Chapter 8

Subsurface Sucker-Rod Pumps

James R. Hendrix,

OILWELL

Div. of U.S.

Steel Corp.*

Introduction
The general principles of sucker-rod pumps as used in oil
wells are well known. Fundamentally,
they consist of
the usual simple combination of a cylinder and piston or
plunger with a suitable intake valve and discharge valve
for displacing the well fluid into the tubing and to the
surface. However, the variety of problems encountered
in pumping oil wells has resulted in a great number of
modifications of this fundamentally
simple unit to make
it more effective for the various conditions encountered.
In general, the pumping of oil wells often presents the
widest variety of advqse conditions possible in a single
installation of any pumping application.
These may include high discharge pressures;
low intake pressures;
severe abrasive conditions resulting from sand or other
severe
corrosive
conditions
solids
in suspension:
resulting from corrosive gases or salt waters; deposits of
lime, salts, or other solids from the water pumped; paraffin deposits from the oil pumped; and the requirement
that the pump handle liquids, permanent gases, and condensable vapors under the pressure and temperature conditions existing at the pump. Strong magnetic forces that
may interfere with valve action when the valves are
made of magnetic material are encountered
often. and
electrolytic corrosion is likely to occur as a result of using dissimilar materials.
The bores of reciprocating
oilwell pumps can range
from 1 to 4% in. in diameter. The 4X-in. bore pump has
a displacement
about 22% times that of the l-in. pump
for a given speed and stroke length. This wide range of
pump capacities is necessary to permit selection of the
most efficient and economical
pumping equipment for
all conditions encountered.
In many wells it is necessary
to pump large volumes of water along with the oil, so the
pump must have a capacity several times that indicated
by the net oil production.
Subsurface pump bores now standardized by the API

are l%, lV2, 1%,2,2%,2%,and2%

in. Strokelengths
range from a few inches to more than 30 ft, and production rates with this type of pump range from a fraction of
a barrel per day-with
part-time operation-to
approximately 3,000 B/D.
There are two broad classifications
of pumps operated
by sucker rods. The older type is now known as a tubing pump. This term indicates that the pump barrel is
attached directly to the tubing of a pumping well and
lowered to the bottom of the well, or to any desired location for pumping, as the tubing is run into the well. The
plunger, or traveling valve, of a tubing pump is run in on
the lower end of the sucker rods until it contacts the
lower-valve
(or standing-valve)
assembly. The rods
are then raised sufficiently to prevent bumping bottom at
the end of the downstroke and connected to a pumping
unit, or jack, at the surface.
A more recent development
is the insert or rod
pump in which the entire assembly of barrel, traveling
valve, plunger, and standing valve is installed with the
sucker rods and seated in a special seating nipple, a tubing pump barrel, or other device designed for the purpose. The rod-type pump has the obvious advantage that
the entire pump may be removed from the well for repair
or replacement,
with only a rod-pulling job, whereas
with a tubing pump it is necessary to pull both rods and
tubing to remove the pump barrel. The rod pump,
however, is necessarily of smaller maximum capacity for
a given tubing size.
Tubing-type pumps may have a standing valve seated
in a coupling or seating shoe at the lower end of the barrel, or the standing valve may be seated in a coupling at
the lower end of an extension
nipple that extends
below the lower end of the barrel. The ID of the extension nipple is somewhat larger than that of the barrel to
permit the pump plunger to stroke out both top and bottom to produce uniform barrel wear and prevent accumulations of solids on the barrel wall.

8-2

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

TABLE 6.1 -API

PUMP DESIGNATION

Metal Plunger Pumps

Soft-Packed Plunger
Pumps

Type of Pump

Heavy-Wall
Barrel

Thin-Wall
Barrel

Heavy-Wall
Barrel

Thin-Wall
Barrel

Rod
Stationary barrel, top anchor
Stationary barrel, bottom anchor
Traveling barrel, bottom anchor
Tubing

RHA
RHB
RHT
TH

RWA
RWB
RWT
-

TP

RSA
RSB
RST
-

First letter:
R = Rod or inserted type; run on the rods; lhrough
T=Tublng
type, nonlnserted, run on lublng

