Paper: Automation of Pumping Units With Gas Engines

Finding effective, low cost prime movers for pumping units can be hard to acquire in today's market of deregulated electricity. The inability to adequately start and stop gas engines has always been a problem area. With the cost of electricity increasing, and the ability to operate wells when you want decreasing, the producer will have to take peak usage and availability of that electricity into consideration for their production cycles. The day may come when then electricity may dictate when the well operates and not the producer. This paper will introduce a completely new air actuated clutch design, and review several applications that have been used successfully in automating pumping units with gas engines. This new air clutch design for gas engines also teams with P.O.C."s, and telemetry to give the producer the ability to better manage their pumping cycles, saving time, money, and driving down repair and maintenance costs.