Operating multiple fracturing pumps to deliver a smooth total flow rate transition

Inventors: Amal Bagulayan (Millbrae, CA); Nan Mu (Sugar Land, TX); James Matthews (Houston, TX); Bao Mi (Sugar Land, TX); Alexander Tanner Taylor (Missouri City, TX); Marcos Suguru Kajita (Houston, TX)

Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation

F04B49/065 F04B23/04 F04B49/20

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12,680,542
App. No.: 18/297,762
Granted: Jul 14, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Changing a cumulative pumping rate of multiple pump units by adjusting individual pumping rates of the pump units, wherein each temporary dip or spike of an individual pumping rate of one of the pump units is automatically offset by a predetermined temporary adjustment of an individual pumping rate of another one or more of the pump units to thereby reduce effects of the temporary dip or spike on the cumulative pumping rate of the pump units.

Claims (36)

1 . An apparatus, comprising:

a controller that includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving historical pump unit operation data associated with a plurality of pump units of a pump system;

generating one or more smoothing profiles based on the historical pump unit operation data, wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise respective values indicative of a change in throttle over a change in time;

detecting a transition in a pumping rate of a first pump unit of the plurality of pump units from a current rate to a target rate causing a temporary occurrence of one or more dips or one or more spikes in the pumping rate of the first pump unit, wherein the transition includes at least one of a gear shift or a throttle change of the first pump unit of the plurality of pump units; and

transmitting the one or more smoothing profiles to one or more second pump units of the plurality of pump units in response to detecting the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit, wherein the one or more second pump units are configured to execute the one or more smoothing profiles to offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit by increasing a rate or a pressure of the one or more second pump units, or to offset the one or more spikes in the first pump unit by decreasing the rate or the pressure of the one or more second pump units, or both, to reduce overall variations in a cumulative pumping rate or a cumulative pressure of the plurality of pump units during the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise respective values indicative of a change in flow rate over a change in time.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the historical pump unit operation data comprises throttle data associated with at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units and flow rate data associated with the at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise monitoring an automation state, or one or more operation parameters, or both, of the plurality of pump units.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more second pump units comprise two or more second pump units, and the two or more second pump units are configured to execute the one or more smoothing profiles simultaneously to offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, or to offset the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, to reduce the overall variations in the cumulative pumping rate or the cumulative pressure of the plurality of pump units during the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transition includes the gear shift of the first pump unit of the plurality of pump units.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise an upward sloped portion to minimize a dip, a downward sloped portion to minimize a spike, or any combination thereof.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the transition includes the gear shift of the first pump unit of the plurality of pump units.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise a curved profile.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the curved profile comprises an upward curved portion and a downward curved portion.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more second pump units are configured to automatically offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, with a predetermined temporary adjustment to the one or more second pump units corresponding to the one or more smoothing profiles.

12 . A method, comprising:

receiving, via a controller, historical pump unit operation data associated with a plurality of pump units of a pump system;

generating, via the controller, one or more smoothing profiles based on the historical pump unit operation data, wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise respective values indicative of a change in throttle over a change in time;

transmitting, via the controller, the one or more smoothing profiles to one or more second pump units of the plurality of pump units in response to detecting the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit, wherein the one or more second pump units are configured to execute the one or more smoothing profiles to offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit by increasing a rate or a pressure of the one or more second pump units, or to offset the one or more spikes in the first pump unit by decreasing the rate or the pressure of the one or more second pump units, or both, to reduce overall variations in a cumulative pumping rate or a cumulative pressure of the plurality of pump units during the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise respective values indicative of a change in flow rate over a change in time, wherein the historical pump unit operation data comprises throttle data associated with at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units and flow rate data associated with the at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise a curved profile having an upward sloped portion to minimize a dip, a downward sloped portion to minimize a spike, or any combination thereof, wherein the one or more second pump units are configured to automatically offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, with a predetermined temporary adjustment to the one or more second pump units corresponding to the one or more smoothing profiles.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more second pump units comprise two or more second pump units configured to execute the one or more smoothing profiles to offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, or the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, to reduce the overall variations in the cumulative pumping rate or the cumulative pressure of the plurality of pump units during the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit.

16 . A system, comprising:

a plurality of pump units;

a controller that includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving one or more smoothing profiles, wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise respective values indicative of a change in throttle over a change in time or a change in flow rate over a change in time;

17 . The system of claim 16 , comprising:

receiving historical pump unit operation data associated with the plurality of pump units; and

generating the one or more smoothing profiles based on the historical pump unit operation data.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the historical pump unit operation data comprises throttle data associated with at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units, or flow rate data associated with the at least one pump unit of the plurality of pump units, or any combination thereof.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more smoothing profiles comprise a curved profile having an upward sloped portion to minimize a dip, a downward sloped portion to minimize a spike, or any combination thereof, wherein the one or more second pump units are configured to automatically offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, with a predetermined temporary adjustment to the one or more second pump units corresponding to the curved profile of the one or more smoothing profiles.

20 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more second pump units comprise two or more second pump units, and the two or more second pump units are configured to execute the one or more smoothing profiles simultaneously to offset the one or more dips in the first pump unit, or to offset the one or more spikes in the first pump unit, or both, to reduce the overall variations in the cumulative pumping rate or the cumulative pressure of the plurality of pump units during the transition in the pumping rate of the first pump unit.