HANDBOOK

,b,ng

Second letter
H = Heavy-wall, for meta, plunger pumps
W =Thln-wall,
for metal plunger pumps
S=T~I~-wall:
for soft-packed plunger pumps
P= Heavy-wall, far soft-packed plunger pumps
Third letter
A = Top anchor
E = Eotlom anchor
T = Bottom anchor

with traveling

barrel

Rod-type pumps may also be equipped with extension

nipples above and below the barrel for similar reasons.
In addition, rod pumps may be top-seating
(pump
suspended from top of barrel), bottom-seating
(pump
(travelseated at bottom of barrel), stationary-barrel
ing plunger), or traveling-barrel.
Both tubing- and rod-type pumps are equipped with
one-piece full barrels.
The API has adopted standard designations
for the
combinations
listed above. The classification
system
given in Table 8.1 is from API Standard 11 AX.
The following definitions are provided to clarify some
of the more important terms used in connection with subsurface oilwell pumps since a majority of these terms are
peculiar to deep-well pumping terminology.
Barrel.
The barrel of an oilwell pump is the cylinder
into which the well fluid is admitted and displaced by a
closely fitted piston or plunger.
Plunger.
The pump plunger is a closely fitted tubular
piston fitted with a check valve for displacing well fluid
from the pump barrel. This may be all metal or equipped
with cups, rings. or other soft packing to form a seal with
the barrel.
Standing Valve.
This is the intake valve of the pump
and generally consists of a ball-and-seat-type
check
valve. The valve assembly remains stationary during the
pumping cycle.
Traveling
Valve.
This is the discharge
moves with the plunger of a stationary-barrel
with the barrel of a traveling-barrel
pump.
assembly of a cup-type plunger. or plunger
with other type of soft packing. along with
valve, is often called a traveling valve.

valve and
pump and
The entire
equipped
the check

Standing Valve Puller.

This is a tool designed to attach to the standing-valve
cage of a tubing-type pump
when the sucker rods are lowered to the bottom. The
standing-valve
assembly is then unseated by raising the
rod string and is removed along with the pump plunger

when the rods are pulled. This avoids having to pull tubing to remove the standing valve of the tubing-type
pump.
Valve Rod.
Valve rods are used in rod-type stationarybarrel pumps to connect the lower end of the sucker-rod
string to the pump plunger. The valve rod runs through a
guide at the top of the pump. API valve-rod sizes range
from ix6 to 1 X6 in. in diameter.
Modified line pipe
threads are standard for API valve rods (see Table 1 of
Ref. 1).
Pull Tube.
Pull tubes are used in rod-type traveling
barrel pumps to connect the plunger with the seating
assembly or holddown.
(See Ref. 1 for thread dimensions for straight threads.) Tapered threads are used on
some sizes of pull tubes by some manufacturers.
Seating Assembly.
A seating assembly is an anchoring
device for retaining a rod pump in its working position.
The seating assembly
is sometimes
more commonly
called a holddown.
The seating assembly may be
located either at the top or bottom of a stationary-barrel
rod pump but can be located only at the bottom of a
traveling-barrel
pump. A seating assembly
may be
equipped with composition cups or rings that form a tight
tit in a seating nipple, or coupling, to hold the pump in
its working position by friction, or it may be provided
with spring clips that snap into position under a shoulder
and require a definite pull upward on the rods to unlatch
for removal. With the cup-type seating assembly,
the
cups or rings also serve as a seal to prevent leakage of
fluid from the tubing back to the well after it has passed
through
the pump.
With the mechanical
seating
assembly, an accurately ground seating ring fitted on a
tapered mandrel seats on a mating taper to form a
leakproof seal.

Pump Selection
The selection of a proper subsurface pump for the application is sometimes a point of conjecture. The following recommendations
generally are accepted as suitable
for most applications.
Fig. 8.1 shows cross sections of

SUBSURFACE SUCKER-ROD PUMPS

8-3

Fig. 8.1 -API

subsurface pump classification.

API pump classifications.

