US2032000A - Means for raising fluid from deep oil and water wells - Google Patents

Description

Filed Sept. l5, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l u Ill.

Feb. 25, 1936. c. c. BROWN Er A1. I MEANS FOR RAISING FLUID FROM DEEP OIL AND WATER WELLS Fel 25, 1936 c. c. BROWN ET AL. 2,032,000

MEANS FOR RAISING FLUID FROM-.DEEP OIL AND WATER WELLS Filed Sept. l5, 1933 2 Sheeds-Sheet '2 l grafi/hoff,

'Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITI-:o vSTATES PATENTA ori-"lcs MEANS FOR RAISING FLUID FROM DEE OIL AND WATER WELLS Charley C. Brown, Ponca City, and Samuel N. Van' Wert and Armas Arutunofi, Bartlesville, Okla., assignors to Reda Pump Company, Bartlesville, Okla., a corporation Application September 15, 1933, Serial No. 689,532

4 Claims. 4(Cl. 103-46) Our invention consists in new and useful improvements Ein mechanism for raising iluid from deepoil and waterr wells and. has for its primary object to provide a. novel combination of a pump, submergible electric motor, transmission and 1ubricating and protecting unit, so constructed and arranged that the entire assembly may be lowered into the well as a single unit.

- Another object of our invention is to provide an Veiiicient. means for transforming the rotary motion of the vertical shaft of an electric motor into reciprocating motion of the pump stems.

LA further object of our invention resides in a novel lubricating unit for insuring the proper lubrication 'of the Working parts of the pump and for facilitating the protection of the electric motor and transmission during submersion.

`Stil1 another object of our invention is to provide, in a device of this character, means where- '29 by diierent sizes of plungers or pistons and liners may be used and whereby the changing from one size to another may be accomplished conveniently in the eld.

vA still further object is to provide in a vertical 25 duplex pump for oil wells, an arrangement whereby,-fo r a given well size, plungers of a maximum diameter may be employed. In g other words, larger plungers may be used than the size normally prescribed by the center distance between the pump stems.

Still another object is to provide an arrangementof cross heads and stationary guides whereby, when it is necessary to unscrew an old plunger 35 and replace it with a new one, the cross heads are prevented from rotating by the stationary guides. lWith the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, our invention consists in the novel features herein set 4o forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in which numerals of like character designate similar parts through- 45 'out the several views:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the complete assembly of our invention. Y Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the transmission unit. l 50 Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the gearing mechanism taken at right angles to Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the motor 55 and protecting unitshowing at its upper end the point of connection with the transmission unit, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional viewof the pump unit showing at its lower end the point of connection with the transmission unit. 5

Inthe drawings, I represents the housing of an electrical submergible motor comprising a stator 2 and a rotor 3. A motor shaft 4 extends vertically-upwardly and issplined at its upper end to operatively carry a spur gear 5 (Figs. 2 and 3) A 10 which .through the medium of planetary gears 6 on pins 1 of a spider, rotates a bevel pinion 9, the latter in turn operatively engaging a bevel gear I0 carried on the transverse shaft or axle I I. A gear I2 carried by the axle I I meshes with an 15 intermediate gear I3 and through it transmits power to a toothed crank shaft gear I4 supported on bearings I5.

The crank shaft gear I4 is formed with d isclike sides I 4a as shown in Fig. 2, and is preferably 20 machined out of a solid sphere-like forging,- the gear, sides and bearings I5 being integral. This gear is operatively connected by means of connecting rods I6 to cross heads I1 which support the lower extremities of pump stems I 8, the latter '25 being connected at their upper ends to hollow plungers 2D by means of suitable adapters I9 as shown in Fig. 6. It will be noted that the distance between the centers of the pump stems I8 is .greater than the distance between the centers of the cross heads I1. This arrangement permits the combination ina unit of a given outside diameter, the maximum strength of crank mechanism with plungers of a maximum diameter, a feature of greatv importance in handling large volumes of iiuid.

