US2327503A - Well pump construction - Google Patents

Description

A Ug- 24, 1943 C. J. COBERLY WIELL PUMP CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 2, 1940 /NA/E/VTOQ, CLARE/VCE J Cose/uy HAHR/cslh c/Fos Te@ a: HA

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FOR HE FIRM Patented Aug. 24, 1943 WELL PUIWP CONSTRUCTION Clarence J. Coberly, Los Angeles,

to Roko Corporation, Reno,

of Nevada.

Calif., assignor Nev., a corporation Application August 2, 1940, Serial N0. 350,009

7 Claims.

My invention relates to the pumping art, and more particularly to a pumping construction especially adapted for use in oil wells, and, consequently, will be described in connection therewith, although it is to be understood that my invention has other uses, and I do not intend to be limited to the specific embodiment described and claimed herein.

In the oil well pumping art it is common practice to utilize a fluid operated pump set in a well for the purpose of pumping well uid therefrom. Such fluid operated pumps ordinarily include a fluid operated motor directly connected to a nuid pumping mechanism, the fluid operated motor be-v ing actuated by operating fluid conveyed thereto under high pressure. to discharge the spent operating fluid directly into the well production so that the used operating fluid is raised to the surface of the ground with the well production and is commingled therewith. The operating iiuid for such systems is frequently obtained by diverting a portion of the production It is usual in such systems` flow from the well and treating and cleaning the same to render it suitable for use as an operating fiuid in the :duid motor of the iiuid operated pump. Where, by reason of the characteristics of the well fluid, such cleaning or treating of the Well fluid to render it suitable for use as an operating fluid in the fluid operated motor is unduly expensive or difficult, it is disadvantageous to commingle the spent operating fluid with the produc- -tion iiow,y as this raises the operating cost of the pumping installation materially. Accordingly, it is a primary object of my invention to provide a pumping system for use in connection with a iiuid operated pump, in which the spent operating fluid used therein is not discharged into the production ow from the well and commingled therewith but is separately conveyed to the surface of the ground through a separate tubing provided therefor, so that it may be reconveyed into the operating iiuid tubing without material loss.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a well system for use in connection with a fluid operated pump inwhich a separate tubing is provided for conveying the spent operating uid to the surface of the ground, and in which the parts thereof are so disposed and arranged as to occupy a minimum amount of space within the well, thus permitting the system -to be used in Wells of small diameter.

Another object of my invention is to provide a well system as described above, in which the casing of the well is used to convey pumped uid to the surface of the ground, by providing a packer between the fluid operated pump and the casing. This is a particular advantage, since it dispenses with the necessity of providing a separate production tubing for the pumped uid, thus elimihating the expense of such a separate production tubing and reducing the space required for installation of the system.

In the well pumping art it is common to set a packer within the casing of a well lon which a pump unit is adapted to seat, or to which the pump unit is directly attached, and various devices have been provided in the art for connecting the pump uni-t to the packer. Such prior art connecting devices have been costly to manufacture or inconvenient to use, or both, and, consequently, it is a further object of my invention to provide a pump installation in which a packer is set in a Well, a pump unit is adapted to seat on the packer, and connecting means are provided whereby the pump can be removed from the well without removing the packer, or can be removed with the packer so as to withdraw the latter, as desired. My invention relates to the particular construction of such' a connecting-means, which is more fully described hereinafter and is not limited in its utility to a pump system as described, but may be used for connecting other devices in a well.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel type of bleeder construction for bleeding tubing in a well, and, particularly, a bleeder adapted to drain iluid from two concentric tubings set in a well, both of which normally contain a fluid. A further object of my invention is to provide such a bleeder which is adapted to drain one or both of two concentric well tubings, as may be desired.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following specification and the drawing, which is for the purpose of illustration only and in Which:

Fig. l is an assembly view, partly in section, showing my invention set in a well.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of a fragment of the device shown in Fig, l, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the lpacker con-4 necting means of my device.

