Method and apparatus for injecting packing into stuffing boxes for reciprocating rods
AssigneeHarbison-Fischer, Inc.
InventorsMark Mahoney, Ian Rimmer, Benny Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stuffing box for a polished rod used with a downhole pump uses injectable packing to provide a seal around the polished rod. The stuffing box has a chamber for receiving the packing. The chamber has an opening to allow the addition of packing to the chamber. The packing is maintained in a compacted condition by either injecting additional packing through the opening or adjusting the volume of the chamber.
Claims19
A method of providing a seal around a polished rod, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing the polished rod so that the polished rod is driven at one end in a reciprocating manner and the other end being coupled to a pump located downhole in a well;
- b) providing a stuffing box, which stuffing box has a closed chamber having first and second openings therethrough for receiving the polished rod, the chamber having a variable volume;
- c) providing packing in the stuffing box chamber, the packing being malleable and injectable;
- d) maintaining the packing in the chamber under pressure so that as the amount of packing in the chamber decreases during reciprocation of the polished rod, the chamber decreases in volume.
A method of providing a seal around a polished rod, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing the polished rod so that the polished rod is driven at one end in a reciprocating manner and the other end being coupled to a pump located downhole in a well;
- b) providing a stuffing box, which stuffing box has a closed chamber having first and second openings therethrough for receiving the polished rod;
- c) providing packing in the stuffing box chamber, the packing being malleable and injectable;
- d) providing a reservoir of the packing that communicates with the chamber;
- e) applying pressure to the packing in the reservoir so as to maintain the packing in chamber under pressure during the reciprocation of the polished rod.
A method of sealing a stuffing box on wellhead equipment having a reciprocating polished rod, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing the polished rod so that the polished rod is driven at one end in a reciprocating manner and the other end being coupled to a pump located downhole in a well;
- b) providing a stuffing box, the stuffing box having a chamber located around a portion of the polished rod;
- c) providing a supply of malleable packing inside the chamber;
- d) pressurizing the packing in the stuffing box so as to maintain a seal around the polished rod;
- f) providing an indication of the volume of packing in the stuffing box while maintaining the seal around the polished rod.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.