The objective of this project is to design a test bench and software to decrease the time needed to test a product provided by Well Master, called a lubricator.
Sponsored by: Well Master
Team Members
Benjamin Probert Mohamed Alali Jaewon So Yu-Han Wu Reese Rosenfeld
Instructor: Alexander Rattner
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
Well Master produces “lubricators” which are placed on natural gas wells. The “Lubricator” is a steel tube used for well access and flow regulation which experiences extremely high pressures of up to 7,500psi. Currently, the setup to test this product is time-consuming and done completely by hand. Our team has been tasked with designing a bench that enables multiple units to be tested in parallel and developing software to automate the test and save all pressure data to a .CSV file.
Objectives
– To design a bench that allows for the testing of two or more lubricators at a time. The design must also withstand pressures up to 10,000 psi.
– Develop software with the help of a scaled-down model to automate lubricator pressure testing.
– Create a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) to monitor testing and save data to a .CSV file.
Approach
To maximize the use of our limited time this semester, the team broke into two sub-teams. The first is the mechanical team which will design the testing platform. The second will be the software team which will develop code to automate the process and provide a user-friendly GUI.
Mechanical (Bench Design):
– Brainstorm ideas for possible bench designs based on requirements provided by Well Master.
– Select a design and model it in SolidWorks.
– Use finite element analysis (FEA) to find weak points in the design and ensure safe operation.
– Modify the model based on FEA results to arrive at a final product.
Software:
– Obtain materials for and construct a pressure loop model for software development.
– Test the model to ensure that it does not leak and can handle pressures up to 100psi for further testing.
– Connect all components so that the software may interact with the model.
– Begin testing with a pressure gauge before using the pressure transducer to verify the transducer’s functionality.
– Use the model to develop the code and GUI associated with the software to monitor the test and collect pressure data.
Outcomes
– Well Master required that the design allow for two or more lubricators to be tested in parallel. Exceeding this requirement, our design can test four units at once.
– Well Master’s lubricators come with various flanges and are usually tested in batches. Upon request for an assembly line type of operation, the flange connection plates on all four corners have been designed to be interchangeable. This reduces setup time for Well Master when switching between batches of lubricators with different-sized flanges.
– A time sink associated with the current testing process is that it must be conducted by hand. Various valves and switches must be operated to achieve different pressures for certain periods of time. The team’s software takes all of these valves and switches and turns them into just a few clicks. This greatly speeds up the process and reduces the chance of human error.