Segmented Fluid End Assembly for Field-Replaceable Fracturing Pumps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hydraulic fracturing operations rely on diesel-powered equipment, which is expensive, environmentally unfriendly, and poses safety risks, while turbine systems are inefficient at lower loads and have large footprints, limiting their use in fracturing sites.
Innovation Solution
Development of a segmented fluid end pump system that combines smaller metal blocks to create larger pumps, allowing for easier manufacturing, mobility, and replacement, while maintaining efficiency and reducing environmental impact by using electric motors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single large block is used for the fluid end, then the pump can provide sufficient pumping capacity, but it restricts the ability to mobilize replacement equipment and replace fluid ends in the field
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid end is divided into multiple segments that can be assembled together to form a complete pump. Each segment can be manufactured separately, transported easily to the wellsite, and quickly assembled or replaced in the field, maintaining high pumping capacity while improving mobility and replaceability
2Power
If diesel engines are used to power fracturing operations, then sufficient power is available, but the system is expensive, environmentally unfriendly, and poses safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces diesel-powered mechanical systems with electric motor-driven pump systems. This substitution eliminates the harmful effects of diesel combustion (emissions, fire risks, noise) while maintaining the required power output through electric motors coupled with the plunger pump mechanism
3Object-affected harmful factors
If turbine generators are used to power fracturing operations, then environmental impact is reduced, but the system operates inefficiently at lower loads and has a large footprint
Solution Approach 1:
The pump system uses multiple plunger assemblies that can be independently controlled or staged, allowing the system to maintain high efficiency across varying load conditions by optimizing the operation of individual plungers rather than requiring a single large turbine generator
Solution Approach 2:
The system can adjust operational parameters such as plunger stroke frequency and amplitude to match varying load demands, maintaining optimal efficiency across different operating conditions without the large footprint and inefficiencies associated with turbine generators
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid end for a fracturing pump includes a plurality of segments coupled together along a discharge axis, each segment of the plurality of segments having a plurality of suction bores. The fluid end also includes respective interfaces between segment pairs formed by adjacent segments of the plurality of segments, the interfaces coupling the segment pairs together. The fluid end further includes respective access areas proximate the respective interfaces, the respective access areas configured to provide access for mechanical couplings to join the segment pairs together.