There are many variations of
the pumps shown, some within the specifications
of API
and some that are non-API that will still perform the
desired function of pumping oil to the surface.
Fig. 8. la shows a stationary-barrel
rod pump with topseating holddown. This is a pump that is run into the well
with the sucker rods. In this pump the plunger is attached
to, and moves up and down with, the sucker-rod string.
The barrel is held stationary at its top end by the seating
assembly.
The barrel is on the left and the plunger
assembly is on the right. This is the preferred seating for
the rod pump when possible. The top seating holddown
provides a seal just below the cage, where the well fluid
is discharged into the tubing, so sand or other solid particles are prevented from settling between the barrel and
the tubing, and the pump is not apt to become stuck in
the tubing by packed sand. Since the body of the pump
pivots from this top-seating arrangement,
it aligns itself
in crooked wells more readily than other types of pumps.
Also, there is no tendency for the barrel to wear by rubbing against the tubing. This type of pump can handle
low-gravity crude oil down to 400 cp quite well. In the
stripper wells and in wells with low fluid levels, the topseating design of the pump allows the standing valve to
be submerged deep into the well fluid. This makes it

possible to pump the oil level lower than can be done

with a bottom-seated
pump. This is a particular advantage when the fluid flow from the oil reservoir is weak.
Fig. 8.1 b shows a stationary-barrel
rod pump with
bottom-seating
holddown.
In this pump, the plunger is
also attached to, and moves up and down with, the
sucker-rod string. The barrel, on the left, is held stationary by a bottom-seating
holddown, either mechanical
lock or cup type, which is the type shown in the figure.
This pump is more suitable for use in the deeper wells
since the barrel does not elongate from the fluid column
weight of the fluid in the tubing. Since the body of the
pump pivots from its bottom-seating
arrangement,
it too
can be used in crooked wells. However,
there is a
tendency for the valve rod to wear against the upper rod
guide in this case. This pump also can handle lowgravity crude oil down to 400 cp quite well. Because of
its bottom-seating
arrangement,
the pump can be seated
easily in an old existing tubing pump barrel without pulling the tubing, where a top-seated rod pump might be too
long to pass through an old tubing barrel.
The main disadvantage of this type of pump is that the
pump barrel extends upward into the tubing. This makes
it inadvisable to use a long pump, since it is not anchored
at the top, and the action of the sucker-rod string will

8-4

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

(4
Fig. 8.2-Plain

(b)
(a) and grooved (b) metal-to-metal plungers.

tend to weave it back and forth, which may cause

premature failure. Also, this pump is not recommended
for extremely sandy conditions, because there is no circulation of the well fluid around the outside of the barrel.
For this reason, the pump may become stuck in the tubing by packed sand.
Fig. 8.1~ shows a traveling-barrel
rod pump. Many
operators
prefer this type of pump because of its
simplicity and because its construction also relieves the
pump barrel of a tension load resulting from the weight
of the fluid column. A theoretical advantage of this type
of pump is that the pressure differential
across the
plunger is such that the high pressure is on the bottom of
the plunger on the intake stroke and the direction of
leakage, or slippage, past the plunger is opposite to the
direction of the force of gravity, which tends to cause
sand to settle on the plunger. For this reason there is less
tendency for sand to be forced into the clearance space
between the plunger and barrel and accelerate wear.
Although the traveling-barrel
rod pump is bottom seated,
it is not so likely to become sanded in the tubing as is a
bottom-seated
stationary-barrel
rod pump since there is a
continual surging of the well fluid in and out of the lower
end of the barrel while in operation. Also, the construction of this pump is such that sand cannot settle into the
barrel when the pump is shut down. A disadvantage of
the traveling-barrel
rod pump is the long and somewhat
restricted inlet for oil to be admitted to the pump barrel.
This may result in a relatively high pressure drop through
the pull tube and plunger to liberate excessive quantities of free gas or to cause the formation of condensable
vapors that will adversely affect the volumetric efficiency of the pump.

