ESP Optimization Goes Further: Operating Frequency Beyond 60 Hz

Author(s):  
A. Muklas

Optimization in brown field developments is always challenging in terms of cost. One of it is XY Field, Rimau Block, South Sumatera with more than 70% of artificial lift is Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP). At ESP wells that are already running at maximum operating frequency of 60 Hz, some are still having problems to optimize their potential. The option to replace the pump with a higher rate is less of an option due to high cost. This leaves an opportunity to gain oil production by increasing frequency above 60 Hz. Upon discussion with the ESP Principal on the risks and possibilities, a trial was then planned for 3-wells. Candidates are selected from the list of ESP wells with the following criteria such as already operated at 60 Hz, still have sufficient fluid submergence, and based on simulated motor load at 70 Hz is still at safe motor load level. Frequency was increased gradually while continuously monitoring ESP Parameters (motor load, voltage and harmonic). It is also necessary to monitor the cable temperature as it is directly affected by the frequency changes. For each frequency increment, a well test is also performed to monitor the production changes. The trial was done on 3-wells (XY-364, XY-370 and XY-378), with the following promising results. XY-364 and XY-378 successfully reached the targeted 70Hz, while XY-370 stopped at 65Hz due to a cable temperature issue. Oil gain from this optimization was 48 BOPD with 1,043 BLPD and similar BS&W profile. ESP operation still normal until present day with all parameters at acceptable range. There were, however, challenges found during the trial. Cable temperature of XY-364 increased at junction box and found cable scun loosen. The problem was solved by replacing the cables. For XY-370, found temperature increment at moulded case circuit breaker during trial at 65 Hz. It was decided to hold at existing frequency. Unbalanced motor load at XY-364 and broken capacitor at XY-370 occurred at Harmonic Filter. The problem was solved by replacing the capacitor. The trial proves that we can operate ESP higher than base frequency (60 Hz) and resulted in decent oil gain. This opens an opportunity in ESP optimization above 60 Hz at an even larger scale.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Zhong ◽  
Patrick Keough ◽  
Kjellb Martel ◽  
Richard Delaloye ◽  
Curtis Goulet ◽  
...  

Abstract One of the major challenges in SAGD Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) operation is produced water flashing to steam when flowing pressure loss is significant, such as at an ESP intake. "Bottom Feeder" style intakes are a standard SAGD ESP intake which has been applied in the SAGD industry for over a decade. However,it was identified in recent years at ConocoPhillips's (CPC) Surmont Oilsands operations that Bottom Feeder intakes can lead to steam flashing in pump at the right conditions. The flashed steam causes significant cavitation in pump, which in turn causes severe motor load chattering. Further to that, steam locking in the pump can occur, which is called a "no flow event" (NFE) in the SAGD industry. ConocoPhillips and Baker Hughes have been working together to optimize SAGD ESPs by utilizing an integral intake to minimize the pressure loss across the intake ports. This would also streamline the connection between intake and pump housing to minimize pressure loss at these intake flow paths. The improved design has been tested in Surmont successfully, and the integral intake has become an optional intake to be applied in the well cases where steam flashing has been known to cause operation interruptions or ESP damages. This paper will review the process undertaken by CPC and Baker Hughes to study the ESP performance with the bottom feeder intake in comparison to the ESP performance with an integral intake.Design and field data will be presented and reviewed to highlight the performance of each system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Hafizi Ariffin ◽  
Muhammad Idraki M Khalil ◽  
Abdullah M Razali ◽  
M Iman Mostaffa

