CA2504503C - Variable orifice bypass plunger - Google Patents

Abstract

A plunger mechanism comprises an adjustable bypass valve. Depending on well parameters, a user may desire to adjust the descent rate of a plunger in service. The present device allows the user to vary or adjust the bypass orifice to alter the flow of liquid through the plunger core.

Description

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2 Variable Orifice Bypass Plunger The present apparatus relates to a plunger lift 6 apparatus for the lifting of formation liquids in a 7 hydrocarbon well. More specifically the plunger comprises a 8 variable orifice in a bypass plunger apparatus that operates 9 to allow a variation in plunger bypass capabilities as a function of well parameters.

13 A plunger lift is an apparatus that is used to increase 14 the productivity of oil and gas wells. In the early stages of a well's life, liquid loading is usually not a problem.
16 When rates are high, the well liquids are carried out of the 17 well tubing by the high velocity gas. As a well declines, a 18 critical velocity is reached below which the heavier liquids 19 do not make it to the surface and start to fall back to the bottom exerting back pressure on the formation, thus loading 21 up the well. A plunger system is a method of unloading gas 22 in high ratio oil wells without interrupting production. In 23 operation, the plunger travels to the bottom of the well 24 where the loading fluid is picked up by the plunger and is brought to the surface removing all liquids in the tubing.
26 The plunger also keeps the tubing free of paraffin, salt or 27 scale build-up. A plunger lift system works by cycling a 28 well open and closed. During the open time, a plunger 29 interfaces between a liquid slug and gas. The gas below the plunger will push the plunger and liquid to the surface.

1 This removal of the liquid from the tubing bore allows an 2 additional volume of gas to flow from a producing well. A
3 plunger lift requires sufficient gas presence within the 4 well to be functional in driving the system. Oil wells making no gas are thus not plunger lift candidates.
6 As the flow rate and pressures decline in a well, 7 lifting efficiency declines geometrically. Before long the 8 well begins to "load up". This is a condition whereby the 9 gas being produced by the formation can no longer carry the liquid being produced to the surface. There are two reasons 11 this occurs. First, as liquid comes in contact with the 12 wall of the production string of tubing, friction occurs.
13 The velocity of the liquid is slowed, and some of the liquid 14 adheres to the tubing wall, creating a film of liquid on the tubing wall. This liquid does not reach the surface.
16 Secondly, as the flow velocity continues to slow, the gas 17 phase can no longer support liquid in either slug form or 18 droplet form. This liquid along with the liquid film on the 19 sides of the tubing begin to fall back to the bottom of the well. In a very aggravated situation, there will be liquid 21 in the bottom of the well with only a small amount of gas 22 being produced at the surface. The produced gas must bubble 23 through the liquid at the bottom of the well and then flow 24 to the surface. Because of the low velocity, very little liquid, if any, is carried to the surface by the gas. Thus, 26 a plunger lift will act to remove the accumulated liquid.
27 A typical installation plunger lift system 100 can be 28 seen in Fig. 1. Lubricator assembly 10 is one of the most 29 important components of plunger system 100. Lubricator assembly 10 includes cap 1, integral top bumper spring 2, 31 striking pad 3, and extracting rod 4. Extracting rod 4 may 1 or may not be employed depending on the plunger type.
2 Contained within lubricator assembly 10 is plunger auto 3 catching device 5 and plunger sensing device 6. Sensing 4 device 6 sends a signal to surface controller 15 upon plunger 200 arrival at the well top. Plunger 200 can 6 represent the plunger of the present invention or other 7 prior art plungers. Sensing the plunger is used as a 8 programming input to achieve the desired well production, 9 flow times and wellhead operating pressures.
Master valve 7 should be sized correctly for the tubing 11 9 and plunger 200. An incorrectly sized master valve 7 will 12 not allow plunger 200 to pass through. Master valve 7 13 should incorporate a full bore opening equal to the tubing 9 14 size. An oversized valve will allow gas to bypass the plunger causing it to stall in the valve.
16 If the plunger is to be used in a well with relatively 17 high formation pressures, care must be taken to balance 18 tubing 9 size with the casing 8 size. The bottom of a well 19 is typically equipped with a seating nipple/tubing stop 12.
Spring standing valve/bottom hole bumper assembly 11 is 21 located near the tubing bottom. The bumper spring is 22 located above the standing valve and can be manufactured as 23 an integral part of the standing valve or as a separate 24 component of the plunger system. Fluid accumulating on top of plunger 200 may be carried to the well top by plunger 26 200.

