Safety controls for electrical submersible pump systems
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorsHassan Mansir, John Badawi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Safety control apparatus for limiting voltages on electrical conductors included in a motor power cable that are connected to a motor of an electrical submersible pump assembly are described. The safety control apparatus include circuitry, which when electrically coupled to the electrical conductors of the motor power cable, is configured to controllably connect and disconnect the electrical conductors to and from, respectively, a motor load element, to provide a braking function limiting the motor rotational speed, and thereby limit the voltage level that the rotation of the motor may induce onto the electrical conductors.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a safety control apparatus configured to be electrically coupled to a motor power cable of a motor, the motor configured to operate a submersible pump, the motor and the submersible pump configured to be deployed downhole in a wellbore and operated to pump a fluid present within the wellbore into a production tubing or conduit extending within the wellbore,
- wherein the safety control apparatus comprises a controller coupled to a switching device, the controller configured to operate the switching device to controllably connect and disconnect a set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable to and from, respectively, one or more motor loads in order to maintain a voltage level present on the set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable at or below a threshold voltage level when the motor is not being electrically powered to operate the submersible pump and when the motor is being mechanically rotated by a flow of fluid passing through the submersible pump.
A method comprising:
- electrically coupling a safety control apparatus to a set of electrical conductors of a motor power cable that are coupled to a motor of an electrical submersible pump apparatus, the electrical submersible pump apparatus configured to be positioned within a wellbore and configured to be operated by the motor in order to provide an artificial lift of formation fluids from within the wellbore;
- monitoring, by the safety control apparatus, a voltage level that is present on the set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable;
- and
- controllably connecting and disconnecting, using at least one switching device, the set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable to and from, respectively, a motor load configured to limit the voltage level that is present on the set of electrical conductors to a predetermined threshold voltage level based on the monitoring of the voltage level present on the set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable when the motor is not being electrically powered to operate the submersible pump and when the motor is being mechanically rotated by a flow of fluid passing through the submersible pump.
A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to perform operations comprising:
- monitoring, using one or more output signals received from one or more sensors, a voltage level that is present on a set of electrical conductors of a motor power cable coupled to a motor of an electrical submersible pump assembly;
- and
- providing an output signal to controllably connect and disconnect, using at least one switching device, the set of electrical conductors of the motor power cable to and from, respectively, a motor load configured to limit the voltage level present on the set of electrical conductors to a predetermined threshold voltage level based on the monitoring of the voltage level present on the set of electrical conductors when the motor is not being electrically powered to operate the submersible pump and when the motor is being mechanically rotated by a flow of fluid passing through the submersible pump.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.