HANDBOOK

Some suppliers
offer a combination
top-seal
and
bottom-seating
stationary-barrel
rod pump. While this
pump is considered nonstandard,
it combines the advantages of top-seating and bottom-seating
pumps. It is
particularly advantageous
when a long pump is required
in a deep well. This type of pump reduces the possibility
of a collapsed barrel caused by external pressure and
reduces sedimentation around the barrel tube. Because of
additional sealing arrangements,
this pump is more costly than standard API pumps.
Fig. 8.ld shows the tubing pump, so named because
its barrel assembly, including barrel, extension nipples
(if any), and seating nipple, is screwed onto, and
becomes a part of, the tubing. Since the tubing and barrel
assembly are lowered into the well together, it is easy to
position a tubing pump at any desired depth for pumping. After the barrel assembly
is in position,
the
standing-valve
assembly is placed in the tubing, and it
falls until it is stopped and held by the seating shoe. The
plunger can be lowered into the well by attaching it to the
sucker-rod
string or by lowering
it with the barrel
assembly. In the latter case, an off-and-on
attachment
is used to connect the sucker rods to the plunger.
Another device, called a standing-valve-puller
(see
Fig. 8. Id insert), can be attached to the plunger to hold
the standing-valve
assembly,
so both can be lowered
together. The standing-valve
assembly is released from
the standing-valve
puller by turning the sucker-rod
string; so the standing valve assembly remains in place,
held by the seating nipple. If this action is reversed, the
standing-valve
assembly can be attached to the plunger
and pulled out of the well with the sucker-rod string.
This eliminates the necessity of pulling the complete tubing string to replace the standing-valve
assembly.
Another advantage of using a standing-valve
puller is
that the standing-valve
assembly is not in danger of being damaged or becoming stuck, as is possible if it is
dropped through the tubing.
Tubing pumps have larger bores and correspondingly
greater displacements
for a given stroke length than rod
pumps that can be used with the same size tubing.
Therefore, tubing pumps commonly are used where it is
necessary to lift large volumes of fluid and a pump of
high displacement
is required. A tubing pump has fewer
working parts and is often lower in cost than a rod pump
of corresponding
size. However, the greater volume and
resulting heavier fluid load may cause a loss in this advantage by excessive
sucker rod and tubing stretch.
Also, the entire tubing string must be pulled to service
the barrel of a tubing pump.

Plungers
Fig. 8.2 illustrates
the two most common types of
metal-to-metal
plungers used for displacing well fluid
in oilwell pumps. The left side shows a plain plunger
with box-end
threads. This type of plunger generally
is finished somewhat undersize at each end opposite the
threads. This provides for the slight expansion of the
plunger when tightened, without causing binding of the
plunger in the pump barrel. The right side shows a
grooved pin-end
plunger.
Most subsurface-pump
manufacturers
provide both
plain and grooved plungers in various materials. It has
never been demonstrated conclusively that either type of

SUBSURFACE SUCKER-ROD PUMPS

8-5

TABLE 8.2-LOSSES
RESULTING FROM SLIPPAGE
OF 3-cp OIL PAST 2%~in. PUMP PLUNGER
Slippage Loss in Pump
at 15 strokedmin

Slippage Past Plunger

Diametral
Clearance

Slippage Rate
(cu in./min)

cu in.lmin

BID

Percent Pump
Displacement

0.003
0.006
0.010
0.020

11.43
91.5
424.0
3,390.o

5.72
45.8
212.0
1,695.O

0.85
6.8
31.5
251.8

0.2
1.6
7.4
59.2

48 in. long with 2,000 ps dlfferentml pressure and vmous plunger

percent pump displacement wth fifteen 48-m slrokes per mmufe.

construction has any particular advantage over the other.

Many operators feel that grooves facilitate lubrication of
closely fitted plungers by providing spaces for the well
fluid to accumulate in considerable quantities. However,
there is considerable slippage past any plunger operating
under usual conditions where the differential
pressure
across the plunger is several hundred or even thousands
of pounds per square inch. This slippage will provide
adequate lubrication with either type of plunger if the
fluid has any lubricating value. One possible advantage
of a grooved plunger is that any solid particle, such as a
sand grain or a steel chip that gets between the plunger
and the barrel, may become lodged in a groove and
minimize scoring of the barrel and plunger. With a plain
plunger, particles cannot escape from the finished surfaces until they have traveled the full length of the
plunger. On the other hand, a grooved plunger stroking
out of a barrel increases the probability of picking up and
carrying solid material into the barrel.
The high differential pressures encountered
in pumping deep wells require an effective sealing or packing
means on the plunger. For wells of extreme depth, a
closely fitted metallic plunger is almost always used to
form a satisfactory seal with the barrel. Such plungers
are commonly
supplied with nominal clearances
of
0.001, 0.002, 0.003, or 0.005 in. in the barrel. Such
plunger fits are commonly referred to as - 1, -2, -3,
or -5 fits. For metal-to-metal
pumps the API tolerance
for barrels is +0.002 in., -0.000 in., and the tolerance
for plungers is +O.OOOO in., -0.0005
in., making it
possible for the fit of a - 1 plunger, for example, to vary
from 0.0010 to 0.0035 in. diametral clearance.

