PUMP SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREOF
A pump system includes a plurality of pump assemblies. Each pump assembly having a power assembly and a fluid assembly. Each power assembly of each pump assembly includes a crankshaft, an input connection, and an output connection. The input connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies connected to the output connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies; at least one lead pump assembly within the plurality of pump assemblies configured to be connected to a prime mover commonly driving the plurality of pump assemblies. Also included is a method of pumping pressurized fluid to a site.
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In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration. To increase the production from a borehole, the production zone can be fractured to allow the formation fluids to flow more freely from the formation to the borehole. The fracturing operation includes pumping fluids at high pressure towards the formation to form formation fractures. To retain the fractures in an open condition after fracturing pressure is removed, the fractures must be physically propped open, and therefore the fracturing fluids commonly include solid granular materials, such as sand, generally referred to as proppants. Other components of the fracturing fluids typically include water, gel, or other chemical additives.
The pressure required for hydraulic fracturing of a formation, for example, often requires fracturing fluid to be pumped at pressures of 10,000 to 15,000 psi in order to create a fracture in the formation. To pump the fracturing fluids at the high pressures required for fracturing, crankshaft driven positive displacement pumps are used. The crankshaft driven positive displacement pumps include a fluid end and a power end. The fluid end includes a number of plungers driven by a crankshaft toward and away from a chamber in order to affect a high or low pressure on the chamber. The fluid end receives relatively low pressure fluid, and pressurizes the fluid to provide higher pressurized fracturing fluid at the required pressure for fracturing within the borehole. The power end includes or is attached to a pump powering mechanism also known as a prime mover, commonly an electric motor, which connects to the crankshaft or a pinion shaft to drive the power end.
The art would be receptive to improved apparatus and methods for hydraulic fluid fracturing pumps.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONA pump system including a plurality of pump assemblies, each pump assembly having a power assembly and a fluid assembly, each power assembly of each pump assembly including a crankshaft, an input connection, and an output connection, the input connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies connected to the output connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies; at least one lead pump assembly within the plurality of pump assemblies configured to be connected to a prime mover commonly driving the plurality of pump assemblies.
A method of pumping pressurized fluid to a site, the method including selecting a prime mover; selecting a number of pump assemblies, each pump assembly having a power assembly and a fluid assembly, each power assembly including a crankshaft, an input connection, and an output connection; arranging the pump assemblies on a surface; connecting the input connection of each pump to an output connection of an adjacent upstream pump; and, connecting at least one lead pump to the prime mover to commonly drive the plurality of pumps.
The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike:
A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.
With reference to
The pump system 10 further includes or utilizes a prime mover 22, and is particularly designed to take advantage of higher HP prime movers 22. The prime mover 22 could be an electric motor such as a super conducting electric motor or an internal combustion engine such as a turbine engine, or diesel engine, although other prime movers 22 are within the scope of these embodiments. The illustrated prime mover 22 of
Enabled by the output or power rating of the high horsepower prime mover 22, the pump system 10 includes a plurality of pump assemblies 32, at least two of which are arranged end-to-end using connections as will be further described below. Each pump assembly 32 is a positive displacement pump, in particular a reciprocating pump assembly 32 as shown. The pump assembly 32 is usable for a fracturing application in which fracturing fluid, such as, but not limited to a proppant filled slurry, is pumped downhole into a borehole for creating and potentially propping fractures in a formation. While particularly suited for a fracturing application, the pump system 10 may be employed in other applications. Each pump assembly 32 includes a power assembly 34, sometimes referred to as a power end, and a fluid assembly 36, sometimes referred to as a fluid end. The power assembly 34 includes a crankshaft housing 38 which houses a crankshaft as will be further described below. A crosshead assembly 40 is interposed between the power assembly 34 and the fluid assembly 36. The crosshead assembly 40 converts rotational movement within the power assembly 34 into reciprocating movement to actuate internal pistons or plungers of the fluid assembly 36. While the illustrated pump assemblies 32 include five internal pistons to pump the fluid in the fluid assemblies 36, an alternate number of pistons may be provided in each pump assembly 32, or alternatively an alternate number or pistons in different pump assemblies 32.
