Baker Hughes, a Ge Compnay, LLC

Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations LLC

Baker Hughes Corporation

Aron Meyer

Ryan P Semple

David Tanner

Arturo Luis Poretti

David Farnsworth Mcmanus

Christopher Marvin Brunner

Chase Wichert

Joseph Scott Thompson

David F McManus

Kevin J Gilmore

Travis Coonce

Dario Fernando Lana

Matthew Majors

An electrical submersible pump assembly has a seal section housing for coupling between a motor and a pump of the assembly. A bladder has an opening sized to slide over an adapter in the seal section housing. A clamp ring is formed of a shape memory alloy selected to create an expanded condition inner diameter when at a room temperature, enabling the clamp ring to be inserted over the bladder opening during assembly. When heated to a selected elevated temperature, the clamp ring contracts and tightly secures the opening around the adapter. The shape memory alloy of the clamp ring also causes the contracted condition inner diameter to expand when chilled to a selected low temperature. Maximum and minimum diameters of the contracted ring are based on an amount of bladder compression that achieves sealing without damage to the bladder.

Shape memory alloy seal bladder clamp rings

A fixture has a body that connects to a motor, the body having a bore. The body has a piston in the bore, separating the bore into a pressure chamber and a lubricant chamber in fluid communication with lubricant in the motor. A technician applies pressure to the pressure chamber, which causes the piston to increase pressure of the lubricant in the lubricant chamber and in the motor. The technician monitors a distance of movement of the piston, indicating a presence of residual air in the lubricant. If the movement meets a amount, the technician applies a vacuum to the lubricant chamber and bleeds out residual air from the lubricant in the motor.

Method and apparatus for testing for and removing trapped air from submersible well pump assembly

A seal section of a submersible well pump assembly has an expandable and contractible bag surrounded by a pressure equalizing chamber. A motor lubricant communication path communicates motor lubricant the bag interior. A well fluid port admits well fluid into the pressure equalizing chamber. A gas vent passage leads from the pressure equalizing chamber to the exterior of the enclosure. At least one membrane in the gas vent passage allows gas contained in the well fluid in the pressure equalizing chamber to vent. The membrane blocks liquid from flowing through the gas vent passage into and out of the pressure equalizing chamber.

Gas vent for a seal section of an electrical submersible pump assembly

A well pump seal section housing connects between a pump and a motor. Upper and lower retainers at upper and lower ends of the housing have outward facing cylindrical walls. A bladder has an interior in fluid communication with dielectric lubricant in the motor. Rigid upper and lower sleeves are bonded within upper and lower openings of the bladder. The sleeves slide over the cylindrical walls of the retainers and are sealed by seal rings. Fasteners secure the sleeves to the cylindrical walls.

Seal bladder bonding sleeves for submersible well pump assembly

A submersible well pump assembly includes a seal unit coupled between a pump and a motor. The seal unit has a forward guide member, a rearward guide member, and a labyrinth disc chamber connected between. The labyrinth disc chamber has an outer wall, a concentric guide tube and a number of axially spaced apart discs extending between the guide tube and the outer wall, defining cavities between the discs. Disc ports extend through the discs to communicate fluid between the cavities, the ports being at multiple angular locations relative to each other. A drive shaft extends through the guide tube, the forward guide member bore and the rearward guide member. The outer wall, the guide tube and the discs are made of a single-piece member.

One-piece labyrinth disc chamber for centrifugal well pump

A submersible well pump assembly has upper and lower seal sections connected between the pump and a motor. The seal sections have drive shafts with thrust runners that engage thrust bearing bases. The upper drive shaft will undergo a limited amount of downward movement toward the lower drive shaft in response to wear of the upper thrust bearing base. A spring between ends of the drive shafts transfers a portion of the down thrust on the upper drive shaft to the lower drive shaft prior to the limited amount of downward movement of the upper drive shaft toward the lower drive shaft being reached. A rigid stop member in the coupling transfers down thrust directly from the upper drive shaft to the lower drive shaft, bypassing the spring, only after the limited amount of downward movement of the upper drive shaft toward the lower drive shaft has been reached.

Load sharing spring for tandem thrust bearings of submersible pump assembly

A submersible well pump is driven by an electrical motor. A thrust bearing module between the pump and the motor has a base secured to and extending downward from a housing. The base has a motor end connector and an axial bore in fluid communication with lubricant in the motor. A shaft extends through the bore and into the housing. A thrust bearing assembly has a lower end at an upper end of the base. A lubricant pump mounted in the bore and coupled to the shaft pumps lubricant upward into the chamber. A passage has an inlet port in the chamber and an outlet port within the bore for returning lubricant pumped by the lubricant pump. The passage extends internally through the base and has a number of turns encircling the bore.

