Backspin detection circuit for a submersible pump

A motor control circuit for submersible pumps has features to prevent restarting while the electric motor is backspinning. The circuit includes a sensor for sensing the voltage produced by the residual magnetism in the rotor of the motor while it backspins. The voltage sensed is amplified, then rectified and compared with a reference voltage that is preset. The reference voltage corresponds to a voltage produced during backspinning at a selected maximum amount tolerable when restarting. The DC pulses are filtered to provide a corresponding voltage, then compared to the reference voltage. The control circuit is disabled from allowing a restart, either manual or automatic, when the corresponding voltage is greater than the reference voltage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates in general to submersible pumps and in particular to 
an electrical circuit for preventing restarting of the pump motor while 
the pump is backspinning. 
Submersible pumps are often used in deep wells for pumping large volumes of 
liquid to the surface. Often, the pump assembly will be located several 
thousand feet into the well. The pump assembly normally includes a 
centrifugal pump, below which is mounted a large alternating current 
electrical motor for driving the pump. 
For various reasons, pumps are often automatically shut down. This could be 
due to momentary overload or power fluctuations. When the power to the 
electrical motor is cut off, the motor will continue to spin along with 
the pump in a forward direction for a period of time due to the momentum. 
Then, the motor will cease spinning in a forward direction and start 
backspinning. The spinning in the reverse direction is due to the column 
of liquid above the pump falling downward into the well. Depending on the 
well, several thousand feet of liquid above the pump may drop past the 
pump. 
It is important that while the motor is backspinning at a fairly high rate 
that no attempt be made to start the motor. Some circuits have automatic 
starting devices that may attempt restarting without being aware of 
backspinning. Also, field personnel may be present that might attempt to 
manually start the motor while the motor is backspinning. The sudden surge 
of power to the motor for starting while it is backspinning creates 
extremely high torque on the shaft and may cause the motor shaft to twist 
in two. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A backspin detection circuit is provided to sense when the motor is 
backspinning and to disable the motor control circuit from starting the 
motor until the motor essentially ceases to backspin. The system includes 
sensing means for sensing backspin voltage that is generated by residual 
magnetism in the motor. A voltage corresponding to the sensing means is 
provided, which is then compared to a reference voltage to determine 
whether or not the motor has ceased backspinning sufficiently for 
restarting. The reference voltage has a value that is proportional to a 
voltage produced by the motor while backspinning at a selected maximum 
amount that is tolerable while restarting. 
In the preferred embodiment the voltage sensed by backspinning is amplified 
and converted into DC pulses. These pulses are filtered and compared to 
the level reference voltage. If the amplitude of the filtered pulses 
exceeds the reference voltage, an amplifier and transistor disable the 
motor from starting.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Block 11 of FIG. 1 represents a three-phase power supply having three 
outputs, each of which provides an alternating voltage (varying in 
sinusoidal fashion) on the same RMS or root-means square amplitude and the 
same alternating frequency of 60 HZ (cycles per seconds). The three 
alternating voltages are phase-displaced with respect to each other by 120 
degrees. These outputs are passed over lines 13, 15, and 17 to a motor 19 
located at the bottom of the well. Since there is no neutral wire, each of 
the phase voltages is actually a line-to-line voltage and appears or is 
produced at one output of supply 11 relative to another of its outputs. 
The magnitude of each phase voltage depends upon the characteristics of 
the motor, and 2400 volts or more is common. 
A switch or contactor 21 for each line 13, 15 and 17 is located uphole. 
Switches 21, which enable power from supply 11 to reach motor 19, are 
controlled by a control circuit 23. Control circuit 23 is a circuit for 
protecting the motor 19. It will cause switches 21 to open either under an 
underload or overload condition. Suitable control circuits are shown in 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,446 issued Dec. 28, 1976 to Joseph E. Vandevier and 
David R. Ellis-Anwyl and U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,700 issued May 3, 1977 to 
David R. Ellis-Anwyl, all of which material is hereby incorporated by 
reference. 
Block 25 represents a detector circuit for detecting whether or not motor 
19 is backspinning after contactors 21 have been opened, and for 
preventing the control circuit 23 from again closing contactors 21 if the 
motor is still backspinning. The detector circuit includes two leads 27 
and 29 that are connected to two of the power conductors or lines, which 
in the drawing are shown to be lines 15 and 17. The detector circuit 25 is 
located uphole with control circuit 23, and the lines 27 and 29 are 
connected uphole to lines 15 and 17, but between contactors 21 and motor 
19. Six 1.2 megohm resistors 31 are connected in series in line 27. 
Similarly, six 1.2 megohm resistors 33 are connected in series in line 29. 
