Analysis and control of reciprocating rod lifted (RRL) wells has changed drastically over the past 20 years. Advanced diagnostic tools first started appearing on desktop applications, and over time have shifted to the wellsite to provide more accurate control of an RRL system in real-time. All of these tools depend on a dynamometer card in order to properly analyze and control an RRL system. However, the inputs to the dynamometer card are often of questionably accuracy. A poor quality dynamometer card can lead to improper control of the RRL system and inaccurate results from the calculations that depend on the dynamometer data (i.e. rod stress, gearbox torque, structure loading, PIP, etc.). This paper will discuss the variety of instruments used to capture the inputs to a dynamometer card (polished rod load and position), their strengths and weaknesses, how to recognize errors in the input data, and how to correct it.
Presenters
Anthony Allison, Weatherford