US2664827A - Oil well pump - Google Patents

Description

J. R. HATFIELD Jan. 5, 1954 OIL WELL PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 l Filed Dec. 29, 1949-.

` JNVENTOR.4 James R. Har'da? J. RDIA'FFIELD OL WELL PUMP Jan. 5, 1954 2 Shee'ns-Shee'rl 2 Filed D90. 29, 1949 (Il .Pf-1T WHM. .R L d w /n mm JW HTTRNY Patented Jan. 5, 1954 UNrrEo FFICE OIL WELL PUMP James R. Hatfield, Bartlesville, Okla., assignor to Cities Service Oil Company, Bartlesville, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1949, Serial No. 135,678

' (Cl. 10S- 179) Voperating standpoint, that they be separated. In

general practice this is accomplished by shifting the pump up and down in the well together with the entire tubing string, and necessitating the replacement of the packing which separates the two oil producing zones. This is rather a dinicult operation, and cannot be accomplished by the pumper with the tools ordinarily at his disposal.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pump which will permit the pumper to shift from one producing Zone to another with a minimum of labor and expense, operating with the tools which are normally at his disposal.

In order that those skilled in the art may further understand my invention and the means for carrying it out, attention is drawn to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a sectional diagram of a string of tubing with sucker rods and a pump in a well showing one form of my invention in which the slide valve is in position for pumping from the lower producing zone,

Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional drawing of the slide valve assembly of Fig. l showing the slide valve in position for pumping from the upper zone,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross section viewed along line 3 3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional drawing of a second form of my invention showing the slide valve in position for pumping from the upper producing zone, y

and

Fig. 5 illustrates the alternative form of my invention with the slide valve in position for pumping from the lower zone.

As more particularly illustrated in Fig. l a string of tubing it is inserted in a well having an outside casing i l Motive power for pumping the well is illustrated in the drawing as a walking beam i2 having attached to the end thereof a horsehead I3. A flexible cable ift is affixed to the upper end of the horsehead i3 and is removably attached to the upper portion of the sucker rod l5. It will be appreciated, of course, that this type of motive power does not form a part of my 2, invention, and that any other arrangement for raising and lowering the sucker rod may be substituted.

The sucker rod l5 extends downward through a conventional packing (not shown) in the top of tubing l0 to a pump assembly i8, connected to the tubing Hl as by a collar i9, where it is attached to the top valve cage 2!! of the pump. The top valve cage 20 contains a conventional ball valve 2| or other form of check valve, whereby the downward flow of oil is prevented throughout the upward stroke of the pump. Attached to the top cage 2t is a plunger 22 which fits closelyagainst a liner 23 enclosed by a ,reinforcing jacket 24. These latter parts, 23 and 2e, perform but a single function, and may accordingly be formed separately, as shown, or as a single unitary structure. The lower portion oi the plunger 22 is provided with a lower plunger nut 25 forming a shoulder about the inside periphery of the plunger 22. A garbutt rod 25 provided with an upper flange 21 is positioned within the plunger 22 and is connected at its lower end to a lower valve cage 28 which is also provided with a conventional ball valve 29 or other form of check valve operative to close the iiow passage 3) during the downward stroke of the plunger 22.

The bottom cage 28 is connected to a lock hold down mandrel 3| which is provided with inwardly compressible fingers 32 which engage with a lock hold down shoe 33 attached to the jacket 24 having an inner annular shoulder 32 past which the iingers 32 may be forced, whereby to hold the lock hold down mandrel 3| in place.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is a description of a standard well pump in which the liner 23, reinforcing jacket 24 and lower valve cage 28 with its connected garbutt rod 2S form the cylinder, while the assembly of the top Valve cage 2t, the valve 2|, and the plunger 22 constitute the piston.

An additional length of tubing it is attached to the lock hold down shoe and extends downward in the well for such distance as may be necessary to extend from one producing zone to another, the well being packed with packing l! of such type and character as to effectively seal one producing zone from the other. The tubing 40 is sealed at the bottom with a plate 132, and is provided with upper zone ports i3 and lower zone yports 44. As illustrated in the drawing, only one row of ports is shown for each producing zone; however, in practice probably several staggered rows of ports will be provided for each zone.

