Roy N. Moore, Stren Company
A new and patented technology has recently been introduced to the petroleum industry that reduces the lifting cost per barrel of fluid by containing the abrasive particles that damage the rod pump. This technology is a stainless steel membrane (screen), with specifically tailored micron openings. The membrane is engineered specifically to the pump manufacturers tolerance between the plunger and barrel under operators field conditions. A durable down hole pump protector can now provide more pumping days between workover cycles. Although experts agree that abrasive sand particles (frac sand or sand from the reservoir) will damage the rod pump, there has been little consideration given to understanding the micron size of particles that actually do the damage. This new technology includes a reusable stainless steel down-hole tool that allows the pump to do its work over a planned predetermined period of time with minimum damage to the plunger and barrel. Stren Company developed this special down-hole tool with a specific micron opening (15 to 75) micron) for containing the abrasives particles before they enter the pump. This engineered tolerance between the membrane and pump has proved to be the most economical approach to maximizing the pumping days for each well.