US1620347A - Oil-well pump - Google Patents

Description

[arch 8'. 1927.

J. M. HAWKINS ET AL 'OIL WELL PUMP Filed Oct.

"lnventor,`4 JM. Haw/m6 3. 06651 @MMX Patented 8, 192.7. .l

vQUNITEI.) .STATES .TEPsoN u.' HAwxrNs AND 'PATENT oFFlcE.

' orL-WELI. PUMP.

(Application filed October 27, 1923. Serial No. 671,245.

This invention relates to improvements in oill well pumps having for an object to provide a novelland eliic'ient form of device for `attachment to the now prevalent types of barrel oil .well

pumpsrwhereby a pump sov equipped will, at all times, be productive of its maximum operatingY eliiciency vand oil I viiow or discharge, irrespective of the seepage of gas from the oil sand into the pump valve. In those types of barrel oil well pumps now prevalent, the apparatus usually consists of a plunger operating in a check or foot valve equipped working barrel at the bottom of a well.

upwardly and downwardly |by means of a pump rod which in turn receives its reciprocal pumping motion from a pumping jack arranged at the mouth of the well and upon the surface of the ground. It will be understood b workers skilled in the artfthat this particu ar type of barrel oil well pump now commonly used in the art consists essentially .of a working barrel arranged downwardly 'in the well at the level of the oil producing sand, such barrel being screwed or similarly connected to the bottom of the well tubing and containing `therein a plunger with a traveling ball'seat valve, which is impelled upwardly and downwardly in av pumping strokeby means of pumping mechanism mentioned above. At the bottom of this working barrel, below the plunger, is a sta'- tionary ball seat or foot valve. As the plunger moves upwardly, the weight of the valve ball with which the valve ballot the traveling valve and the column of liquid above it keeps the traveling valve in the plunger closed, and the vacuum below the plunger causes the ball of the stationary for foot valve L' to open and permit the ingress of liquid from the well into the working barrel below the plunger. On the downward stroke of the plunger, the ball valve'of the foot or lower stationary valve is forced to a closed position andthe upper traveling valve isV rced open, thus, causing the liquid just admitted below the plunger on the previous upstroke to pamv above the plunger through the traveling valve. On the next upwardl stroke, this liquid is lifted or elevated in the tubing 'of the well and a fresh amount of liquid is drawn into the valve below the plunger. In this way, the process is repeated, the

therein. This plunger is operated lcasing and with the liquid at the bottom of well being finally pumped to the surface thereof.

It is evident that for the successful work- 1ng of apparatus of the above character, two valves., as above described, are required, one traveling in the plunger and one stationary below such' plunger. Without a lower stationary valve to stop the liquid in the barrel, the downward Stroke of the plunger would simply serve to drive this liquid back into the sand, instead of forcing it to pass above the plunger and through the traveling valve It -becomes likewise necessary for the ball valve of the plunger traveling valve to positively close upon the upward stroke of theplunger in order to permit the subsequent lifting of the fluid. If the ball of the traveling. valve should not close for f any reason upon this upward stroke of the plunger, the oil or fluid which has just been taken in on the previous downward stroke, will run out again through the open valve in the plunger; likewise, if the ball of the standard foot valve does not close,fthe`oil taken into the bottom of the 'working barrel upon the upstroke of the plunger will be driven from the barrel back into the oil producing'sand of the well. It so happens that, withthe majority of oil wells, there is a considerable -amount of gas of varying degrees in pressure in the oil sand, which gas finds its outlet around the Aoutside of the well tubing and oil through the. working valve and upwardly inside of such tubing to the surface. In many wells, this gas pressure is so great that gas passing through and rising from the tubing and casing to the surface forces the oil ahead of it so that no pumping equipment is required, this being what is known in theart as a flowing well. Many new wells are of this character when lirst operated. However, after such wells have continued to'flow, the as pressure naturally decreases as the con ned Oas is more and morel released and it then lecomes necessary to pump these wells in order that the oil may be brought to the surface, using the apparatus hereinbefore described Afor that purpose. There however continues to be a considerable gas pressure present in the well, although this pressure I will not be' sufficient to cause the well to flow. Such. gas, under pressure, interferes considthe detailed following erably with the eicientpumping of the well dueto the actthat the gas pressure, acting against the ball of the valve in the, plunger and the ball of the standard foot valve, pre-- vents said ball from falling to close the valve upon the upward stroke of the plunger, that is, the gas keeps these valves opened and interferes-with the lifting of oil in the tubing, and in consequence, permits but a small amount to be' lifted, or, quite often, none at all. rlhe result is that thepumping apparatus must be operated for a long perio uantity of oil to the surface and hence, the t eoretical or possible output of the well is greatly reduced. Also,rthe plunger during its reciprocal movement in the working barrel creates a churning action, quiteoften only partly immersed in fluid, or at other' times, entirely dry. Thus, the plunger 1s rapidly worn and prematurely becomes unt for eilicient usage. Sand sucked into the working barrel cuts the leathers and packing and necessitates frequent pulling of rods and the pumping barrel to the surface for replacing thermore, this churning of the oil within the working barrel whose plunger valve is being held open by gas pressure causes a deposit of a heavy solid mass of paraiiinef or asphaltA origin, depending upon the nature of the crude oil, which deposit collects on' the inside walls of the tubing, hence, reducing the free opening for the passage of crude oil and still further reducing the possible production of the well and necessitating frequent pulling and cleaning of the tubing to remove such deposit thereby requiringv many intervals when the pump is not pumping and hence, coriderably reducing production of Lthe we By the use of our invention, the above noted disadvantages originating primarily with the interference of pumping operations because of the presence of gas pressure are overcome. The invention affords means which will permit the ordinary plunger to operate at all timesin a working barrel full of oil and unhampered with gas pressure to interfere with operation of the plunger valve and the ball of the working barrel foot valve. f