27 Surface control equipment usually consists of motor 28 valve(s) 14, sensors 6, pressure recorders 16, etc., and an 29 electronic controller 15 which opens and closes the well at the surface. Well flow `F' proceeds downstream when surface 31 controller 15 opens well head flow valves. Controllers 1 operate on time, or pressure, to open or close the surface 2 valves based on operator-determined requirements for 3 production. Modern electronic controllers incorporate 4 features that are user friendly, easy to program, addressing the shortcomings of mechanical controllers and early 6 electronic controllers. Additional features include:
7 battery life extension through solar panel recharging, 8 computer memory program retention in the event of battery 9 failure and built-in lightning protection. For complex operating conditions, controllers can be purchased that have 11 multiple valve capability to fully automate the production 12 process.

13 Modern plungers are designed with various sidewall 14 geometries (ref. Fig. 10) and can be generally described as follows:

16 A. Shifting ring plungers for continuous contact 17 against the tubing to produce an effective 18 seal with wiping action to ensure that all 19 scale, salt or paraffin is removed from the tubing wall. Some designs have by-pass valves 21 to permit fluid to flow through during the 22 return trip to the bumper spring with the by-23 pass shutting when the plunger reaches the 24 bottom. The by-pass feature optimizes plunger travel time in high liquid wells.

26 B. Pad plungers have spring-loaded interlocking 27 pads in one or more sections. The pads expand 28 and contract to compensate for any 29 irregularities in the tubing, thus creating a 1 tight friction seal. Pad plungers can also 2 have a by-pass valve as described above.

3 C. Brush plungers incorporate a spiral-wound, 4 flexible nylon brush section to create a seal and allow the plunger to travel despite the 6 presence of sand, coal fines, tubing 7 irregularities, etc. By-pass valves may also 8 be incorporated.

9 D. Solid plungers have solid sidewall rings for durability. Solid sidewall rings can be made 11 of various materials such as steel, poly 12 materials, Teflon, stainless steel, etc. Once 13 again, by-pass valves can be incorporated.

14 E. Snake plungers are flexible for coiled tubing and directional holes, and can be used as well 16 in straight standard tubing.

17 Recent practices toward slim-hole wells that utilize 18 coiled tubing also lend themselves to plunger systems.
19 Because of the small tubing diameters, a relatively small amount of liquid may cause a well to load-up, or a 21 relatively small amount of paraffin may plug the tubing.
22 Plungers use the volume of gas stored in the casing and 23 the formation during the shut-in time to push the liquid 24 load and plunger to the surface when the motor valve opens the well to the sales line or to the atmosphere. To operate 26 a plunger installation, only the pressure and gas volume in 27 the tubing/casing annulus is usually considered as the 28 source of energy for bringing the liquid load and plunger to 29 the surface.

1 The major forces acting on the cross-sectional area of 2 the bottom of the plunger are:

3 = The pressure of the gas in the casing pushes up on the 4 liquid load and the plunger.

= The sales line operating pressure and atmospheric 6 pressure push down on the plunger.

7 = The weight of the liquid and the plunger weight push 8 down on the plunger.

9 = Once the plunger begins moving to the surface, friction between the tubing and the liquid load acts to oppose 11 the plunger.

12 = In addition, friction between the gas and tubing acts 13 to slow the expansion of the gas.

