Artificial elevators pump liquid from a source well or container for industrial and scientific purposes. Hydraulic, gas, beam, and electric submersible pumps are commonly used depending on the depth and pressure of the well. The industry is constantly evolving to create new and better pumps.
An artificial elevator is a device that pumps a liquid from a source well or container. Whenever there is a deposit of liquid that doesn’t have enough pressure behind it to flow through pipes for human use, an artificial lift is needed. They are used for a variety of industrial and scientific purposes. Water extracted from a well or oil from an oil field are examples of an artificial elevator in use.
To extract liquid from a well, several man-made elevators are available. The type of lift used depends on a number of factors. One of the most versatile types of elevators is the hydraulic elevator, which can pump liquids in two different ways. One way is to use hydraulic power to drive a piston down the well. The piston then moves up and down, drawing out water or oil as it does.
The other type of hydraulic lifter is designed to pump liquid into the well under high pressure. These liquids cause the gas or liquid produced to rise to the surface. While they can be used for wells of most depths and pressure levels, they are less efficient than most other man-made lifts.
A more efficient lift is a gas lift. These are mostly used on offshore oil wells and are a new form of lift. They inject gas into a well which does two things to bring the oil to the surface. First, the gas sinks down the well until it reaches the bottom, pushing the oil up in the process. Second, it forms bubbles in the oil, which make it thinner and easier to pump.
An artificial lift that is most commonly used on land and is used 82% of the time in American oil drilling is the beam pump or reciprocating rod lift. This lift uses a vacuum system to pull oil out of the ground, much like the piston in a hydraulic well. The difference is that these are powered mechanically rather than hydraulically and are more efficient.
The last commonly used artificial lifting system is the electric submersible pump. Like beam pumps, these are mechanically driven. These are designed for much deeper wells that hold more oil or water. In this type of pump, a motor sits near the bottom and spins a series of “impellers” — spiral blades that suck oil up the shaft of the well and look like a large drill bit. While they can work in many circumstances and are much more efficient than hydraulic lifts, they are not commonly used due to their high price.
The man-made elevator industry is constantly evolving and the specifications and designs of these examples may vary by manufacturer. The principle of each type remains the same. Some of these lifting methods have been combined to create new products. The constant demand for oil helps fuel the research and development of new and better pumps.
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