Thrust bearing base for an electrical submersible well pump having an integrated heat exchanger

An electrical submersible pump assembly has a pressure equalizer coupled to a lower end of a motor. The equalizer has a motor lubricant passage through which lubricant in the motor communicates with motor lubricant in the equalizing element. A valve element in the motor lubricant passage has a closed upper position and an open lower position. The valve element has a drive member on an upper end that mates with a shaft drive member on a lower end of the motor shaft while the valve element is in the upper position and disengages from the shaft drive member while the valve element is in the lower position. A locking feature between the valve element and the motor lubricant passage retains the valve element in the upper position and is releasable in response to rotation of the motor shaft in a selected direction.

Below motor equalizer of electrical submersible pump and method for filling

An electrical submersible pump assembly includes a production pump, a motor containing a motor lubricant, and a seal section coupled between the motor and the pump. A drive shaft extends through the seal section, the drive shaft being rotated by the motor for driving the production pump. A mechanical face seal in the seal section seals around the shaft. A circulation pump is mounted to the shaft above the face seal for rotation therewith. An inlet passage leads from an exterior of the seal section to the circulation pump to deliver well fluid to the circulation pump. An outlet passage leads from the circulation pump to the exterior of the seal section to discharge well fluid exterior of the seal section. The rotating component of the face seal is located in the outlet passage.

Circulation pump for cooling mechanical face seal of submersible well pump assembly

Upper and lower pressure equalizers couple to a lower end of a motor of an electrical submersible pump assembly. An intermediate connection having a liquid flow passage connects the pressure equalizers. A connection valve located in the liquid flow passage closes the liquid flow passage prior to connecting the pressure equalizers with each other, and opens the liquid flow passage after the connection between the pressure equalizers is made. A sensor lower equalizer wire extends from a sensor unit through the lower pressure equalizer to a lower electrical terminal at the upper end of the lower pressure equalizer. A sensor upper equalizer wire connects to the lower electrical terminal and extends through the upper pressure equalizer to an upper electrical terminal at the upper end of the upper pressure equalizer. A sensor motor wire extends downward from the motor into engagement with the upper electrical terminal.

Below motor equalizer of electrical submersible pump and method for connecting

A bellows position monitoring arrangement to determine the axial position of a bellows assembly within the outer housing of a seal section or equalizer. The position can be correlated to an amount of motor oil being retained within the bellows assembly.

Metal bellows equalizer capacity monitoring system

An electrical submersible pump assembly has a pump driven by a motor. A pressure compensator has first and second bellows units axially separated from each other. Each of the first and second bellows units are movable between an increased volume position and a decreased volume position and have a bias toward the decreased volume position. The bias of the first bellows unit is greater than the bias of the second bellows unit. The greater bias of the first bellows unit over the second bellows unit causes the second bellows unit to be at a full volume position at a lower level of the pressure differential than the level at which the first bellows unit is at the full volume position.

Oil pressure regulator for electrical submersible pump motor

An electrical submersible pump assembly has a seal section coupled to a motor that drives the pump. The seal section has first and second end members spaced axially apart from each other. An outer bellows has a fixed end mourned to the first end member and a floating end that moves axially relative to the fixed end. A rigid, tubular interconnect member has an inner end within the outer bellows and an cuter end fixed to the floating end of the outer bellows. An inner bellows has a floating end secured to the inner end of the interconnect member and a fixed end secured to the second end member. An interconnect evacuation passage extends axially through a side wall of the interconnect member. A first end member evacuation passage extends through the first end member and registers with the interconnect evacuation passage while the outer bellows is contracted.

Metal bellows seal section and method to evacuate air during filling

An electrical submersible pump assembly has a thrust bearing mechanism with first and second thrust runners axially and rotationally secured to the shaft and located within a housing. First and second thrust receiving structures are rigidly mounted in the housing to receive thrust from the first and second thrust transferring devices. A deflectable member located in the first thrust transfer thrust device decreases in axial thickness in response to thrust of a selected level. The second thrust transfer thrust device has an axial length less than an axial distance from the second thrust receiving structure to the second thrust runner, defining an initial axial gap. During operation of the pump, the shaft and the first and second thrust runners move axially a limited extent, closing the gap and transferring thrust from the second thrust transfer device to the second thrust receiving structure.

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Pryor, OK, United States of America

Aron Meyer