14 In certain high liquid wells, fluid build up hampers the plunger's decent during the return trip to the bumper 16 spring at the well bottom. Thus, wells with a high fluid 17 level tend to lessen well production by delaying the cycle 18 time of the plunger system, specifically delaying the 19 plunger return trip to the well bottom. Prior art designs have utilized by-pass valves within plungers. These by-pass 21 valves permit the fluid to flow through the plunger during 22 the return trip to the bumper spring at the well bottom.
23 The by-pass valve provides a shut off feature when the 24 plunger reaches the bottom. This open by-pass feature allows a faster plunger travel time down the hole in high 26 liquid wells. Although by-pass valves are manufactured to 27 allow fluid pass through, optimization of the by-pass 28 opening size for the valve is difficult due to variations in 1 well liquid loading. As well conditions change, different 2 by-pass openings are required for optimization. The prior 3 art solution tends the use of a variety of bypass plungers, 4 each with a different size orifice opening. Thus, the optimization of prior art plunger lifts in a high liquid 6 well is difficult with a fixed size orifice by-pass design.
7 When the plunger falls slowly to the bottom of the well, it 8 decreases well efficiency. Plunger drop travel time slows 9 or limits well production. Well production increases are always critical.
11 What is needed is a plunger lift apparatus whose 12 orifice size can be tuned to well conditions at the well 13 itself and whose orifice size can be quickly changed at the 14 well site as well liquid loading conditions change over time. The invention must function in a high liquid well, be 16 one that can insure continuous efficiency during lift, drop 17 back to the well bottom quickly and easily and assist in 18 increasing well production by increasing lift cycle times.
19 The apparatus of the present invention provides a solution to these issues.

22 SUHIlKARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
23 One aspect of the present device is to provide a 24 variable orifice by-pass plunger apparatus that can increase well production levels in a high liquid well.
26 Another aspect of the present device is to provide a 27 by-pass plunger apparatus with a by-pass orifice that can be 28 easily varied at the well itself to several different 29 positions.
Another aspect of the present device is to provide a 31 by-pass plunger that could efficiently force fall inside the 1 tubing to the wellhole bottom with increased speed without 2 impeding well production.
3 Another aspect of the present device is to allow for a 4 by-pass valve to be shut once the plunger reaches the well bottom in order to provide for proper plunger return lift to 6 the well top.
7 Yet another aspect of the present device is to allow 8 for the plunger by-pass valve to be re-opened to its preset 9 condition once the plunger reaches the well top.
Another aspect of the present device is to allow for 11 various plunger sidewall geometries to be utilized.
12 Other aspects of this device will appear from the 13 following description and appended claims, reference being 14 made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate 16 corresponding parts in the several views.
17 The present device comprises a plunger lift apparatus 18 having a top section with an inner diameter allowing for 19 liquid by-pass, and a bottom section comprising a variable by-pass valve to allow fluid to flow through the valve and 21 up through the top section during the return trip to the 22 bumper spring at the well bottom. The device typically 23 comprises an inside top hollow orifice design (typically a 24 standard American Petroleum Institute fishing neck).
The variable orifice by-pass plunger (VOBP) allows more 26 than one orifice setting in the by-pass valve. Depending on 27 the high liquid well parameters, the VOV can be set to 28 optimize the VOBP return time to the well bottom, thus 29 optimizing the production efficiency of the well.
The VOBP comprises a variable orifice valve (VOV) that 31 has a variable orifice that can easily be set to more than 1 one position. When released from an auto catcher, an 2 orifice functions to allow liquid to pass through the 3 plunger's lower valve section and up through the plunger's 4 top section during its trip to the well bottom. The well control system will release the plunger to fall in the well 6 when conditions are satisfied. Once at the well bottom, the 7 lower valve section is designed to shut off the by-pass 8 feature when striking the aforementioned bumper spring.
9 Upon its trip to the well top, the aforementioned extracting rod within the lubricator will cause the device's valve 11 section to re-open at its predetermined set condition.
12 The present device helps to assure an efficient lift in 13 a high liquid well due to its design. The present device 14 can also optimize well efficiency due to the fact that it has a field-adjustable orifice to allow it to quickly travel 16 to the well bottom.