In accordance with the foregoing, it will be understood thatk other objects of the in* vention will be in part obvious and in part ointed out hereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of operation may be fully understood by persons skilled in the art, we have in the accompanying illustrative drawings, and in description based thereupon, set out several embodiments of the same.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through of time to elevate but -a relative small y such leathers or packing. Fur* a standard type of oil well pump of the barrel type showing the vinvention attached to the bottom thereof, at that point where the usual strainer is ordinarily attached;

Figure 2 is a verticalsection through one form of the invention; and,

Figure 3. is a similar section taken through a slightly modified form of` a portion of the invention. v

Having more particular reference to the drawings, in connection with whichllike characters of reference will designate cor'- responding parts throughout, the invention may be stated to comprise a tapered nip le indicated by the numeral 1, said nipple Eeing adapted to be connected to the bottom of the usual two inch working barrel of-an oil well pump 'below the foot valve F thereof and havirg'the reduced upperfend-ther'eof externally screw threaded as indicated at 2, while the enlarged lower end of the same is internally screw threaded, as at 3. In'this connection, it should be noted that when the invention is used in connection with socalled three inch tubing of a well, the tapered nipple 1 will not be' required inasmuch as the top of the lsupply barrel, to be hereinafter more fully described, may be then directly connected into the bottom of a suitable collar or coupling on the adjacent end of such working barrel below its particular check or foot valve.

The internally screw threaded lower end of the nipple 1 is connected to the screw threaded upper end of a supply barrel fragmentally shown herein and indicated by the numeral 4,' said barrel consisting of elon- I threaded coupling 5, having the lower portion thereof engaged with the externally screw threaded portion 6 of a swedge nipple 7, said swedge nipple having the lower portion thereof reduced in diameter, asindicated at 8, and formed with external screw threads 9 upon its lower extremity.

In the lower portion of the reduced part 8 of the swedge nipple 7 there is arranged a standard ball seat valve indicated herein in its entirety by the nume-ral 10, said valve being similar in construction toA the' usual foot valve F aforesaid, and being provided with the usual'caging 11, while a.v seat 12 is provided for the spherical or ballvalve 13. Also, the usual hollow cylindrica-l stand 14 is provided the valve equipment 10, while suitable packing 15 is arranged between the `same and the adjacent portion of the inner lll:

i The "screw threaded lower end l9 vof the swedge nipple 7 is preferably engaged by a lower 'seating collar 16', which, as will be noted, hasits upper and lower ends threaded to suitable depth with inside tapered threads, the uppermost threads .engaging with the threads 9 of the reduced portion 8 of said .nip le 7, whereas the lower threads are adapte lto be screwed over the usual standard tubing `anchor or strainer S as shown in the Figure 1 not shown herein.