Abstract Most of the oil fields in Sarawak has already producing more than 30 years. When the fields are this old, the team is most certainly facing a lot of problems with aging equipment and facilities. Furthermore, the initial stage of platform installation was not designed to accommodate a large space for an artificial lift system. Most of these fields were designed with gas lift compressors, but because of the space limitation, the platforms can only accommodate a limited gas lift compressor capacity due to space constraints. Furthermore, in recent years, some of the fields just started with their secondary recovery i.e. water, gas injection where the fluid gradient became heavier due to GOR drop or water cut increases. With these limitations and issues, the team needs to be creative in order to prolong the fields’ life with various artificial lift. In order to push the limits, the team begins to improve gas lift distribution among gas lifted wells in the field. This is the cheapest option. Network model recommends the best distribution for each gas lifted wells. Gas lifted wells performance highly dependent on fluid weight, compressor pressure, and reservoir pressure. The change of these parameters will impact the production of these wells. Rigorous and prudent data acquisitions are important to predict performance. Some fields are equipped with pressure downhole gauges, wellhead pressure transmitters, and compressor pressure transmitters. The data collected is continuous and good enough to be used for analysis. Instead of depending on compressor capacity, a high-pressure gas well is a good option for gas lift supply. The issues are to find gas well with enough pressure and sustainability. Usually, this was done by sacrificing several barrels of oil to extract the gas. Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) is a more expensive option compared to a gas lift method. The reason is most of these fields are not designed to accommodate ESP electricity and space requirements. Some equipment needs to be improved before ESP installation. Because of this, the team were considering new technology such as Thru Tubing Electrical Submersible Pump (TTESP) for a cheaper option. With the study and implementation as per above, the fields able to prolong its production until the end of Production Sharing Contract (PSC). This proactive approach has maintained the fields’ production with The paper seeks to present on the challenges, root cause analysis and the lessons learned from the subsequent improvement activities. The lessons learned will be applicable to oil fields with similar situations to further improve the fields’ production.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullatif Al-Majdli ◽  
Carlos Caicedo Martinez ◽  
Sarah Al-Dughaishem

Abstract Oil production in North Kuwait (NK) asset highly relies on artificial lift systems. The predominant method of artificial lift in NK is electrical submersible pump (ESP). Corrosion is one of the major issues for wells equipped with ESP in NK field. Over 20% of the all pulled ESPs in 2019 and 2020 in NK field were due to corrosion of the completion or the ESP string. With an increase in ESP population in NK, a proactive corrosion mitigation is essential to reduce the number of ESP wells requiring workover. Historic data of the pulled ESPs in NK revealed that most of the corrosion cases were found in the tubing as opposed to the ESP components. Although there are multiple factors that can cause corrosion in NK, the driving force was identified to be the presence of CO2 (sweet corrosion). Corrosion rates have been enhanced by other factors such as stray current and galvanic couples. In this paper, multiple methods have been suggested to minimize and prevent the corrosion issue such as selecting the optimal completion and ESP metallurgy (ex. corrosion resistant alloy), installing internally glass reinforced epoxy lined carbon steel tubing, and installing a sacrificial anode whenever applicable.


Author(s):  
Jorge Luiz Biazussi ◽  
Cristhian Porcel Estrada ◽  
William Monte Verde ◽  
Antonio Carlos Bannwart ◽  
Valdir Estevam ◽  
...  

