Run Life Enlargement Methodology for Ball-and-Seat Check Valves Used in Artificial Lift Pumping Units

Abstract Experiments are performed to evaluate the leakage vs. pressure drop, wear and fluid properties, in ball-and-seat valves used in pumping units for artificial oil production. The test facility is constructed to evaluate the operation of several valve sizes, using water, oil and air, subjected to pressure drops up to 5000 psig. Results demonstrated that the currently accepted API vacuum test might be too severe and that more realistic tests may lead to substantial savings in valve replacements. Experimental results in dimensional and dimensionless form are presented, using a new similitude criterion. Introduction The oil industry spends a large amount of money in maintenance of production equipment. Part of the maintenance activity corresponds to replacement of worn parts by new ones. One of the parts, according to current API quality control tests, with high frequency of replacement within the mechanical pump unit used in artificial lift method is the ball-and-seat check valve. Figure 1 shows the suction of the mechanical pump including the traveling and standing check valves