19 Fig. 1 (prior art) is an overview depiction of a typical plunger lift system installation.
21 Fig. 2 is a side perspective view of the variable 22 orifice valve (VOV) of the disclosed device.
23 Fig. 3 is a side perspective exploded view of the 24 device shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4A is a side cross-sectional view of the disclosed 26 device shown in an open (or bypass) position.
27 Fig. 4B is a side cross-sectional view of the disclosed 28 device shown in a closed (no bypass) position.
29 Fig. 5 is a top cross sectional view of the Fig. 2 embodiment showing the three ball and spring fixed 31 locations.

1 Fig. 6 is a blow up view of a portion of Figs. 4A, 4B
2 illustrating a ball and spring combination ratcheted (or 3 set) in a middle location.
4 Figs. 7, 8, 9 are side perspective drawings of the disclosed device showing the adjustment of the device to 6 three setpoints.
7 Fig. 10 shows side plan views of the disclosed device 8 with various sidewall geometries.
9 Fig. 11 is a side plan view of the disclosed device falling through liquid within the well tubing.
11 Fig. 12 is an exploded view of an alternate embodiment.
12 Before explaining the disclosed embodiments in detail, 13 it is to be understood that the device is not limited in its 14 application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the device is capable of other embodiments.
16 Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of 17 description and not of limitation.

19 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings, the disclosed device provides a variable orifice 21 by-pass plunger (VOBP) (see item 1000 of Fig. 11) that may 22 help increase well production levels in a high liquid well.
23 The VOBP comprises a lower section variable orifice valve 24 (VOV) 200 (see Figs. 2, 3, 4, 10) that can be easily preset to several different levels. One embodiment comprises three 26 set levels. The VOBP is designed to be set to an optimized 27 by-pass orifice opening to efficiently force fall through 28 liquid inside the tubing to the well-hole bottom.
29 Adjustment of the orifice setting seeks to alter return speed through liquid and thus optimize well production. VOV
31 200 comprises an internal by-pass shut off mechanism, which 1 will close the by-pass feature once the plunger reaches the 2 well bottom. A shut off condition provides for proper 3 plunger return lift to the well top. The plunger by-pass 4 valve will be re-opened to its preset condition once the plunger reaches the well top.
6 The top section of a VOBP can be designed using various 7 aforementioned plunger sidewall geometries (ref. Fig. 10, 8 items 20, 60, 70, 80) each comprising a hollowed out core 9 47. As shown, the top collar of each VOBP illustrated is designed with a standard American Petroleum Institute (API) 11 internal fishing neck. Fish necks are a well-known 12 industrial design offering and are therefore not shown in 13 detail herein. In operation, a spring loaded ball within a 14 retriever and protruding outside the retriever's surface falls within the API internal fishing neck if retrieval is 16 necessary.
17 The bottom section, or variable orifice valve (VOV) 18 200, attaches to the VOBP top section. VOV 200 comprises a 19 variable by-pass orifice to allow fluid to flow through the VOV and up through the top section during the plunger's trip 21 to the bumper spring at the well bottom.
