Steve Wilmeth/Roy Haynes, Scot Industries
With today's economic condition, competitive market, and customers world wide clamoring for lower prices, the need to maximize the economic operation of an oilfield has never been greater. This paper is directed toward abrasive wear and increasing pump barrel life. The first step in increasing the life of a pump barrel is to understand why it wears out. After we grasp the cause of wear we can design or select a product that wears slower. Wear cannot be stopped but only slowed. The user must examine worn out parts, keep records, and have a working knowledge of available materials in order to select a barrel most economic for the task. The cost you notice most is when you have to pay for another barrel, but the more significant costs are those of pulling, repairing and reinstalling the pumps, and the lost revenue when the oil stops flowing. Those costs tend to get lost in the general aggravation of being in business in the first place.