Gas lift plunger arrangement
US7793728B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 8, 2008 |
| Grant date | Sep 14, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 15, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF04B47/12
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A plunger in a plunger lift system in an oil and gas well includes shaped grooves spaced along the plunger body, angled fins or below the grooves, an elongated interior cavity open at the bottom, and passages connecting the interior cavity to the grooves. The shape, sizing and spacing of the grooves improves plunger seal and decreases liquid loss during plunger lift. The flutes or fins spin the plunger to clean the tubing string and prevent the plunger from becoming stuck in the lubricator. The interior cavity lightens the plunger and, in combination with the passages, improves the seal created by the shaped grooves. A method of controlling fluid flow in a tubing string in the plunger lift system includes the elongated plunger controllably traveling vertically therethrough, including the steps of: arranging an array of side holes through a side wall of the elongated plunger, wherein the side holes create turbulence in gas within the tubing string; and rotating the elongated plunger about a longitudinal axis thereof, as the plunger travels through the tubing string in the plunger lift system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.