Two metal oxide varisters 35 are connected in series between lines 27 and 
29 at a point between the fifth and sixth resistors 31 and 33. The 
connection between the varisters 35 is grounded. Varisters 35 appear open 
at low voltages and short circuited at high voltages to provide surge 
protection against extremely high voltages, such as if lightning struck 
the system. 
Line 27 leads to a negative input line 37 of a high gain differential 
amplifier 39. Input line 37 is also connected through a resistor 41 to a 
line 43 supplied with DC (direct current) power. Voltage sensing line 29 
is connected to the positive input line 45 of amplifier 39. Input line 45 
is connected through a resistor 47 to ground. Input line 45 is also 
connected through a resistor 49 to the DC power source line 43. A diode 51 
has its anode connected to the output of amplifier 39 and its cathode 
connected to a line 53. A line 55 extends from the input line 37 of 
amplifier 39 to the cathode of diode 51. Six resistors 57 are placed in 
series in line 55. Line 53 is grounded through a resistor 59. The AC 
(alternating current) voltage sensed by lines 27 and 29 is amplified and 
converted to square DC pulses at line 53. 
Line 53 also leads to a resistor 61 which in turn is connected to the 
positive input 63 of a differential amplifier 65. Input 63 is connected to 
the DC power line 43 through a resistor 67. The negative input 69 of 
amplifier 65 is connected through a resistor 71 to a time constant means, 
low pass filter, or integrating circuit comprised of a resistor 73 and 
capacitor 75 connected in parallel with each other and to ground. The RC 
circuit of resistor 73 and capacitor 75 has preferably a 5 to 10 second 
time constant to smooth the output pulses from amplifier 65. Resistor 73 
allows the charge in capacitor 75 to bleed slowly off to ground after it 
is charged by each output pulse from amplifier 65. 
The output of amplifier 65 is connected to the anode of a diode 77, the 
cathode of which is connected to a line 79. Line 79 is connected to the RC 
circuit comprising resistor 73 and capacitor 75 and also connected to the 
positive input 81 of a differential amplifier 83 through a resistor 85. 
The negative input 87 to amplifier 83 is connected through a resistor 89 
to the wiper of a potentiometer 91. Potentiometer 91 is connected between 
the DC power supply line 43 and ground to provide a variable, positive, 
level voltage to input 87 of amplifier 83. 
Potentiometer 91 can be set to provide a DC level to amplifier 83 that 
corresponds to voltage produced by the motor when backspinning at the 
maximum amount tolerable for restarting, such as about 5 RPM (revolutions 
per minute). This threshold or reference voltage can be empirically 
determined. Amplifier 83, as well as amplifiers 39 and 65, amplifies the 
potential between its inputs. If positive input 81 is more positive than 
negative input 87, the output will be saturated at the DC supply voltage. 
If positive input 81 is more negative than negative input 87, then the 
output will be saturated to the negative supply voltage which is ground. 
The output of amplifier 83 is connected through a resistor 93 to the base 
of a transistor 95. Transistor 95 is a PNP transistor, with its emitter 
connected to the control circuit through a line 97. The collector of the 
transistor is connected to ground. If the voltage at the base of 
transistor 95 is low (ground), transistor 95 will conduct. If the base 
voltage is high (supply voltage), it will not conduct. Control circuit 23 
is disabled from providing a signal to close contactors 21 unless 
transistor 95 is conducting to provide a ground return for control circuit 
23. 
In operation, assume first that the rotor of motor 19 is turning in the 
forward direction and that contactors 21 are closed, supplying power to 
the motor 19. In this mode, full line voltage will be sensed by leads 27, 
29. This voltage will be dropped through the resistors 31 and 33 to 
approximately 15 to 50 volts at the input terminals 37 and 45 of amplifier 
39. Amplifier 39 will produce a saturated square wave corresponding to the 
frequency of the motor, normally 60 HZ. This provides a waveform at the 
output of amplifier 65 and to the positive input 81 of amplifier 83. 
Amplifier 83 will compare the amplitude of this waveform to the DC voltage 
supplied by the potentiometer 91 to input 87. The waveform at input 81 
will be greater than the DC level at input 87 causing the output from 
amplifier 83 to be positive. Transistor 95 will be in a nonconducting 
mode, thus the control circuit 23 is disabled from providing a restarting 
signal. 