A hollow slide valve 45 is mounted in the tubing section 4t of such diameter that the lower portion thereof ts tightly against the tubing 4S but still not so tightly that it cannot be shifted in position with relative ease. 'I'he upper portion of the slide valve d is of smaller diameter than the lower portion thereof whereby to provide a shoulder it which may nt against stop di in the upper portion of the tubing 42, to limit the upward movement of the valve 45, a further stop 43 being provided in the bottom of tubing il!) in oider to limit the downward movement of the slide valve t5. The total over-all length of the slide valve 45 is such that when its lower portion is in contact with the stop 48 its upper portion will be in contact with the lock hold down mandrel when the iingers 32 oi the mandrel 3i have been pushed past the shoulder 34 of the lock hold down shoe 33. The lower portion of the slide valve d is provided with ports 49 so located that they will register with ports 44 of the tubing 49 when the lower portion of the slide valve 45 is in contact with the stop 2.3. Upper ports 5t are also provided in the slide valve i5 and are so located that they will register with ports 43 of the tubing 40 when the shoulder t6 of the slide valve is in contact with the stop El?. A coil spring 5i is compressibly placed between the bottom plate ld2 of the tubing it and the bottom portion 52 of the slide valve 45 so as to exert an upward thrust upon the slide valve 45.

Referring to Fig. 1, the pump is shown in position for pumping from the lower sone, with lower tubing ports 44 in register with the lower valve ports i9 and lower valve cage 28 seated in position to act as a standing valve. The piston assembly, consisting of the plunger 22 and the upper valve cage 2S and valve 2l, is then reciproca-ted by the sucker rod I5, actuated by the walking beam I2, and oil is pumped from the lower zone.

In case it is desired to switch production (see Fig. 2) from the lower zone to the upper Zone the pumper will disconnect the sucker rod I5 from the cable I4 and will raise, with the tools commonly used to pull the rod string, the sucker rod I5 with attached plunger 22 to a position at which the lower plunger nut 25 will make contact with the flange 2'? of the garbutt rod 26. The sucker rod i5 is then raised for an additional distance suincient to pull the fingers 32 of the mandrel 3 Iy past the shoulder 34 of the shoe 33 so that the mandrel will rest in the position shown in Fig. 2. llihe coil spring 5I will then force the slide valve 45 into engagement with the stop li? at which position the upper valve ports 5@ will be in register with the upper tubing ports 43, so that oil may flow from the upper producing Zone into the now passage Sii. The distance which the mandrel 3| will move in raising it from the position. shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2 will usually be 6 inches or more depending upon the design of the mandrel 3l and shoe 33. The operator will then aX the iieXible cable i4 to the sucker rod I5 at a point below that at which it was afliXed when pumping from the lower zone and at a distance from the point of rst xation equivalent to the distance which the mandrel has been moved. The pump is then in adjustment for pumping from the upper zone and pumping may be commenced.

When operating in shallow wells the force exerted by the resilient iingers 32 against the inner shoulder Sii, together with the force exerted by the coil spring 5l is generally sufiicient to keep the mandrel 3l in a position above the shoulder 34. However, in fairly deep wells the weight of the liquid column in the tubing mayT be such that it is suiiicient to force the iingers of the mandrel past the shoulder 34. In such a case an auxiliary standing valve is provided to take over the functions of lower valve cage 28, consisting of a cylindrical housing 53 surrounding the tubing ports 43, attached to the tubing 4t and containing a. plurality of conventional ball valves 5:3. Upon the downward stroke of the plunger 22 the ball valves 54 will be closed and will maintain sufficient pressure in the iiow passage Sii to counteract the pressure of the head of oil in the tubing It, and prevent forcing of the mandrel fingers past the shoulder 34.

If it is desired to shift production back to the lower zone, the pumper will disconnect the sucker rod I5 from the walking beam l2, and lower the sucker rod, together with the top valve cage 20 and plunger 22 until the plunger nut 25 comes in contact with the top of valve cage 28. 'By placing the weight of the sucker rod string upon the valve cage 28, the resilient lingers 32 of lock hold down mandrel ilA may be easily forced back over the shoulder 34 to hold the mandrel in the position shown in Fig. 1. The lower portion of the iingers 32 pressing against the upper portion of the slide valve 45 willV then force the valve down against the stop 8, and bring lower tubing ports 44 and lower valve ports i2 into register. The sucker rod string together with the piston assembly is then raised to pumping position and reattached to the walking beam I2.

