Research on Key Technology of Intelligent Beam Pumping Unit Based on Clean Oil Production Concept

Abstract The process of heavy oil production is usually accompanied by high temperature steam injection and asphaltene precipitation, which threaten the stable operation of pumping units and the surrounding water environment. At present, the research related to heavy oil development focuses on the optimization of the development plan, and lacks the design and technical research related to the pumping unit. For this reason, an intelligent beam pumping unit stability analysis model based on the concept of clean oil production is built. Then, the applicability of the model is validated through a comparison with the stability of the actual pumping unit during operation. At the same time, the impact of asphaltene precipitation on pumping stability after thermal recovery of heavy oil is analyzed. Finally, measures to reduce asphaltene precipitation and improve the stability of pumping units in the process of oil recovery are proposed. The results reveal that the proportion of asphaltene in heavy oil is high, and its rheological properties are more suitable to be described by power law model. At the same time, the study also found that asphaltene in heavy oil will gradually precipitate at a slower rate, resulting in the additional stress of the pumping unit. The final additional stress on the beam pumping unit is 10.21 MPa, producing a maximum of 22.21 mm intermittent vibration. Moreover, the gradual increase of asphaltene content in heavy oil will lead to a significant increase in asphaltene precipitation, and the stability of the pumping unit will also become worse. When the asphaltene content in heavy oil increases from 10% to 40%, the final precipitation of asphaltene will increase from 21.31 kg to 93.66 kg. The research and development of a new cosolvent, the addition of intelligent monitoring module, and the optimization of pumping unit’s structure have been identified as crucial factors in ensuring the its stability in the development process.