The PCP pump has a substantial history. It was invented and designed in the late 1920’s by the Frenchman Rene Moineau.
Moineau set out to create a rotary compressor and in the process developed a new rotary mechanism to be utilised for the utilization of variations in the pressure of a fluid, which he referred to as “capsulism”. His purpose was to make it doable to use this capsulism in pumps, compressors, or motors.
In the early 1930’s, the Progressive Cavity Pump’s concept patent was licensed to three companies: PCM-Pompes of France, Mono Pumps Ltd. Of England, and Robbins & Myers, Inc. Of the United States. Over the years, other small pump companies have produced spin-offs of the Moineau concept.
The Moineau principle has been utilized in many industries in a big variety of applications since its licensing. It has been utilised as a pump in just about every industry: chemical, coal, food, metal working, mining, paper, petroleum, textile, tobacco, and water and waste water treatment. In the petroleum industry, the PCP pump has been implemented as a surface transfer pump for over 50 years.
In the mid- 1950’s, the progressive cavity pump principle was applied to hydraulic motor applications by reversing the function of the progressing cavity pump. The machine was then being moved by fluid in place of pumping fluid. With the pump elements being driven by drilling mud or other fluids, it established itself as the primary mover for drill motors. The Moineau principle is now being widely utilised in the petroleum drilling industry.
Then in the early 1980’s, the progressive cavity pump was implemented as an artificial lift method in the petroleum industry. Robbins & Meyers, Inc. Of the United States has to be credited with being the first to apply the Moineau principle to artificial lift in the petroleum industry. They established itself as the first PCP pump producer to market the pump as a choice to ordinary lift methods and to establish a new marketplace for the PCP pump. Since the mid-1980’s, other manufacturers have come into this marketplace, expanding the acceptance of the product by the oil and gas industry.
The pump is applied to artificial lift by attaching the pump components to the tubing and rod string. The stator is run on the end of the tubing, and the rotor is attached to the bottom of the rod string and landed in the stator. The rods and rotor are rotated through a wellhead drive assembly that is engineered to carry the weight of the rod and the fluid column.
Currently, the PCP pump is being extensively used for lifting fluids from depths of 6,000 ft. And deeper in oil and gas wells. Progressive cavity pumps offers to the petroleum industry a great number of advantages over traditional lift equipment, of which the most significant is lowering the cost per barrel lifted.
A progressive cavity pump also can behave as a motor when fluid is pumped through the interior. Applications include well drilling.
Progressive cavity pumps are also often referred to by the specific producer or product names. It is not uncommon to have people refer to them as Moineau pump, Mono pump, Twister pump etc. The Twister PCP pump is a modern pump manufactured by Canam Pipe & supply.
