®

Beam Summary
(Read if you operate
B
Beam P
Pumps))
Best Practices

Design Rate = Desired Rate x 24 hr/day (Using POC)

.80
80 VE x 20 hr/day
Example: Well can make 300 bfpd so what do you
rate do you design the well for?

Design Rate = 300 bfpd x 24 hr/day = 450 bfpd

.80 VE x 20 hr/day
Or in other words, if you design for POC, design for
about 1.5 times what the well makes. If no POC,
design
des g for
o whatat well
e will make
a eoor s
slightly
g t y less
ess if
gassy.
®

2
Predictive Design Runs: Default Inputs

1. Design with no additional load on pump

2. Use default dampening factors
3. A low pumped off level of about 50’ should be used.
This will
ill give
gi e maximum
ma im m load on pump.
p mp
4. 100 % pump load should be input. This also gives
max loads on unit,
unit and rods.
rods
5. Use motor option for speed variation and use
defaults for inertial values, etc.

3
Rod String Design

1. Use Grade D rods with T couplings or Spray Metal

couplings if wear and economics dictate. Grade “C” rods
can be used in sinker bars larger than 1”
1 in diameter.
diameter
2. High strength rods should only be used when
absolutely necessary. EL high strength rods do not have
high strength pins. Use high strength couplings with high
strength rods. Be cautious of slim hole couplings with
high strength rods.
rods Be cautious of high strength rods
when H2S is present.
3. All rods should be designed with loadings using your
3
field established service factor but if below .9 consider
solving problems (better inhibition , better handling, etc)
i t d off going
instead i tot lower
l SF.
SF

4
Rod String Design

4. Molded rod guides should be placed on any rods

below the anchor or run weight
g bars.
5. Use steel as opposed to fiberglass unless it can
be shown to be economical to do otherwise.
6. Use lighter % loading with Fiberglass (~ 80%)
using lowest temperature rating . This usually
shown
h in
i predictive
di ti program input/output.
i t/ t t
7. With Fiberglass, shear tools should be run on all
wells that have shown any tendency to sticking
pumps.

5
Pump Best Practice
1. Somewhat larger pump diameter without overloading the unit and
1
rods will result in more energy efficient installation.
2. Use simple design. More complicated pumps fail more and cost
more.
3. Use heavy wall pumps. Thin wall pumps have less corrosion and
pressure resistance. Look at the X pump option.
4. All pumps should be designed and built where the traveling valve is
within 1” of the standing valve when pump bottoms out on the clutch at
the top… but if NO gas this does not matter.
5. Pump leakage should be in the range of 2-5% of production. High
water cut wells should/could have more pump leakage. Deep wells can
have pumps with smaller clearances
clearances. Use new leakage equation with
calculated downhole clearances. Be careful of large clearances as you
can loose a LOT of production and wonder why?

6
Unit Best Practice

1. The gearbox and the unit structure should not be

loaded more than 100%.
2. Use a predictive program to help size the motor. If
program says a 32 HP motor is needed and the next
bigger available size in stock is 50 HP,
HP then use the
50HP. In general you loose significant energy only
when the motor size exceeds about 2X the correct
size. Use only NEMA D motors.
3. Polish Rods: Spray metal polish rods without liners
should
h ld beb usedd in
i allll CO2 flood
fl d beam
b lifted
lift d wells.
ll
Water flood and primary wells can use either a liner on
the polish rod or a spray metal polish rod.

7
Tubing Best Practice

1. Use J55 tubing on producing wells with depths no

greater than 8500’. For deeper wells, calculations must
be made.
made Use couplings of same grade as the tubing
2. Run the seating nipple as deep as possible.
3. Minimize the distance between the tubing anchor
and the seating nipple. In open hole , the tubing
anchor should be as close to the casing g shoe as
possible. In cased hole, the tubing anchor should be
out of the perforated zones.

