Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Vol. 40, Nos. 11–12, 2004COMPRESSORS, PUMPS, REFRIGERATION ENGINEERING UPDATING PISTON PUMPS FOR OILPRODUCTIONB. S. Zakharov,1 G. N. Sharikov,2and E. G. Kormishin2The three-plunger acid treatment pump SIN32 and the two-cylinder double-acting pump NPTs-32 with four working chambers (for cementing units) have been updated to control pump delivery. The fluid delivery diagrams for pumps of various designs are examined and the test results are reported.In drilling and oil production, single-acting three-plunger (triplex) pumps or double-acting two-cylinder (duplex) pumps are used.In injecting reagents (clay drilling mud, water, cement, acid, etc.) into wells, depending on the technology applied，it is required to inject the fluid in amounts ranging from the maximum to the minimum in a single operation. If the bed accepts the injected fluid well, it becomes necessary to maximize pump delivery for quick completion of the operation. If on the other hand, the bed does not accept the fluid well, it becomes necessary to reduce pump delivery so as to restrict the injection pressure to the safe limit. At present, because of wear of well (down-hole) equipment, the permissible injectionpressure is not higher than 10–15 MPa..The delivery of a piston (reciprocating) or a plunger (displacement) type of pump can be controlled in the following ways:• by installing several pumps with identical or different pumping capacities;• by changing the drive rotation speed;• by using cylinders (plungers) of the required size;• by channeling a part of the fluid into a bypass; and• by dismounting one or several valves.The first version is used essentially in drilling. In oil production, generally all versions are used either individually or in some combination.All pumping units designed for injection of various fluids (fluidal materials) for cementing, hydraulic formation fracturing, hydraulic sand-jet flushing of sand bridges, and other flushing operations in oil and gas wells are mounted on the chassis of motor vehicles (trucks), tractors, caterpillar (tracked) carriers, and specially made carriages.The operating parameters of the pumps (delivery and injection pressure) depend on the power of the drive and maximum and minimum speed of the engine and the pump. The pump delivery can be changed by changing the number of pump strokes without stopping the engine with the help of a gearbox (by gear shifting) and with stopping of the engine by installing cylinders of the required size. Replacement of the cylinders takes a lot of time and is not always possible in a continuous echnological process. In the existing pumping plants, the delivery variation range is inadequate. At the minimum rotation speed and cylinder diameter, the delivery remains extremely high, and for injecting the fluid into the bed the pressure has to be raised above what is permissible.Assigned by NGDU Zainskneft’, Ékogermet carried out updating of two types of pumps, namely, SIN32 and NPTs-32.In the three-plunger (triplex) acid treatment pump SIN32, for reducing the minimum delivery down to 1.0 m3/h,plungers having a diameter of 125 mm were replaced with plungers having a diameter of 55 mm. As a result, the theoretical pump delivery was reduced from 16 down to 3.3 m3/h. Further reduction of the pump delivery was achieved by reducing the rotation speed of the vehicle engine to the possible minimum (500–600 rpm).Simultaneously with this, a new design of packing glands (sealing devices) of plungers of the UPN55 type was developed.It was based on Zakharov mechanical seal [1], which demonstrated high reliability and durability in sucker-rod (oil) pumps. The sealing units and the pistons with a diameter of 55 mm were made for the SIN32 pump by ÉLKAMneftemash in Perm. Its finishing and testing were done by Ékogermet jointly with NGDU Zainskneft’.The design of the UPN55-type plunger seal is shown in Fig. 1. The combined seal consists of the main threestage mechanical seal 4 and an elastic sealingcollar 2. Each stage of the mechanical seal consists of ten rings that are elastically pressed against each other and simultaneously against the plunger surface. The rings are pressed against theplunger in pairs from the opposite sides. The next pair is turned relative to the preceding one by 90º. The rings are pressed in the axial direction by rubber rings of round cross section and in the radial direction, by rubber girdles with eccentric collars. The plunger 5 is made of steel 45 and is chromium-plated and the sealing rings are of bronze. Threecartridges with mechanical seals were installed in the housing bore 3 with a clearance that helps self-centering of the seals relative to the plunger. The cartridges are pressed together by a round nut 1 through a bushing with the sealing collar 2. There are holes in the housing for injecting oil and draining out the overflow into the receiving (suction) line of the pump.In contrast to the well-known elastic glands, the mechanical seal does not require periodic adjustments and ensures reliable operation of the assembly over a long period [2]. Use of the updated SIN32 pump having a UPN55 type of mechanical plunger seals confirmed that the proposed design operationally fit.From August through December 2003, NGDU Zainskneft’ carried out s even bottom-hole treatments (BHT) of six wells using the updated SIN32 pump. Different types of technological operations were carried out in the wells: mud acid BHT, muriatic (hydrochloric) acid BHT, injection of the reagents SNPKh-9021, MIAPROM, and RMD, for which SIN32 and ATs-32 pumping units were generally used. If acid or any other reagent could not be forced through (injected) at 12–15 MPa pressure, a low-capacity unit was connected with the SIN32 pump. In that case, the injection pressure dropped by 2–4 MPa。