Sensor system for a positive displacement pump

Abstract

A positive displacement pump is provided that includes a pump housing having a pump chamber; a plunger mounted in the pump housing for reciprocating motion in the pump chamber; a suction valve positioned to allow a fluid to enter the pump chamber upon movement of the plunger in a first direction; a discharge valve positioned to discharge the fluid from the pump chamber upon movement of the plunger in a second direction; and at least one sensor enclosed by the pump housing for measuring at least one pump condition parameter.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 .- 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . A method of optimizing operation of a pump used in a well application, comprising:
 positioning a positive displacement pump at a well site;   operating the positive displacement pump;   detecting a plurality of parameters within the positive displacement pump that can be used to indicate pump wear; and   predicting a component failure based on changes in the plurality of parameters.   
     
     
         33 . The method as recited in  claim 32 , wherein detecting comprises detecting parameters indicative of valve wear within the positive displacement pump. 
     
     
         34 . The method as recited in  claim 32 , further comprising outputting data from a sensor system, positioned to detect the plurality of parameters, to a control system. 
     
     
         35 . The method as recited in  claim 34 , wherein the control system automatically determines the occurrence of component wear based on changes in at least one of the detected parameters. 
     
     
         36 . The method as recited in  claim 32 , wherein detecting comprises detecting a pump chamber pressure, a pump plunger position, and a valve closing. 
     
     
         37 . The method as recited in  claim 36 , wherein the positive displacement pump further comprises a plurality of sensors for detecting the plurality of parameters. 
     
     
         38 . The method as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprises a pressure sensor mounted to sense pressure in a pump chamber of the positive displacement pump. 
     
     
         39 . The method as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprises a discharge pressure sensor. 
     
     
         40 . The method as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the positive displacement pump comprises a plunger, and the plurality of sensors comprises a position sensor to detect the position of the plunger. 
     
     
         41 . The method as recited in  claim 37 , wherein the positive displacement pump comprises a suction valve and a discharge valve, and the plurality of sensors comprises at least one accelerometer to detect closing of at least one of the suction valve and the discharge valve. 
     
     
         42 . The method as recited in  claim 41 , further comprising outputting data from the plurality of sensors to a control system that processes the data to determine any parameter timing changes indicative of future failure of the suction valve and the discharge valve. 
     
     
         43 . The method as recited in  claim 41 , further comprising outputting data from the plurality of sensors to a control system that processes the data to determine any changes in rising and falling slopes of a pump chamber pressure waveform indicative of future failure of the suction valve and the discharge valve. 
     
     
         44 . The method as recited in  claim 41 , further comprising outputting data from the plurality of sensors to a control system that processes the data to perform frequency spectrum analyses on an accelerometer signal to determine changes in the frequency spectrum over time.