8
Gas Separation

1. The pump intake should be below the gas entry point to the
well. If this is not possible, consider the new Echometer collar
size
i gas separator t instead
i t d off the
th poor boy
b separator.
t
2. For Horizontal wells, many using beams use a packer type
separator above the kick off point or the Don-Nan or perhaps
the new Echometer separator
3. A typical poor boy separator can only be used for low rates
((~75-150
75 150 bpd). For 2 7/8
7/8’s
s tubing, a 1 1/4
1/4” stinger and velocity
between the gas and mud anchor of 1/2 ft/sec, the max fluid
rate is 177 bfpd. If 30% is gas, the max fluid rate is only 124
bfpd.
p
4. An improperly sized gas separator is worse than no separator
as it breaks out more gas and also becomes gas locked.

9
Tubing

1. Use API modified no lead thread sealant spread

over complete
l t thread
th d area.
2. Tubing below the anchor should be inspected for
excessive wear on each pull and replaced if worn
worn.
3. Use thread protectors until tubing in derrick.
4. No wrench marks are acceptable on tubing
anchors. Use only ISO 9000 replacement parts.
5. A non API seating
5 ti nipple
i l should
h ld be
b used d only
l on 2
7/8’s tubing strings. The API nipple can cause the
pump to stick.

10
Beam Unit

The unit should have the concrete base set on 5/8’s

river stock. Sand can wash out.
Alignment is critical
Maintenance schedule should be observed
Belts should be covered. Fence around unit is good
safety idea.
Alarm when POC comes on

11
Maintenance

1. The unit must be aligned correctly so the polish rod

pulls out straight each time
2. Each week the unit should be inspected for abnormal
sounds, grease or oil leaks, or rust stains at metal
joints.
joints
3. On a six month interval, grease all bushings, inspect
unit and ggearbox oil for contamination,, check tightness
g
of all bolts, follow check list and keep records.
4. Check stuffing boxes daily. Don’t over tighten which
can cause wear on polish rod and load motor
unnecessarily.

12
Fluid Level Detection

1. Shooting fluid levels regularly is recommended,

especially
p y on wells that aren’t on POC. Echometer’s
AWP program can be used to correct foamy fluid levels.
Dynamometer cards can indicate if a well is pumped off
and pounding fluid.
fluid
2. Shoot fluid levels when the well is being tested.
3. B
3 Based
d on wellll analysis
l i and
d fluid
fl id level,
l l consider
id lift
revision to increase the pumping unit capacity if
indicated.

13
Casing Pressure

1. Lower is better
2. Check casing side check valves to be sure it is
operating properly.
3. Compression
p on casing
g to lower pressure
p is
possible… beam mounted compressor or other.

14
Corrosion

1. Target is treating with 25 ppm of oil soluble filming

amine. The total chemical treatment volume is based on
wells total production with the minimum treating volume
of 1 gallon. Treating schedules are 1/week for the most
part. For normal water flood wells, flush a volume of 3
bbls water with the treatment. For wells with a gas rate of
100-200 mscfd, use 5 bbls and for greater than 200 mscfd,
use 8 bbls of water with the treatment. These
recommendations for W. Texas area.
2. Check your chemical program or check with your
chemical supplier.
3. See included slides of specific types of corrosion and if
questions
ti contact
t t corrosion
i group to t see what
h t is
i causing
i
corrosion.
®

15
Treatments after Workovers

1. Before running pump and rods, it recommended that

15 gallons of oil soluble filming amine and 15 bbls of
lease crude be pumped into the tubing after a workover.
This should be done on wells that have been killed with
heavy brine or on wells that have exhibited severe
pitting on tubulars
t b lars or rods.
rods It is optional on less severe
se ere
situations.

