SPE

Society of PetroIeun Engir-.rs of AIME

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SPE 12201

Exact Kinematic Analysis of Pumping Units

by J.G. Svinos, Gulf Research & Development Co.

Copyright 1983 Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME

This paper was presented at the 58th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in San Francisco, CA, October 5-8, 1983. The material is subject
to correction by the author. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Wnte SPE, 6200 North Central Expressway,
Drawer 64706, Dallas, Texas 75206 USA. Telex 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT
the same c1 ass can a1 so· be different dependi ng on
the manufacturer's choice of the unit's geometric
A new pumping unit Kinematic Analysis method dimensions.
was developed for the calculation of position,
velocity, acceleration of the polished rod, and The purpose of this paper is to present a new
torque factors as functions of crank angle. This method of analyzing and comparing the kinematic
method can a1 so be used to cal cu1 ate the angu1 ar characteristics of pumping units and to aid in the
position, velocity and acceleration of any part of understanding of the complicated motion of the
the pumping unit mechanism. pol ished rod and rod string.
It is more accurate than previous methods PREVIOUS WORK
because it produces exact results. It can be used
to compare pumping units, and can analyze units Grayl was the fi rst to develop a method for
with varying crank speeds. It can improve gear- the kinematic analysis of pumping units. In his
box torque analysis by including inertia effects, paper, Gray explored the differences in the
and can allow the use of conventional dynagraphs polished rod motion due to geometry variations of
for the prediction of downhole dynagraphs. di fferent pumpi ng units, and the i nf1 uence of the
pumping unit on the overall behavior of the rod
INTRODUCTION pumping system. His method, however, is
relatively complex and requires a digital computer
The majority of U.S. wells are on beam to solve for the position, velocity and
pumping and their number is increasing. However, acceleration of the polished rod. Gray presentsa
although pumping units have been in use for a long comp1 ex equation for the cal cu1 ati on of pol i shed
time, their kinematic characteristics have not rod position as a function of crank angle. In
been thoroughly studied or understood. order to obtai n the velocity and acce1 erati on of
the pol i shed rod, he differentiates that equation
Beam pumpi ng uni ts can be di vi ded into two numerically. Gray's method relates the crank
maj or c1 asses: C1 ass I 1ever systems represented angle and polished rod position only. Velocities
by the conventional pumping unit shown in and accelerations of the intermediate links are
Figure la, and Class III lever systems represented not calculated.
by the Mark II and Air Balance units shown in
Figures Ib and c, respectively. All pumping units
Since Gray's paper, no other kinematic
operate on the same basic principle of converting analysis method has been found in the 1 iterature,
the rotary motion of the crank arm into the excep~ for an equation simi 1 ar to Gray's used by
oscillatory motion of the polished rod. However, Gi bbs •
that is where their similarities end. Two pumping
units made by two different manufacturers but with Although the above method is not the best way
the same API maximum load and torque rati ngs and to kinematically analyze pumping units, it was the
the same stroke length would appear equally suited first to show the importance of the pumping unit
for use on a given well. Thi s, bowever, is not geometry on the polished rod motion.
the case. Not only are pumping units of different
c1 asses di fferent in prime mover power KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PUMPING UNITS
requirements, maximum polished rod load, and
overall pumping efficiency, but pumping units of
In order to calculate the position, velocity,
and acceleration of the polished rod, it is
References and illustration at end of paper. necessary to solve the four-bar linkage problem.
The motion of the four-bar linkage can be analyzed
2 Exact Kinematic Analysis of Pumping Units SPE 012201

mathematically or graphically. Graphical methods From geometry, the following quantities were
are simpler but time consuming because a new obtained:
diagram must be made for each variation in the
crank angle or bar lengths. They are also less ~ 21J - 6 + a for conventional
accu rate than mathemat i ca 1 methods. Of the 6 =
mathematical methods, the complex number vector
representation is best suited for the analysis of
2
? ~ -6+a for Mark II and Air Balance
the pumping unit mechanism.
= . -1 (I)
K (5)

