Noor Ilyana Ismail

Petroleum Engineering Department

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
ilyana.Ismail@petronas.com.my
+05-3687884

PCB4063/PDB4043 Production Engineering I

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

Identify principal components of an ESP system

Use Pump Performance Curve to determine dPpump or
pressure difference generated by the system
Calculate pump power required to run the system
 Electric submersible pumps (ESPs) are a widely used artificial
lift method, particularly for heavier or low GOR oils.

They generally can produce wells at significantly higher rates

than gas-lift (50,000+ BFPD) and are especially suitable for
mature fields with high watercut and declining reservoir
pressures.

ESPs have been used since the 1930s and manufacturing

technology has evolved greatly since then to extend their
application in a range of harsh operating environments (subsea,
sandy, gassy, high temperature etc.)
A pump operates by the rotation of impellers inside fixed
diffusers (together referred to as a pump stage) which generates
potential energy (or head)

This energy is realised in the wellbore as a pressure difference (or

pump P) which lowers Pwf and increases reservoir drawdown
Thus, the standard outflow equation for wellbore pressure loss still
applies, but with the subtraction of this pump pressure difference:

The pump P can be increased by turning the impellers faster (i.e.

higher rpm) which is achieved by increasing the power supply
frequency.
The head generated by a pump stage of a particular size
normally depends only on the flowrate passing through the stage
and the speed of rotation (rpm).

This is expressed in the pump performance curve as provided by

the manufacturers:
The pressure developed by the pump is equal to the head times
density:
Ppump = Head * Density
[psi] [ft] [psi/ft]

The input power consumed by the pump is relatively constant

across the range of operation. Note that the power (HP) shown in
the pump performance curve is for pure water (S.G. = 1). Multiply
by actual density to obtain the correct power requirement.

The pump flowrate is for conditions at the pump, i.e. the units are
rb/d or m3/d but NOT stb/d.
The pump recommended operating range is shown in the yellow
band. It is determined by efficiency and by the mechanical
operation of the impellers. Too much flow pushes the impellers
upwards and causes upthrust. Too little flow has the opposite
effect and causes downthrust.

Peak efficiency is generally in the middle of the pump operating

range (also called best efficiency point or BEP). Efficiency
decreases dramatically at either very low or very high flowrates
and operation in this condition will lead to severe pump
overheating probably followed by failure of the electrical cable.
An ESP system is made up of five principal components:
A multistage centrifugal pump consisting of rotating
impellers and fixed diffusers
A high speed ( 3500 rpm) three-phase electric
motor filled with dielectric oil
A seal section (or protector which isolates well
fluids from the motor and accommodates shaft
movement
A three conductor electric cable which runs through
the wellhead down to the motor
A power supply system at surface (generator,
transformer, variable frequency drive)
 An ESP is a permanent installation, usually set on the
end of tubing as deep in the well as possible.

Once the ESP fails, a full scale well workover is

required to replace it.

Good design, installation and operating practices are

essential to ensure long run lives (2 years+).
A schematic representation of the ESP system is shown below:
 Pump stages can be either radial flow (lower flowrates,
generally < 3000 rb/d) or mixed flow (higher flowrates,
generally > 3000 rb/d).

ESP manufacturers do not make axial flow impellers, due to

their low head per stage, but these are used in the hydraulic
submersible pump (HSP) which is powered by a water driven
downhole turbine. Their key advantage is the ability to handle
large gas volumes.
Radial flow Mixed flow Axial flow
Impeller Impeller Impeller
An ESP generates head by the movement of fluids through the impeller
and diffuser.
This movement changes kinetic energy (i.e. movement) into potential
energy (head).
The head generated depends on:
speed of rotation of impeller (rpm)
flowrate of fluids through the impeller
size (diameter) and shape (radial flow vs. mixed flow type)
viscosity of fluids through the impeller
amount of gas flowing through impeller
other mechanical factors such as wear
reverse rotation (caused by incorrect electrical wiring connections)
Radial Flow Pump
Mixed Flow Pump
For both design and diagnosis, the ESP should always be
considered as part of the whole well system.

Three major system components, mechanical, hydraulic and

electrical:
Mechanical Packer, tubing size and material, bypass, corrosion, scale,
dual ESPs, casing ID, dogleg severity, deviation, seal
Hydraulic Reservoir performance (Pr and PI), sand, scale, fluid
properties, gas, solids deposition (wax, asphaltenes),
watercut development, flow correlations, pump, monitoring
Electrical Power supply quality, transformer tappings, variable speed
drives, harmonics, filters, cable, wellhead and packer
penetrators, splices, pothead, motor, monitoring
For pump design we need dPpump converted to head (ft) and
downhole flowrate (rb/day).

dPpump (psi) = Head (ft) * density (psi/ft)

Downhole flowrate (rb/day)

= Qoil (stbo/d) * Bo
The following is the setting parameters for an ESP installation in a
well.
Flow rate 10,500 stbl/day

Oil volume factor, Bo 1.7 rb/stb

Water volume factor, Bw 1.04 rb/stb

Water cut 50%

No. of pump stages 100

Oil gravity 25 API

Water density 1.08 SG

Calculate:

(i) the total Flowrate (rb/d)

(ii) the SG of oil and the Mixture density (psi/ft)

(iii) the dPpump

(iv) the Horsepower required

Thank You