Apparatus and system for sealing submersible pump assemblies

US9017043B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• SUMMIT ESP, LLC · US

Inventors

• Larry J. Parmeter · Broken Arrow, US
• Brett D. Leamy · Claremore, US
• John Vanderstaay Kenner · Houston, US
• David Lunk · Big Cabin, US
• Keith Leon Johnson · Claremore, US
• Thomas John Gottschalk · Houston, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 9, 2014
• Grant date: Apr 28, 2015
• Expiry date: May 9, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F04D29/047
• WIPO field: Engines, pumps, turbines
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus, system and method for sealing an electrical submersible pump assembly are described. An electric submersible pump (ESP) system for pumping solid-laden fluid comprises a thrust chamber of an ESP seal section, the thrust chamber sealed from well fluid on a downstream side by a stationary sand barrier and on an upstream side by a mechanical seal, the thrust chamber further comprising, a rotatable shaft extending axially through the thrust chamber, a head tubularly encasing the thrust chamber and threadedly coupled to a centrifugal pump intake, and a diamond-coated hydrodynamic bearing set inside the thrust chamber, wherein well fluid enters and exits the chamber through cross-drilled apertures in the head of the chamber, and wherein the well fluid forms a hydrodynamic film between the bearing set.