Mark E. Wolf, Texas Tech University
It has been documented in field test results that in many cases a production increase can be obtained by replacing a steel sucker rod string with a fiber-glass and steel sucker rod string. (2) While these tests have demonstrated the value of fiberglass sucker rods, the beam pumping systems were still fairly inefficient because the pumping units that were being used were originally designed for use with steel sucker rods. A more efficient beam pumping system has been developed that uses fiberlass sucker rods in conjunction with a pumping unit that was designed to take greater advantage of the properties of fiberglass sucker rods. (3) This paper discusses the unique characteristics and history of fiberglass sucker rods, and examines how this new pumping unit takes advantage of the properties of fiberglass sucker rods to produce a more efficient beam pumping system.