16
Summary Recommendations
I many cases, beam
In b pump should
h ld beb the
th artificial
tifi i l lift
method chosen unless it can be shown another
method is more cost effective. However see depth/rate
p
charts, advantages/disadvantages, and other materials
provided here to initiate selection process.
F il
Failures are many times
i due
d to the
h following
f ll i reasons:
1. Design problems
2. Use of improper materials
3. Manufacturing defects
4. Assembly or installation problems
5. Use in conditions which were not considered in the
d i – i.e.,
design i corrosion
i nott designed
d i d or treated
t t d for.
f

17
Chemical Treatment

Review treatments every 3-6 months. Try to standardize on

one corrosion inhibitor for down-hole use for the entire field.
The below typical treatment is for W
W. Texas area
area.
Typical is 1 gallon of inhibitor per week for each 100 bfpd,
which is equal to about 30 ppm on a continuous basis. If a
batch treatment exceeds five gallons of inhibitor per
treatment, then divid into two treatments per week. These are
starting points and should
sho ld then be optimized.
optimi ed Use continuous
contin o s
treatments for 1000 bpfd production. Continuous treatment is
equipment intensive and expensive.
Flush is extremely important. A corrosion inhibition treatment
typically consists of pre-wetting the casing (typically one
b
barrel)
l) , pumping
i the
th inhibitor,
i hibit then
th flushing
fl hi with ith volume
l off ½
barrel/1000’ (2 barrel minimum). An oil is best flush.
®

18
Corrosion Treatments
Producing wells in CO2 miscible injection projects should be
flushed with oil when the CO2 content of the gas exceeds
20%>
Circulation of the well after batch treating is always a good
idea especially on high fluid level wells, and always on the
fi t treatment
first t t t following
f ll i theth wellll having
h i been
b pulled.
ll d
Oxygen should be kept out of the system: Flush water should
be from gas blanketed tanks
tanks, or treated with O2 scavenger.
scavenger
Treat rods before run-in: Use 5 gallons of inhibitor into the
tubing prior to running the pump and rods.
rods Circulate one
tubing volume when the well is returned to production.
Look at rods to see if inhibition p
program
g is working.
g If rods
out of hole rust and turn red, then they have no inhibitor film.
They should stay black.
®

19
Pump Summary
Lift selection is determined on what system is most
economical. Systems must deliver the rate from the
well depth, operate with low failure frequencies, have
low energy costs, and other considerations. See
depth/rate charts, advantages/disadvantages, do PV
analysis or other economic analysis as well as
consider operational and supply factors and more.
Tryy to select a heavy
y wall insert p
pumpp with a
stationary barrel and a solid plunger. Cup type
anchors are adequate for most wells but for deep
wells and those frequently unseated to for tubing
treatments should use a mechanical anchor or use a
mechanical anchor for high temperatures as well.

20
Down Hole Pump Summary
The basic pump metallurgy should consider a barrel
that has a surface hardness greater than that of the
plunger to the plunger will wear out first. In
absence of experience, one could choose the below
metallurgy for pump materials and refine with time.
Plunger-spray metal carbon steel
Barrel-chrome plated carbon steel
Balls cobalt alloy steel
Balls-cobalt
Seats-Tungsten Carbide
Select pump materials with consideration of the
environment in which they will operate. See pump
selection chart in pump section for detailed
materials selection chart.
chart

21
Down Hole Pump Summary
Tubing pumps have many advantages for shallower
wells producing solids or corrosive fluids.
Tubing pumps (larger diameter) are required when
high volume production is desired. Larger diameter
pumps result in system that conserves energy
providing no components off the system are
overloaded. Big pumps do add to peak loads and
peak gearbox
p g torques
q so be sure unit and rods are
not overloaded.
Special purpose pumps are more costly and may fail
more frequently.
f tl Use
U only l if there
th are unusuall
operating conditions or after conventional pump
designs have been found to not work.

22
Tubing
Al
Always h th
anchor the ttubing
bi with
ith a tension-type
t i t h
anchor
as close to the pump setting depth as practical to
avoid tubing movement and deflection, and loss of
downhole stroke.
stroke Avoid setting the anchor within a
perforated interval.
Install rod guides where repeated tubing splits
and/or excessive rod coupling wear occurs
occurs.
One recommendation is to install four factory
installed rod guides on each of the first few rods on
top of the pump ( minimum of 2 guided rods).
rods) More
recent studies would tend for use of sinker bars over
the pump (Spread Sheet provided to help design)
When the tubing is pulled, move two joints of tubing
from the bottom to the top of the tubing string to
change the wear pattern. Install new or inspected
tubing on the bottom.