Slippage Past Plungers

In slippage past a closely fitted plunger, the flow between the plunger and the barrel is in the viscous range,
so leakage or slippage is inversely proportional to the absolute viscosity and to the plunger length. It is directly
proportional
to the plunger diameter,
the differential
pressure between the two ends of the plunger, and the
cube of the diametral clearance.
The absolute
viscosity
of well fluids commonly
pumped will range from approximately
1 to 100 cp at
temperatures existing at the pump setting. In some cases
the viscosity may be as high as 1,000 cp. As a result of
viscosity variations, the slippage past the plunger of a
particular plunger-pump
assembly with a given plunger
fit, length, and diameter may vary by as much as 100 to
1 under fairly common conditions. and as much as 1,000
to 1 under extreme conditions with the same differential

fits. Also shppage in

pressure across the plunger. Thus it is seen that a plunger

pump may operate with acceptable efficiency in a well
producing a highly viscous oil, whereas the same pump
operated at the same speed and stroke may fail to deliver
any oil to the surface when installed at the same depth in
a well producing oil of low viscosity.
The following equation can be used to determine slippage losses past a pump plunger with sufficient accuracy
for most purposes.
adApAd C3
1o-7
9= pLx2.32x

where
4 =
d =
Ap =
Ad,. =
L =
CL=

slippage loss, cu in./min (or 0.2371 cm/s),

plunger diameter, in.,
differential
pressure across plunger, psi,
diametral clearance,
in.,
length of plunger, in., and
absolute viscosity, cp.

A specific application of this equation will illustrate

the importance of plunger fits for a pump of a particular
bore and stroke, operating with various plunger fits in
fluids of various viscosities.
If we assume a 2%-in.-bore
pump having a 0.003-in.
diametral clearance and operating with a pressure differential of 2,000 psi between the two ends of a 48-in.
plunger at a rate of fifteen 48-in. strokes per minute in oil
having a viscosity of 3 cp, then Eq. 1 becomes
ax2.25x2,000x2.7x10-s
9=

= 11.43 cu in./min.
3x48x2.32x

lo-

If we assume that the volume of the barrel below the

plunger is completely filled during the upstroke, this rate
of leakage can occur only during the upstroke, or approximately one-half of the total time. The net slippage
past the plunger is 5.72 cu in./min, or 0.85 B/D. The
displacement
of a 21/4-in. pump operating at fifteen
48-in. strokes per minute is 426 BID, and the slippage in
this case is only about 0.2%, which is insignificant.
The
results of this and other plunger clearances with 3-cp oil
are shown in Table 8.2.
In the case of 0.020-in. plunger clearance, the slippage
loss when water or oil with a viscosity of 1 cp is pumped
would be 755 B/D, which is more than the pump
displacement,
and it would be impossible to pump water

8-6

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING HANDBOOK

to the surface. or to a level requiring 2,OOC-psi pressure

differential across the plunger. When pumping oil with a
viscosity of 100 cp, however, the slippage would be only
about 7.5 B/D, or less than 1.8% of the pump displacement, and a clearance of 0.020 in. is reasonably satisfactory for these conditions.
Slippage losses result directly in power losses, since
the same power is required to lift the plunger, with 90%
of the fluid slipping past the plunger during the upstroke
as is required with 1% or less slippage. The energy
dissipated in slippage losses results in an increase in
temperature of the oil within the pump and a decrease in
viscosity that further increases slippage losses. Also,
when water is produced with oil, excessive slippage
losses increase the chances of forming emulsions.
Close plunger clearances are relatively more important
with small-bore pumps than with larger bores, inasmuch
as the displacement
for a given stroke length and speed
varies as the square of the diameter, whereas slippage
varies as the first power of the diameter. Close plunger
clearances
are especially
important
in small pumps

ElIkft-

operated at extremely low speeds. as used in stripper

wells in some areas. The method outlined here should be
satisfactory
for evaluating maximum slippage in most
cases.

Soft-Packed Plungers
Fig. 8.3 shows the cup- and ring-type plungers. The left
side shows composition-formed
cups used to seal the
plunger against the barrel. The right side shows composition rings (generally square or rectangular in shape)
used for sealing. Some operators prefer a combination of
both cups and rings on a single plunger. The applications
of such soft-packing arrangements
generally are limited
to shallow wells and to those where abrasive conditions
are not excessively severe. Where this type of plunger is
satisfactory, it has the advantage of being easily and less
expensively
reconditioned
with new cups or rings, and
the flexible packing will compensate
for considerable
wear of the barrel as long as the barrel surface remains
smooth.

