US1703963A

US1703963A - Means for raising oil from wells

Info

Publication number: US1703963A
Application number: US34243A
Authority: US
Inventors: Horace F Scruby
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1925-06-01
Filing date: 1925-06-01
Publication date: 1929-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 1946-03-05

Description

Maf. 5, 1929. y H. F. scRuBY 1,703,963

` MEANS Foa RAlsING "o1-L FRonwLL-ys` v Filed 'June 1. 1925 v -fz sheets-sheet Il MMU 'ak/u, INVENTO ATTORNEY.

Mar. 5, 1929. H, F, scRUBY 1,703,963

uEANs'FoR RAISING OIL FRQM WELLS* Filed June l, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Mar. 5, 1929.,

i HORACE sonner, or BEVERLY, ontrronnraf y f MEAis non saisine orL Enom.Winans.` l

Application ined June 1, 192,5.V serial' No. 34,243.'

The present invention relates to apparatus for lifting oil from Wells,y partieularlydeep Wells, and has for its principalobject the provision of simple, dependable and efficient apparatus i'or continuously raising oil from such Wells. n t f f Another object ot 'the invention is to dispense with tubing', suolrerrods, pump casings, ivorlliing barrels and other relatively ivorlri ing parts, particularly inasmuch as the silt carried by the oil greatly multiplies the diiiiculties ot' raising` oil with deep *Well pumps, and shortens the livesot such pumps,

JAnother robject of the invention'is to dispense with the cumbersome equipment necessary for reciprocating" long strings" of rods, and to reduce triction'a'nd other power losses incident to the operation of submerged reciprocal pumps. n

Another.v objectof the invention is to pro vide oil raising means which Willnot abrade the Well casing,` and Which is not itseltt readily vvorn'or abraded by sand.

Another object of theinvention is to provide an oil raising apparatus, which in the presence of oil and iree Water, may be `caused to raise the oil in preference to the livater.,

Another and important object ol' the yinvention Ais to provide oil raising` apparatus which requires very little attention, and yin which ordinary repairs, yadjustments and changes which may be required to jbe made can be accomplished by one man' rather yth an an entire crew, suoli as is required fin the case ot deep well punniing,v equipment.

'Still other objects and advantages ot my invention will agipear hereinafter and will be better understood because of the order ot their occurrence.

l have.illustrated my invention by the accompanying drawings, in which yligure l is avie'iv in vertical section oi th upper portion ot a well, showing my invention applied thereto. f f f` Figure 2 is a view in section of the vlower part of said Well.

Figure 3 is a View in section seen on a line 3-3 ot Fig-2. Y, t n

Figuree is a vertical section', on a larger scale, oit the special casing head shown in Fig. l. t f t `ligure 5 is viexvjin section, on the same scale as Fig. l, seen on a line 54-5 ot t looking in the direction indicated loy the arrows. i l y Figure 6 is a plan view of the casing head.

In carrying out4 my-invention Ifernploy an endless belt l0, of suliicient length to reach from above ground to fpoints'below normal liuid'level of a well. The belt maybe oi' anysuitable vmaterial,,shape and construeH tion, and for all practical intents andy pui said belt may be, and

lposes of the invention should preferably be, non-hygroscopio. In other ivo'rds, the holt may be o'lila-bric, metal or any other substantially solid material;` tiuid absorbing; `material being necessarily ot low tensile strength and apt tobe subject tok suoli elongation at some points that contained fluid would be Wrungthereiforni before reaching the surface. Another lin'iportantconsideration is that thebelt `be relatively `Wide, inasmuchas aivide and comparatively thin belt presents more exposedsurface for each pound 'ot material contained. For y'many practical reasonsa closely Wovenabrie heitseems best suited7 the fabric being selected` because of yits strength and vflexibility combined with comparatively light Weight, although a iieiribley steel belt may be used.v

y lt'pis ivell known fact "that erudeovil'will adhere to almost any kind of a surface'tor a usually encountered will adhere in a deep yhlm on'polished steel as Well as fabric, and therefore., fabric is notv theonly material which maybe en'iployed. i

[t casing; head ll is providcdwvith a bottoni iangrel, whereby itis secinedv to the' top of the ca` 'n n-r. yThe casing may be carried to any suitable elevation above theground togive incr assed head. The casing; head is provided vwith a rear removable platelet' having bearings and 1S respectively. Side Wall l ot the casing' carries similar bearings, such Aas 18. lVithin the casing there is housed a drive `r`lon` time before draining oil, and `it is this phenomenonthat I take advantage effin 'carrying out my invention.` The crude oil pulley 1:9 and anidler pulley 20.* `The drive pulleyis driven/by a power shaft 2l. `which runs through bearing l5 and terniinates rin a corresponding bearing,v i8. The' idler pulley is revolubly mounted on an oscillatable shaft which is trunnioned at one end in bearing' 16; the other end being trunnioned in a corresponding one of the bearingsl. Theplate covers an opening 2.3,large enough for both pulleys to be drawn through together with the shafts. The ends Q4, :24,fol'theshatt 2:2 are turned to ysmaller diameter than the center of the shaft and are eccentric thereto. To the outer protru'dingkpart ofone end, van

arm 25 is keyed, as at LG. Said arm is provided with a tension spring 27 which is at tac-hed to the plate, as at 27. Said spring tends continually to turn the shaft, with the result that the idler pulley is held yieldably adjacent or against the drive pulley. he belt is run between the two pulleys, as shown, and thereby the space between the two pulleys is just equal to the thickness of the belt at all times. rIhe spring is not strong enough to compress or wring the belt, and in fact the type of belt best suited for the purpose is not capable of-being compressed to any noticeable degree.