22 The disclosed device allows more than one orifice 23 opening setting within VOV 200. That is, the variable 24 orifice can easily be set to one or more positions. When released from the auto catcher, the orifice will function to 26 allow liquid W (ref. Fig. 11) to pass through the lower 27 section (VOV 200) and up through hollowed out core 47 (see 28 Figs. 10,11) during its trip to the well bottom. The well 29 control system will release the VOBP to fall into the well when conditions are satisfied. Depending on well 31 parameters, VOV 200 can be set to optimize the plunger's 1 travel time to the well bottom, thus optimizing the 2 production efficiency of the well. Once at the well bottom, 3 the VOV is designed to strike the aforementioned bumper 4 spring and close. Upon its trip to the well top, the aforementioned extracting rod within the lubricator will 6 cause VOV 200 to re-open at its predetermined set condition.
7 The disclosed device comprises an adjustable orifice to 8 allow it to quickly travel to the well bottom. The orifice 9 is thus field adjustable; it can be tuned at the well site depending on well parameters to optimize well cycle times.
11 The higher the well pressure and/or liquid loading, the 12 greater the orifice opening can be set. This results in the 13 ability to optimize the bypass settings based on well 14 conditions allowing the VOBP to fall to the bottom in an optimal manner. This avoids having to have a variety of 16 different bypass valves, with various manufactured orifice 17 openings, at the well site. The VOBP disclosed herein 18 provides for the ability to field-adjust the bypass settings 19 as well parameters change over time.
The VOBP may be employed as follows:
21 1. The bypass setting is manually tuned for well 22 loading conditions (ref. Figs. 7, 8, 9).
23 2. The VOBP is at the bottom of a well with 24 liquid loading on top of the plunger and with its push rod 25 set in a closed bypass 26 position (ref. Fig. 4B).
27 3. The well is open for flow at which time the 28 VOBP rises towards the well top to carry 29 accumulated liquids out of the well bore.
4. The VOBP reaches the well top, is caught 31 within the lubricator, and the extracting rod 1 (ref. Fig. 1) strikes push rod 25 to move it 2 into a bypass (or open) position (ref. Fig.
3 4A).
4 5. The well flows for a set time or condition controlled by the well-head controller.
6 6. The auto-catcher releases the VOBP after a set 7 time or condition as controlled by the well 8 system controller.
9 7. The VOBP force falls to the well bottom, its bypass setting allowing liquid enter its 11 bypass opening and regulate its fall to the 12 well bottom.
13 8. The well plunger lift cycle starts again (step 14 2 above).
9. Periodically, an operator visits the well site 16 and decides whether or not to change the 17 bypass setting for sizing the flow through 18 orifice, depending on the well liquid loading 19 parameters.
Fig. 2 is a side perspective view of VOV 200. VOV 200 21 is located at the bottom section of the VOBP. When the VOBP
22 falls to the well bottom, push rod 25 bottom surface 34 will 23 strike the aforementioned well bottom bumper spring causing 24 push rod 25 to move up into VOV 200 and close the bypass function (ref. Fig. 4B). VOV 200 is shown with VOV body 26 cylinder 40 having VOV body cylinder orifice 43 set to one-27 third open due to the position of variable control cylinder 28 26. The positioning of variable control cylinder 26 can be 29 adjusted through adjustment slot 29. VOV bottom cap 24 functions to contain all internal parts of VOV 200.

