Numerical simulation of pressure impact on hydro-automatic reversing valve core in a down-hole pump

Abstract

Ultra-high-pressure-jet-assisted drilling is one of the main techniques for improving the rate of penetration in well drilling. The hydro-automatic reversing valve, which is a five-way, two-position control valve, is the core component of the novel down-hole pump. Two reversing valves with symmetrical structure and non-symmetrical structure were designed. And a prototype of optimized symmetrical structure hydro-automatic reversing valve was built and tested. Calculation and analysis results indicate that the down-hole pump can intensify the drilling mud to 148.5–178.5 MPa within an area ratio of 9.9 and 11.9 theoretically. Two reversing valves with symmetrical structure and non-symmetrical structure were compared and analyzed by numerical simulation. Results show that force impacting on the surface of the non-symmetrical structure hydro-automatic reversing valve core is worse than that on the optimized one. With the symmetrical structure reversing valve used in the novel down-hole pump, impact on the core surface becomes balanced, friction and abrasion of valve parts will be reduced, operation stability and safety can be enhanced.