ESP Coupling Assembly Seal for Leakage Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrical submersible pumps (ESP) face challenges with fluid leakage during assembly, particularly when vertically or horizontally assembled, which can compromise the sealing integrity and allow air ingress, affecting the equalizing abilities of the seal section and potentially leading to motor section leakage.
Innovation Solution
A coupling assembly with a sealing interface around the larger diameter portion of the coupling, featuring a splined axial bore and a selectively moveable seal that transitions from a sealing to a non-sealing position during assembly, ensuring fluid communication between the seal and motor sections while preventing leakage and air ingress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the seal section is filled with equalizing fluid and purged of air prior to assembly, then the equalizing ability is improved, but fluid leakage occurs during vertical assembly causing air to reenter the seal section
Solution Approach 1:
A seal is provided in the seal section that extends into the coupling assembly to prevent fluid leakage before assembly occurs. This preliminary sealing action maintains the equalizing fluid and purged air state, preventing air from reentering during the assembly process.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal acts as an intermediary element between the seal section and coupling assembly, creating a barrier that prevents fluid leakage during assembly while allowing the sections to be connected.
2Reliability
If the motor section is filled with fluid prior to assembly, then leakage prevention is improved when vertically assembled, but the motor section leaks when horizontally assembled
Solution Approach 1:
The seal in the coupling assembly provides universal leakage prevention that works regardless of assembly orientation. The seal extends into the coupling assembly to create a barrier that functions effectively in both vertical and horizontal assembly configurations, making the system adaptable to different assembly orientations.
3Reliability
If a seal is provided in the seal section extending into the coupling assembly, then fluid leakage prevention is improved, but the seal must be removable to allow fluid communication after assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is designed to be dynamically positionable - extending into the coupling assembly during assembly to prevent leakage, and then removable or retractable after assembly to allow fluid communication between sections. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between maintaining seals and enabling fluid flow.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical submersible pumping assembly having a seal section and a motor section, and seals that prevent leakage from the seal section and the motor section during assembly. The seals cooperate with a coupling assembly for coupling together shafts from both the seal section and motor section. The coupling assembly outer diameter enlarges at a shoulder that circumscribes its outer surface. In one example, the seal that prevents leakage from the seal assembly provides a sealing interface around the larger diameter portion of the coupling assembly, that is removable by sliding the coupling so its smaller diameter portion is adjacent the seal assembly. The motor section is sealed by another sealing assembly that includes a body that circumscribes the motor shaft to define an annulus, a sealing disk selectively fills the annulus. The sealing disk can also be slid away from within the body while coupling the shafts with the coupling assembly.