Quote:
Originally Posted by matthudson
Eakring oil wells and the tanker trains to Scotland were mentioned in an earlier post. I grew up on a farm nearby and we had the "nodding donkeys" scattered around the fields. I can still remember standing at the side of a stationary one and jumping when it suddenly started without warning. Could never figure out whether they were on a timer or had to wait for the reservoir of oil to fill up? Does anyone have info on any of the above? Regards matthudson
|
I used to work in the oilfields years ago. These pumps were common in low presure fields where there were insufficient pressure to send the oil to the surface. In some cases they are also used to bring water to the surface. They were known as a "walking Beam" or American slang as "pumpjacks".
They would often have gas mixed in with the oil, and that could cause issues with the valves not working correctly. So in order to maintain a constant flow of uninterupted oil, valves would separate the oil and the gas would come out of a different pipe at the top of the well. That could be why they stop and restart once the gas pocket has been released.
Hope that helps
Regards
Phil