Patent ID: 8892372

Claim:
A pumping system, comprising: a pump configured to control a level of fluid over pump in a well; a motor operably coupled to the pump and configured to drive the pump; a controller operably coupled to the motor and configured to control operation of the pump, the controller comprising: a motor determination unit configured to determine motor operating parameters of a motor configured to control a pump in a well, said motor operating parameters comprising motor torque and motor speed; a pump determination unit operably coupled to the motor determination unit and configured to determine pump operating parameters based on at least one motor operating parameter, a pump operating parameter comprising one of a pump torque and a pump speed; a fluid level determination unit operably coupled to the pump determination unit and configured to determine an estimated fluid over pump level in the well; said fluid determination unit comprising a first mode unit configured to generate first mode output data based on operation of the pump in a first mode, including pump speed and pump torque values associated with an identified specific fluid-over-pump value; and said fluid determination unit further comprising a second mode unit operably coupled to the first mode unit, wherein the second mode unit is configured to operate the pump in an operational mode in a production manner to determine an estimated fluid over pump level at current speed and toque values of the pump; and wherein the fluid determination unit uses the values of pump speed, pump torque, and specific fluid over pump value obtained in the first mode unit and the current values of pump speed and pump torque obtained in the second mode unit to calculate a current fluid over pump.