Wellbore tools including smart materials

Abstract

A wellbore pump that includes a pump housing, a pump stage positioned within the pump housing, the pump stage including a stationary diffuser and a rotating impeller positioned within the diffuser, a pump head attached to the first end of the pump housing, a compression tube attached between the pump head and the diffuser, the compression tube increasing a contacting force to prevent rotation of the diffuser with the impeller, and a ring-shaped memory material positioned around the diffuser, the memory material capable of reversibly expanding from a temporary state to a permanent state in response to wellbore operating conditions to form an interference fit with an inner surface of the pump housing during operation of the wellbore pump under the wellbore operating conditions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wellbore pump comprising:
 a pump housing comprising a first end and a second end;   a pump stage positioned within the pump housing, the pump stage comprising:
 a stationary diffuser; and 
 a rotating impeller positioned within the diffuser, the impeller configured to rotate to provide kinetic energy to flow fluid through the wellbore pump, the diffuser configured to convert the kinetic energy received from the rotating impeller to head to flow the fluid through the wellbore pump; 
   a pump head attached to the first end of the pump housing;   a compression tube attached between the pump head and the diffuser, the compression tube configured to increase a contacting force to prevent rotation of the diffuser with the impeller; and   a ring-shaped memory material positioned around the diffuser, the memory material configured to reversibly expand from a temporary state to a permanent state in response to wellbore operating conditions of the wellbore pump to form an interference fit with an inner surface of the pump housing during operation of the wellbore pump under the wellbore operating conditions.   
     
     
         2 . The wellbore pump of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump base attached at the second end of the pump housing. 
     
     
         3 . The wellbore pump  claim 2 , further comprising a lower diffuser spacer attached between the pump base and the diffuser. 
     
     
         4 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein the ring-shaped memory material has a memory material inner surface that contacts an outer surface of the diffuser and a memory material outer surface that is at a distance from the inner surface of the pump housing, wherein, during the operation of the wellbore pump under the wellbore operating conditions, the ring-shaped memory material is configured to expand from the temporary state to the permanent state to at least the inner surface of the pump housing. 
     
     
         5 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein the wellbore operating conditions comprises a wellbore operating temperature, wherein a wellbore pump assembly temperature is lower than the wellbore operating temperature, wherein the ring-shaped memory material is in the temporary state at the wellbore pump assembly temperature and is configured to return to the permanent state at the wellbore operating temperature. 
     
     
         6 . The pump of  claim 5 , wherein the ring-shaped memory material is configured to reversibly transition between the temporary state and the permanent state a plurality of times without degradation as a temperature of the wellbore pump changes between the wellbore operating temperature and the wellbore pump assembly temperature the plurality of times. 
     
     
         7 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein, in the temporary state, a width of the ring-shaped memory material along a radius of the pump housing is less than a gap thickness between the inner surface of the pump housing and an outer surface of the diffuser, and wherein, in the permanent state, the width of the ring-shaped memory material along the radius of the pump housing is equal to the gap thickness. 
     
     
         8 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein the impeller is a first impeller, the diffuser is a first diffuser, the ring-shaped memory material is a first ring-shaped memory material, the first impeller and the first diffuser form a first pump stage, and wherein the pump further comprises a second pump stage connected in series with the first pump stage, the second pump stage comprising:
 a second rotating impeller, the second impeller configured to rotate to provide kinetic energy to flow fluid through the wellbore pump;   a second stationary diffuser positioned within the pump housing, the second stationary diffuser positioned uphole of the second impeller, the second diffuser configured to receive the kinetic energy from the second impeller and responsively convert the kinetic energy to head to flow the fluid through the wellbore pump; and   a second ring-shaped memory material positioned around the second diffuser, the memory material configured to reversibly expand from a temporary shape to a permanent shape in response to wellbore operating conditions of the wellbore pump to form an interference fit with the inner surface of the pump housing before pump operation downhole or during operation of the wellbore pump under the wellbore operating conditions.   
     
     
         9 . The pump  claim 8 , wherein an axial height of the first ring-shaped memory material along a longitudinal axis of the pump housing is the same as or different from an axial height of the second ring-shaped memory material along the longitudinal axis of the pump housing. 
     
     
         10 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein the memory material is configured to form the interference fit having a strength sufficient to prevent rotation of the diffuser. 
     
     
         11 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein a radial thickness of the diffuser at a location at which the ring-shaped memory material is positioned is greater than a radial thickness of the diffuser at other locations along a longitudinal axis of the pump housing. 
     