Then assume that for various reasons, the control circuit 23 opens 
contactors 21, removing power from conductors 13, 15 and 17. Voltage will 
continue to be generated by residual magnetism present in the rotor of the 
motor as it spins in the forward direction. This voltage is sensed by 
leads 27 and 29 and amplified through amplifiers 39 and 65. Diodes 51 and 
53 provide a square pulse output on line 53 and line 79 of frequency the 
same as the rotational speed off the motor. The time constant provided by 
resistors 73 and capacitor 75 is selected to provide a long decay time for 
each pulse. Instead of separate pulses, with zero voltage between them, 
the decay of each pulse is sufficiently long during forward free spinning 
so that the waveform or corresponding voltage will not return to zero. As 
the forward spinning decreases in speed, the result will be the waveform 
99 shown in FIG. 2, having a fluctuating amplitude, with peak amplitude at 
the pulses. As long as the amplitude of the waveform 99 does not drop 
below the DC reference voltage 101 provided by potentiometer 91, the 
output from the amplifier 83 will still be positive and the control 
circuit will be disabled from providing a restart pulse to close 
contactors 21. 
Soon, the motor will cease its forward spinning direction and pause for an 
instant. At this instant, there will be no voltage potential between lines 
27, 29. However, the time constant of the resistor 73 and capacitor 75 is 
selected so that the amplitude of the pulses generated by the forward 
direction rotation will not decay lower than the reference voltage 101, 
and amplifier 83 will not momentarily turn on transistor 95. 
After pausing for an instant, the column of liquid above the pump will 
begin to drop to proceed back into the well formation. As it drops, it 
causes the pump to spin in reverse direction, which in turn spins the 
rotor of motor 19. Residual magnetism in the rotor creates an AC voltage 
potential that is sensed by lines 27 and 29. The voltage generated drops 
in frequency and amplitude as the speed of rotation drops. As in the 
forward direction, this voltage potential is amplified and rectified by 
amplifier 39 and applied to the peak detector or amplifier 65 which 
filters out the pulsating generating signal by use of the RC circuit. This 
corresponding voltage or waveform 99 is compared against the threshold 
voltage 101. As long as the amplitude of the waveform 99 does not drop 
below reference voltage 101, then the differential amplifier 83 will not 
cause transistor 95 to conduct. 
When the backspin has slowed down enough to produce less than about 90 
millivolts RMS, which may be at 20 RPM or less, amplifier 39 will begin 
operating in its linear region and producing a sine wave with a frequency 
matching the turning rotor and an amplitude proportional to the frequency. 
The RC circuit formed by resistor 73 and capacitor 75 provides waveform 99 
to the amplifier 83. Once the peak amplitude of waveform 99 drops below 
the reference voltage 101, then amplifier 83 will provide a constant 
negative output to cause transistor 95 to conduct, providing a ground for 
control circuit 23 and enabling control circuit 23 to send a signal to 
close contactors 21. 
Reference voltage 91 is selected to be low enough such that the motor will 
be essentially no longer spinning when the peak amplitude of the voltage 
generated by the spinning rotor and applied to amplifier 83 drops below 
the reference voltage. The time constant of the RC circuit of resistor 73 
and capacitor 75 is selected so that the waveform 99 will not drop below 
the reference voltage 101 during the pause from the forward spinning to 
the back spinning. 
Leads 27 and 29, along with resistors 31 and 33 serve as sensing means for 
sensing backspin voltage generated by the motor while backspinning and 
providing a corresponding voltage to amplifier 39. Potentiometer 91 and 
resistor 89, along with the DC voltage supplied through power line 43 
serve as reference means for providing a reference voltage proportional to 
a voltage produced by the motor 19 while backspinning at a selected 
maximum amount tolerable when restarting. Amplifier 83 serves as 
comparison means for comparing the corresponding voltage produced at input 
line 81 to the reference voltage produced at input 87. Transistor 95 
serves as disabling means for preventing restarting when the corresponding 
voltage exceeds the reference voltage, and enabling restarting when the 
corresponding voltage drops below the reference voltage. 
Amplifiers 39 and 65 serve as amplifying means for amplifying the AC 
voltage sensed from the backspinning of the rotor of motor 19 and for 
producing direct current voltage pulses. The time constant circuit 
comprised of resistor 73 and capacitor 75 serves as integration means for 
integrating the square pulses to provide a corresponding voltage to 
amplifier 83 that is proportional to the amplitude of the square pulses 
and eliminates zero separation between the pulses. More particularly, the 
resistor 73 and capacitor 75 serve as time constant means for providing 
each of the square pulses with a decay time constant of selected duration 
to result in a corresponding voltage level to be applied to the amplifier 
83. 
The invention has significant advantages. The circuit continuously senses 
voltage differential between the conductors and prevents restarting the 
motor as long as it is spinning faster than a maximum amount that 
corresponds to very slow backspin. The circuitry allows the operator to 
set the maximum tolerable backspin before restarting. All of the 
components are conventional, with amplifiers 39, 65 and 83 preferably 
being Norton operator amplifiers marketed under number LM3900. 
While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms, it should be 
apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is 
susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from 
the spirit of the invention.