It is of note that since the operative parts of my invention are in no way xed to any of the moving parts of the pump, the pump valves and plunger may be withdrawn from the well for servicing and repair in the usual manner, without interference. Since the tubing and slide valve which embodies my invention is attached to the cylinder of thepump, as by a threaded or welded connection it may be brought to the surface for servicing and repair when the tubing is pulled for inspection of the pump liner 23.

It will be noted that in the form of my invention illustrated in Figs. l and 2 the distance between the upper and lower valve ports is less than the distance between the upper and lower tubing ports. In this modification the valve is in position for pumping from the lower Zone when its lower portion 52 is in Contact with the stop 48, and in position for pumping from the upper zone when the shoulder 45 is in vcontact with the stop 4i. Figures 4 and 5 show a modii'ied form of the invention in which the distance between the upper and lower valve ports is greater than the distance between the upper and lower tubing ports. In this modification the valve is in position for pumping from the upper zone when its lower portion 52 is in contact with the stop 4t, and in position for pumping from the lower zone when the shoulder 45 is in contact with the stop f1.7. lSince the fingers 32 of the mandrel 3! rest against the top of the annular shoulder 34 when the valve is in position for pumping from the lower zone, the auxiliary valve housing 53 is positioned to surround the lower tubing ports 44, in order to maintain suiiicient pressure in the ow passage 30 to lower zone, whereas forcing the fingers downwardly past the shoulder will shift production from the lower to the upper zone.

It will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the major portion of the pump illustrated in the drawings is a conventional pump of the type known as a tubing liner pump, and that my invention resides in combining with this pump an 'additional section of tubing extending from one producing zone to another, having ports in each zone, -a slide valve movable within the tubing and having ports capable of 'selectively registering with either the upper or lower tubing ports, and means for selectively positioning the slide valve so that production may be shifted from one zone to the other easily and simply. It is of particular note that in `shifting from one producing zone to the other the tubing and pump remain in place, the shift from one zone to the other being accomplished merely by manipulation of the sucker rod string, which the pumper may easily do with the aid of such tools as are ordinarily at his disposal.

Having now described my invention, what is claimed as new and useful is:

l. An oil well pump assembly operative to selectively pump from two producing zones including in combination a hollow plunger operatively connected to a sucker rod string, a liner iitting about the plunger, a jacket enclosing the liner, a plunger nut forming an inner shoulder about the interior circumference of the lower end of the plunger, a garbutt rod extending into the interior of the plunger, a flange attached to the upper end of the garbutt rod adapted to engage with the plunger nut, a mandrel operatively connected to the lower end of the lgarbutt rod and provided with inwardly compressible fingers adapted to engage an inner shoulder of a lock shoe attached to the lower end of the jacket, a downwardly extending length of tubing attached to the lower end of the lock shoe, the said tubing being closed at its lower end, upper and lower sets of parts in said tubing, a hollow slide valve enclosed within the tubing, upper and lower sets of ports in said valve, Ia spring compressibly inserted between the closed end of the tubing and the slide valve exerting :an upward force upon the slide valve, the said slide valve having an exterior diameter at its upper portion less than the exterior diameter at its lower portion forming a shoulder near the upper portion of the slide valve, a stop near the upper end of the tubing adapted to engage the said slidevalve shoulder, and so positioned than when the said stop is in engagement with the said shoulder, one set of valve ports are in register with one set of tubing ports, a stop near the lower end of the tubing adapted to engage the bottom p0rtion of the slide valve, and `so positioned that when the said stop is in engagement with the said bottom portion of the valve, the other set of valve ports are in register with the other 4set of tubing ports.