Fig. 6 is a development of the outer surface of the device shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, I show a casing l2 set in a well in the conventional manner, having on the line 4 4 an outer tubing .lli extending downwardly theren through, the lower end of which is connected by a collar i to a riuid operated pump unit it. The uid operated pump unit it is comprised, generally, of a fluid operated motor l1 and a pump ld adapted to be operated by the fluid operated motor as is well known in the art. As shown in Fig. l, the pump it is of considerably larger diameter than. the iuid motor l', in which case the outer tubing ld is connected by the co1- lar i5 directly to the pump so that the outer diameter of the outer tubing is approximately the same as the diameter of the pump, thus conserving space in the well and allowing"the device to be used in wells requiring a casing of small diameter. It will be understood, however, that where the pump i8 and the :duid motor Ii are of substantially the same external diameter, the outer tubing E55 may be connected to the uid operated pump unit i@ as may be desired. As will be noted, the fluid motor i1 is provided with discharge openings i9 which communicate with the interior of the outer tubing i4. The upper end of the outer tubing it communicates through a suitable discharge pipe to a point of discharge or storage (not shown).

Threaded into the string of outer tubing It, between a pair of sections thereof, is a bleeder collar 60 having a conical seat 6i therein and being provided with a passage 62 aiording open communication therethrough between the section of outer tubing above and below the bleeder collar. Also provided in the bleeder collar 6@ is an outwardly opening check valve device 69 in the line of a bleeder passage 64 which communicates between the outside of the bleeder collar and the inner face of the conical seat 6I.

Extending downwardly through the outer tubing I4 from a source of operating fluid under relatively high pressure (not shown) is an inner tubing ZI, having adjacent its lower end a seat element 65 provided with a tapered seating surface 66 formed thereon adapted to seat in the conical seat 6I to form a fluid-tight joint therewith and to close the bleeder passage 64 when in seated position, as shown in Fig. 1. Connected to the lower end of the seat element 65 is a hollow Skeeter bill 61 which extends a substantial distance below the bleeder collar 60 when the seat element is in its seated position shown in Fig. 1, the skeeter bill being provided at its lower end with an inwardly beveled face .68. The skeeter bill 61 is adapted to extend downwardly into a catcher tubing 10 having an upper collar 1I thereon provided with a flared opening 12 adapted to cooperate with the beveled face 68 on the skeeter bill to guide the latter into the catcher tubing. The. skeeter bill 68 and the catcher tubing 1li are so designed that they form a slidable fluid-tight joint with each other when in the position shown in Fig. 1. The lower end of the catcher tubing 10 is threaded into the upper end of the uid operated motor I1.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the lower end of the pump I8 is directly connected to a connecting means 25. The connecting means is adapted to cooperate with a packer device 26. The packer device 26 is provided with an upper casing shoe 21 having a tapered seat 28 in the upper end thereof, and a pair of pins 29 screw-threaded through oppositely disposed threaded openings 30 in the upper casing shoe so as to project inwardly into the bore thereof, the lower portion of the upper casing shoe being threaded to the upper end of a sleeve 3l. As will be noted, the-pins 29 form fluid-tight joints with the upper casing shoe 2i' to prevent leakage around the pins. The

upper portion of the sleeve El is milled to a smaller outer diameter, providing a'shoulder 32 5 on which is seated a lower casing shoe 33. Re-

tained on lthe sleeve 3l between the upper and lower casing shoes 2i and is a packer member 3ft, which is annular in form and preferably formed of rubber, neoprene, or other suitable resilient expansible material, which is adapted to make a sealing engagement with the inner wall of the casing l2. The lower portion of the lower casing shoe 33 is beveled as at 35 so as to seat on a liner 3K5 set on the bottom of the well. The lower end of the sleeve 3I is provided with an upwardly opening check valve 31 adapted to be closed by the weight of fluid thereabove, above which is provided a bleeder port 38 having a thin hollow plug tube 31a therein extending into the sleeve, the inner end of which is closed, the tube being formed of breakable material such as porcelain so that when it is desired to drain the sleeve 3l, a relatively heavy weight, such as shown in dotted lines 38a, may be dropped through the sleeve to break the tube and permit the fluid in the sleeve to drain through the tube back into the well.