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a Sln
REPRESENTATION OF VECTORS WITH COMPLEX NUMBERS
A vector in the X- Y pl ane such as shown in
Fi gure 2 can be represented as a compl ex number L (6)
RA = XA + iVA' where XA and YA are the real pOints
represent i ng the X and' Y coordi nates of poi nt A,
and i = -r-ris the imaginary part. The vector
components XA and YA are equal to: (7)
XA = R cose (1)
where
YA = R sine (2) for 0° < e2 < ~
j
and
VX~ + y2 for ~ < 62 < 2 ~
R = (3)
A

where R is the magnitude of the ~gsition vector !... (8)

From Euler's relation, e = cOS6 + isin6.
Therefore, the position vector of point A can be
written as:
R = R e i6 (4) (9)
This complex vector expression is more
concise and easier to differentiate than any other
vector representation.
Si nce the basi c four-bar li nkage formed by
x (IO)
vectors K, R, P and C is the same for both Class I
and Cl ass ITI Tever systems as shown in Fi gures 3
and 4, the basic bar linkage solution is identical
for both cases. 1/1 = X+ f3 (11)
For the kinematic analysis method of this
paper, the following conventions were adopted (see At the bottom of the stroke,
Figures 3 and 4):

• Angles 62, 63 , 64 and 65 are measured from the

reference 1ine 0-0 ana are positive in the
counterclockwise direction for conventional
units, and clockwise for Mark II.

• For conventional pumping units, the crank

angle 6 is zero at the 12 o'clock position and
At the top of the stroke,
is positive in the clockwise direction. The
angular velocity of the crank is also,taken as
positive in the clockwise direction.
• For Mark II and Air Balance units, the crank
angle 6 is zero at the 6 o'clock position and
is positive in the counterclockwise direction. The position of point V (see Figures 3 or 4) can
be expressed in complex number notation as:
• The symbol s used for the pumpi ng uni t geometric
dimensi ons are the same as the ones used in
the API STD 11E3. P = (14)
-v
SPE 012201 J. G. Svinos 3

By differenti ati ng the above expressi on with If tl'le crank angul ar velocity is constant,
respect to time, the foll owi ng expression for the then 52= 0 and the above equations become:
velocity of V is obtained:

. i5
C6 4 le 4 (15)

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or (24)
t i R6 2 COS5 2 - R6 2 si n5 2 + i P6 3 COS5 3 -
- P6 3 sin5 3 = iC6 4 COS5 4 - C6 4 sin5
4 (16)

By equating the real and imaginary parts, the (25)

following system of equations is obtained:

(17) POLISHED ROD POSITION

From geometry, the polished rod position is
(18) given:

By sol vi ng the above simultaneous equati ons, the

following equations were obtained for the angular
PR = -A~ = A(5 4 - I - a) (26)
velocities of bars P and C:
Based on Equation (26), PR is zero when the
walking beam A is horizontal. It is positive when
R6 2 sin(5 4- 52) A is above the horizontal.
63 -P- sin{5 - 54) (19)
3 A more useful expression of the polished rod
position can be obtained by defining a
R6 2 sin(5 3- 52) nondimensional position as follows:
64 -C- sin(5 - 54} (20)
3
PR (27)
or S

S (PRB - PRT) (wB - wT) * A (28)

(21)
wB - 1jI (29)
By taking the ratio of the derivative of each wB - wT
term divided by itsel f (i .e. Q/Q), and after
simplifying, the following equations were obtained The above equation is an expressidn of the
for the angular accelerations of bars P and C: polished rod position as a fraction of the stroke
length above the lowermost position for a given
crank angle. "J5"R" equals 1 at the top of the
upstroke and 0 at the bottom.
POLISHED ROD VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION
+ (6 4- 62 ) cot(5 4- 52)] (22) The polished rod velocity is obtained by
taking the derivative of equation (26) with
respect to time.
52
54 = 64 [--
• (6 3- 64) cot(5 3- 54) + VR = A * 64 (30)
52
Simil arly, the polished rod acceleration is given
+ (6 2- 63 ) cot(5 2- 53)] (23) by:
..
AR A 54 (31)
4 Exact Kinematic Analysis of Pumping Units SPE 012201

