Pressure pump valve monitoring system
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorJoseph A. Beisel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A monitoring system may include a position sensor, a strain gauge, and a computing device for determining the condition of a valve in a chamber of a pump using strain measurements. The strain gauge may determine strain in the chamber. The position sensor may determine the position of a crankshaft coupled to a plunger in the chamber. The computing device may receive signals generated by the strain gauge and the position sensor related to the strain in the chamber and the position of the crankshaft, respectively, and may process the signals to determine delays in the actuation of the valves.
Claims21
A monitoring system for use in wellbore operations, comprising:
- a strain gauge positioned on a fluid end of a pump to measure strain associated with a chamber of the pump and generate a strain signal representing the strain;
- a position sensor positioned on a power end of the pump to sense a position of a member of a rotating assembly of the pump and generate a position signal representing the position of the member during operation of the pump;
- a computing device coupled to the strain gauge and the position sensor, the computing device including a processing device and a memory device, the memory device including instructions that are executable by the processing device for causing the processing device to:
- receive the strain signal from the strain gauge;
- determine actuation points corresponding to an opening or closing of a valve in the chamber of the pump based on the strain signal;
- receive the position signal representing the position of the member;
- determine the position of the member based on the position signal;
- and
- determine a performance of the chamber of the pump based on the actuation points for the valve and the position of the member.
A pumping system, comprising:
- a pump including a fluid end and a power end, the fluid end of the pump including a valve actuatable between a first actuation point and a second actuation point in a chamber of the pump through a valve transition between the first actuation point and the second actuation point that is measurable by a strain gauge, the fluid end further including a plunger in the chamber, the plunger being mechanically coupled to a crankshaft in the power end of the pump and actuatable between a first reference point and a second reference point through a plunger transition between the first reference point and the second reference point that is measurable by a position sensor;
- a computing device including a processing device and a memory device, the memory device including instructions that are executable by the processing device for causing the processing device to:
- receive a strain signal from the strain gauge, the strain signal representing a strain associated with the chamber of the pump;
- determine the first actuation point and the second actuation point based on the strain signal;
- receive a position signal from the position sensor;
- determine the first reference point and the second reference point of the plunger based on the position signal;
- and
- determine a performance of the chamber by correlating at least one of the first actuation point or the second actuation point with at least one of the first reference point or the second reference point.
A method for monitoring a valve for a pump, comprising:
- receiving, from a position sensor coupled to a power end of the pump, a position signal representing a position of a member of a rotating assembly of the pump;
- determining, by a computing device, a position of a displacement member in a chamber of the pump based on the position signal;
- receiving, from a strain gauge coupled to an external surface of a fluid end of the pump, a strain signal representing strain in the chamber of the pump;
- determining, by the computing device, actuation points corresponding to an opening or closing of the valve in the chamber of the pump based on the strain signal;
- and
- determining, by the computing device, a performance of the pump based on the position of the displacement member and the actuation points.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.