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1 A drawing of an alternate embodiment (Fig. 12) shows 2 the upper body end 440 securing the control cylinder 2600 in 3 a fixed position. The VOV body cylinder 4000 rotates around 4 the upper body end 440. Threads could provide this rotation, cylinder pins 4011 could mount in holes 4010 in 6 the body end 440, or other design choices could be used.
7 The slots 4015 are adjustably aligned with slots 4016 to 8 provide a variable orifice. Hole 4020 can be aligned with a 9 chosen hole 4010 to set the orifice. Sheath 441 secures the cylinder 4000 to the upper body end 440.
11 Fig. 3 is a side perspective exploded view of VOV 200.
12 VOV body cylinder 40 is designed to have an adjustment slot 13 29 for orifice adjustment access. Adjustment slot 29 14 provides tool 38 with access to control cylinder adjustment hole 32. Four VOV body cylinder orifices 43 are shown 16 spaced at about 90 apart. Internal threaded lower body end 17 20A accepts VOV bottom cap 24. VOV bottom cap 24 comprises 18 external threaded area 24A mateable with VOV body cylinder 19 internal threaded lower body end 20A. Internal wall 3 (ref.
Figs. 5,6) can comprise three springs 27 and three 21 corresponding balls 28 all with a fixed position and 22 separated by about 120 . Internal threaded upper body end 23 44 mates with threaded end 41 (see Fig. 10) of a plunger.
24 Push rod brake clutch 21 comprises two half cylinders 23 each containing annular grooves to contain annular push 26 rod brake clutch springs 23 and functioning to contain push 27 rod 25 in either its open or closed positions. Bottom 28 bumper striker end 34 can move push rod 25 into a closed 29 position once VOBP hits the well bottom. Push rod closure end 37, outer closure ring 35 and rod slant surface 36 31 function to both close against VOBP top section at the well 1 bottom and also to move to an open position when VOBP lifts 2 to the well top. The striker rod within the lubricator (not 3 shown) will strike against rod top end 37 to move push rod 4 25 into its open position thus allowing the VOBP to bypass fluids on its travel to the well bottom.
6 Variable control cylinder 26 comprises external 7 adjustment hole 32 and four control cylinder orifices 31 8 which are spaced apart by about 90 . Variable control 9 cylinder top surface 46 shows nine preset position control half globe holes 33 located in groups of three, each group 11 about 120 apart and each half globeholes within a group at 12 about 20 apart. Control half globe holes 33 mate with 13 balls 28 three at a time providing three preset through-14 orifice positions (full open, one-third open, two thirds open) in each of the four through orifices. The total 16 opening, or through-orifice is a function of the position of 17 the control cylinder orifices 31 with respect to the VOV
18 body cylinder orifices 43.
19 When VOV 200 is assembled, control cylinder orifices 31 align with VOV main body cylinder orifices 43 such that the 21 total through opening will be about 33%, 67%, or 100%
22 depending on the positioning of variable control cylinder 26 23 in one of its three set positions. Adjustment slot 29 24 provides external tool 38 right movement direction TR or left movement direction TL functioning to set variable 26 control cylinder 26 in one of its three positions via 27 control cylinder adjustment control hole 32. VOV 200 is 28 geometrically designed to have a fluid/gas dynamic type 29 shape to allow it to quickly pass to the well bottom while allowing fluids to enter its orifice and pass through the 31 top bored out section of the VOBP. Thus the VOBP will 1 travel to the bottom with an efficient speed until it comes 2 to rest on the bottom sitting or on a bumper spring, which 3 will strike its push rod and close its bypass function.
4 Fig. 4A is a side cross-sectional view of VOV 200 showing push rod 25 in the open (or bypass) position.
6 Threaded upper body end 44 mates with threaded end 41 (ref.
7 Fig. 10). When VOV 200 arrives at the well top, the 8 aforementioned striker rod within the lubricator hits push 9 rod 25 at rod top end 37 moving push rod 25 in direction P
to its open position. In its open position, the top end of 11 push rod 25 rests against variable control cylinder 26 12 internal surface. Brake clutch 21 will hold push rod 25 in 13 its open position allowing well loading (gas/fluids etc.) to 14 enter the open orifice and move up through top section center bore 45.
16 Fig. 4B is a side cross-sectional view of VOV 200 with 17 push rod 25 depicted in its closed (no bypass) position.
18 When bottom bumper spring striker end 34 hits the 19 aforementioned bumper spring at the well bottom, push rod 25 moves in direction C to a closed position as shown. In the 21 closed position, rod top end 37 with its slant surface 36 22 closes against threaded top section end 44 and is held in 23 the closed position by brake clutch 21.
