Methods and systems are provided to adaptively control a hydraulic fluid supply to supply a driving fluid for applying a driving force on a piston in a gas compressor, the driving force being cyclically reversed between a first direction and a second direction to cause the piston to reciprocate in strokes. During a first stroke of the piston, a speed of the piston, a temperature of the driving fluid, and a load pressure applied to the piston is monitored. Reversal of the driving force after the first stroke is controlled based on the speed, load pressure, and temperature.

A lift apparatus and method for driving a downhole reciprocating pump is disclosed. The apparatus includes a hydraulic cylinder having a piston and a hydraulic fluid port, the piston being coupled to a rod for driving the reciprocating pump, the piston being moveable between first and second ends of the cylinder in response to a flow of hydraulic fluid through the hydraulic fluid port. The apparatus also includes a variable displacement hydraulic pump coupled to receive a substantially constant rotational drive from a prime mover for operating the hydraulic pump, the hydraulic pump having an outlet and being responsive to a displacement control signal to draw hydraulic fluid from a reservoir and to produce a controlled flow of hydraulic fluid at the outlet. The apparatus also includes a hydraulic fluid line connected to deliver hydraulic fluid from the outlet of the hydraulic pump through the hydraulic fluid port to the cylinder for causing the piston to move through an upstroke away from the first end and toward the second end of the cylinder. The apparatus further includes a valve connected between the hydraulic fluid port and the reservoir, the valve being responsive to a valve control signal for controlling discharge of hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic fluid port of the cylinder back to the reservoir to facilitate movement of the piston through a downstroke away from the second end toward the first end of the cylinder. The valve is operable to prevent flow of hydraulic fluid through the valve during the upstroke and the hydraulic pump is operable to prevent flow of hydraulic fluid back into the outlet of the hydraulic pump during the downstroke.

A pump apparatus has a downhole pump disposed in a wellbore and has a motor at the surface, and a rod string operatively moved by the motor reciprocates the downhole pump in the wellbore. Downhole data indicative of load and position of the downhole pump is generated using surface measurements and a wave equation model having an upstroke damping factor and a downstroke damping factor. Actual fluid load lines are determined from the downhole data for upstrokes and downstrokes of the downhole pump, and calculated fluid load lines for from the strokes are determined from the distribution of the load values in the downhole data. The actual fluid load lines are compared to the calculated fluid load lines to determine if the downhole card is over or under-damped. Then, at least one of the upstroke or downstroke damping factors of the wave equation model is adjusted so that new downhole data can be generated with appropriate damping.

A controller for operating a rod pumping unit at a pump speed. The controller includes a processor configured to operate a pump piston of the rod pumping unit at a first speed. The processor is further configured to determine a pump fillage level for a pump stroke based on a position signal and a load signal. The processor is further configured to reduce the pump speed to a second speed based on the pump fillage level for the pump stroke.

A sucker rod pump automated control method comprising measuring the sucker rod pump parameters, counting the sucker rod pump geometry, forming a dynamometer card of the sucker rod pump parameters. Measuring an angle of the sucker rod pump walking beam, and based on the walking beam angle value, forming a real time value of the sucker rod pump crank angle and a polished rod velocity with using geometry dependences of the sucker rod pump components. The walking beam is equipped with an angle sensor connected to a PC input and is formed to detecting position of the walking beam.

Systems and methods provide real-time optical monitoring and control of well operations using digital cameras and image analysis. The systems and methods deploy one or more digital cameras in place of or in addition to conventional sensors to capture images of a well pump during well operations. The images may then be analyzed using image analysis algorithms and programs to measure a height, position, shape, and other measurements for certain components of the well pump relative to previous images. These image-based measurements may then be used to determine various operational parameters, such as pump speed, pump load, and other operational parameters. The operational parameters may then be processed by a pump control system to optimize pump operations based on the operational parameters.

Methods, computer program products, and/or systems are provided that perform the following operations: obtaining a series of indicator diagrams corresponding to strokes of a pumpjack over a specific time duration, dividing each indicator diagram into a plurality of location segments in a direction of location of the rod; obtaining load difference features between upstroke loads and corresponding downstroke loads in the plurality of location segments; identifying a location segment with an abnormal load difference feature based on a time series data of load difference feature corresponding to one of the plurality of location segments, the time series data of load difference feature including a series of data points of load difference feature of the one of the plurality of location segments in time order; and providing an indication of a potential problem based, at least in part, on the identification of the location segment with an abnormal load difference feature.

Methods and systems are provided to adaptively control a hydraulic fluid supply to supply a driving fluid for applying a driving force on a piston in a gas compressor, the driving force being cyclically reversed between a first direction and a second direction to cause the piston to reciprocate in strokes. During a first stroke of the piston, a speed of the piston, a temperature of the driving fluid, and a load pressure applied to the piston is monitored. Reversal of the driving force after the first stroke is controlled based on the speed, load pressure, and temperature.

A pumpjack monitor includes a processor and memory, a communicator for communicating with other monitors and a server, a sensor module having at least one strain gauge, and accelerometers for determining vibration and position of the monitor. Other sensors may be internal, including sensors for polished-rod rotation, and linked to the monitoring device wirelessly. Some embodiments serve as network hubs or bridges for other monitors. The server is configured to generate surface cards. A method for monitoring of pumpjacks uses the monitor to sense changes in pumpjack parameters, and communicate the changes to a server when changes exceed configurable thresholds. Some embodiments include determining location with GPS and/or relaying signals from other monitoring devices, smart power management, gas sensing, and relaying of signals from external wireless-equipped sensors such as valve position sensors, oil level sensors, and pressure sensors.

A rod-pump control device is disclosed. The rod-pump control device uses AMP (current) measurements for electric units, fuel or air usage for gas units, and can use pressure for either unit. The AMP/fuel/air sensors work as the primary trigger to indicate a pump-off condition on an oil and gas well. These sensors can be used as stand-alone triggers or in conjunction with other sensors to more accurately monitor pump efficiency. When the pump-controller starts to indicate an inefficient pump condition, it will turn the pump off by removing power from the electric motor. For gas powered units, the controller will remove power to disengage an electric clutch or send a signal to an engine controller to stop. An adjustable algorithm will use percentage change of off time, dependent on actual run time compared to a user definable target time to keep the pump operating at peak efficiency.