BUSHING

BUSHING

WEARRING

WEARRING

ENDRING
MANDREL

PACKINGRING

SPACERRING

MANDREL
CUP RING

KY-WEARRING

WEARRING

- LOCKNUT

LOCKNUT

- BUSHING

BUSHING

Fig. 8.3~Soft-packed

plungers: (a) cup type; (b) ring type.

SUBSURFACE SUCKER-ROD

PUMPS

8-7

Balls and Seats

Fig. 8.4 illustrates the type of ball-and-seat combination
commonly used for check valves in subsurface pumps.
Balls and seats are made in a variety of materials to resist
extremely abrasive and corrosive conditions.
API Standard 11 AX lists the important dimensions of standard
sizes along with the pump sizes with which they are
commonly used

Double Valves
Fig. 8.5 shows common arrangements
of two valves in
series used both as traveling valves and as standing
valves. Experience has shown that two valves in series
will give much longer service than a single valve if the
valve life is determined by wear or fluid cutting, rather
than by corrosive action. This result appears entirely
logical where sand or other solid material is lifted with
the oil. In such cases failure is likely to occur as a result
of fluid cutting when a solid particle is caught between
the ball and seat and prevents perfect seating. A pressure
differential of 2,000 psi will produce a jet of fluid having
a velocity of over 500 ft/sec, which can easily damage

Fig. 8.4-Pump

PUMP BARREL

valve ball and seat.

PULL ROD

PLUGER

OPEN CAGE

1 STANDINGVALVES
BALL & SEA-I
VALVES

BALL & SEAT

VALVE

w-

CLOSED CAGE

SEATING SHOE
BODY

CLOSED CAGE
BALL & SEAT
VALVE

SEATING CUPS

BALL & SEAT

VALVE
CLOSED CAGE
TAPER-CUP NUT
BALL & SEAT
VALVE
PLUNGER

RETAINER

Double Standing Valve

(a)

Double Valve on Bottom

of Plunger
W

Fig. 8.5-Double-valve

arrangements.

Double Valve on Top

8-8

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

HANDBOOK

GUIDE

MANDREL
SEATING RING
SPACER RING

TOP
SEAL

RING NUT

SEATING
NIPPLE

TOP ANCHOR
BUSHING

RING-TYPE SEAL

BOTTOM
ANCHOR

SEATING
NIPPLE

Fig. 8.6~-Bottom-discharge
valve for use with bottomseating stationary-barrel rod pumps. This valve is
attached to the bottom of a pump and through it
part of the well fluid is diverted up the side of the
pump to help dislodge sand that may have settled
between the pump and the tubing.

the lapped valve-seating

surface on balls and seats in a
short time. The rate of damage is accelerated if the fluid
jet carries solid material in suspension.
The life of a ball and seat will depend largely on the
number of times it is subjected to damage by fluid jets.
By use of double valves this can be greatly decreased,
since a jet cannot occur until both balls are held off their
seats during the same stroke. For example, if conditions
are such that a single ball and seat is prevented from
seating properly once out of each 100 strokes, the
chances of both valves in series failing to seat properly
will be reduced to 1 in 10,000 strokes. Furthermore,
if
the two valves fail to seat, the pressure drop will be
distributed between the two valves and the cutting action
will be less severe than with a single valve.

Fig. 8.7-Top

seal and bottom seating for stationary -barrel

rod pumps.

of the pump barrel. This is done to prevent sand from

settling around the pump, which may make it impossible
to pull the pump on the sucker rods. The bottom-seating
arrangement for a rod-type pump is desirable in wells of
extreme depth since the pump barrel is relieved of the
fluid load, which places the barrel in tension. When top
seating is used, the barrel is subjected to a high pressure
which tends to expand the barrel.
Fig. 8.7 illustrates another means for utilizing the advantages of bottom seating with a stationary-barrel
rod
pump and preventing sand from settling around the outside of the pump barrel. This assembly
utilizes a
mechanical bottom-seating
assembly, with seating cups
or rings that fit into a slightly restricted seating nipple,
properly spaced in the tubing to form a seal at the top of
the pump barrel.