Eachplungerl is equipped with a valve 2|, preferably of the ball type, at Vits upper end and is open to communication with intake passageways 22 in the respective adapters I9. The plung- 40 ers 20 are reciprocably mounted in a liner 24 in cylinder block 29, which is enclosed in a cylin. drical screen-like casing 3|. The casing 3l is perforated as at 32 throughout the greater portion of its area and is closed at its upper extremity by a discharge valve plate 28 connected in any suitable manner to a discharge connection 21, the latter being provided with valves 25 and discharge passageways 26 which converge in communication with a central discharge conduit. The lower extremity of the casing 3l is closed by a packing housing 30 having stuffing boxes 34 through which the valve stems I8 reciprocate.

The cylinder block 29 is provided with intake ports 33 at its lower extremity, said ports being 55 located below theperforations 32 in the screen or casing 3|, whereby a gas separating. action is effected on the fluidentering the screen 3 I The packing housing 30 extends downwardly from the pump unit and is connected by any suitable means to the upper end of the jacket 36 which encloses the gear transmission mechanism heretofore described, said jacket having welded at its upper end a ring 35 and cross head guide piece 31 in which the cross heads I 1 operate. The cross head pieces I1 are provided with grooves Ila adapted toengage a stationary key piece 80 in the guide 31, lwhereby the pump stems I8 may be screwedv and unscrcwed in the cross heads without eifecting any torque on the parts below the cross heads.

The whole transmission mechanism 381 (Fig. 2) is tightly enclosed in the jacket 36 with the cross head guide piece 31, crank shaft gear I4 with its bearings I5 and the other associated gears, assembled in a supporting frame made up of two semicircular sections 39 and 39a which extend longitudinally in the jacket 36. These semicircular sections 39 and 39a are assembled in theform of a cylinder and are secured at their lower ends to a member 40 which houses a. stationary internal gear 4I with which the planetary gears 6 are adapted to cooperate.

A member 42 is suitably connected to the member 40 and is in turn connected to the upper part 44 of a lubricating reservoir 43. The lubricating reservoir 43 comprises a housing 45 connected to member 44 and has a longitudinallly extending central tube 46 which operatively supports a relatively heavy piston 41, the lower extremity of the housing being connected to a. bottom piece 48 which also serves as the upper end of the motor unit. The member 48 is provided with a terminal outlet 49 (Fig. 1) and has a stuiiing box 50 which surrounds the motor,

ber 54 which is preferably in the form of a coly lapsible tube of suitable resilient material, said tube being in communication on its inner side with the oil inthe motor housing, through conduit 55 and passageway 5I. The outside of the tube 54 is exposed to the lubricant in reservoir 43 and is therefore subjected tothe pressure of the heavy piston 41,. said piston being prevented from coming in direct contact with member 54 by a suitable stop plate 56. It will be noted that while we have shown :and described the breathing member 54 as being in the form of a resilient tube, we may employ different embodiments such for example as pistons, bellows or the like suitably arranged for effecting this same function.

A plugged or valved opening 51 in the upper part of the motor housing serves as an oil charging inlet for the motor. A valve 58 is located in the passageway 52 to control communication through a pipe or tube 59 between the lubricant reservoir 43 and the motor chamber. The reservoir 43 is also in communication through pipe 59 and valve 58, with a recess 6U in the top piece 48 of the motor housing, said recess opening to the exterior through a check valve 18 by means of which lubricating Oil iS forced into the assembly.

\ charge tubing and submerged in the liquid to be bearings, etc., through the clearance around the Before this unit is set into operation, a cable conduit 6I (Fig. 1) is connected to the terminal outlet 49 and the motor is lled with transformer oil through valve 51. Valve 58 is opened by unscrewing it to its outermost position, open- 5 ing communication through tube 59, between the lubricant reservoir and recess 60. Lubricating oil is then forced through valvev18.into recess 60 from whence it travels upwardly into the clearance between shaft 4 and the central tube 56, filling the entire space surrounded by housing 45. This filling is continued until oil appears at the air outlet 19 at the upper end of the transmission, which is then closed by a suitable plug. After closing the outlet 19 the forcing of lubricant is continued until piston 41 has been raised by the pressure of the fluid to its uppermost position, compressing the spring 66 in the upper portion of the chamber 45 and iurther forcing of oil becomes difficult. It will be noted that the space in chamber 45 above the piston 41 is nominally in communication with the exterior by means of a passageway 61 located in the member 44 forming the top of the lubricating unit.