TORQUE FACTOR CALCULATION Under normal pumpi ng speeds, the faster

the polished rod accelerates downward the
The torque factor at any crank angl e e is a lower the polished rod load will be during the
number which if multiplied by the polished rod downstroke. However, if the well pounds
load, wi 11 gi ve the torque requi red at the crank fluid, then the downstroke acceleration
shaft of the pumping unit reducer. becomes important depending on when fluid
pound occurs. If it occurs at the fi rst part
By negl ecting frictional losses and inertia of the downstroke, then the pl unger accel era-

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effects, the energy suppl ied at the crank shaft tion (which depends on the polished rod
equals the energy delivered to the polished rod. acceleration) must not be high at that part of
the stroke.
T * 62 = PRL * VR (32)
2) Fill-Up Time
TF = VR (33) During the upstroke, the travelling valve
62 of the sucker rod pump closes and the standing
valve opens allowing fluid to enter the
DYNAMIC POLISHED ROD LOADING working barrel. The efficiency of the pump
depends on how full the pump barrel is at the
From Newton's second law, the sum of the end of the upstroke. In order to increase the
forces on the polished rod is equal to: pump efficiency, a longer fill-up time is
required. This can be accomplished by a
LF = ~g • AR (34) longer upstroke. The longer and slower
upstroke ensures that 1ess gas comes out of
The polished rod load is, therefore, given by: solution than if the upstroke were fast.
3) Torque Requirements
PRL W+ !! . AR = W(1 + AR) (35)
g g
The crank shaft torque required at a
gi ven crank angl e is gi ven by the product of
The term in parentheses wi 11 be call ed the the polished rod load times the torque factor
acceleration factor at that angle minus the counterbalance
torque. For conventional pumpi ng units the
net crank shaft torque is given by
AF = 1 + AR (36)
g
Tn = TF(PRL - B) - Msine (37)
The acceleration factor is a measure of the As equation (37) shows, for everythi ng el se
variation of the dynamic rod load from the static bei ng equal, the smaller the torque factor, the
load. lower the net crank shaft torque.
APPLICATION OF THE RESULTS SUMMARY OF DESIRED KINEMATIC CHARACTERISTICS
In order to understand how the kinematic Based on the previous discussion, the desired
analysis results can be used to evaluate the kinematic characteristics of pumping units are:
performance of pumpi ng uni ts, the effects of the
po 1i shed rod mot i on on the rod st ri ng and system 1) Small upstroke acceleration.
efficiency will be examined.
2) Small upstroke torque factors.
1) Polished Rod Load
3) Long and slow upstroke for maximum fill-up.
As equation (35) indicates, the polished
rod load is a function of polished rod DOWNHOLE DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS
acceleration. The peak polished rod load
occurs duri ng the upstroke when the pol i shed Another area where the kinematic analysis
rod supports both the weight of the rod string results can be applied is the diagnosis of
and f1 ui d. Therefore, the smaller the downhole problems, based on the method described
acceleration during the upstroke, the less the by Gibbs 4 • Ordinarily, this method requires input
peak polished rod load will be. of load, time and position data for the polished
rod to predi ct the dynamometer at the pump or at
The polished rod acceleration during the any other point in the rod string. However, since
downstroke shows how fast the polished rod most operators are only familiar with the polished
load is allowed to fall. The limit of the rod dynamometer card which is a plot of load vs.
maximum downstroke acceleration would theoret- position, this diagnostic method has limited use
i ca lly be equal to g. At that poi nt, the because of the requi red speci al input. In order
polished rod load would be zero as equation to avoid this special input, the kinematic
(35) indicates. However, frictional and analysis results can be used to provide the
pressure forces on the rod stri ng 1 imit the missing time variable so that an ordinary
maximum allowable acceleration during the dynamometer card can be used for the diagnosis of
downstroke to a value less than g. downhole problems. The only limitation of this
SPE 012201 J. G. Svinos 5

method is that a constant angular crank velocity

must be assumed so that the time, position and Tne t (6) TF(6) [PRL(6) - B] - M sin(6-y)
load data can be accurately obtained. However,
this is a good assumption for low slip motors.
The time at crank angle 6 can be obtained from:

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t = 6 x SPM (38)
The angular acceleration of the crank, 6 can be
obtained by differentiating the time history of
where t is in seconds and 6 is in degrees. the angul ar veloeity with respect to time. For
low slip motors, 6 is approximately equal to zero.
PUMPING UNIT COMPARISON
CONCLUSIONS
Kinematic analysis can also be used to
compare pumping units in order to select the unit The kinematic analysis method presented in
with the best kinematic characteristics for a this report can produce exact kinematic results
specific application. for Cl ass I and Cl ass II I pumpi ng uni ts. It can
be used with non-constant crank speed, and can
To show how thi s compari son can be made, two allow the inclusion of inertia effects in torque
conventional pumping units were compared. Both analysis calculations. It can be used to select
have the same API designation C-320-256-IOO. pumpi ng units with the best ki nemati c character-
Although these units would seem equally suited for istics and can allow the use of conventional
a given application, their kinematic characteristics dynacards for the calculation of downhole pump
were found to be different. The kinematic cards.
analysis was performed using a constant angular
speed of 10 SPM. The direction of crank rotation The desired kinematic characteristics for the
was assumed to be clockwise. Figures 5 and 6 show majority of applications are:
the acceleration and polished rod position curves
respectively as functions of crank angle. As 1) small upstroke acceleration,
Figure 5 shows, the unit made by A has lower
polished rod acceleration and longer upstroke than 2) small torque factors,
the unit made by B. A1 so as the plot of torque
factors versus polished rod position shown in 3) long upstroke for maximum pump fillage.
Figure 7 illustrates, the unit made by B has
higher torque factors than A on the upstroke. NOMENCLATURE
Based on these resul ts, it is obvi ous that the
unit made by A is kinematically superior to B, and A,C,G, Pumping unit geometric dimensions as
in a real appl ication, it is expected to have J,K,P,R specified in API lIE, inches.
lower polished rod load, lower torque requirement
and better pump efficiency. AF Acceleration factor.
EFFECT OF DIRECTION OF CRANK ROTATION AR Polished rod acceleration, in/s2.
Speci al geometry pumpi ng units such as the B Structural unbalance, lbs.
Mark II and some conventional geometry units have
a required direction of crank rotation for best Acceleration due to gravity=32.2 ft/s2.
operati ng performance. Thi sis due to the offset
angl es of thei r crank counterwei ghts. However, Total articulating moment of inertia
most conventional units are regarded and used as referre~ to the saddle bearing,
bidirectional. This is usually done to wear the slug*ft •
gears evenly. However, as Figure 5 shows the
upstroke and downstroke, acceleration is not Rotary moment of inertia of counter-
symmetric. A polished rod load increase or weights, cranks and low speed ge!r,
decrease is, therefore, expected dependi ng on the referred to the crank shaft, slug*ft •
rotation of the unit.
L Di stance from the center of the crank-
CONSIDERATION OF INERTIA EFFECTS IN COMPUTING pin bearing to the center of the saddle
GEARBOX TORQUE bearing (to the center of the sampson
post for Cl ass I II 1ever systems) ,
Gi bbs 5 was the fi rst to show the importance inches.
of including the inertia of the pumping unit
structure in calculating the net gearbox torque. M Maximum moment of the rotary counter-
However, in order to use this improved torque weights, crank and crank pin about the
analysis method, the angular acceleration of the crank shaft, in*lb.
walking beam is needed as a function of the crank
angl e. ..The angul ar acce1 erati on of the wal ki ng PR Polished rod position, inches.
beam is 6 as gi ven by Equation (23). Therefore,
the equat1on for the calculation of net gearbox PRB Pol ished rod position at the bottom of
torque, including inertia effects is given by: the stroke.
6 Exact Kinematic Analysis of Pumping Units SPE 012201