The connecting means 25 is provided at its upper end with threads 39 by means of which it is connected to the lower end of the pump I8, a attened head portion 40 being provided to relceive a wrench with whichto thread the connecting means into the pump. The connecting means 25 is provided with an upper portion 4I and a lower portion 42, the lower end of the upper portion being beveled at 43 so as to seat in the tapered seat 28 of the upper casing shoe 21. An. annular groove 44 is preferably formed anlnularly in the face of the beveled face 43, and an annular sealing ring 45, preferably formed of rubber or lead, is disposed therein so as to form a. fluid-tight seal between the connecting member 25 and the upper casing shoe 21.

The lower portion 42 of the connecting means n 'v 25 extends downwardly into the sleeve 3| so as to provide clearance therebetween.. Formed on the outer surface of the lower portion 42 of the connecting means 25 are projections 46 which are oppositely disposed thereon and which are shown projected in Fig. 5. The projections 46 are formed so as to provide a pointed lower end 41, a central slot 48 between the projections, and s, T-shaped slot 49 connecting with the central slot. Also communicating with the central slot 46 is an upper slot 52 having a lower notch 53. Each T-shaped slot 49 has an upper opening 50 land a lower opening 5I. The projections 46 are pre1'- erably formed by milling the outer surface of the connecting means 25, but any desirable means of forming the projections may be used.

In installation, the fluid operated pump unit I6 is attached to the lower end of the outer tubing I4, and the inner tubing 2I may also be attached to the fluid operated pump by seating the seat element 65 on the conical seat 6I so that the Skeeter bill 61 extends downwardly into the catcher tubing 10, and the connecting means 26 is attached to the lower end of the pump, all as shown in Fig. 1. The packer device 26 is also assembled with the parts in the relation shown in Fig. 1, and the connecting means 25 is then run into the upper casing shoe 21 so that each pin 29 on the upper casing shoe enters into one of the central slots 48 of the connecting means, and the connecting means is rotated so as to guide the pins 29 into the T-shaped slots 49, the pins then entering the upper or lower openings 50 or 5| of the T-shaped slots vso as to maintain the packer device 26 `against rotation relative to the connecting means 25 while the assembly is being run into a well. It will be noted that when the parts are set in this position, the beveled face 43 of the connecting means is out of engagement with the tapered seat 28 of the upper casing shoe 2'I, thus preventing injury to the sealing member 45 when the device is being run into the well. In this position, the unit may then be run intothe well. In most installations, however, it is preferable to run the assembly into the well without the inner tubing 2| being connected therein, and to merely run the inner tubing into the well after the outer tubing I4 has been set therein, the skeeter bill 61 and the catcher tubing 'I0 being adapted to simplify this operation. When the sleeve 3| seats on the top of the liner 36, the connecting means 25 is then raised, by raising the outer tubing I4, and rotated so as to permit the pins 29 to move back into the central slots 48, and the outer tubing is then lowered, causing the pins to move upwardly through the central slots until reaching the upper ends thereof, at which time the connecting means 25 may again be rotated to move the pins 29 into the upper slots 52. When the pins 29 reach the upper ends of the central slots 48, the beveled face 46 of the connecting means 25 seats in the tapered seat 28 of the upper casing shoe 2l, causing the sealing member 45 to form a fluid-tight seat with the tapered seat 28. The unit is then left with the parts in this position during operation.

