A method for determining operating properties of a drill-rod borehole pump, having a pump head, which is connected to a kinematics converter via a drill rod, and the kinematics converter is driven by an electric motor, and furthermore a measuring device is provided for measuring the power consumption of the motor during operation of same.

Methods and apparatus to determine parameters of a pumping unit for use with wells are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a housing and a processor positioned in the housing. The processor is to determine a first load on a polished rod of a pumping unit, to estimate a first torque of a motor of the pumping unit, and determine a first torque factor for the pumping unit. The processor is to, based on the first load, the first torque, and the first torque factor, determine a phase angle of a counterbalance of the pumping unit or a moment of the counterbalance.

A method and system for determining the pump fillage of a sucker rod pumping system using torque feedback when pumping wellbore fluids from the particular well on which the sucker rod pumping system is installed. During the pump stroke, a microprocessor samples torque of the pump's mechanical system at an associated horsehead position at regular intervals and once the stroke is completed the raw torque samples and associated horsehead positions are placed in an array, the array of raw torque samples and horsehead positions can be filtered by the microprocessor into a second filtered array and then converted by the microprocessor into a rotatum array (derivative of torque with respect to time) of one or both of the raw or filtered arrays and stored as a rotatum array. The down stroke portion of the rotatum array is then analyzed by the microprocessor to determine the horsehead position when the piston of the down hole pump encounters wellbore fluid in the well (pump fillage). The microprocessor, based on the determined pump fillage, adjusts the speed of the pumping system to maintain an optimal pump fillage determined to be the most economical for the particular well on which the sucker rod pumping system is installed.

Systems and methods provided herein relate to a pump system. The pump system includes a pump disposed within a well, an actuator operable to move a rod including a surface end coupled to the actuator and a downhole end coupled to the pump, and a controller. The controller is configured to identify a first impulse response and a second impulse response associated with the pump system based on a first model of the pump system. The controller is further configured to generate a second model of the pump system based on the first impulse response and the second impulse response. The controller is further configured to operate the pump system based on the second model.

An adapter for a load cell in a rod pump system includes an outer shell including a mounting portion configured to attach to the load cell on a polished rod, a power supply configured to provide power to the adapter and the load cell, the power supply including a solar panel on the outer shell, a cable configured to connect to the load cell, the adapter configured to provide power to the load cell via the cable, and the adapter configured to receive a load signal from the load cell via the cable, a signal processor configured to receive and process the load signal and to output load signal data representative of a load experienced by the load cell, and a wireless transmitter to transmit the load signal data.

Diagnosing a pump apparatus having a downhole pump disposed in a deviated wellbore characterizes axial and transverse displacement of a rod string with two coupled non-linear differential equations of fourth order, which include axial and transverse equations of motion. To solve the equations, derivatives are replaced with finite difference analogs. Initial axial displacement of the rod string is calculated by assuming there is no transverse displacement and solving the axial equation. Initial axial force is calculated using the initial axial displacement and assuming there is no transverse displacement. Initial transverse displacement is calculated using the initial axial force and the initial axial displacement. Axial force and friction force are calculated using the initial displacements, and the axial displacement at the downhole pump is calculated by solving the axial equation with the axial force and the friction force. Load at the downhole pump is calculated so a downhole card can be generated.

A method and system for determining the pump fillage of a sucker rod pumping system using torque feedback when pumping wellbore fluids from the particular well on which the sucker rod pumping system is installed. During the pump stroke, a microprocessor samples torque of the pump's mechanical system at an associated horsehead position at regular intervals and once the stroke is completed the raw torque samples and associated horsehead positions are placed in an array, the array of raw torque samples and horsehead positions can be filtered by the microprocessor into a second filtered array and then converted by the microprocessor into a rotatum array (derivative of torque with respect to time) of one or both of the raw or filtered arrays and stored as a rotatum array. The down stroke portion of the rotatum array is then analyzed by the microprocessor to determine the horsehead position when the piston of the down hole pump encounters wellbore fluid in the well (pump fillage). The microprocessor, based on the determined pump fillage, adjusts the speed of the pumping system to maintain an optimal pump fillage determined to be the most economical for the particular well on which the sucker rod pumping system is installed.

A pump apparatus has a downhole pump disposed in a wellbore and has motor at a surface of the wellbore, and the downhole pump is reciprocated in the wellbore by a rod string operatively moved by the motor. A card indicative of load and position of the downhole pump is generated using surface measurements and a wave equation model having a damping factor or two damping factors. Actual fluid load lines are determined from the downhole card for upstroke and downstroke of the downhole pump, and calculated fluid load lines from the load distribution of the downhole data. The actual fluid load lines are compared to the calculated fluid load lines so that at least one parameter of the pump apparatus can be modified based on the comparison. For example, the damping of the wave equation model can be adjusted so that another downhole card can be generated.

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 a 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 data is over or under-damped. Then, the damping factor of the wave equation model can be adjusted so that new downhole data can be generated with appropriate damping.

An adapter for a load cell in a rod pump system includes an outer shell including a mounting portion configured to attach to the load cell on a polished rod, a power supply configured to provide power to the adapter and the load cell, the power supply including a solar panel on the outer shell, a cable configured to connect to the load cell, the adapter configured to provide power to the load cell via the cable, and the adapter configured to receive a load signal from the load cell via the cable, a signal processor configured to receive and process the load signal and to output load signal data representative of a load experienced by the load cell, and a wireless transmitter to transmit the load signal data.