Numerical modelling of water flow in a sucker-rod pump

Abstract

This research focuses on a numerical modelling of water flow in a sucker-rod pump using a commercially computational fluid dynamics package - ANSYS-Fluent. The pressure loss of the water flow in a circular tube obtained from the numerical model was compared with that calculated from theory to confirm the accuracy of the model. After that, a water flow with the movement of a plunger and ball valve in the pump was modelled using dynamic mesh function. The water was pulled into the sucker-rod pump with the pressure of 8279 kPa, while the plunger moved at a speed of 5.5 stroke per minute. The results showed that the current model can determine the water flow characteristics and the pressure loss in the pump. The obtained numerical model in this research is applicable for the mixture modelling in future design and development of a higher efficiency sucker-rod pump.