2. An oil well pump assembly including in coinbination a rod-operated pump having a lower pump valve cage, a downwardly extending length of tubing :attached to the lower end of the pump, the 'said tubing having a closed bottom 'and having lower and upper sets of ports, a slide valve contained within the said tubing and movable lengthwise therein, and having upper and lower sets of ports spaced apart at a distance unequal to the distance between the upper and lower tubing ports, the said lower pump valve cage being movable relative to said tubing and operatively connected with said slide valve and in uid communication therewith, spring means compressibly inserted between the tubing bottom and the slide valve, and a rod string extending to the ground surface and operatively connected with the lower pump valve cage whereby a vertical movement of the rod may be communie-ated to the said valve cage and its associated slide valve to move the said valve cage and slide valve relative to the tubing to cause the slide valve ports to shift from communication with one set of tubing ports to the other.

3. An oil well pump assembly including in combination a rod-operated pump having a lower pump valve cage, a downwardly extending length of tubing attached to the lower end of the pump, upper and lower sets of ports in the tubing, a slide valve container within the said tubing movable lengthwise therein and having upper and lower sets of ports spaced apart at a distance unequal to the distance between the upper and lower tubing ports, the said lower pump valve cage being movable relative to the said tubing and operatively connected with lsaid slide valve and in fluid communication therewith, a rod string extending to the ground surface and operatively connected with the lower pump valve cage whereby a vertical movement of the rod may be communicated to the said valve cage and its associated slide valve to move the said valve cage and slide valve relative to the tubing to cause the slide valve ports to shift from communication with one set of tubing ports to the other, and a v-alve housing enclosing the tubing ports which are in communication with the slide valve ports when the slide valve is in upper position, the said valve housing having a check valve therein.

4. An oil well pump assembly including in combination a rod operated pump having an upper valve cage and a lower valve cage, a tubing extension attached to the lower end of the pump, the said lower valve cage being movable longitudinally relative to the said tubing extension, lower and upper ports in the tubing extension, a hollow slide valve contained within the tubing extension and having upper and lower ports spaced apart at a distance unequal to the distance between the upper and lower tubing ports, the lower valve ports being capable of registering with the lower tubing ports, and the upper valve ports being capable of registering with the upper tubing ports, the said slide valve being operatively connected with the said lower valve cage and being in fluid communication therewith.

5. An oil well pump assembly including in combination a rod-operated pump having an upper valve cage and a lower valve cage, a tubing extension attached to the lower end of the pump, the said lower valve cage being movable longitudinally relative to the said tubing extension, lower and upper sets of ports in the tubing extension, a hollow slide valve contained within the said tubing extension, the said slide valve being operably connected with the lower valve cage and in fluid communication therewith, ports in the said slide valve, the said ports being capable of selectively communicating with the upper or lower ports in the tubing extension, and a rod extending to the ground surface and operatively connected with the said lower valve cage whereby a vertical movement of the rod will be communicated to the said lower valve cage and its associated slide valve to move the said valve cage and slide valve relative to the tubing extension whereby to' cause theisaid slide valve ports to shif-tfrom communication with` one set of tubing po-rtsf to the'ot'hei;

6. Anoil well production :assembly including in combination packing means adapted to be set in a Well', between an upper and av lower producing well stratumv so as to separate the well into an upper well zone communicating with said upper stratum and a lowerV well zone communicating with said lower well stratum, productiontubing passing through said packing means, upper and lower-sets of ports in said production tubing communicating. respectively with said. upper and lower Zones, a rod-operated pump assembly inter.- posedin theproduction tubing, the said pump assemblyhaving anY upper valve cage and a lower valve cage, the said lower valve cage beingmovable longitudinally of the production tubing,A a hollow slide valve contained within. the produc'- tion tubing below the said lower valve cage', the upper end of said slide valve being operably connected with said lower valve cage and in fluid communication therewith, ports in the said slide Valve, the said ports being capable of selectively communicating withthe upper or lower ports in the'production tubing, and a rod extending to the ground surface and: operatively connected with the said.- lower Valve cage whereby a Vertical movement of thev rod will be communicated to the said Valve cage and its associated slide valve to movethc said valve cage and` sli-de valve relative to the production tubing to cause the slide valve ports to shift from communication with one set of tubing ports to the other.

JAMES R. HATFIELD.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDv STATES PATENTS Number

Images