Below the drive pulley, and slightly to one side thereof, there is provided a roller 30 arrangedV to direct the down-traveling side of the belt so that it is close to the rlp-going side. In fact the. respective parts of the belt should be spaced within the casing so that they do not tend to touch each other or adjacent portions of the casing.

Below the pulleys there are arranged a plurality of arcuate troughs, such as 3l, 32, and 34, respectively. Troughs 31 and 32 are uppermost and arranged one on each side of the belt and quite close thereto. The space existing between the belt and a trough should be slightly greater than the depth of the oil film Carried by the belt. 'Iroughs 3B and 34 are below the other troughs and are spaced apart a greater distance. The lower troughs are provided for the purpose of catching the oil which may overflow the upper troughs and follow the under surfaces thereof before falling. In the embodiment illustrated said troughs are shown as being an integral part of the rear wall of the casing head. That portion of each upper trough which is adjacent the beltis disposed at an acute angle to the belt so that oil reachingthe lower surfacbs of said troughs will adhere and fiow away fromrthe belt.

The troughs are inclined forwardly and downwardly and extend below the pulleys and forwardly into an arched housing 35, which is a continuation of the casing head. Said housing is provided with a lower wall 36 providing an enclosed fluidv collecting space 36', which is drained by a flow line pipe 37 through an opening 38. T he troughs are so arranged that oil flowing from the troughs will fall directly into the pipe, a partitioning wall 39 being provided to prevent the oil from flowing back down the casing. At the top of the casing an outlet 40 is provided so that gas, raised with the oil, may be drawn off through a pipe Zll.

In installing my improved pumping apparatus, the casing head is attached to the casing with the endless belt arranged between the two pulleys, as shown. The lower end of the continuous belt is provided with a weighted pulley 43, which serves to keep the belt sufficiently straight. The belt is of suffiavesse?,

cient length to extend to points below the normal oil level, although it is a peculiar-ity of this apparatus that its capacity does not depend in any way on the depth of which it is submerged. In fact, if the lower part of the belt were submerged only a few inches, as much oil would be raised when it is submerged several feet'.

VAs to the operation ofthe apparatus, it will be apparent that clockwise rotation of the drive pulley will cause the belt to move in the direction indicated by the arrows. The pulley maybe driven by a high speed electric motor and the belt may be caused to travel at any reasonable belt speed. As the upwardly traveling part of the belt rises from the oil it will carry with it a comparatively heavy film of the viscous fluid. The fluid is held to the belt quite entirely by adhesion. Such a flmof oil will adhere to a smooth surface for a long interval of time. Even should the belt take an entire minute to travel from the bottom of the well to the top, the major portion of the fluid raised from the surface of the oil would be carried to the top.

The comparatively broad belt has a large exposed surface and a usual film of oil on a belt traveling at not uncommonv belt speeds will raise several hundred barrels of oil in twenty four hours. The belt will normally travel quite freely in the well, the friction of moving parts is slight and therefore the energy required to drive the apparatus is very little more than the actual foot pounds required to-lift the oil. Coarse sand or silt, and free water is not readily lifted by the belt, and the continued lubrication of the belt by the oil which it lifts will reduce weakening and abrasion of the belt to a practical minimum.

As the belt passes between the two spaced pulleys, the oil cannot follow, and as a consequence it is displaced and drawn back by gravity into the upper set of troughs. Any overflow is caught by the lower troughs and eventually all the oil raised gravitates into the flow pipe opening. Should any part of the film of oil on the beltbe thicker than the clearance space 35, the excess oil will be brushed off by the adjacent edges of the upper set of troughs. Such oil will flow downwardly and away from the belt and fall into the lower troughs from whence it will be carried away without again touching the belt. Thus the belt is thoroughly cleansed of adhering oil without becoming abraded by contact with the edges of the trough. y

The housingll serves as a casing head which completely encloses the upper end of the casing except for the small outlets 38 and 40.V Thus all gas rising in the well may be kept under pressure and caused to seek escape through the gas outlet 40. Accordingly, any oil flowing through outlet 37 has the was pressure of the well behind it to force it through the pipe and lift itto a storage tank or the like (not shown). The enclosed mechanism Within the housing 11 acts as an eicient gas separator, separating the gas and v oil and still keeping the gas pressure as high as desired. e

l/Vhile I have shown and described a specific apparatus for carrying out niy invention y closely between said pulleys, a pair o-upper troughs below said pulleys; one trough' to either sidel of the belt and each' having an edge closely disposed to said belt; said upper trougliisxhaving under surfaces slopin away from said belt at an acute angle, anc other troughs below said upper troughs; said other troughs spaced away from said belt a greater distance.

2. In combination With an oil Well having an upper open and A casing,y a housing completely enclosing the upper end oi. said casing except for an upper gas outlet and a lower oil outlet, a pulley revoluble in said housing, an

endless belt running over said pulley" anddcpending into the Well to a point below the fluid level thereof, means for causing the oil to gravitate from said belt, andineans for conveying oil roin said ineens to saidv oil"v outlet.

HORACE F. sonner.A