23
Tubing
The rod string design should include several pony
rods, of various lengths, at the top of the rod string
with an overall length that is three times the stroke
length. When the well is pulled, move a stroke length
of the pony rods from the top of the string to the
bottom but above the guided rods. When all have
been moved to the bottom, reverse the procedure
and when servicing, move a stroke length of the
ponyy rods to the top of the string.
g
Install rod rotators to distribute coupling wear
around the circumference of the couplings and rod
guides if wear is present. Remember rod rotators do
not distribute wear on tubing.
Design for pumping at slow SPM if possible. Wear
increases with speed.
speed Also slow pumping increases
energy efficiency drastically.
®

24
Gas Handling
The natural gas anchor should be employed
wherever it is possible to do so. Poor boy gas
anchors are less effective for production rates of
about >100-150 BFPD. The Echometer Collar size
separator, oversized anchor designs or a packer
type gas anchor should be considered as a “poor
boy” improvement. The packer separator separates
gas well but could stick or clog with solids
production. See Echometer rate limitations in the
notes.
Do not allow pounding or improper spacing. Fluid
pounding is the incomplete fillage of the barrel.
Tapping occurs on the downstroke or upstroke due
to improper spacing of the pump. Tapping indicated
at surface may be a very heavy blow downhole.

25
Rods / PR / Coatings
The Modified Goodman Diagram serves as a guide in
selecting the grade of steel sucker rods to be used,
although it may be conservative. K and KD rods should be
considered where corrosion is a problem. C rods are
adequate for low stress ranges and minor corrosion.
Grade D rods should be used for stresses over 30,000 psi.
Fiberglass rods can be used to increase capacity if the
pumping unit gearbox is approaching capacity. Use T type
couplings
g unless wear or corrosion make the spray y metal
coupling (more expensive)more cost effective. Use a
smooth-finished polish rod that is 1/4 inch larger than the
p rod. Use a polish
top p rod coupling
p g to install the polish
p rod
(unless the PR is a flanged type). Be sure the clamp rests
squarely on the carrier bar and the PR pulls straight up and
down. Sinker bars are commonly y used above the ppump p and
rod guides are used above the pump and in high wear
areas, but justify before using them.
®

26
Rods / PR / Coatings
The Modified Goodman Diagram serves as a guide in
selecting the grade of steel sucker rods to be used,
although it definitely is conservative. K and KD rods
should be considered where corrosion is a problem.
The MGD is very conservative but covers other areas
of possible failures

There is evidence that higher strength rods are more

notch sensitive, so consider using K or KD rods or
even D rods with SF of more than one, before going
t higher
to hi h strength
t th rods.
d

27
Rods / PR / Couplings
R d pins
Rod i need d to
t be
b lubricated
l b i t d before
b f k
make-up. D
Do
not use pipe dope. One recommendation for
corrosive service, is to use a combination of
lubricant/oil soluble corrosion inhibitor ( 80% oil,
oil
20% inhibitor mixture is recommended). Spray of dip
the pins to provide a light coating. Do not pour
lubricant into the couplings. Some use a grease with
corrosion inhibitor. Lube only the threads.
Once the threads are damaged , then discard the
rods. Do not tryy to re-thread. Threads are rolled and
not cut and you shouldn’t try to cut them.
Power tongs are recommended for all rods but 5/8’s
rods. However do not use with 5/8’s rods. 5/8’s rods
are not really recommended.
Any coupling with evidence of hammering or with
wrench marks should be replaced.
Lay down or pick up rods in singles.
®

