US2111175A - Oil well mechanism - Google Patents

Description

March 15, 1938. w. F. cox

OIL WELL MECHANISM Filed March 11, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HI i 1 March 15, 1938. w, cox 2,111,175 I OIL WELL MECHANISM Filed March 11, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,7 "Z'ca. 5.

Patented; Marc i5, 1%33:

w rren pre earner arr ves on WELL maneuvers William Fred can, lirving, ll'ex. implication March ill, 1936, Serial No. 68,319

9 Elaims.

This invention relates to oil well mechanisms and particularly to mechanisms or devices for facilitating flowing or oil from the well.

One object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the accumulation or; sand or other well at a point ;where it Said pump carries means for sealing ofi the well adjacent the pump but said sealing means are so arranged as to permit the working barrel of the pump to have a maximum cross sectional dimension and to be substantially unrestricted whereby the pump will have a maximum capacity in relation to the bore of the well. The casing of the well, of course, determines the over-all dimensions of any mechanisms lowered therein. For instance, the over-all dimension of apump will be determined by the diameter of the well casing and, while the pump provided with sealing ofi means such as disclosed in Patent No. 1,698,797, granted to 0.13. Howe, January 15, 1929, has been found to give highly satisfactory results, nevertheless, its capacity is curtailed by reason of the fact that the relatively heavy conical, metallic core utilized for expanding the sealing sleeve requires that the diameter of the bore of the working barrel be substantially the same as the smallest diameter of said conical member. That is, the size or diameter of the bore of the working barrel of the pump, shown in said patent, is limited to, or is less than, the maximum bore which can be provided in said conical member, the tapering surface of said .member being necessary for expanding the sealing sleeve. Also, in said patented pump, the upper portion of the working barrel is further restricted by the presence of the sucker rod which passes from the upper end of thetraveling valve-to the surface of the well. Another factor in determining the capacity of the pumpbarrel in said patented pump, is the size of the so-called shell on which the drain sleeve and packer are supported, because said shell extends to the top of the barrel and, of course, the barrel being surrounded by the shell, the diameter of the barrel must be less than that of the shell. In the present pump, this doubling up, so to speak, of these constricting factors. is overcome by locating the well sealing instmmentalities at a point preferably below the lower limit of the working stroke of the pump plunger, whereby the necessity of (310 Etha -219) limiting the bore of the working barrel by the drain sleeve supporting mall or to the maximum bore which can be used in the sleeve expending core is eliminated. More specifically, the presentinvention contemplates an oil well pump having a substantially unrestricted bore in'the working barrel, which bore is of maximum diameter in combination with the sealing 03 means at the lower end of the pump and means adjacent the upper end of the pump for substantially closing the space between the pump exterior and the wellscasing, whereby sand and other foreign matter cannot enter the space between the pump and casing. 1

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construc tion and combinations and arrangements oi parts, all. as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particu larly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figures 1, 1a, constitute a vertical cross-sectional view through the well casing, and a pump mechanism and anchoring device, illustrating the preferred embodiment of the present inventioru the parts being in the positions they occupy as the pump is lowered into the well; 7

Fig. 2 is a similar view, somewhat enlarged, showing the position of the sealing ofi instrumentalities when the space between the pump and casing is sealed ofi;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view illustrating the so-called sand ring;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line d--& of Fig. 1a; and V Fig. 5 is a detail elevational view illustrating one of the elements for interlocking the working barrel or 'cylinder of the pump with the pump seal.

In the present instance the pump comprises a head it provided with a bore for the polish rod H which extends to the earth surface as is well understood, said rod extending through the head into the working barrel l3 for reciprocating the traveling valve 52 of the pump. The lower, stationary valve of the pump is indicated at 26. The preferred form of sealing off device is like that disclosedin the 'Howe patent, above mentioned, and comprises a radially expansible sleeve it and a comparatively heavy metallic member 55 referred to as a core, the lower end of said core being tapered or of conical formation whereby it may readily enter said sleeve l4 and expand the latter into sealing engagement with the well casing l6 whereby the space between the pump mechanism and said well casing is sealed 011. As described in said Howe patent, the core l5 enters the sleeve M by the lower portion of the pump structure carrying the sleeve being brought to rest in the well while the upper portion thereof, including the core I5, continues to descend. In the apparatus shown, the pump is anchored in the well by radially expansible members I I. These radially expansible members ll are actuated by the conical surface of a mandrel I8. Member 18 is normally held out of engagement with the member I! during the descent of the pump into the well, as shown in Figs. 1, 1a, by the spring legs 14 attached to mandrel l8 resting in recesses or shoulders 16 on a sleeve 56 on the tubing 50. To displace the lower ends of legs I4 rotary motion may be imparted to the pump barrel .and tubing 22 from the sucker rod by means of. the interlocking lug 23 carried by the sucker rod and a recess 24 in the pump head whereby, through interlocking lugs and recesses l9, 2|, on the tubing 22 and drain sleeve 20, rotary motion will be transmitted to the tube 50, and

cam surfaces 80 on the latter will move pins I8 radially outward to displace the legs 14 from the shoulders 16. As the springs 66 normally retard the movement of sleeve 56, the mandrel i 8 will then advance, so to speak, and enter and expand the anchoring devices l1. Of course, other means may be utilized for determining the position of the pump vertically of the well.

