Piston Pump Production Advances

Gone are the days when oil gushed out of the ground like a fountain and could be collected in barrels. Today, black gold must be extracted from the earth's interior, so pumps have become the "heart" of any gas or oil production enterprise.

Scope of application of piston pumps: Piston pumps in the oil and gas industry are mainly used onshore and offshore where high-pressure fluids are required.

However, if we talk about the application of piston pumps in the oil and gas industry, first we need to mention the technology of maintaining reservoir pressure (RPM). "The most common application for piston pumps in the oil and gas industry is reservoir pressure maintenance (RPM). To organize this process, any company that produces hydrocarbons uses a plunger pump. The difference is in the company's technology preferences, opportunities, and project specifics,"

All oil companies are faced with the need to find the best oil production process, the most important of which is to drive the oil in the reservoir by injecting water. At the same time, the technological development of electric centrifugal pumps as water injection is approaching the limit of their physical properties. As a result, piston pumps are increasingly used in the oil industry to control the injection volume without reducing pressure.

Experts from Baoji Pumps mentioned another way to use piston pumps in the oil and gas industry.

"Most metering pumps used in oil production to supply corrosion inhibitors to annular spaces at high pressure are piston pumping units. They are used by most oil and gas companies in China. The main reasons for their widespread use are unpretentiousness, ease of maintenance, high reliability and low price," explains the lead project engineer.

Associated gas utilization – a new path for piston pumps

Another potential application for piston pumps is associated gas, which is a by-product of oil production. For a long time it simply burned down, but recently the green trend is forcing companies around the world to abandon this approach. Sinopec Northwest Oilfield has strengthened the recovery and utilization of associated gas, and built a number of natural gas recovery units such as natural gas gathering and transportation processing system

There are several ways to solve the problem:

First, associated gas can be used as fuel for gas piston or gas turbine power plant operation. This is a promising direction, but the possibility of using a piston pump is not obvious here.

Second, the associated gas can be withdrawn. This method has something in common with the method of oil extraction invented in the 19th century, the so-called gas lift method. It works by pumping gas to the surface at high pressure. Gas lift was used for oil production in the Baku oil fields as early as 1897. The idea was proposed by the famous engineer and inventor Vladimir Shukhov.

However, the technology at the time did not stand up to the competition due to a number of drawbacks: the need to use bulky ground compressor equipment, low efficiency, and the possibility of forming a stable emulsion in the produced fluid. However, in the realities of the 21st century, the technology may be given a new lease of life when the problem of taking advantage of associated gas arises. A variant of gas lift is drilled plunger lift. This approach can solve two problems at the same time: ensuring the direct utilization of associated gas on site and maintaining oil production levels. In many cases, only piston pumps can meet the requirements of pumping equipment in these processes, such as high pumping pressures, low pumping media temperatures, and the need to control flow at a given pressure.

Advantages and disadvantages of piston pumps

Piston pumps have a variety of applications in oil and gas production. However, their share of the total equipment of oil companies is still not that large. What does it have to do with it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of piston pumps?

The main limiting factor for the widespread use of piston pumps is the high cost of equipment, as it is more metal-dense compared to centrifugal pumps. At the same time, some manufacturers use outdated technology and inferior materials, which can be another limiting factor for consumers, and the main advantage of piston pumps is extensive fluid flow control while maintaining high efficiency, capable of generating high pressures, including variable flow. Another important advantage is the ability to handle highly viscous liquids, slurries, liquids with a high suspended particle content. Last but not least, they consume less electricity than centrifugal pumps.