PRT Polished rod position at the top of the REFERENCES

stroke.
1) Gray, H.E. "Kinematics of Oil-Well Pumping
Dimensionless polished rod position. Units," Paper presented at the spring meeting
of the Mid-Continent District, API Division of
PRL Polished rod load, lbs. Production, March, 1963.
Position vector of point V. 2) Gibbs, S.C. "Predicting the Behavior of Sucker

Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/SPEATCE/proceedings-pdf/83SPE/All-83SPE/SPE-12201-MS/2037081/spe-12201-ms.pdf by Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico user on 09 May 2021
Rod Pumping Systems," Jour. Pet. Tech. (July,
Velocity vector of point V. 1963) 769-778.
Strokes per minute. 3) "API Specification for Pumping Units," API STD
lIE, Twelfth Edition, January, 1982.
S Stroke length, inches.
4) Gibbs, S.C. "Computer Diagnosis of Downhole
t Time in seconds. Condition in Sucker Rod Pumping Wells," Jour.
Pet. Tech. (January, 1966), pp. 91-98.
T Crank shaft torque.
5) Gibbs, S.C. "Computing Gearbox Torque and
Net crank shaft torque at angle 6. Motor Loading for Beam Pumping Units with
Consideration of Inertia Effects." Jour. Pet.
Torque factor. Tech. (September, 1975), pp. 1153-1159.
VR Polished rod velocity, in/so
W Pol i shed rod load without accel erati on
effects, lb.
a,8,6, = Geometry angles (see Figures 2 and 3),
62 ,6 3 , rad.
64,X,1/I,CP
62 Angular velocity of R, rad/sec.
63 Angular velocity of P, rad/sec •
.64 Angular velocity of A, rad/sec.
62 Angular acceleration of R, rad/sec 2•
63 Angular acceleration of P, rad/sec 2•
64 Angular acceleration of A, rad/sec 2•
1/IB Angl e 1/1 at the bottom of the stroke,
rad.
1/IT Angle 1/1 at the top of the stroke, rad.
SUBSCRIPTS
C - Convent i ona 1
M - Mark II

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wi shes to thank Gul f Research &
Development Company for permission to publish this
paper.
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a) Conventional (Class I)

IMAGINARY AXIS

b) Mark II (Class III)

o
REAL AXIS
c) Air Balance (Class III)
Fig.l-The three most common pumping unit types. Fig. 2-Complex number vector representation .

./

...- ...-L"'
...- ~

,..1(/
-
/
/'
./

I
I
1 I
~
./
I
, ,
I

./
/
H "
/'
,,/
t+

Fig. 3-Geometric diagram of conventional units.

J 22.0 J
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HORIZONTAL

C-320-256-100
* MANUF ACTUREA A
o MANUF ACTUREA 8

\
•
,
.
\ /
1.11 \

\ /

1
<
\
\ /'
/

.1
1 •
\ l
\

1.°1 • l
\ ,
/

\. /
•

G
,.j ',,-
'9_0.- -e -0- Go- -0--0...
-.,
• "--{)_e-/
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/

O. 8L"'F',""F"""T""'""~"~"'r"""""T~"'T'i1TT'I'TTTT'f"'~~""l"'""""T"'-'T'"1
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 :200 22Q 240 260 280 300 320
'"""'1"""""T'
340 380

CRANK ANGLE {DEG)

Fig. 5-Acceleralion faclor comparison.

Fig. 4-Geomelric diagram of Mark II and air balance units.

C-320-256-100
C-320-256-100 If
[]
MANUFACTURER A
MANUFACTUREA 8
It MANUFACTURER A
o MANUFACTURER 8

40

/
./
/'"

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 180 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360

CRANK ANGLE (DEG)

POLISHED ROD POSITION

Fig. 6-Polished rod position comparison.
Fig. 7-Torque factor comparison.

j2'2.0J