' By locating the core .15 at the lower end of the working barrel I 3 of the pump or at least below the lower limit of movement of the traveling valve l2, it is apparent that the bore through the tapered portion of the core does not constitute a limit determining the maximum interior diameter of the working barrel. Likewise there is no drain sleeve supporting shell surrounding the barrel which, if present, would serve to restrict or reduce the diameter of the barrel. In other words; the working barrel being above the core 15, the bore of the barrel is limited only by the-exterior diameterof the barrel, less the thickness of the barrel material, and the outer diameter of the barrel, of course, is limited only by the bore of the well. In this way, the capacity of the pump is greatly increased a factor which is very important where there is a large quantity of salt water in the well which must be raised with the oil. In wells of this type, i. e., where large quantities of salt water are present, it frequently occurs that considerably more oil can be obtained if the salt water is kept pumped ofi and, therefore, it is desirable to have pumping equipment with very large liquid capacity. Again, in some wells of this type, if the total fluid output is increased, the quantity of oil will frequently be increased in a larger proportion than the salt water. creasing the capacity of the pump. For instance, in one well, the production was 22 barrels of oil and 980 barrels of salt water per day, or 2.2% oil and 97.8% salt water, but upon installation of a pump of greater capacity, which gave a total output of 1607 barrels of fluid, the percentage of oil was 2.8% (47 barrls) and salt water 97.2% (1560 barrels) from which it is apparent that increasing the capacity of the pumping equipment resulted in a cumulative gain in oil production, since both the total volume of liquid and the percentage of oil present are increased.

In the specific case above mentioned, a 60% increase in. the total volume of liquid flowed from There is, therefore, a double gain in in-,

the well gave more than 100% increase in the oil content thereof.

A further advantage in a pump construction such as that disclosed herein is that the pump shell, which extends from the drain sleeve down 5 to the anchoring device, may be made considerably shorter than the pump construction such as disclosed in the Howe patent, above mentioned, thereby eifecting economy in the cost of materials. Also, as before stated, there is no elon- 10 gated drain sleeve supporting shell surrounding the barrel to impose a limitation on the diameter of the barrel. I

Where the sealing off devices l4, l5, are positioned at the lower end of the working barrel, or adjacent said end, as disclosed herein, it is apparent that sand, debris or other foreign material settling in the column of fluid above the pump will accumulate in and gradually fill up the space between the pump barrel and well casing when said space is closed at its lower extremity by said sealing 01f devices. Such foreign materials ac-- cumulating in this narrow annular space are very diflicult to remove. In fact, it is almost impossible to, remove them by agitation of the liquid 25 in the well or even'by washing out the well casing through the tubing, as has at times been done with other pumps, with the result that ma- 7 terial accumulatingin this space firmly wedges the pump barrel into the well casing so that it is impossible to remove the pump. It is also entirely possible that the pump becoming wedged in the well might cause the loss of the well itself. For these reasons, the present pump is provided with means for preventing the entryof foreign material into this annular space from a point above the pump. Such means, here termed a sand ring for convenience, preferably consist of one or more annular projections 25 adjacent the upper end of the pump. In the present instance, only one ring is shown,.the same being carried by the pump head "I, but it will be appreciated that additional rings may be provided on said head, or at some other convenient location adjacent the upper end of the pump barrel. A ring of flexible material is considered preferable because there will be less likelihood of injury thereto while being lowered into or removed from the well, but a rigid material could be used if desired. A flexible ring has the additional advantage in that it can be made to fit more closely into the well casing without danger of sticking or freezing". In actual practice, a synthetic rubber substitute, known in the market as Duprene, a synthetic rubber substitute manufactured by Du Pont de Nemours & Company, of Wilmington, Delaware, has been used for these sand rings, as this material is impervious to the chemical action of petroleum. The action of this sand ring is obvious. It substantially fills the upper end of the 00 space between the outer surface of the pump shell and the inside of the well casing and prevents sand or other foreign particles from settling in the annular space closed ofi' between the pump and casing by the sealing elements I4, l5. It will be appreciated that this so-c'alled sand ring is very important in combination with the sealing 011 members when. the latter are located adjacent the lower end of the working barrel, but the use of such sand rings need not necessarily be limited to this particular combination of elements, as there are other types of well mechanisms with which said sand rings could be used to prevent said mechanisms becoming permanently lodged or wedged in a well.

