An Energy Saving System for a Beam Pumping Unit

Beam pumping units are widely used in the oil production industry, but the energy efficiency of this artificial lift machinery is generally low, especially for the low-production well and high-production well in the later stage. There are a number of ways for energy savings in pumping units, with the periodic adjustment of stroke speed and rectification of balance deviation being two important methods. In the paper, an energy saving system for a beam pumping unit (ESS-BPU) based on the Internet of Things (IoT) was proposed. A total of four types of sensors, including load sensor, angle sensor, voltage sensor, and current sensor, were used to detect the operating conditions of the pumping unit. Data from these sensors was fed into a controller installed in an oilfield to adjust the stroke speed automatically and estimate the degree of balance in real-time. Additionally, remote supervision could be fulfilled using a browser on a computer or smartphone. Furthermore, the data from a practical application was recorded and analyzed, and it can be seen that ESS-BPU is helpful in reducing energy loss caused by unnecessarily high stroke speed and a poor degree of balance.