' In the Figure 2, we have shown a slightly modified form of the invention, this particu-V lar form of the device being adapted for use when the invention is used in connection with well tubing of three inch size insteady of the two inch size, hereinbefore referred to. When three' inch well tubing is employed, it is unnecessary to employ the swedge nipple, hereinbefore indicated by the numeral 7, a straight barrel nipple 17 corresponding in size to the tubing being substituted in lieu thereof. However, the arrangement of the valve mechanism, indicated by the numeral 10 in connection with the Figure 2, corresponds with that form and construction of'mechanism indicated by the numeral 10 in the first embodiment of the invention, the lower end of said barrel nipplo being externally screw threaded, as indicated at 18 and engaged with` a feeding nipple or coupling 19, whereupon a tubing anchor, of prevalent construction is'turned into engagement with the screw threads 2O of such coupling 19. y

In this connection, it may be here `noted that our invention may be successfully used upon any sized tubing with the same advantageous results. c

In operation of the invention, the supply barrel by being arranged below the working barrel of the pump, and beyond and distinct from the foot yvalve F, is first filled with oil, which oil .is then supplied to the plunger pump` therefrom, rather than from the well direct. Hence, there` will be no interference due to gas pressure, because of the fact that such gas pressure existing within the well and entering the supply barrel by way of the .valve "10 will be sufficiently dissipated therein so that it will in no way affect the foot valve F or the valve of the travelingy valve in the plunger P of the plunger pump.

Thus, it'will be understood that ,withoperl ation of the ordinary type of pump plunger equippedwith ball seat valves which operate in the usual working ybarrel arranged above theC supply barrel 4, oil will befirst admitted from the well to the 'supply barrel, whereupon any gas pressure passing thereinto will be dissipated to such an extent that it will not interfere with proper functioning of the lvalve F or the traveling valve of the pump plunger P and in consequence, thesevalves, at all times, willv be permitted to operate eiectually so that the plunger, in consequence. will operate at its maximum efliciency, working in a full supply of oil and giving the maximum lift of crude oil.

The tubing will stand full of oil, at all times. y

Furthermore, the pump, after a shut down will start pumping oil 'with a few strokes, whereas with the ordinary type of working barrel, the pump must often times be operated for a much greater length of time be-l fore it brings any oil to the surface, due to gas pressure interfering with the. plunger valves operation. For this reason, a well equipped with our invention may be pumped off in a time materially less than that time required with' an. ordinary working barrel pump equipment., Hence, shorter hours of operation are given, together with materially less wear and tear upon the pumping apparatus and by consequence, lending longer life Itis to be furthermore understood that due to the pump operating aty maximum oil output at all times, a well can. be umped continually, day afterl day, without requent shut-downs to pull rods or plungers for replacement of cup leathers, etc.

It is to be also understood that the hereinbefore referred to objectional churning action of the pump plunger in a partly oil filled ordinary type of working barrel is eliminated, hence, decreasing the formation and deposit inside the tubing of paraiiine and asphalt solid; By avoiding this, it follows that the full capacity ofthe tubing is at all times obtained, as the same will not become obstructed with solid deposits and therefore, the well may be continuously pumped from day to day without those frequent shut downs required for Ythe cleaning of the tubing to 'free the same from foreign deposits occurring frequently in the working barrels of the now prevalent oil wvll pumps.

,Manifestly, the constructions shown 'are capable of considerable modification, and such modification as is within the scope of our claims, we consider within the spirit of our invention. c

We claim:

1. The combination with a pump of a end of said elongated barrelbeing reduced,l

-and automatically operable valve. means arranged insaid reduced portion ,of the elongated barrel and controlling the inlet thereof.

2. The combination with a pump, -of a" standing valvefor the same, a gas dissipating attachment connected to said pumpv below the standing valve and comprising an elongated barrel, and automatically operable elongated barrel, a tapered nipple connectvalve means in the reduced portion of said 10 ing the upper-end of said elongated barrel swedge nipplev controlling the inlet portion to the pump below said standing valve, a of the elongated barrel.

coupling connected to the lower end of said In witness whereof we lhave hereunto set elongated barrel, a swedge nipple having the oui` hands.

lower portion thereof reduced connected to J'EPSON M. HAWKINS.

said coupling and to the lower end of the SYLV'ESTER LOSEY.

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