Valve rod guides for bottom hole pump assemblies, and related methods and parts
AssigneeOptimum Pump Ltd.
InventorsNathan Flynn, Derrik Meinczinger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bottom hole pump (BHP) assembly for a reciprocating sucker rod in a production well has: a downhole fluid pump; a valve rod mounted to reciprocate within the downhole fluid pump, the valve rod having a sucker rod connector; and a valve rod guide mounted to the downhole fluid pump around the valve rod and connected to, in use, receive fluids into an internal fluid chamber from an internal bore of the downhole fluid pump and direct the fluids radially outward to an annulus of a well bore through a radial port in the valve rod guide assembly; and in which the valve rod guide has a ceramic wear sleeve that lines an internal valve-rod-receiving cylindrical passage defined by the valve rod guide.
Claims17
A bottom hole pump (BHP) assembly for a reciprocating sucker rod in a production well comprising:
- a downhole fluid pump;
- a valve rod mounted to reciprocate within the downhole fluid pump, the valve rod having a sucker rod connector;
- and
- a valve rod guide mounted to the downhole fluid pump around the valve rod and connected to, in use, receive fluids into an internal fluid chamber from an internal bore of the downhole fluid pump and direct the fluids radially outward to an annulus of a well bore through a radial port in the valve rod guide assembly;
- in which the valve rod guide has a ceramic wear sleeve that lines an internal valve-rod-receiving cylindrical passage defined by the valve rod guide;
- and
- in which the valve rod guide comprises:
- a rod guide body;
- and
- a rod guide cap that defines a bushing keyway torque slot.
A valve rod guide comprising:
- a rod guide body defining an open downhole cylindrical pump-barrel-mounting end that defines an internal pump fluid chamber and a radial port to an exterior surface of the rod guide body, the rod guide body being structured for, in use, receiving and directing well fluids pumped through the open downhole cylindrical pump-barrel-mounting end into a wellbore annulus via the radial port, the rod guide body defining a valve rod axial bore therethrough;
- a ceramic wear sleeve seated within an internal valve-rod-receiving cylindrical passage defined by the rod guide body;
- and
- a rod guide cap mounted to an uphole end of the rod guide body to secure an uphole end of the ceramic wear sleeve within the wear sleeve receptacle, in which:
- the rod guide cap has a threaded female box that mounts to a threaded male end of the rod guide body;
- and
- the rod guide cap defines a bushing keyway torque slot.
A method comprising driving a sucker rod string to pump well fluids from a fluid inlet of a downhole fluid pump, through a valve rod guide, and up to the well surface, in which the valve rod guide has a rod guide body, a rod guide cap that defines a bushing keyway torque slot, and an internal ceramic wear sleeve that lines an interior bore of the valve rod guide and encircles a valve rod, which is driven by the sucker rod string to drive the downhole fluid pump.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.