A notable trend in the realm of oil production in harsh environments is the increasing use of Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) systems. ESPs have even been used as an artificial-lift method for extracting high-viscosity oils in deep offshore fields. As a way of reducing workover costs, an ESP system may be installed at the well bottom or on the seabed. A critical factor, however, in deep-water production is the low temperature at the seabed. In fact, these low temperatures constitute the main source for many flow-assurance problems, such as the increase in friction losses due to high viscosity. Oil viscosity impacts pump performance, reducing the head and increasing the shaft power. This study investigates the influence of a temperature increase of ultra-heavy oil on ESP performance and the heating effect through a 10-stage ESP. Using several flow rates, tests are performed at four rotational speeds and with four viscosity levels. At each rotational speed curve, researchers keep constant the inlet temperature and viscosity. The study compares the resulting data with a simple heat model developed to estimate the oil outlet temperature as functions of ESP performance parameters. The experimental data is represented by a one-dimensional model that also simulates a 100-stage ESP. The simulations demonstrate that as the oil heat flows through the pump, the pump’s efficiency increases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (03) ◽  
pp. 46-47
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 201135, “Challenges in ESP Operation in Ultradeepwater Heavy-Oil Atlanta Field,” by Alexandre Tavares, Paulo Sérgio Rocha, SPE, and Marcelo Paulino Santos, Enauta, et al., prepared for the 2020 SPE Virtual Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition - Americas, 10-12 November. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Atlanta is a post-salt offshore oil field in the Santos Basin, 185 km southeast of Rio de Janeiro. The combination of ultradeep water (1550 m) and heavy, viscous oil creates a challenging scenario for electrical submersible pump (ESP) applications. The complete paper discusses the performance of an ESP system using field data and software simulations. Introduction From initial screening to define the best artificial-lift method for the Atlanta Field’s requirements, options such as hydraulic pumps, hydraulic submersible pumps, multiphase pumps, ESPs, and gas lift (GL) were considered. Analysis determined that the best primary system was one using an in-well ESP with GL as backup. After an initial successful drillstem test (DST) with an in-well ESP, the decision was made, for the second DST, to install the test pump inside the riser, near seabed depth. It showed good results; comparison of oil-production potential between the pump installed inside a structure at the seabed—called an artificial lift skid (ALS)—and GL suggested that the latter would prove uneconomical. The artificial lift development concept is shown in Fig. 1. ESP Design ESP sizing was performed with a commercial software and considered available information on reservoir, completion, subsea, and topsides. To ensure that the ESP chosen would meet production and pressure boosts required in the field, base cases were built and analyzed for different moments of the field’s life. The cases considered different productivity indexes (PI), reservoir pressures, and water production [and consequently water cut (WC)] as their inputs. The design considers using pumps with a best efficiency point (BEP) for water set at high flow rates (17,500 B/D for in-well and 34,000 B/D for ALS). Thus, when the pumps deal with viscous fluid, the curve will have a BEP closer to the current operating point. Design boundaries of the in-well ESP and the ALS are provided in the complete paper, as are some of the operational requirements to be implemented in the ESP design to minimize risk. Field Production History In 2014, two wells were drilled, tested, and completed with in-well ESP as the primary artificial lift method. Because of delays in delivery of a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO), the backup (ALS) was not installed until January 2018. In May 2018, Atlanta Field’s first oil was achieved through ATL-2’s in-well ESP. After a few hours operating through the in-well ESP, it prematurely failed, and the ALS of this well was successfully started up. Fifteen days after first oil, ATL-3’s in-well ESP was started up, but, as occurred with ATL-2, failed after a short period. Its ALS was successfully started up, and both wells produced slightly more than 1 year in that condition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Gomaa S

Artificial Lift is a very essential tool to increase the oil production rate or lift the oil column in the wellbore up to the surface. Artificial lift is the key in case of bottom hole pressure is not sufficient to produce oil from the reservoir to the surface. So, a complete study is carried to select the suitable type of artificial lift according to the reservoir and wellbore conditions like water production, sand production, solution gas-oil ratio, and surface area available at the surface. Besides, the maintenance cost and volume of produced oil have an essential part in the selection of the type of artificial lift tool. Artificial lift tools have several types such as Sucker Rod Pump, Gas Lift, Hydraulic Pump, Progressive Cavity Pump, Jet Pump, and Electrical Submersible Pump. All these types require specific conditions for subsurface and surface parameters to apply in oil wells. This paper will study the Electrical Submersible Pump “ESP” which is considered one of the most familiar types of artificial lifts in the whole world. Electrical Submersible Pump “ESP” is the most widely used for huge oil volumes. In contrast, ESP has high maintenance and workover cost. Finally, this paper will discuss a case study for the Electrical Submersible pump “ESP” design in an oil well. This case study includes the entire well and reservoir properties involving fluid properties to be applied using Prosper software. The results of the design model will impact oil productivity and future performance of oil well.