If it is desired to remove the fluid operated pump unit I6 from the well without removing the packer device 26 therefrom, the connecting means 25 is rotated, if necessary, so as to bring each of the pins 29 into alignment with a central slot 46 of the connecting means, thus freeing the connecting means from the packer device. When the parts are in this position, a straight upward pull on the outer tubing I4 will cause the pins 29 to move downwardly through the central slots 48 and free of the connecting means, relatively speaking, to free the pump assembly and connecting means attached thereto from the packer device. The packer device 26 will thus remain in.

the well permitting separate removal of the pump. It is also to be noted that the check valve 3l will then close, preventing theuuid above the packer device 26 in the casing I2 from flowing back into the well, which is an important feature.

When it is desired to remove both the uid operated pump unit I6 and the packer device 26 from the well, the connecting means 25 is first adjusted, by rotating the outer tubing I4, so that the pins 29 project into either the upper slots 52 or the T-shaped slots 49 thereof, following which a straight upward pull on the outer tubing I 4 will be transmitted through the pins 29 and the packer device 26 to raise the same off the liner 36. If, however, there is Ia column of fluid in the casing I2 above the packer device 26, the

, weight of the column of fluid may prevent removal of the packer device by a straight upward pull thereon unless the weight of such column of fluid is first taken off the packer device. I prefer to accomplish removal of the packer device 26 under such conditions by iirst removing the pump unit I6 and connecting means 25 from the well, andv then dropping the Weight 38a through the casing I2, which descends therethrough andthrough the sleeve 3| to break the v `3 plug tube 31a, thus permitting uid in the casing to drain outwardly therethrough into the well. The connecting means 25 is then run back into the Well and adjusted relative to the packer device 26, by movement of the outer tubing I4, so `as to position the pins 29 in the upper slots 52, in which position the connecting means is raised oif the conical seat 28 to permit the column of uid in the casing I 2 above the packer means to discharge downwardly around the lower portion 42 of the connecting means and through the sleeve 3| back into the well, thus equalizing the fluid pressures above and below the packer device and permitting removal of the packer device irom the well by the outer tubing I4.

As will be apparent, during operation of the uid operated pump unit I6, operating uid under high pressure will normally be conveyed downwardly to the fluid motor II through the inner tubing, the Skeeter bill 61, and the catcher tubing 70, to operate the uid motor, and when the operating fluid is spent it is discharged through the discharge openings I9 into the interior of the outer tubing I 4 and is conveyed therethrough upwardly to the surface of the ground. The production o-w of well liuid from the pump unit I6 is discharged through pump discharge ports 54 directly into the casing I2 above the packer device 26 and is conveyed upwardly to the surface of the ground through the casing. Thus, it will be apparent that the spent operating fluid is conveyed upwardly to the surface of the ground separately from the well production which is discharged through the casing I2 with the attendant advantages set forth above.

When it is desired to remove the uid operated pump unit I6 from the well, either with or Without the packer device 26, it is ordinarily desirable to drain fro-m the inner or outer tubings 2| and I4, respectively, or both, any fluid therein, so as to prevent what'is known in the oil industry as a wet job. This may be readily accomplished by my invention. If it is desired to drain the outer tubing I4 witho-ut draining the inner tubing 2|, the inner tubing is raised so as to lift the seat element oil its conical seat 6| on the bleeder collar 6U, thus opening iluid communication therearound and through the bleeder passage 64 of the bleeder check valve 63 to permit fluid in the outer tubing I4 to drain therethrough into the casing I2. Since a slight raising of the inner tubing 2| will not break the fluid-tight connection between the skeeter bill 61 and the catcher tubing III, fluid in the inner tubing will not be drained therefrom. If it is desired to drain fluid from the inner tubing 2|, it is raised until the Skeeter bdll 61 disengages from the catcher tubing 10, at which time fluid can drain therefrom throughthe outer tubing I4 and the bleeder valve device 63 Adirectly into the casing I2.y Thus, I provide means whereby one or both of two cony centric tubings set in a well may be drained of fluid therein, by manipulating the tubings from the surface of the ground.

