IP Library Granted Patent US 11,255,171
Granted Patent B2
US 11,255,171 · App. 16/411,452 · Granted Feb 22, 2022

Method of pumping fluid from a wellbore by a subsurface pump having an interior flow passage in communication with a fluid chamber via a filter positioned in a side wall of a plunger

Inventors: William C. Lane (The Woodlands, TX); Douglas Hebert (Cypress, TX); John Stachowiak, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Assignee: Weatherford Technology Holdings, LLC
E21B43/126E21B34/06E21B43/127F04B47/02F04B47/026E21B2200/04F04B19/22F04B53/143F04B53/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,255,171
App. No.
16/411,452
Granted
Feb 22, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A pump can include a plunger and a barrel, at one stroke extent flow being substantially restricted between the plunger and the barrel at spaced apart positions and a plunger interior passage in filtered communication with a fluid chamber between the positions, and at an opposite stroke extent the fluid chamber being in communication with the standing valve. A method can include displacing a plunger in one direction, thereby receiving filtered liquid into a fluid chamber, and b) displacing the plunger in an opposite direction, thereby transferring the liquid to a barrel interior passage. A system can include an actuator that reciprocates a rod string, and a pump including a plunger with a traveling valve, a barrel with a standing valve, and a filter that filters liquid which flows from a tubing string to a compression chamber disposed between the traveling valve and the standing valve.

Claims (17)

1. A method of pumping a fluid from a wellbore, the method comprising:

reciprocating a plunger relative to a barrel of a subsurface pump, the reciprocating comprising: a) displacing the plunger in a first direction, thereby receiving liquid into a fluid chamber from a filter positioned in a side wall of the plunger, the liquid in the fluid chamber having been filtered by the filter, and b) displacing the plunger in a second direction opposite to the first direction, thereby displacing the filter relative to the fluid chamber and transferring the liquid from the fluid chamber to an interior flow passage of the barrel, wherein the transferring comprises displacing the filter upward relative to the fluid chamber.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displacing the plunger in the first direction comprises displacing the plunger to a first stroke extent at which flow is substantially restricted between the plunger and the barrel at first and second spaced apart positions longitudinally along the barrel, and an interior flow passage of the plunger is in communication via the filter with the fluid chamber disposed longitudinally between the first and second positions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the displacing the plunger in the second direction comprises displacing the plunger to a second stroke extent at which the fluid chamber is in communication with a standing valve of the barrel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein at the first stroke extent the liquid flows from the plunger interior flow passage to the fluid chamber via the filter, and at the second stroke extent the liquid flows from the fluid chamber to the barrel interior flow passage.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein at the second stroke extent flow between the filter and the fluid chamber is restricted.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein flow from the fluid chamber to the plunger interior flow passage via the filter removes accumulated particulates from the filter.

7. A method of pumping a fluid from a wellbore, the method comprising:

reciprocating a plunger relative to a barrel of a subsurface pump, the reciprocating comprising: a) displacing the plunger in a first direction, thereby receiving liquid into a fluid chamber from a filter, the liquid in the fluid chamber having been filtered by the filter, and b) displacing the plunger in a second direction opposite to the first direction, thereby transferring the liquid from the fluid chamber to an interior flow passage of the barrel,

in which the filter filters fluid flow between a compression chamber of the plunger and the fluid chamber, and the fluid chamber comprises an interior radially enlarged section of the barrel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transferring comprises displacing the filter in the second direction.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transferring comprises displacing the filter upward relative to the fluid chamber.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the displacing the plunger in the first direction comprises displacing the plunger to a first stroke extent at which flow is substantially restricted between the plunger and the barrel at first and second spaced apart positions longitudinally along the barrel, and an interior flow passage of the plunger is in communication via the filter with the fluid chamber disposed longitudinally between the first and second positions.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the displacing the plunger in the second direction comprises displacing the plunger to a second stroke extent at which the fluid chamber is in communication with a standing valve of the barrel.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein at the first stroke extent the liquid flows from the plunger interior flow passage to the fluid chamber via the filter, and at the second stroke extent the liquid flows from the fluid chamber to the barrel interior flow passage.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein at the second stroke extent flow between the filter and the fluid chamber is restricted.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein flow from the fluid chamber to the plunger interior flow passage via the filter removes accumulated particulates from the filter.

Assignments (8)
PATENT SECURITY INTEREST ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 26, 2023
From: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 063470/0629 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 1, 2021
From: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY, INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES, INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD.; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 057683/0706 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 1, 2021
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY, INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES, INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES ULC; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
Reel/Frame 057683/0423 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 28, 2020
From: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY, INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES, INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD.; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES ULC; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 054288/0302 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 28, 2020
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
To: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY, INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES, INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD.; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES ULC; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
Reel/Frame 053838/0323 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 26, 2019
From: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY, INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES, INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD.; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES ULC; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
To: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 051419/0140 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 18, 2019
From: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LLC; WEATHERFORD NETHERLANDS B.V.; WEATHERFORD NORGE AS; HIGH PRESSURE INTEGRITY INC.; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES INC.; WEATHERFORD CANADA LTD.; WEATHERFORD SWITZERLAND TRADING AND DEVELOPMENT GMBH; PRECISION ENERGY SERVICES ULC; WEATHERFORD U.K. LIMITED
To: WELLS FARGO BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 051891/0089 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 20, 2019
From: LANE, WILLIAM C.; HEBERT, DOUGLAS; STACHOWIAK, JOHN, JR.
To: WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 049543/0460 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 15299978 · Oct 21, 2016
Related Publication 20190264549A1 · Aug 29, 2019