Borehole Pump Stepped Plunger Self-Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dual-action well pumps face issues with hydraulic losses due to channel intersections in delivery and suction valves, reducing efficiency, and sealing failures when operating in fluids with mechanical impurities, leading to reduced service life.
Innovation Solution
A well pump design featuring a submersible motor with a hollow stepped plunger and an additional cylinder for the lower stage, allowing for flexible mounting and reduced wear, along with a bypass valve system that minimizes hydraulic losses and prevents wedging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a stepped plunger with sealing is used in the cylinder, then the pump can handle formation fluids, but the sealing quickly fails when working in formation fluid containing mechanical impurities
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the sealing function from the stepped plunger design and relocates it to the additional cylinder. The lower stage of the plunger is no longer sealed against the working cylinder, eliminating the failure point caused by mechanical impurities. Instead, sealing is performed by the additional cylinder which has a simpler cylindrical geometry less susceptible to impurity-induced failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the cylinder into two parts: the working cylinder and the additional cylinder. The additional cylinder specifically accommodates the lower stage of the plunger and provides the sealing function, while the working cylinder handles the pumping operation. This segmentation isolates the sealing function from the complex stepped plunger geometry.
2Reliability
If a stepped plunger with rigid attachment is used, then the lower stage is sealed in the cylinder, but alignment difficulty leads to wedging of the pump
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the sealing requirement from the stepped plunger-cylinder interface and places it on the additional cylinder. This extraction eliminates the need for precise alignment of the stepped plunger with the working cylinder, as the additional cylinder provides a simpler, more tolerant sealing surface.
3Device complexity
If channels in delivery and suction valves intersect, then the valve structure is compact, but hydraulic losses increase reducing pump efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The invention resolves the channel intersection problem by transitioning from a two-dimensional planar valve layout to a three-dimensional spatial arrangement. The delivery and suction channels are positioned at different heights and angles, allowing them to pass through each other in space without intersecting, thereby eliminating hydraulic losses while maintaining compactness.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to the field of pumping equipment and can be used in the oil industry in the operation of marginal wells. A pump comprises a submersible electric motor with a protector. A drive of a working pump converts rotary motion into reciprocating motion. The working pump consists of a housing, an intake valve, a delivery valve, and a bypass valve, a main cylinder, and a hollow stepped plunger, the lower step of which is connected to a rod and has a diametral size that is smaller than the diametral size of the upper step. Below the main cylinder an additional cylinder is provided which accommodates the lower step of the hollow stepped plunger. The main cylinder is not rigidly fastened inside the housing. The fact that the main cylinder is not rigidly fastened allows it to self-align relative to the hollow stepped plunger, thus preventing jamming and increasing the operating reliability and the working life of the pump.