     
         12 . The pump of  claim 1 , wherein the ring-shaped memory material has an axial height along a longitudinal axis of the pump housing, wherein the axial height is based on a wall thickness of the diffuser. 
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 assembling a wellbore pump stage of a wellbore pump, the wellbore pump stage comprising:
 a rotating impeller configured to rotate to provide kinetic energy to flow fluid through the wellbore pump; and 
 a stationary diffuser positioned within the pump housing, the diffuser positioned uphole of the impeller, the diffuser configured to receive the kinetic energy from the impeller and responsively convert the kinetic energy to head to flow the fluid through the wellbore pump; 
   attaching a pump head to an uphole-facing end of the pump housing;   attaching a compression tube between the pump head and the diffuser, the compression tube configured to increase a contacting force between the diffusers, wherein an inner surface of the pump housing and an outer surface of the diffuser are separated by a gap;   forming a memory material into a ring shape having an inner diameter that is equal to or greater than an outer diameter of the diffuser and having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the pump housing; and   positioning the ring-shaped memory material around the outer diameter of the diffuser.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein forming the memory material into the ring shape comprises deforming the ring-shaped memory material from a permanent state in which the outer diameter of the memory material is greater than or equal to the inner diameter of the pump housing to a temporary state in which the outer diameter of the memory material is less than the inner diameter of the pump housing, wherein the memory material is more rigid in the permanent state than the temporary state. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the memory material is in the temporary state during assembly before installation downhole, and the material is in the permanent state at a wellbore pump temperature at which the wellbore pump is positioned downhole in the wellbore and is not operating, wherein the memory material is in the permanent state at a wellbore operating temperature at which the wellbore pump is operating when the wellbore pump is positioned downhole in the wellbore. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein forming the memory material into the ring shape comprises forming the memory material to reversibly transition between the temporary state and the permanent state a plurality of times without degradation as a temperature of the wellbore pump changes between the wellbore operating temperature and the wellbore operating temperature the plurality of times. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the ring-shaped memory material is positioned at a location, wherein a radial thickness of the diffuser at the location at which the ring-shaped memory material is positioned is greater than a radial thickness of the diffuser at other locations along a longitudinal axis of the pump housing. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the wellbore pump stage is a first wellbore pump stage, the impeller is a first impeller, the diffuser is a first diffuser, the memory material is a first memory material, and wherein the method further comprises:
 assembling a second wellbore pump stage of the wellbore pump, the second wellbore pump stage comprising:
 a second rotating impeller, the second impeller configured to rotate to provide kinetic energy to flow fluid through the wellbore pump; 
 a second stationary diffuser positioned within the pump housing, the second stationary diffuser positioned uphole of the second impeller, the second diffuser configured to receive the kinetic energy from the second impeller and responsively convert the kinetic energy to head to flow the fluid through the wellbore pump; 
   forming a second memory material into a ring shape having an inner diameter that is equal to an outer diameter of the diffuser and having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the pump housing;   positioning the second ring-shaped memory material around the outer diameter of the second diffuser; and   attaching the first wellbore pump stage in series with the second wellbore pump stage.   
     
     
         19 . A wellbore pump comprising:
 a pump housing comprising a first end and a second end;   a rotating impeller, the impeller configured to rotate to provide kinetic energy to flow fluid through the wellbore pump;   a stationary diffuser positioned within the pump housing, the diffuser positioned uphole of the impeller, the diffuser configured to receive the kinetic energy from the impeller and responsively convert the kinetic energy to head to flow the fluid through the wellbore pump;   a pump head attached to the first end of the pump housing;   a pump base attached to the second end of the pump housing;   a compression tube attached between the pump head and the diffuser, the compression tube configured to increase a contacting force between the diffuser to prevent rotation of the diffuser with the impeller;   a lower diffuser spacer attached between the pump base and the diffuser; and   a ring-shaped memory material positioned around the diffuser, the memory material configured to reversibly expand from a temporary state to a permanent state in response to wellbore operating conditions of the wellbore pump, wherein the memory material is less rigid in the temporary state than in the permanent state.   
     
     
         20 . The wellbore pump of  claim 19 , wherein, in the permanent state, the memory material is configured to form an interference fit between the diffuser and the pump housing, the interference fit having a strength to prevent rotation of the diffuser. 
     
     
         21 . The wellbore pump of  claim 19 , wherein the memory material is configured to expand from the temporary state to the permanent state in response to wellbore operating conditions at which the wellbore pump operates downhole in the wellbore. 
     
     
         22 . The wellbore pump of  claim 19 , wherein the memory material is configured to contract from the permanent state to the temporary state in response to a change in the wellbore operating conditions. 
     
     
         23 . The wellbore pump of  claim 19 , wherein the wellbore operating conditions comprises a wellbore operating temperature at which the wellbore pump operates downhole in the wellbore, wherein the memory material is configured to remain in the temporary state when a wellbore pump temperature is below the wellbore operating temperature and to expand to the permanent state when the wellbore pump temperature is at or greater than the wellbore operating temperature.