Bottom-Discharge Valve
The bottom-discharge
valve shown
connection
with bottom-seating
pumps and is designed to cause
charged from the pump to circulate

in Fig. 8.6 is used in

stationary-barrel
rod
part of the fluid disup around the outside

Three-Tube Pump
This type of pump is illustrated in Fig. 8.8 and gets its
name from the three tubes used in its construction.
The
complete pump assembly is lowered into the well on the

SUBSURFACE

SUCKER-ROD

PUMPS

sucker-rod string and is positioned in the well by contacting either a cup-seating assembly or a mechanical lock
holddown. The middle tube of the pump is stationary, attached to the holddown. The other two tubes attached to
the sucker-rod string move over the middle stationary
tube, one on the outside and one on the inside. The tubes
used in this pump are relatively long and have a relatively large operating clearance in comparison with the usual
pump plunger. The resistance to flow between the tubes
is adequate to create the seal necessary to displace the
fluid past the standing valve and through the traveling
valve against the tubing pressure. This pump is designed
primarily to clean out wells after workover operations or
formation-fracturing
operations,
which may make the
well produce large quantities of sand for a considerable
time. It is also used in wells producing from loose-sand
formations that consistently
produce quantities of fine
floating sand.

Gas Anchors
Where conditions are such that there is considerable free
gas in the well fluid at the pump intake, it is desirable to
prevent as much gas as possible from entering the pump
and permit the gas to rise to the surface through the casing annulus rather than through the tubing. Numerous
so-called gas anchors are in use that are designed to
separate the free gas and deflect it up the casing annulus.
Fig. 8.9 illustrates a common type of gas-anchor
arrangement in which the well fluid must enter the perforated nipple and circulate downward at a low velocity
before entering the gas-anchor tube, which is attached to
the pump intake. This gives the free gas an opportunity
to separate and rise to the uppermost ports in the perforated nipple where it may return to the casing. A large
portion of the gas will rise through the casing before
passing through the perforated nipple.

8-9

rt-

TUBING

SUCKER

ROD

TOP TRAVELING
VALVE

OUTSIDE
TRAVELING
TUBE

INSIDE
TRAVELING
TUBE

-TUBING

-SEATING

STATIONARY
TUBE

BOTTOM
TRAVELING
VALVE

STANDING

SEATING

VALVE

PERFORATED
NIPPLE

-GAS

ANCHOR

SHOE

SEATING
CUPS OR
RINGS HOLDDOWN

Special Pumps
There are many other special types of subsurface pumps
for use in special problem situations. Most of these are
considered non-API
pumps, although they may use
some parts that meet API specifications
in their construction. One special pump is the casing pump, which is
designed to be inserted directly into the casing without a
string of tubing. Such pumps are set in the casing on a
packer or casing anchor that grips the casing and holds
the pump in position. Such pumps are limited in size only by the casing size and can be made to have a very
large capacity in relatively shallow wells. However, with
this arrangement, all the gas produced with the well fluid
must pass through the pump, and this may seriously limit
the effective capacity in wells producing large quantities
of gas.
Another special type of pump that is used to some extent is an arrangement where two displacing plungers are
designed to act in series. This increases the displacement
of a pump that will run in a given size of tubing and at a
given stroke length. Another variation of this concept
uses two valves and seats in the lower plunger and none
in the upper plunger. This allows a fluid load on the
lower plunger at all times and assists the sucker rods in
falling on the downstroke.
which is desirable for the
more viscous fluids.

SHOE

-TUBING

-COUPLING
GAS

ANCHOR
-BULL

Fig. 8.8-Three-tube

pump

Fig. 8.9-Gas-anchor

PLUG

arrangement.

Fluids with large amounts of gas can cause gas locking

or at least reduced flow because of expansion of gas in
the chamber between the plunger and the standing valve
on the upstroke. This situation can sometimes be relieved by a special pump having two so-called compression chambers that serve to increase the compression
ratio in those chanbers above that normally obtainable in
a standard pump.

Corrosion
In some areas resistance to corrosion of the materials
used in subsurface pumps is of major importance.
A
wide variety of alloy irons, steels, nonferrous alloys. and
elements have been used to combat corrosive conditions

PETROLEUM

E-10

in various locations. Some of the corrosive agents commonly found in various locations are hydrogen sulfide,
carbon dioxide, salt waters containing sodium chloride.
calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and other salts.
Chemical corrosion inhibitors are now widely used by
many operators.
Such inhibitors
are fed either continuously or intermittently down the casing into the well.
Protective films arc formed on the tubing and rods, as
well as on pump parts. However, since protective films
cannot form on wearing surfaces, the closely fitted pump
parts in rubbing contact are not protected as well as the
rods and tubing by corrosion inhibitors. For this reason it
is more important to use corrosion-resistant
materials in
the construction of subsurface pumps.

