The barrel has a first one-way valve restricting fluid passage out of the barrel. The plunger is reciprocally disposed relative to the barrel and has first and second seals formed in a gap between the plunger and the barrel. The plunger also has a second one-way valve restricting fluid passage out of the plunger and into a variable volume defined between the first and second one-way valves.
The first seal can have wiper seals disposed on the plunger and engaging inside the barrel. The second seal is preferably a hydrodynamic seal formed by fluid in a gap between the plunger and barrel. A filter or screen is disposed on the plunger between the first and second seals, and the filter or screen restricts at least some particulate (i.e., most particulate or larger particulate) inside the plunger from passing into the gap.
In a downstroke, a first volume of fluid and particulate trapped in the barrel transfers into the plunger through the traveling valve as the plunger reciprocates downhole in the barrel. In an upstroke, a second volume of fluid and particulate trapped in the plunger lifts uphole in the production tubing as the plunger reciprocates uphole in the barrel. At the same time, the first volume fills with fluid and particulate as the standing one-way valve opens and the chamber fills due to the reduced pressure produced therein.
During either stroke, the first seal prevents particulate uphole of the plunger from passing into the gap between the plunger and the barrel. The filter or screen, however, prevents (most or larger) particulate inside the plunger from passing out of the plunger with fluid flowing into the gap between the first and second seals. This primarily occurs during the upstroke when some of the fluid in the plunger is allowed to pass through the filter or screen and into the gap to maintain the hydrodynamic seal between the plunger and barrel.
The foregoing summary is not intended to summarize each potential embodiment or every aspect of the present disclosure.
A rod pump 200 in
The barrel 210 has a standing one-way valve 220 that restricts passage of fluid out of the barrel 210, and the plunger 230 has a traveling one-way valve 240 that restricts passage of fluid out of the plunger 230. Both valves 220 and 240 can be ball check valves have a ball 222 and 242 movable relative to a corresponding seat 224 and 244. Other types of one-way valves could be used, however.
The barrel 210 defines an interior 212 in which the plunger 230 is disposed, and the plunger 230 defines an interior 232 as well. The standing valve 220 permits fluid flow from the production tubing 30 to flow into the barrel's interior 212, but restricts fluid flow in the opposite direction. The traveling valve 240 permits fluid flow from the barrel's interior 212 (and especially a variable volume 214 between the valves 220 and 240) to enter the plunger's interior 232, but restricts fluid flow in the opposite direction
A gap 213 is formed between the plunger 230 and the barrel 210 and has first and second seals 250 and 260. The uphole seal 250 is a mechanical seal having pressure-balanced wiper seals or similar types of seals that dispose about the outside of the plunger 230 and engage inside the barrel 210. During operation, the wiper seals 250 keep produced sand uphole of the pump 200 from entering the gap 213 between the plunger 230 and barrel 210.
The downhole seal 260 can be any type of suitable seal. As shown in
Interposed between the seals 250 and 260, the plunger has a filter 270. Fluid can pass through openings 272 in the filter 270 into the gap 213 for pressure balance. A region 215 of the gap 213 surrounding the filter 270 defines a pressure-balancing region that allows pressure to balance across the first seal 250. This region 215 may or may not define a wider portion of the gap 213 depending on the implementation.
Although fluid can pass through, the filter 270 restricts passage of at least some of the particulates inside the plunger 230 from passing into the gap 213. (It will be appreciated that the filter 270 may not restrict passage of all particulate therethrough. Yet, the filter 270 can be configured to restrict the passage of most particulate or at least larger particulate for a given implementation.) The filter 270 can be a wire-wrapped screen, a perforated tubular portion, a mesh screen, or any suitable type of barrier, medium, or the like for restricting passage of particulate matter, such as sand, in downhole production fluid. Preferably, the filter 270 is a slotted, wire-wrapped screen having a circumferentially wound wire 274 forming a number of slots for the openings 272. The wrapped wire 274 can be profiled V-wire and allows the slot's dimension to be precisely controlled. The narrower portion of the slotted openings 272 preferably face the interior 232 of the plunger 230 to help prevent particulate passing through the screen filter 270 from wedging in between the wires 274 as it passes out to the gap 213.
