Through-Hardened Valve Seat for Hydraulic Fracturing
AssigneeAlpha 3D LLC
InventorsErik Rasmussen, Steven J. Metz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A valve seat for hydraulic fracturing valves employs a through-hardening process, for example, with austempering, to provide greater wear resistance at the interface between the valve seat and the valve plug as well as resistance to abrasion and leakage in the interface between an alignment ring of the valve seat and a bore in the pump body.
Claims11
A valve seat for hydraulic fracturing pumps comprising a metal ring providing a central axial bore, the metal ring having an upper header portion communicating with a coaxial lower alignment sleeve at a radially extending rim passing outward from an upper edge of the alignment sleeve to a lower edge of the header portion;
- and an exposed upper face of the header portion of presenting an inwardly downward bevel for receipt of a valve plug;
- wherein the metal ring is a high carbon alloy steel having a carbon content percentage of greater than 0.6 percent by weight and a chromium content percentage greater than 0.7 percent by weight in the metal ring formed by a process of through-hardening by austempering to provide a through-hardened steel of substantially uniform composition to a depth of at least one-half inch from outer surfaces of the metal ring.
A hydraulic fracturing pump comprising:
- a pump body providing a pump volume intercommunicating with an inlet and an outlet and plunger chamber;
- a plunger fitting within the plunger chamber to reduce and increase the pump volume with reciprocation of the plunger;
- and
- a first and second valve positioned at the inlet and the outlet to provide unidirectional flow out of the outlet and into the inlet;
- wherein the first and second valve provide a valve plug and a valve seat, the valve seat removably fitting within a bore of the inlet or outlet wherein the valve seat is a metal ring providing a central axial bore, the metal ring having an upper header portion communicating with a coaxial lower alignment sleeve at a radially extending rim passing outward from an upper edge of the alignment sleeve to a lower edge of the header portion;
- and wherein an exposed upper face of the header portion presents an inwardly downward bevel for receipt of a valve plug;
- wherein the metal ring is a through-hardened steel of substantially uniform composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.