Frack Pump Flow Type History Tracking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manual tracking of frack pump operation with clean and proppant-laden fluids is tedious, prone to errors, and lacks precision, especially when recording data over time.
Innovation Solution
An automated system and method to determine the flow type history of a frack pump, which includes identifying the type of fluid flow (no flow, clean flow, or slurry flow) and the duration of each flow type, using sensors and monitoring systems to detect proppant presence based on bulk modulus or other parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual tracking of frack pump operation is used, then the system complexity is low, but the measurement precision and reliability of flow type history data deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual tracking methods with an automated electronic monitoring system that uses sensors to detect proppant presence and automatically records flow type history. This substitution of mechanical/manual operations with electronic automation resolves the contradiction by achieving high measurement precision through automated sensing while managing system complexity through integrated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system automatically detects proppant presence, determines flow types, and records history without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by using sensors to monitor its own operational parameters and autonomously generating flow type history records, thereby improving precision while minimizing the need for complex manual tracking procedures.
2Measurement precision
If automated monitoring system is implemented, then the measurement precision of flow type history improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is designed to perform multiple functions: detecting proppant presence, determining flow types, recording time stamps, and generating comprehensive flow type history. By consolidating these functions into a single integrated system, the patent achieves high measurement precision while managing overall system complexity through multi-functionality rather than requiring separate systems for each task.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a bulk modulus sensor as an intermediary device that indirectly detects proppant presence by measuring fluid compressibility changes. This intermediary measurement approach enables precise flow type detection without requiring direct observation or complex analysis of the frack fluid, thereby improving measurement precision while adding only a single sensor component to the system.
3Ease of operation
If manual recording of proppant presence data is used, then the ease of operation is high, but the loss of time for data collection and the reliability of data deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The automated monitoring system continuously detects proppant presence and records flow type history without interruption throughout the frack pump operation. This continuous automated data collection eliminates the time losses associated with manual recording intervals and ensures no data gaps, while the system operates autonomously without requiring operational interruptions for data entry, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and time loss.
4Reliability
If automated flow type determination is implemented, then the reliability of pump usage management improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system implements feedback by continuously measuring bulk modulus, comparing it against thresholds to determine proppant presence, and using this information to automatically update flow type history records. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures reliable pump usage management decisions based on real-time data, while the automated nature of the feedback process eliminates manual intervention errors and maintains consistency in reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The automated system enables precise tracking of fluid flow types and durations, improving the management of frack pump usage, reducing maintenance downtime, and optimizing pump operation by allowing for automatic adjustments during fracking stages.
Implementation Method 1
A proppant presence in a frack fluid can be determined by a bulk modulus of the frack fluid
Data Source
AI summary
The life of internal components of a frack pump is affected by the frack fluid being pumped. Manually trying to keep track of the frack fluid type being pumped is a tedious task that is susceptible to incorrect data or missing data. As such, the disclosure provides automated tracking of the amount of time or fluid volume that frack pumps pump the different fluid types and managing usage of the frack pumps using a history of the pumping. An example method of managing usage of a frack pump includes: (1) obtaining, for a time period or fluid volume, a proppant presence for a frack fluid being pumped by a frack pump, (2) automatically determining a flow type history for the frack pump over the time period or fluid volume based at least on the proppant presence, and (3) controlling a usage of the frack pump using the flow type history.