What Is An Electric Submersible Pump?: Artificial Lift Systems
What Is An Electric Submersible Pump?: Artificial Lift Systems
What Is An Electric Submersible Pump?: Artificial Lift Systems
One effective and versatile method of artificial lift is the electric submersible
pump.
Producers may choose to use an ESP system because they are quiet, safe
and only require a small surface footprint.
They have a wide range of pump rate operation and can accommodate
changes in fluid properties and flow rates over the life of the well. They’re
also applicable in many corrosive environments.
ESP SYSTEMS SIMPLIFIED
An ESP system consists of multiple stages of centrifugal pumps which are
connected to a submersible electric motor. The motor is powered by heavy
duty cables connected to surface controls.
The motor rotates the shaft which is connected to the pump. The spinning
impellers draw in fluid through the pump intake, pressurizing it and lifting it
to the surface.
Electric Motor
Seal-chamber
The seal-chamber isolates and protects the motor from damaging well
fluids and equalizes the pressure in the wellbore with the oil pressure inside
the motor.
It also absorbs the axial thrust produced by the pump and dissipates the
heat that the thrust bearing generates.
The shaft connects the motor to the pump impellers through the seal-
chamber. The shaft is designed to be as small in diameter as possible
without compromising its strength; this allows greater volumes to pass
through the pump intake.
There are different shaft materials for varying corrosive and erosive
resistance, horsepower requirements and tensile strength.
The pump intake is where the well fluid enters the submersible pump and is
directed into the impellers. Different types of intakes are used depending
on fluid properties, particularly the gas-liquid ratio (GLR). Standard designs
do not separate gas and are therefore used in wells that produce a very low
gas-to-liquid ratio.
To separate gas in a well stream with relatively high GLR, producers use
either a reverse-flow or rotary pump intake.
Power cable
The power cable delivers the required power to the ESP motor from the
surface. It will be banded or strapped to the production tubing in intervals
from below the wellhead to the motor to support its weight and keep
mechanical wear from occurring.
check Valve
A check valve may be threaded into the tubing, a few joints above the
pump. It is installed to keep the tubing above the pump full of liquid when
the pump is not operating.
Controller
The ESP controller maintains the proper flow of electricity to the pump
motor. Depending on the application, variable speed or soft-start
controllers are used.
A variable speed drive (VSD) can be either manual or automated.
An automated VSD reads the downhole data recorded by the SCADA
system and adjusts the motor speed to optimize production rates.
The VSD allows the pump to be operated continuously or
intermittently.
A soft-start controller operates at only one speed. To prevent the
motor from being under a heavy load at the start, it slowly brings the
pump motor up to its designed operation speed and maintains that
single speed.
The motor rotates the shaft which is connected to the pump. The spinning
impellers draw in fluid through the pump intake, pressurizing it and lifting it
to the surface.
An inverted discharge design is configured the same, with the exception
that the pump stages are inverted to pump fluids into the well formation
from the surface. This configuration is typically used for injection of water
into disposal wells.