A comprehensive review of sucker rod pumps’ components, diagnostics, mathematical models, and common failures and mitigations

Abstract

In many oil reservoirs worldwide, the downhole pressure does not have the ability to lift the produced fluids to the surface. In order to produce these fluids, pumps are used to artificially lift the fluids; this method is referred to as artificial lift. More than seventy percent of all currently producing oil wells are being produced by artificial lift methods. One of the most applied artificial lift methods is sucker rod pump. Sucker rod pumps are considered a well-established technology in the oil and gas industry and thus are easy to apply, very common worldwide, and low in capital and operational costs. Many advancements in technology have been applied to improve sucker rod pumps performance, applicability range, and diagnostics. With these advancements, it is important to be able to constantly provide an updated review and guide to the utilization of the sucker rod pumps. This research provides an updated comprehensive review of sucker rod pumps components, diagnostics methods, mathematical models, and common failures experienced in the field and how to prevent and mitigate these failures. Based on the review conducted, a new classification of all the methods that can fall under the sucker rod pump technology based on newly introduced sucker rod pump methods in the industry has been introduced. Several field cases studies from wells worldwide are also discussed in this research to highlight some of the main features of sucker rod pumps. Finally, the advantages and limitations of sucker rod pumps are mentioned based on the updated review. The findings of this study can help increase the understanding of the different sucker rod pumps and provide a holistic view of the beam rod pump and its properties and modeling.

The Rod String Loads Variation during Short-Term Annular Gas Extraction

“…The presence of gas at the pump intake can be determined by dynamometer charts, which are diagrams of load variations on the polished rod depending on its stroke [25,26]. The dynamograph records friction forces, inertial and dynamic effects in the actual conditions [27][28][29].…”

Viscoelastic Representation of the Operation of Sucker Rod Pumps

“…In the petroleum industry, as documented in references [8,10], in order to limit the contact as well as the wear and tear of the sucker rod pump plunger and the pump barrel inner surface, it is not desirable to completely eliminate the leakage due to the pressure differential from the top of the traveling valve to the sucker rod pump chamber, which could be as high as a few thousand psi. Furthermore, by reserving a finite gap or space between the plunger outsider surface and the pump barrel inner surface, the sucker rod pump will also be able to operate in oil fields with the presence of sand and air bubbles.…”

“…We do recognize that from the horse head pump jack on the surface to the down-hole sucker rod pump there exists a long polished rod connected together in segments. Transfer functions and wave propagation models must also be implemented and revisited for a better understanding of sucker rod pump systems [3,7,8]. A preliminary measure for the vertical orientation of our experimental setup is presented in Figure 3 and the detailed study of this complicated set of kinematic and dynamic governing equations will be presented in the Southwestern Petroleum Short Course 2022.…”

“…Very often a clearance between 3 to 8 mills (one thousandth of an inch) is recommended to avoid the direct contact (abrasion) between the plunger and the tube and to allow the unimpeded passage of sands and particles within the oil mixture [8,9]. In practice, it has been reported that the leakage is related to the clearance, or two times the gap size, defined as the difference between the inner diameter of the barrel and the outer diameter of the plunger [10,11].…”

Metaverses-Based Parallel Oil Fields in CPSS: A Framework and Methodology

“…Among these technologies, the most popular one is artificial lift technology [96]. One of the mostly adopted artificial lift technology is SRPS, which are viewed as a wellestablished technology in the oil and gas industry [97]. Fig.…”