Corrosion resistant sucker rod

Abstract

A sucker rod for use in a subterranean well and a method of producing same, in which the method can include air quenching a martensitic stainless steel material of the sucker rod. An artificial lift system and a method of flowing a fluid from a well, in which the method can include connecting multiple air quenched and tempered sucker rods in a rod string connected to a downhole pump, and operating the downhole pump, thereby flowing the fluid from the well. A sucker rod can include a stainless steel sucker rod composition in which a carbon content is restricted to the range of 0.08% to 0.15%, and in which the sucker rod composition includes up to 0.20% vanadium content, up to 0.10% niobium content, up to 0.05% titanium content, up to 0.99% nickel content and/or up to 1.0% molybdenum content.

1 . A method of producing a sucker rod for use in a subterranean well, the method comprising:
 maintaining a temperature of a martensitic stainless steel material of the sucker rod at an elevated temperature; and   then air quenching the material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , in which the elevated temperature is approximately 982° C.+/−8° C. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , in which the elevated temperature is maintained for approximately 30 minutes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tempering the material after the air quenching. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , in which the tempering comprises maintaining the temperature of the material at a tempering temperature of approximately 649° C.+/−14° C. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , in which the tempering further comprises maintaining the material at the tempering temperature for a duration of approximately 45 minutes to approximately one hour. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising forging the material. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the forging comprises elevating the temperature of the material to approximately 1288° C.+/−28° C. prior to deforming the material. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the forging comprises configuring the sucker rod for forming on the material at least one of the group consisting of wrench flats and threads. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising restricting a carbon content of the material to the range of 0.08% to 0.15%. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , in which the material comprises at least one of the group consisting of: up to 0.20% vanadium content, up to 0.10% niobium content, up to 0.05% titanium content, up to 0.99% nickel content and up to 1.0% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         12 . A sucker rod produced by the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         13 . A sucker rod for use in a subterranean well, the sucker rod comprising:
 a stainless steel sucker rod composition in which a carbon content is restricted to the range of 0.08% to 0.15%, and in which the sucker rod composition comprises at least one of the group consisting of: up to 0.20% vanadium content, up to 0.10% niobium content, up to 0.05% titanium content, up to 0.99% nickel content and up to 1.0% molybdenum content.   
     
     
         14 . The sucker rod of  claim 13 , in which the sucker rod composition comprises about 0.05% vanadium content, about 0.5% nickel content, and about 0.20% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         15 . The sucker rod of  claim 13 , in which the sucker rod composition comprises about 0.05% vanadium content, about 0.95% nickel content, and about 0.50% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         16 . The sucker rod of  claim 13 , in which the sucker rod composition comprises about 0.04% niobium content, about 0.5% nickel content, and about 0.20% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         17 . The sucker rod of  claim 13 , in which the sucker rod composition comprises about 0.015% titanium content, about 0.5% nickel content, and about 0.20% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         18 . The sucker rod of  claim 13 , in which a chromium content of the sucker rod composition is 11.5 to 13.0%. 
     
     
         19 . A method of flowing a fluid from a subterranean well, the method comprising:
 producing multiple sucker rods, the producing comprising maintaining a temperature of a martensitic stainless steel material of the sucker rods at approximately an elevated temperature, and then air quenching the material;   connecting the sucker rods in a rod string, the connecting including connecting the rod string to a downhole pump; and   operating the downhole pump, thereby flowing the fluid from the well.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , in which the elevated temperature is approximately 982° C.+/−8° C. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , in which the elevated temperature is maintained for approximately 30 minutes. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , in which the producing further comprises tempering the material after the air quenching. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , in which the tempering comprises maintaining the temperature of the material at a tempering temperature of approximately 649° C.+/−14° C. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , in which the tempering further comprises maintaining the material at the tempering temperature for a duration of approximately 45 minutes to approximately one hour. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , in which the producing further comprises forging the material. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , in which the forging comprises elevating the temperature of the material to approximately 1288° C.+/−28° C. prior to deforming the material. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , in which the forging comprises configuring the sucker rod for forming on the material at least one of the group consisting of wrench flats and threads. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising restricting a carbon content of the material to the range of 0.08% to 0.15%. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , in which the material comprises at least one of the group consisting of: up to 0.20% vanadium content, up to 0.10% niobium content, up to 0.05% titanium content, up to 0.99% nickel content and up to 1.0% molybdenum content. 
     
     
         30 . An artificial lift system produced by the method of  claim 19 .