Overlapping Turbine-Pump Rotor Layout for Bent Well Fluid Lifting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid lifting systems in wells face issues with increased pressure due to decreasing gas content, leading to fluid accumulation and potential production stoppages, and are cumbersome to install, especially in bent regions, with complex piping and pressure losses.
Innovation Solution
A fluid lifting system where the turbine and pump rotors are partially or fully overlapping on a common axis, with the pump rotor driven by the turbine rotor, eliminating the need for separate motors and simplifying installation, and featuring a mechanical decoupler to adjust rotation speeds, allowing gas and fluid mixing within the pumping space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If gas is injected for gas lift or pumping to lighten the fluid column, then fluid production is enhanced, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the gas turbine and pump into a single integrated unit where the gas turbine drives the pump rotor directly. This merging eliminates the need for separate motors and reduces energy losses, allowing the system to maintain fluid production while reducing overall energy consumption and production costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the expanding gas itself to drive the pump through the gas turbine, making the gas both a lifting medium and a power source. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external power sources or additional energy input, thereby reducing production costs while maintaining productivity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a gas turbine and pump are mounted in series, then gas lift and pumping functions are integrated, but the combined length makes insertion into bent well regions difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The pump rotor is positioned inside the gas turbine rotor, creating a nested configuration. This nesting arrangement significantly reduces the overall length of the combined system while maintaining both gas lift and pumping functions, making it suitable for insertion into bent well regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a linear series arrangement to a concentric circular arrangement where the pump rotor rotates within the gas turbine rotor. This dimensional change from linear to radial arrangement reduces the axial length while maintaining functional integration.
3Reliability
If separate pipes are provided through the fluid passage to isolate gas conveying from pumped fluid, then gas and fluid flow are separated, but manufacturing complexity increases and pressure losses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the gas conveying passage and pumped fluid passage into a single common passage. The gas and fluid flow coexist in the same space without requiring separate piping, thereby simplifying manufacturing and reducing pressure losses while maintaining functional separation through the turbine rotor design.
Solution Approach 2:
The common passage serves dual purposes: it conveys both the expanding gas and the pumped fluid simultaneously. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate pipes, reducing manufacturing complexity and pressure losses while maintaining the necessary flow separation through the turbine rotor structure.
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
Enhances fluid production efficiency with reduced energy consumption, simplified installation, and minimized pressure drops, while compensating thermal effects through thermal power exchange between the turbine and pump components.
Implementation Method 1
a gas turbine comprising a turbine rotor having blades and a turbine stator defining a gas expansion chamber with the turbine rotor
Implementation Method 2
the turbine rotor and the pump rotor being mechanically coupled such that the rotation of the turbine rotor produced by gas injection from the gas injection duct drives in rotation the pump rotor
Implementation Method 3
a fluid pump, having a pump stator and a pump rotor defining an intermediate fluid pumping space, the pump rotor having an impeller received in the intermediate fluid pumping space
Implementation Method 4
allowing gas and fluid mixing within the pumping space
Data Source
AI summary
The fluid lifting system comprises a fluid pump, having a pump stator and a pump rotor being rotatable around a longitudinal rotation axis, a gas turbine comprising a turbine rotor and a turbine stator defining a gas expansion chamber, a gas injection duct, to introduce a gas flow in the gas expansion chamber to drive the turbine rotor in rotation.The turbine rotor is rotatable around the rotation axis, the turbine rotor and the pump rotor being mechanically coupled such that the rotation of the turbine rotor produced by gas injection from the gas injection duct drives in rotation the pump rotor.The turbine rotor and the pump rotor are at least partly in longitudinal overlap in projection on the rotation axis.