28
Rods
D ’t replace
Don’t l rodd string
t i one rod d att a time.
ti Wh the
When th
pulling cost due to rod failures exceeds the cost of a
new rod string, within a short period of time, then the
rods should be replaced
replaced. When a well had had three
rod failures within a two year period, then the rod
string should be replaced on the fourth failure. If the
rod failures are all within a taper (one rod size) then
change out only that section of rods.
Good practice could result in 75 months for rods, 40
months for ppumps,
p , and 100 months for tubing. g
Another way of looking at the situation is try to
achieve a failure frequency of 0.25-.35 failures per
well per year or less… depends drastically on field
conditions
diti however.
h
Care in running running/pulling and operating
sucker rods can be equally or more so as important
as design considerations and can be responsible for
50% of all failures.
®

29
Units / Motors
I mostt cases conventional
In ti l type
t i units
pumping it are
satisfactory. Specialty units should be justified
based on their ability to reduce operating cost
through size reduction
reduction, efficiency
efficiency, lower
maintenance cost, etc. Lufkin however sells about as
many Mark II units as conventional units now.
NEMA D electric motors
motors, rated for 440 volts and 1200
rpm synchronous speed are usually the best choice.
Use of oversized motors should be avoided (2x)
because they y will be less efficient. Also oversized
motors may require capacitance correction to avoid
possible power factor penalties set by the power
company. Also oversized motors are “stiff”, add to
rodd and
d unit
it loading
l di due d to t effectively
ff ti l less
l slip.
li
It may be un-economical to replace a large motor
unless it is more than twice the HP of what is
needed
needed.

30
Motors / Belts / Design
Select a new motor so that the brand chosen will
have the highest operating efficiency in the range in
which it will be operated. Selection of a NPHP of
about 2 x PRHP usually sizes the HP correctly.
Replace belts as sets and not individually. Measure
belt tension on installation and during operation.
Premium cog belts are used as replacement drive
belts on p
pumping
p g units byy some operators
p
Although the API method is accurate within method
limitations, a wave equation predictive computer
program isi more flexible
fl ibl for
f design
d i considerations.
id ti
Use surplus and used equipment when appropriate
to reduce costs of using g a beam pump
p p system.
y

31
POC
All beam pumped wells, and even those that don’t
pump off, should be considered good candidates for
wellsite control. A central surveillance system will
further enhance performance of beam pumped wells
and should be strongly considered for all fields.
Good surveillance and cause-of-failure
cause of failure record
keeping is the key to efficiently operating beam
pumped wells.
Accurate well tests are needed for any monitoring
program to be successful. Shooting fluid levels is
needed to assess the loading of the beam system,
especially for wells that don’t
don t pump off
off. Also
possible extra production may be indicated with high
fluid levels. Use the Echometer method of analysis
when considering effects of fluid levels to correct for
the effects of gas coming through the fluid level.
®

32
POC
Increase idle time between pumping cycles until an
impact is noted from well tests especially in well with
high reservoir pressures and low PI’s.
PI s. This will
reduce the number of starts and stops per day.
Starts and stops may adversely affect the motor and
the drive train although this is not documented by
anyone. Too much idle time will reduce production.
Tryy to understand the p physical
y cause of failures and
take action to prevent a recurrence, or you may be
accepting that the same failure will happen again.
D
Documentation
t ti off previous
i failures
f il will
ill help
h l in
i the
th
diagnosis of future failures and lead the way to less
frequent failures/(year-well).

33
Definition of Problem Well
T k failures
Track f il b type
by t ( d tubing,
(rod, t bi t )
pump, etc.),
location (pin body, barrel, plunger, etc.) and cause
(abrasion, stuck, corrosion, split, plugged, etc.). With
this data base
base, failures can be trended with time
time.
Analysis will point problems with chemical
treatment, specific equipment components, body or
end connection failures for rods, or tubing failure is
corrosion or rod wear related. Have periodic
meetings to discuss failure data bases.
One definition of a Problem Well:
Pump failure in less than 12 months
Tubing failure in less than 12 months
Two rod failures (pin
(pin, coupling
coupling, body) in last 12
months
Or combination of any three failures in last 12
months

34
Problems found by Down Hole Cards

Loose Tubing Anchor Over Travel

TV Problems Under Travel
SV Problems Fluid Load
Pumpp Leakage
g Friction
Pump Sticking Gas Interference
Pump-off
Tagging

35