Traveling Valve Assembly with Helical Insert for Gas Lock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Oil pumping systems face issues such as gas lock, inefficiency due to improper ball seating, damage from impurities like sand, and reduced performance in non-vertical orientations, leading to pumping inefficiency and equipment wear.
Innovation Solution
A traveling valve assembly with a free-floating ball and an anchored ball, along with a helical insert and friction chamber, which allows for efficient fluid passage and prevents backflow, while the cyclonic rotation of the helical ports helps in removing gases and solids, ensuring proper seating and minimizing wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a conventional traveling valve with a single ball is used, then the structure is simple, but gas lock occurs when gas becomes trapped between the traveling valve and standing valve balls
Solution Approach 1:
The single ball valve is segmented into two separate ball valves (first ball valve and second ball valve) positioned at different locations within the traveling valve assembly. This segmentation allows gas to be trapped between the two balls rather than blocking the entire valve, enabling the gas to be compressed and eventually released without stopping pumping operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The second ball valve acts as an intermediary element between the first ball valve and the pump barrel. It creates an intermediate chamber that allows gas to be trapped and compressed between the two balls, serving as a mediator that prevents gas lock while maintaining sealing functionality.
2Device complexity
If the ball is continuously lifted off the seat and re-seated without coupling, then the valve operation is simple, but the ball does not perfectly center when seating causing leakage and improper seating damage
Solution Approach 1:
The conical surface is positioned to guide the ball into proper alignment before it reaches the sealing seat. This preliminary guiding action ensures the ball is pre-centered and properly oriented before the critical sealing moment, preventing misalignment and leakage without adding complex adjustment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
A conical surface (curved surface) is introduced to guide the ball into proper seating alignment. The curved geometry of the conical surface naturally centers the spherical ball as it approaches the seat, ensuring precise alignment through geometric guidance rather than mechanical constraints.
3Device complexity
If a single ball valve is used, then the device is simple, but sand and impurities can become trapped causing scoring and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The valve assembly is segmented into two ball valves with an intermediate chamber between them. This segmentation creates multiple sealing points and flow paths, preventing sand and impurities from becoming trapped in a single location. The divided structure allows impurities to be washed through rather than concentrated at one sealing interface.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the pump operates in non-vertical orientations, then the pump can be installed in various well configurations, but the traveling valve ball does not fully seat due to gravitational forces
Solution Approach 1:
The conical guiding surface is designed to work with the spherical ball to ensure proper seating regardless of orientation. The geometric relationship between the conical surface and spherical ball provides mechanical guidance that overrides gravitational effects, ensuring the ball centers and seals properly whether the pump is vertical, deviated, or horizontal.
Solution Approach 2:
The valve design changes the seating parameters by introducing a conical guiding surface that modifies how the ball approaches and contacts the seat. This geometric parameter change ensures reliable seating under various gravitational conditions by providing mechanical guidance rather than relying solely on gravity to center the ball.
5Productivity
If oil is left behind in the pump barrel during upstroke, then the pump cycle is simple, but pumping efficiency is reduced due to loss of fluid
Solution Approach 1:
The dual ball valve system maintains continuous sealing action throughout the pump cycle. By having two balls that can be positioned at different times, the system ensures that the pump barrel is consistently sealed and filled, preventing oil from being left behind and maintaining continuous productive action without idle periods.
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 solution effectively eliminates gas lock, minimizes damage from solids, and enhances pumping efficiency by ensuring complete fluid recovery and reducing wear on equipment, even in non-vertical orientations.
Implementation Method 1
the cyclonic rotation of the helical ports helps in removing gases and solids
Implementation Method 2
the cyclonic rotation of the helical ports helps in removing gases and solids
Data Source
AI summary
A traveling valve assembly adapted to be coupled to a southern end of a pump plunger wherein the traveling valve has an elongated body and two ball valves, one positioned at the northern end of the traveling valve and another positioned at the southern end of the traveling valve. The traveling valve prevents pumped fluid that has slipped downwardly past the pump plunger from continuing to slip further down into the pump barrel. The traveling valve captures that pumped fluid that has slipped downwardly so that it may be produced upwardly through the pump.