Sucker rod string design of the pumping systems

Abstract

The existing design of sucker rod string mainly focuses on the simplifying assumptions that rod string was exposed to simple tension loading. And its goal was to have equal modified stress at the top of each taper. The improved rod design was to have the same degree of safety at each section, and it used a dynamic force distribution that was proportional along the whole string. However, the available procedures did not provide the desired accuracy of its pertinent analysis, and the operators could not identify the specific phenomena that occur in CBM wells. In this paper, the mathematical models of rod loads and string length were developed based on the cyclic nature of rod string loading; the fatigue endurance method is used to design the single rod string; and the tapered rod string is designed to have an equal equivalent stress at the top of each section. Its application characteristics are demonstrated by the example of CBM wells in Ordos Basin. The interpretations of results show that the previous design gave the single rods a larger diameter and the top rods in the string a greater percent than the proposed method. The calculation should concern about inertial, vibration and friction forces to illustrate the elastic force waves travelling in the rod material with the speed of sound. The single string should be designed using fatigue endurance ratings due to asymmetric pulsating tension of rod loading; and the tapered string should involve a balanced design by setting the fatigue endurance at each section equal. A shorter stroke length gives a greater rod taper percentage and an increased load capacity results to an enhanced rod diameter. The rod diameter increases with the pump size and load capacity for the single string, and the rod taper percentage of the top rod strings increases with plunger diameter for the tapered string. The proposed research improves efficiency of the pumping system, assures good operating conditions, and reduces total production costs.