Anelectrical cable (Fig. l) is attached with its part 64 hermetically sealed in connection with the end 63 of conduit 6I and the whole unit is lowered into the well suspended from the dispumped.

When the motor is started and the pump set into operation, the expansion of the motor oil causes the breathing element 54 in the oil reservoir 43 to expand, and when the motor is stopped and oil cools, the breathing element 54 contracts therewith. With this arrangement it will be seen that at all times the pressure in the motorvchamber and in the transmission chamber is higher than the pressure of the fluid in which the unit is submerged, as the weight of the heavy piston 41, supplemented by the submergence pressure on its upper side through openings 61, acts on the oil in reservoir 43 which in turn, through breathing member 54, controls 45 the pressure in the motor chamber.

It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that lubricant under pressure is necessary for the prolonged operation of the powerhead mechanism. It is also necessary that the pressure on the inside of the unit be higher y'than the submergence pressure to prevent access of endangering corrosive well fluid to such parts of the mechanism as the motor, gears and stems I8 or through loose joints or the like..

With our improved-combination of elements wherein the same piston is employed for maintaining both the lubricant and the insulating oil under the same pressure but in separate compartments and wherein the lubricating chamber houses the breathing element for the motor, we have provided a compact and eiiicient structure for insuring not only the proper lubrication of the working parts of a. duplex pump mechanism,

,but the protection of such mechanism from the deleterious effect which would otherwise result from the access of submergence iluid.

Furthermore, this arrangement permits 'the eiicient and convenient use of a high speed vertical electric motor located below the pump for producing a reciprocating motion of the pump stems. 4

Also the particular arrangement of hollow plungers 20 carrying the travelling valves 2| per- 75 mits the construction of a pump chamber with a minimum dead space between the travelling valves 2| and standingv valves 25. In other words, it

allows the handling of gaseous liquids under a high compression ratio comparable to that of high pressure gas compressors.

From the foregoing it is believed that this invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art Without further description, it being borne in mind that numerous changes may' be made in the details disclosed, Without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a submergible electrically driven reciprocating pump unit for oil wells, an oil lled motor unit below said pump unit, an oil nlled transmission unit between said pump and motor units, means for operatively connecting said transmission unit to said pump andmotor. units, a separate oil iilled lubricating unit interposed between said motor unit and transmission unit for supplying lubricant to said motor and transmission units, means for securing said units together in axial alignment, and means for creating a pressure in said lubricating unit greater than the submergence pressure.

2. In combination, a submergible electrically driven reciprocating pump unit for oil wells, an oil 'lledmotor unit below said pump unit, an oil lled transmission unit between said pump and motor units, means for operatively connecting said transmission unit to said pump and motor units, a separate oil filled lubricating unit interposed between said motor unit and transmission unit for supplying lubricant to said motor and transmission units, means for securing said units together in axial alignment, means for creating a pressure in said lubricating unit greater than the submergence pressure, and a breather member arranged in said lubricating unit in communication with said motor unit and responsive to the pressure in said lubricating unit.

3. In combination, a submergible electrically driven reciprocating pump unit for oil wells, an oil filled motor unit below said pump unit,

4an oil iilled transmission unit between said pump and motor units, means for operatively connecting said transmission unit to said pump and motor units, a separate oil filled lubricating unit comprising a cylindrical chamber interposed between said motor and transmission units for supplying lubricant to said motor and transmission units, a weighted piston in said chamber, means for placing the area of said chamber above said piston in communication with the exterior of said chamber, whereby the w'ei'ght of said piston supplemented by the submergence pressure, creates a pressure in said lubricating unit greater than the submergence pressure, and means for securing said units together in axial alignment.

4.- The combination as claimed in claim 3 including a breather member arranged in said lubricating chamber in communication with said motor unit and responsive to the pressure in said lubricating unit.

CHARLEY C.BROWN.

SAMUEL N. VAN WERT.

ARMAIS ARUTUNOFF.

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