Author(s):  
Rycha Melysa

The condition of a well if it is produced continuously will cause reservoir pressure to fall, and the flow rate will also go down, as a result the productivity of the well will also decrease. For this reason, there is a need for energy that can help lift fluid up to the surface. In the primary method there are 2 stages of production, namely natural flow where oil is raised directly through the tubing surface, and artificial lift is the method of obtaining oil by using the aid of additional tools. In the oil industry there are various types of artificial lifts, one of which is an electric submersible pump (ESP).   Electric Submersible Pump is an electric pump that is immersed into a liquid. This pump is made on the basis of a multilevel centrifugal pump where each level has an impeller and iffuser which aims to push the fluid to the surface. ESP planning is strongly influenced by the roductivity of production wells. The rate of fluid production influences the selection of pump type and size. This is because each pump has its own production rate based on the type and size of each pump used.   In the course of producing oil, there will certainly be a problem that will cause a decline in production, therefore it is necessary to evaluate and redesign the ESP pump, in an effort to optimize the production potential of these wells. In this study an evaluation of the performance of the electrical submersible pump will be carried out and a pump redesigned to optimize production using AutographPC software on the well X in the field Y Kondisi suatu sumur jika diproduksikan terus-menerus akan mengakibatkan tekananreservoir turun, dan laju alir akan turun pula, akibatnya produktivitas sumur akan turunjuga. Untuk itu perlu adanya tenaga yang dapat membantu mengangkat fluida sampaikepermukaan. Dalam metode primer terdapat 2 tahapan produksi yaitu natural flowdimana minyak terangkat kepermukaan langsung melalu tubing, dan artificial liftmerupakan metode perolehan minyak dengan menggunakan bantuan alat tambahan.Dalam dunia perminyakan ada berbagai macam jenis pengangkatan buatan salahsatunya adalah electric submersible pump (ESP). Electric Submersibel Pump merupakan pompa listrik yang dibenamkan kedalam cairan.Pompa ini dibuat atas dasar pompa sentrifugal bertingkat banyak dimana setiap tingkatmempunyai impeller dan diffuser yang bertujuan untuk mendorong fluida kepermukaan.Perencanaan ESP sangat dipengaruhi oleh produktivitas sumur produksi. Laju produksifluida berpengaruh terhadap pemilihan jenis dan ukuran pompa. Hal ini dikarenakantiap-tiap pompa memiliki laju produksi sendiri berdasarkan jenis dan ukuran tiap- tiappompa yang dipakai. Dalam kegiatan memproduksikan minyak tentu suatu saat akan terjadi permasalahanyang mengakibatkan menurunnya produksi, Oleh karena itu perlu dilaksanakan evaluasidan design ulang pompa ESP, sebagai upaya untuk mengoptimalkan potensi produksisumur-sumur tersebut. Pada penelitian ini akan dilakukan evaluasi kinerja electricalsubmersible pump dan melakukan desain ulang pompa untuk optimasi produksidengan menggunakan software AutographPC pada sumur X lapangan y Kata kunci: electric submersible pump, AutographPC, laju produksi


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 3799-3814
Author(s):  
Sherif Fakher ◽  
Abdelaziz Khlaifat ◽  
M. Enamul Hossain ◽  
Hashim Nameer

AbstractArtificial lift is a vital part of the life of many oil wells worldwide. Using several artificial lift methods can prolong the life of the wells and increase oil recovery significantly. One of the most applied artificial lift methods nowadays is the electrical submersible pump (ESP). This artificial lift method has the ability to handle large volumes of hydrocarbons and is applicable under many conditions in both offshore and onshore reservoirs. Even though ESP has been applied extensively for many years, it still suffers from many failures due to electrical, mechanical, and operational problems associated with the ESP downhole assembly. Understanding the main reasons behind ESP failures and how to rapidly and effectively avoid and mitigate these failures is imperative to reduce cost and damage and improve operational and rig-personal safety. This research performs a comprehensive review on ESP failure mechanisms and analyzes these failures in order to determine the optimum conditions to operate the ESP. This can help minimize and avoid these failures. Also, should these failures occur, the research proposes several mitigation methods for each failure based on analysis of different field cases worldwide.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teguh Rachman Hidayat ◽  
Fajar Kurniawan ◽  
Jalu Waskito Aji Nugroho ◽  
Aris Tristianto Wibowo ◽  
Panji Ikhlasul Amal ◽  
...  