Briefly stated, the pump, after being anchored and sealed off in the well, functions by the traveling valve drawing fluid through the Standing valve 26 at the lower end of the pump barrel on the up-stroke and discharging the fluid from the pump on the down-stroke of said traveling valve, the head of the pump being provided with passages 21 through which the fluid flows into the well casing which serves as an eduction tube in the present instance, all as is well understood inthe art.

To withdraw the pump from the well, the sucker rod l l is raised until the enlarged portion on which lugs 23 are formed engages against the inner surface of head In whereupon further pull on the sucker rod will raise the pump barrel and withdraw mandrel l from the packer sleeve l4. Liquid can len drain through the drain sleeve 20. The pump can then be raised to the surface because the gripping action of slips or members I1 resists only downward movement of the pump.

What I claim is:

1. In an oil well mechanism, the combination of a cylindrical housing for the said mechanism adapted to be lowered into a well casing, radially expansible means carried by said cylindrical housing at the lower end thereof and expandable into contact with the well casing to seal the space between said housing and easing, means carried by said housing for expanding said expansible means, and means surrounding the upper end of said cylindrical housing for preventing entry of sand and other foreign matter from above said housing into said space.

2. In an oil well pump, the combination of a cylindrical working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, an expansible sleeve carried on said barrel, a conical member on said barrel adapted-to expand said sleeve into' sealing engagement with the casing, said conical member being located adjacent the lower end of said barrel and said barrel having a substantially unrestricted bore, a plunger in said barrel bore, and means for reciprocating said plunger.

3. In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, a plunger in said barrel, means for reciprocating said plunger, and packing means for sealing the space between said barrel and casin said packing means comprising a tubular conical member on said barrel at a point below the lower limit of the working stroke of said plunger, and

means supported from the barrel expandable ra-- dially by said conical member'into sealing engagement with the well casing.

4. In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, a plunger in said barrel, means for reciprocating said plunger, and packing means for sealing the space between saidbarrel and casing, said packing means comprising a tubular conical member on said barrel at a point below the lower limit'of the working stroke of said plunger, means supported by the barrel and expandable radially by said conical member into sealing engagement with the well casing, and means for excluding foreign'matter from the upper end of the space between said barrel and casing.

5. In an oil wellpump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, a plunger in said barrel, means tor recl rocating said plunger, and packing means for sealing the space between said barrel and casing, said packing means comprising a tubular coni-' cal member on said barrel at a point below the lower limit of the working stroke of said plunger, and a radially expandable member secured to said barrel and expandable by said conical member to seal the space between the barrel and well casing, and means below said packing means for anchoring said pump in the well.

6. In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing. a plunger in said barrel, means for reciprocating said plunger, and packing means for sealing the space between said barrel and casing, said packing means comprising a tubular conical member on said barrel at a point below the lower limit of the working stroke of said plunger, and a radially expandable member secured to said barrel and expandable by said conical member to seal the space between the barrel and well casing, means suspended from the barrel below said packing means for anchoring the pump in the well, and means at the upper end of said barrel for excluding foreign matter above the barrel from the space between the barrel and casing.

'7. In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to ,be lowered into a well casing, a plunger in said barrel, means for reciprocating said plunger in the barrel, packer means comprising an expansible member secured to said barrel and a conical member on the 'barrel for expanding said expansible member for sealing the space between the barrel and well casing, said conical member being located below the lower limit of travel of said plunger, and an annular shoulder on said barrel adjacent the upper end thereof substantially closing said space between from said space foreign matter the well casing above'the pump.

8. In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, said barrel having a substantially unrestricted bore, a plunger in said bore, means for reciprocating said plunger, andpacker means carried by the pump at the lower end of the working barrel for sealing the space between the barsuch as sand in rel and .well casing, said packer means comprisr ing an expansible sleeve member and a tubular member engageable in said sleeve for expanding the same, the bore of the working barrel not being restricted by the bore of said tublflar member.

9.- In an oil well pump, the combination of a working barrel adapted to be lowered in a well casing, said barrel having a substantially unrestricted bore, a plunger in said bore, means for reciprocating said plunger, packing means carried by the barrel for sealing the space between the barrel and well casing, said packing means comprising an expansible sleeve and a tubular member for expanding said sleeve, said tubular member being located below the lower limit of the working stroke of said plunger, whereby said tubular member imposes no limitation on the cross-sectional size of the bore of said barrel, and aresillent annular shoulder adjacent the upper extremity of said working barrel substantially closing the upper end of the space between said barrel and easing.

" WILLIAM FRED COX.

the barrel and casing to exclude

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