24 Fig. 5 is a top cross-sectional view of (ref. section 5-5 of Figs. 3, 4A, 4B) VOV body cylinder 40 showing three 26 ball and spring fixed locations. Three ball springs 27 and 27 three balls 28 (ref. Fig. 3) are located within bored out 28 holes 4 spaced in an annular position around inner wall 3 29 and about 120 apart.
Fig. 6 is a blow up view showing inner variable control 31 cylinder top surface 46 ratcheted (or set) in a middle 1 orifice bypass set location. That is, of the possible three 2 preset control half holes 33 within variable control 3 cylinder top surface 46 locations, the through orifice is 4 set to the mid bypass location. Thus shown is one of the three ball springs 27, and ball 28 located within one of the 6 fixed internal set holes 4. Movement of variable control 7 cylinder 26 (ref. Fig. 3) is in either direction TR or TL, 8 which ratchets and fixes the bypass total through-orifice 9 opening to a set location.
Figs. 7, 8, 9 are side perspective drawings of VOV 200 11 showing the adjustment of the device to three possible VOV
12 locations of the preferred embodiment. Fig. 7 depicts 13 external tool 38 within adjustment slot 29 and in leftmost 14 position Pl. In position Pl, variable control cylinder orifice is aligned with the VOV body cylinder orifice such 16 that the through orifice is in fully open position 50. Fig.
17 8 depicts movement of external tool 38 in direction TR to 18 mid-point P2 setting. In this mid-point P2 setting, the 19 through orifice is now at two-thirds open position 51. Fig.
9 depicts further movement of external tool 38 in direction 21 TR to its rightmost position P3, which has the through 22 orifice in its one-third open position.
23 Fig. 10 shows side views of various VOBPs each 24 utilizing a different sidewall geometry. Each VOBP is depicted in an unassembled state with respect to its unique 26 sidewall geometry top section and a common VOV 200 bottom 27 section. Each top section typically employs a standard API
28 internal fishing neck. Each top section also has hollowed 29 out core 47. Each bottom section shown depicts VOV 200 shown in its full open (or full bypass) set position. Each 31 VOV 200 has internal threaded end 44, which accepts top 1 section threaded end 41 to unite both sections. Shown in 2 Fig. 10 are VOBPs with the following geometries:
3 a) VOBP 300 with top section 60 having spring-loaded 4 interlocking pads 61 in one or more sections. The pads expand and contract to compensate for any 6 irregularities in the tubing thus creating a tight 7 friction seal.
8 b) VOBP 400 having top section 70 with brush sidewall 9 71 which is a spiral-wound, flexible nylon brush section to create a seal and allow the VOBP 400 to 11 travel despite the presence of sand, coal fines, 12 tubing irregularities, etc 13 c) VOBP 500 having top section 20 with solid sidewall 14 rings 22 and cut grooves 30 for durability. Solid sidewall rings can be made of various materials such 16 as steel, poly materials, Teflon(D, stainless steel, 17 etc.
18 d) VOVP 600 having top section 80 with shifting rings 19 81 individually separated at each upper surface and lower surface by air gap 82 for continuous contact 21 against the tubing to produce an effective seal with 22 wiping action to ensure that all scale, salt or 23 paraffin is removed from the tubing wall.
24 Fig. 11 is a side plan view of VOBP 1000 falling, in direction F, through liquid W within the well tubing 9. VOBP
26 1000 is shown fully assembled with a solid sidewall top 27 section 20 (ref. Fig. 10) and bottom section VOV 200 (ref.
28 Figs. 2, 3, 4) that is set in to a full open position.
29 Liquid W enters VOV body cylinder orifice 43, moves up through hollowed out core 47 in direction D and out through 31 VOBP 1000 top section 20. VOBP 1000 thus moves through 1 liquid within well tubing 9 and outer casing 8 in an 2 efficient manner with VOV body orifice 43 set to an optimum 3 opening position.
4 The disclosed device allows for initial bypass tuning at the well site, allows future resets if necessary within 6 one single plunger, and thus can assure well production 7 optimization in high liquid gas wells.
8 It should be noted that although the hardware aspects 9 of the VOV and VOBP of the present invention have been described with reference to the exemplary embodiment above, 11 other alternate embodiments of the present invention could 12 be easily employed by one skilled in the art to accomplish 13 the variable bypass aspect of the present invention. For 14 example, it will be understood that additions, deletions, and changes may be made to the variable orifice valve (VOV) 16 with respect to design, adjustment mechanisms to set the 17 orifice openings (such as ratchet type adjustments etc.), 18 various orifice opening settings, orifice geometric design 19 other than those described above, and various internal part designs contained therein.
21 Although the disclosed device has been described with 22 reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications 23 and variations can be made and still the result will come 24 within the scope of the disclosure. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is 26 intended or should be inferred.