Abstract Finding new oil and gas that can be developed economically is getting more difficult and challenging today. To meet the oil and gas demand, it is therefore important to focus on the existing and already developed assets by applying new and more efficient technology and optimizing the use of existing equipment to increase production performance of the asset thus better recovery. Sangasanga Field as mature oil field of Pertamina EP is producing its oil by the assistance of artificial lift. The artificial lifts applied in Sangasanga field are Sucker Rod Pump (SRP), Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) and Hydraulic Pumping Unit (HPU) where SRP dominates with 84 units installed while ESP and HPU are 25 units and 15 units respectively. According to the data of well service work history from 2018 to 2020, the failure of SRP and HPU was quite high. The main problem observed were the occurrence of leaking tubing and broken sucker rods. The study gathered the occurrence of failure and a method so called "WEAR PREDICT 99" was created to estimate SRP's buckling point and lifetime. WEAR PREDICT 99 is a correlation derived from comparing neutral point calculated from formula with actual leak data of broken pipe or suction rod. The correlation then used for predicting the buckling point that represents the probable location of the leaking pipe or damaged suction rod. This correlation allows to predict when and where the sucker rod will leak or break, therefore preventive measures to increase the lifetime of the SRP and HPU wells can be taken.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Alfajri ◽  
Herbert Sipahutar ◽  
Heru Irianto ◽  
Harry Kananta ◽  
Catur Sunawan Balya ◽  
...  

Abstract Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) is an artificial lift that often associated with big production rate, which is at least 300 bbls/day. ESP also has limitation in handling unconsolidated sand reservoir, high GOR wells, and minimum casing ID. As technology flourished, these handicaps for an ESP well are no longer valid. A breakthrough was established for ESP utilization. However people's perception of ESP persists. Extreme well ESP is changing that perception. There are three types of extreme well ESP: high solid content, high GOR, and slim-line ESP. High solid content ESP has open impellers. This type of impeller creates no space between impeller and diffuser, hence no solids accumulation. Multiphase pump (MPP) is used to handle high GOR problem. MPP stage design has axial screw type impeller and gas handling diffuser. Gas from reservoir fluid will be compressed and broken into smaller bubbles resulting in homogenous gas-liquid mixture, hence no gas lock during production. For well with small casing ID e.g., 4-1/2" casing, slim-line ESP with 3.19" outside diameter is utilized. These three types of extreme well ESP were all utilized in Central Sumatera Asset of Pertamina EP. High solid content ESPs were installed in five wells (MJ-134, MJ-132, MJ-128, STT-25, and KTT-23) in four different structures with production range of 30 to 1200 bbls/day. Basic Sediment (BS) number in this asset varies from 0.1% up to 40%, which results in suspending wells and repeating well services. In wells MJ-134, high solid content ESP was able to produce up to 50% BS number at the beginning of production. It showed excellent lifting capability in severe sand problem condition. While in wells STT-25 and KTT-23, utilizing high solid content ESP increases well's lifetime and generates gain in production. High GOR ESPs were installed in wells PPS-01 and SGC-15. Both wells has around 2000 scf/stb GOR. Conventional ESP would have a hard time producing these gassy wells. By using MPP, well PPS-01 produced smoothly and even later optimized to have bigger production. Producing well SGC-15 faced another handicap in form of scale deposition. Scale preventer was also installed for this well. Slim-line ESP was installed in well BJG-01 that has 4-1/2" casing. Grossing up the wells with slim-line ESP contributes production gain. Since October 2019 this project has produced cumulative production of 56,199 bbls oil and counting, and been considered successful in solving extreme well problems. Being proven able to handle high BS number, high GOR, and produce well with small casing size, extreme well ESP is altering old mindset in ESP utilization. All of handicaps mentioned above were redeemed obsolete. This breakthrough starts the dawn of new perception in artificial lift selection.


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