Produced fluid from the formation enters the production tubing 30 downhole of the pump 200. As the reciprocating rod system reciprocates the rod 24 attached to the plunger 230, the produced fluid is lifted above the pump 200 and is eventually produced at the surface. During a downstroke by the rod as shown in
Rather than screening the production fluid before it enters the barrel's chamber 214, the pump 200 allows sand to enter the barrel 210 so it can eventually be produced with the production fluid that has collect in the chamber 214. This means that produced sand collects in the lifted column of fluid above the pump 200 so the pump 200 must prevent the produced sand from entering sealing areas on the pump 200 during operation.
During the downstroke, the wiper seals 250 maintain a barrier between the uphole and downhole portions of the pump 200 and keeps produced sand above the pump 200 from entering the gap 213 between the plunger 230 and barrel 210. Head pressure is present inside the barrel 210 above and below the plunger 230, inside the plunger 230, and in the pressure-balance region outside the filter 270 below the wiper seals 250. (As is known, head pressure refers to the pressure exerted by weight of the column of fluid above a given point.) Therefore, pressure is balanced across the first seals 250 so that there is no slippage (i.e., fluid does not pass between the seal 250 and the surrounding surface of the barrel 210 engaged thereby). At the same time, pressure is also balanced across the second seal 260 in the gap 213 so that there is no slippage either.
During the upstroke by the rod 230 as shown in
During the upstroke, fluid slippage can occur in the gap 213 between the inside of the barrel 210 and the outside of the plunger 230, and fluid flows from the interior 232 of the plunger 230 to the gap 213 through the filter 270 to maintain the hydrodynamic seal 260. As a result, a pressure differential occurs, reducing the pressure in the expanding chamber 214 to draw new production fluid and sand into the barrel 210 past the standing valve 220.
As noted above, the filter 270 allows some of the lifted fluid in the plunger's interior 232 to pass through and enter the gap 213 to maintain the hydrodynamic seal 260. Yet, the filter 270 limits the size of particulate matter that can enter the hydrodynamic sealing gap 213. In this way, larger particulates cannot enter the gap 213 and abrade the surfaces, which would compromise the pumps operation. The gap 213 is preferably sized larger than the particulate matter permitted to pass through the filter 270 so that the screened matter can pass through the hydrodynamic sealing gap 213 without abrading the sealing surfaces forming the seal 260. To achieve this, the average clearance of the gap 213 is preferably equal to or greater than the width of the openings 272 (i.e., slots) in the filter 270 and any particulates that the filter 270 may pass. For example, the filter 270 can be a screen having slots for the openings 272, and the slot size may be as small as 0.006-in. Thus, the difference between the barrel's ID and the plunger's OD is preferably greater than 0.012-in. This would produce a gap 213 with an average clearance of about 0.006-in. around the inside of the barrel 210 and the outside of the plunger 230. Particulates larger than 0.006-in. that could cause damage if they were to pass in the gap 213 are instead restricted by the filter 270. Meanwhile, fluid flow for pressure balancing and any smaller particulates (i.e., less than 0.006-in.) can still pass through the openings 272 in the filter 270 and into the gap 213.
The upstroke and down stroke cycles of
As noted previously, the filter 270 installs at the pressure-balancing region of the plunger 230. The pump 200 can be constructed with the filter 270 integrally formed as part of the plunger 230, or a separate screen assembly can be installed as an add-on above a standard barrel 210 and plunger 230. The filter 270 can be an insert assembly that couples upper and lower sections of the plunger 230 together, or the filter 270 can be a plug-type insert that screws onto the plunger 230. The pump 200 can extend the life of a reciprocating rod lift system, reduce well maintenance costs, and increase overall production of an oil and gas well.
In another alternative, the rod pump 50 can have uphole and downhole seals that are both hydrodynamic seals (i.e., similar to seal 260 in
The foregoing description of preferred and other embodiments is not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the inventive concepts conceived of by the Applicants. In exchange for disclosing the inventive concepts contained herein, the Applicants desire all patent rights afforded by the appended claims. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims include all modifications and alterations to the full extent that they come within the scope of the following claims or the equivalents thereof.