Although I have shown and described a prei'erred embodiment of my invention, it will be recognized that certain parts and elements there of are representative of other parts and elements which may be substituted therefor without the exercise of invention, and consequently I do not intend to be limited to the specic form shown but desire to be afforded the full protection of the following claims.

a straight upward pull on I claim as my invention:

i. In a pumping system, the combination of: a pump unit adapted to be positioned in a well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the well, said packer means having a seat member therein; connecting means between said pump unit and said packer means, there being a seat element on said connecting means adapted to seat on said seat member to form a fluid-tight Joint between said packer means and said pump unit; and retaining means for holding said seat element out of seating engagement with said seat member while the pump unit and packer means are being lowered into the well, said retaining means being releasable so as to permit said seat element to be seated on said seat member.

2. In a pumping system, the combination of: a pump unit adapted to be positioned in a Well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the well, said packer means having a seat member therein; connecting means between said pump unit and said packer means, there being a seat element on said connecting means adapted to seat on said seat member to form a iiuid-tight joint between said packer means and said pump unit; retaining means, for holding said seat element out of seating engagement with said seat member While the pump unit and packer means are being lowered into the well, said retaining means being releasable so as to permit said seat element to be seated on said seat member; and means for permitting said connecting means to be disengaged from said packer means While the latter is set in the well.

3. In a pumping system, the combination of: a pump unit adapted to be positioned in a Well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the well, said packer means having a projection thereon; and connecting-means for re-l leasably connecting said pump unit and said packer means, said connecting means including a vertical slot adapted to receive said projection, and a horizontal slot communicating with said vertical slot and adapted to receive said projection so as to maintain said packer means in xed vertical position relative to said connecting means when said projection is in said horizontal slot.

4. In a pumping system, the combination of: a. pump unit adapted to be positioned in a well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the well, said packer means having a projection thereon; and connecting means for releasably connecting said pumpunit and said packer means, said connecting means including a vertical slot adapted to receive said projection, and a substantially T-shaped slot communicating with said vertical slot and adapted to receive said projection so as to maintain said packer means in fixed vertical position relative to said connecting means when said projection is in said substantially T-shaped slot.

5. In a pumping system, the combination of: a. pump unit adapted to be positioned in a well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the Well, said packer means having a projection thereon and having a seat member therein; and connecting means for connecting said pump unit and said packer means, said connecting means having aseat element thereon adapted to seat on said seat member o form a fluid-tight seal'therebetween, said connecting means having a vertical slot adapted to receive said projection and a retaining slot communicating with said vertical slot and adapted to receive said projection to maintain said packer means in xed vertical relation to said connecting means and said seat element out of engagement with said seat member when said projection is in said retaining slot, said connecting means being movable so as to move said projection out of said retaining slot to permit'said connecting means to be detached from said packer means when the latter is set in the well or to permit said seat element to be seated on said seat member.

6. In a pumping system, the combination of: a pump unit adapted to be positioned in a Well; packer means adapted to form a seal with the walls of the well, said packer means having a projection thereon and having a seat member therein; and connecting means ior connecting said pump unit and said packer means, said connecting means including a tubular body adaptedto extend into said packer means, a seat element formed on said body and adapted to seat on said seat member to form a duid-tight joint therebetween, a vertical slot in said body adapted to receive said projection, guide means for guiding said vertical slot over said projection, and a retaining slot communicating with said vertical slot and adapted to receive said projection.

7. In a well packer device, the combination of: tubular packer means adapted to be set in a well so as to form a seal with the walls or the well, said packer means having a seat therein and a longitudinal bore communicating with said seat; a projection secured to said packer means and extending radially inwardly; and a tubular member adapted to seaton said seat, said member having connecting means adapted to cooperate with said projection to releasably secure said member to said packer means, said connecting means including a vertical slot adapted to receive said projection and a horizontal slot communicating with said vertical slot and adapted to receive said projection so as to retain said packer means in fixed vertical position relative to said connecting means when said projection is in said horizontal slot.

` CLARENCE J. COBERLY.

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