Effect of Gases and Vapors

In selecting pumping equipment for oil wells remember
that in a majority of cases some of the constituents of the
fluid being pumped are above or near their boiling points
at the pressure
and temperature
conditions
existing
within the pump. These conditions may cause release of
large volumes of dissolved gases and vapors with a slight
drop in pressure of the well tluid, in addition to the free
gas initially in the fluid. For this reason it is very difficult to pump some wells down. Many wells apparently
will pump off with several hundred feet of fluid standing
in the hole because the condensable vapors and gases occupy the entire displacement volume of the pump. Under
without
a relatively
high intake
these conditions.
which
decreases
compression
ratio, the
pressure,
pressure below the plunger cannot be raised to the tubing
pressure. (This is necessary before the traveling valve
can open and deliver oil to the tubing.)
On the
downstroke the vapors may condense and occupy a very
small volume
without
an appreciable
increase
in
pressure, and only the permanent gases are effective in
increasing the pressure in accordance with the gas laws.
There are two precautions
to take to minimize the
adverse effects of vapors and gases.
I. The compression
ratio should be made as high as
possible. This is accomplished
by using a closed-cagetype valve below the plunger with a stationary-barrel
pump, or a valve above the plunger with a travelingbarrel-type pump. It is also important to space the pump
so the traveling valve and standing valve come as near to
each other as possible at the lowest position of the rods
without making contact, and to use as long a stroke as
possible with the equipment available.
2. Flow velocities and turbulence at the pump inlet
should be kept at a minimum. This is accomplished
by
using the largest standing valve possible and a suitable
gas anchor with the largest possible flow passages.

ENGINEERING

HANDBOOK

Conclusions
Most items covered in this section are discussed in Ref.
2, which was first issued in 1968 and is updated regularly. It is recommended
that this source be referred to for
state-of-the-art
information about subsurface pumps.
It is well known that because of the dynamics involved
in the sucker-rod string, the fluid, and the tubing during
pumping cycles, the plunger stroke of the subsurface
pump is seldom equal to the stroke of the pumping unit
and its accompanying
polished rod at the top of the well.
During pump operation the fluid load, which is altemately transferred from the tubing to the sucker rods, causes
the tubing to increase in length on the downstroke when
the tubing is supporting the fluid load. When the rods are
carrying the load on the upstroke, there is a shortening of
the tubing with an increase in the length of the sucker
rods. Both effects tend to shorten the plunger stroke in
the well in comparison with the polished-rod
stroke at
the surface.
Because of the dynamic effects and the inertia and
elasticity of a string of sucker rods, there will be some
additional stretch in the rods during the pumping stroke.
This effect is known as overtravel and results in an increase in the stroke length at the subsurface pump.
In years past, the calculation of sucker-rod and tubing
stretch, as well as overtravel, was accomplished
with a
rather simple set of equations using tables and curves
developed for this purpose. Later it was recognized that
there are many factors in a pumping well that make the
calculations
a complex problem. In 1954 a group of
users and manufacturers
of sucker-rod pumping equipment formed Sucker Rod Pumping Research Inc., a nonprofit organization,
to study the problems of pumping
wells. They in turn retained Midwest Research Inst. of
Kansas City to achieve their objectives.
Their study
covered several hundred pumping wells and resulted in
design calculation methods that more nearly match actual pumping conditions
than previous methods. The
results of the study were turned over to the API Production Dept. The API in turn adopted these methods.
These design calculations are too involved and lengthy to
be included in this section. It is suggested that Ref. 3 be
used to determine
the design values of a pumping
system.

References
1. API Specification for Subsurface Pumps and Fittings.
API
Spec 1 IAX, seventh edition. Dallas (June 1979).
2. API Recommended Practice for Care and Use of Subsurface
Pumps, API RP IIAR, second edition. Dallas (March 1983).
3. API Recommended Practice for Design Calculations for Sucker
Rod Pumping Systems (Coventional Units). API RP I IL. third
edition, Dallas (Feb. 1977)