Claims (19)

1. A variable orifice bypass plunger comprising:

a cylindrical body having an upper end, a lower end, and an internal channel therethrough, said internal channel capable of passing a fluid from said upper end;

said lower end connectable to a valve assembly comprising a push rod positionable in an open and a closed bypass mode;

said valve assembly further comprising a variably sized or adjustable inlet, said inlet in communication with said internal channel; and wherein said valve assembly further comprises an outer body having an inlet hole and a rotatable control cylinder mounted therein, said rotatable control cylinder having a hole in a closure wall, wherein a rotation of said rotatable control cylinder adjusts said holes of said outer body and said rotatable control cylinder in relation to one another.

2. The plunger of claim 1, wherein said valve assembly is threadably connectable to said lower end.

3. The plunger of claim 1, wherein said rotatable control cylinder further comprises a top surface having engagement holes capable of receiving spring loaded engagement means to set said rotatable control cylinder at a desired rotation.

4. The plunger of claim 3, wherein said control cylinder further comprises a tool hole capable of receiving a tool to adjust said control cylinder.

5. The plunger of claim 4, wherein said outer body further comprises a slot capable of receiving said tool and a push rod clutch brake assembly capable of holding said push rod in either its open or its closed mode.

6. The plunger of claim 3, wherein said spring loaded engagement means further comprises a spring and a ball, said spring and ball capable of being received in a recess in said outer body.

7. An internal bypass plunger comprising:

a plunger body having an internal conduit with an inlet at its bottom and an outlet at its top;

said plunger bottom comprising a push rod movable from an extended position which leaves said inlet open, to a retracted position which closes said inlet;

said plunger bottom further comprising a side opening and a rotatable cage mounted inside, said cage comprising a hole alignable with said side opening;

wherein a change in the alignment of said side opening and said cage hole varies said inlet; and wherein said rotatable cage further comprises a releasable lock assembly to maintain a rotated position until a user changes it.

8. The plunger of claim 7, wherein said push rod comprises a clutch assembly capable of maintaining said push rod in a set position.

9. The plunger of claim 7, wherein said releasable lock assembly further comprises a recess in said plunger bottom capable of receiving a spring and a ball, said ball lockable into a recess in said cage.

10. The plunger of claim 7, wherein said cage further comprises an adjustment hole capable of receiving a tool.

11. The plunger of claim 10, wherein said plunger bottom further comprises a slot capable of receiving said tool.

12. A variable bypass plunger comprising:

a plunger body having a fluid channel and an inlet thereto at its bottom;
a variable bypass assembly connectable to said bottom;

said variable bypass assembly comprising a rotatable casing with a side hole;
wherein an internal fixed cage comprises a side hole alignable with said casing side hole to provide a variable orifice in fluid communication with said bottom inlet; and wherein a push rod is mountable in said variable bypass assembly to open and close said bottom inlet.

13. A variable orifice valve adapted to connect to an internal bypass plunger, said valve comprising:

an upper neck having a threaded connection for a plunger bottom;

said valve having a lower end with a clutch brake for a centrally mounted push rod;

said push rod having an upper valve head to seal an outlet of said upper neck in a retracted position, and open said outlet in an extended position;

said valve having an external housing with an inlet hole;
a rotatable cage mountable in said external housing; and wherein a hole in said cage is moveable in relation to said external housing inlet hole to provide a variable orifice for said outlet.

14. The valve of claim 13, wherein said cage comprises a lock to temporarily set said cage in a desired position until a user changes the position.

15. The valve of claim 14, wherein said cage comprises an adjustment hole for a tool, and said external housing comprises a slot to receive said tool.

16. The valve of claim 15, wherein said lock further comprises a recess in said external housing, said recess capable of receiving a spring and a ball, said ball slidingly engageable with a recess in said cage.

17. A variable orifice valve for an internal bypass plunger, the apparatus comprising:
a housing capable of providing a connection at its upper end to a lower end of a plunger;

said housing having a lower end comprising a clutch to support a push rod in a set position;

said push rod capable of opening and closing said upper end; and a cage means mountable in said housing, said cage means capable of rotation to a desired position so as to align a cage hole with a housing hole, thereby providing a variable orifice to said upper end.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said cage means comprises a spring loaded catch capable of engaging a portion of said housing, said catch capable of temporarily setting said cage means at a position until a user changes said position.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the cage means comprises an adjustment hole to receive a tool for rotational adjustment.