Texas Pumpjack
by Kathy White
Title
Texas Pumpjack
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!
Description
This is a photo I took of a "Texas Pumpjack", which are very plentiful in our area. The easy-going rural life of East Texas changed drastically with the discovery of oil in 1930 and 1931. In 1929, a 70-year-old wildcatter, Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner, unsuccessfully drilled two dry holes south of Kilgore. Then in May, Joiner spudded a third hole on the Daisy Bradford farm in Rusk County. It was not until Oct. 3, 1930 that a production test was done, resulting in a gusher – the discovery well, Daisy Bradford No. 3.
Oil down in the earth is typically combined with dirt, rocks and other minerals. For this reason it doesn't normally rise to the surface once a drill has discovered it and opened a hole. To get it out, the drilling company will need to set an oil pump jack in place to remove it. Before doing this the hole will have to be secured with concrete to keep it from falling in on itself during the pumping process. Once secure, a pump jack is placed above the drill site and set up. In some cases, if the oil is heavy a second hole will also be dug close to the first. The second hole will have steam forced into it to create a pressure that will help force the oil up through the drill hole.
A pumpjack (also called nodding donkey, pumping unit, horsehead pump, rocking horse, beam pump, dinosaur, sucker rod pump (SRP), grasshopper pump, thirsty bird, jack pump, or popping johnny) is the overground drive for a reciprocating piston pump in an oil well.
It is used to mechanically lift liquid out of the well if there is not enough bottom hole pressure for the liquid to flow all the way to the surface. The arrangement is commonly used for onshore wells producing little oil. Pumpjacks are common in oil-rich areas.
Depending on the size of the pump, it generally produces 5 to 40 litres of liquid at each stroke. Often this is an emulsion of crude oil and water. Pump size is also determined by the depth and weight of the oil to remove, with deeper extraction requiring more power to move the heavier lengths of sucker rods.
Uploaded
March 10th, 2013
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