With reference to
An exemplary embodiment of the internal mechanics of a reciprocating pump assembly 100 is shown in
The pump assemblies 32 may operate in a similar fashion to the pump assembly 100, except that the crankshafts 48 of adjacent pump assemblies 32 are interconnected as described herein. With reference to
To connect one pump assembly 32 to an adjacent pump assembly 32, input connections 58 and output connections 60 are employed that are either directly connected to each other as shown in
The pump system 10 includes at least a first set 70 of two pump assemblies 32 linked end to end. The illustrated embodiments shown in
While the pump assemblies 32 of the pump system 10 have been described to include a power assembly 34 attached to a single fluid assembly 36, an alternative embodiment of a pump assembly 232 may include a power assembly 234 operatively connected to first and second fluid assemblies 236, as shown in
In addition to taking advantage of the output of a high horsepower prime mover 22, because each pump assembly 32, 232 includes an input connection 58, 258 and an output connection 60, 260, a modular arrangement of the pump system 10 is enabled to include any number of pump assemblies 32, 232 thereon in a variety of configurations.
While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims. Also, in the drawings and the description, there have been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms may have been employed, they are unless otherwise stated used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention therefore not being so limited. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. do not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.
Claims
1. A pump system comprising:
- a plurality of pump assemblies, each pump assembly having a power assembly and a fluid assembly, each power assembly of each pump assembly including a crankshaft, an input connection, and an output connection, the input connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies connected to the output connection of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies;
- at least one lead pump assembly within the plurality of pump assemblies configured to be connected to a prime mover commonly driving the plurality of pump assemblies.
2. The pump system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pump assemblies includes a first set of pump assemblies and a second set of pump assemblies, each set of pump assemblies including a lead pump assembly configured to be connected to the prime mover.
3. The pump system of claim 2 wherein fluid assemblies of the pump assemblies in the first set of pump assemblies are separated from fluid assemblies of the pump assemblies in the second set of pump assemblies by the power assemblies of the pump assemblies in the first and second sets of pump assemblies.
4. The pump system of claim 2, wherein the first set of pump assemblies is arranged on a first side of a platform, and the second set of pump assemblies is arranged on a second side of the platform opposite the first side.
5. The pump system of claim 1 further comprising the prime mover, wherein a sum of the horsepower rating of the plurality of pump assemblies is substantially equal to the horsepower rating of the prime mover.
6. The pump system of claim 1 wherein the fluid assembly of one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies includes a first fluid assembly and a second fluid assembly, the power assembly of the one pump assembly interposed between the first and second fluid assemblies.
7. The pump system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pump assemblies are mounted on at least one movable platform.
8. The pump system of claim 7 wherein the at least one movable platform includes at least one of a trailer bed towable by a truck and a flat bed connected to a train.
9. The pump system of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of adjacent pump assemblies among the plurality of pump assemblies are connected end-to-end relative to the crankshaft of each pump assembly.
10. The pump system of claim 1 wherein the input connection of the one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies is removably connected to the output connection of the one pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies.
11. The pump system of claim 1, wherein each of the pump assemblies includes a housing, the input connections and the output connections extending exteriorly of the housing.
12. The pump system of claim 1, wherein the input connection and the output connection are respectively connected to an input shaft and an output shaft, and an axis of the input shaft and an axis of the output shaft extend substantially parallel to a rotation axis of the crankshaft within each pump assembly among the plurality of pump assemblies.
13. The pump system of claim 1, wherein the input connection includes an input plate and the output connection includes an output plate, the input plate and output plate arrangeable and configured to connect to each other in a face-to-face relationship.
14. The pump system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the input and output plates includes at least one aperture, and further comprising at least one connector passing through the at least one aperture.
15. The pump system of claim 1, further comprising a gear box including at least one output shaft connected to the input connection of the at least one lead pump assembly.
16. A method of pumping pressurized fluid to a site, the method comprising:
- selecting a prime mover;
- selecting a number of pump assemblies, each pump assembly having a power assembly and a fluid assembly, each power assembly including a crankshaft, an input connection, and an output connection;
- arranging the pump assemblies on a surface;
- connecting the input connection of each pump to an output connection of an adjacent upstream pump; and,
- connecting at least one lead pump to the prime mover to commonly drive the plurality of pumps.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the prime mover has a power rating and selecting a number of pump assemblies includes selecting a number of pump assemblies having a combined power rating substantially equivalent to the power rating of the prime mover.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein arranging the pump assemblies on a surface includes arranging the pump assemblies on a movable platform.
19. The method of claim 16 wherein selecting a number of pump assemblies includes selecting at least three pump assemblies.
20. The method of claim 16 wherein arranging the pump assemblies includes arranging two sets of at least two pump assemblies, each set including one lead pump assembly connected to the prime mover and at least one additional pump assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 6, 2013
Publication Date: Aug 7, 2014
Applicant: Baker Hughes Incorporated (Houston, TX)
Inventor: Blake Burnette (Tomball, TX)
Application Number: 13/760,340
International Classification: F04B 9/04 (20060101); F04B 23/06 (20060101); F04B 47/00 (20060101);