Understanding ESP Performance Under High Viscous Applications and Emulsion Production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Pastre ◽  
Jorge Biazussi ◽  
William Monte Verde ◽  
Antonio Bannwart
Keyword(s):  
High Viscosity ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Artificial Lift ◽  
Controlled Environments ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Field Deployment

Abstract Although being widely used as an artificial lift method for heavy oil field developments, Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) performance in high viscous applications is not fully understood. In order to improve knowledge of pump behavior under such conditions, Equinor has developed stage qualification tests as part of the technical requirements for deploying ESPs in Peregrino Field located offshore Brazil and has funded a series of research efforts to better design and operate the system more efficiently. Qualification tests were made mandatory for every stage type prior to field deployment in Peregrino. It is known that the affinity laws don´t hold true for high viscosity applications. Therefore, extensive qualification tests are required to provide actual stage performance in high viscous applications. Test results are used to optimize ESP system design for each well selecting the most efficient stage type considering specific well application challenges. In addition, the actual pump performance improves accuracy in production allocation algorithms. A better understanding of ESP behavior in viscous fluid application helps improving oil production and allows ESP operation with higher efficiency, increasing system run life. Shear forces inside ESP stages generate emulsion that compromises ESP performance. Lab tests in controlled environments have helped Equinor to gather valuable information about emulsion formation and evaluate ESP performance in conditions similar to field application. Equinor has funded studies to better understand two-phase flow (oil-water) which allowed visualization and investigation of oil drops dynamics inside the impeller. In addition, experimental procedures were proposed to investigate the effective viscosity of emulsion at pump discharge and the phase inversion hysteresis in the transition water-oil and oil-water emulsion. In addition to qualification tests and research performed to better understand system behavior, Equinor has developed and improved procedures to operate ESP systems in high viscous applications with emulsion production during 10 years of operation in Peregrino field. Such conditions also impose challenges to ESP system reliability. Over the years, Equinor has peformed failure analysis to enhance ESP system robustness which, combined with upper completion design, have improved system operation and reliability decreasing operating costs in Peregrino field.

Indoor Study of Viscosity Reducer for Thickened Oil of Huancai

2012 ◽  
Vol 268-270 ◽  
pp. 547-550
Author(s):  
Qing Wang Liu ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Zhen Zhong Fan ◽  
Jiao Wang ◽  
Rui Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interfacial Tension ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Viscosity Reduction ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Viscosity Reducer ◽  
Oil Water

Liaohe oil field block 58 for Huancai, the efficiency of production of thickened oil is low, and the efficiency of displacement is worse, likely to cause other issues. Researching and developing an type of Heavy Oil Viscosity Reducer for exploiting. The high viscosity of W/O emulsion changed into low viscosity O/W emulsion to facilitate recovery, enhanced oil recovery. Through the experiment determine the viscosity properties of Heavy Oil Viscosity Reducer. The oil/water interfacial tension is lower than 0.0031mN•m-1, salt-resisting is good. The efficiency of viscosity reduction is higher than 90%, and also good at 180°C.

scholarly journals Flow Patterns Transition Law of Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow under a Wide Range of Oil Phase Viscosity Condition

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wang ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Kai Li ◽  
Chen Lou ◽  
Jing Gong
Keyword(s):  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Stratified Flow ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Intermittent Flow ◽  
Neutral Stability ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Oil Water

A systematic work on the prediction of flow patterns transition of the oil-water two-phase flows is carried out under a wide range of oil phase viscosities, where four main flow regimes are considered including stratified, dispersed, core-annular, and intermittent flow. For oil with a relatively low viscosity, VKH criterion is considered for the stability of stratified flow, and critical drop size model is distinguished for the transition of o/w and w/o dispersed flow. For oil with a high viscousity, boundaries of core-annular flow are based on criteria proposed by Bannwart and Strazza et al. and neutral stability law ignoring that the velocity of the viscous phase is introduced for stratified flow. Comparisons between predictions and quantities of available data in both low and high viscosity oil-water flow from literatures show a good agreement. The framework provides extensive information about flow patterns transition of oil-water two-phase flow for industrial application.

scholarly journals Laboratory studies of physico-chemical methods to break emulsions stabilized with surfactant-polymer cocktails

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 154-159
Author(s):  
Nataliya N. Tomchuk ◽  
Ekaterina A. Filatova ◽  
Daria S. Burakova ◽  
Mariam R. Karimova ◽  
Nikolay Yu. Tretyakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physicochemical Parameters ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
Well Production ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Water Cut

Introduction. Oil field treatment often makes it necessary to combine different methods of well production treatment, taking into account the development regimes and parameters, produced and injected fluids, technical equipment and economic feasibility. The carried-out complex of laboratory tests is aimed at the creation and subsequent destruction of model systems with specified parameters. The list of the considered methods and the temperature regime of the tests are due to the physicochemical parameters and the field specifics. The purpose of this article is to search for an effective method for the primary treatment of well production after SP-flooding — a highly stable oil-water emulsion, additionally stabilized during pumping by means of an ESP. Materials and methods. The laboratory tests helped to develop an optimal mode of creating an artificial emulsion based on oil from BS10-1 reservoir of the Kholmogorsk field in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and a surfactant-polymer cocktail, which simulates well production after SP-flooding. The research tested physicochemical methods of destroying oil-water emulsions, such as their dilution with formation fluids, thermal settling, gravitational separation by centrifugation at RPM = 4000–12000 rpm, introduction of demulsifiers, as well as a combined effect, including all of the above approaches. The tested methods were supplied with the calculated values of the oil phase final water-cut, which allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of the applied approaches to the destruction of model systems. Results. It has been found that not all of the applied approaches provide the extraction of the estimated amount of oil from emulsion systems with varying degrees of dilution by formation fluids. Satisfactory destruction of the emulsion was achieved after 10–20 min of centrifugation at T = 40 °C and RPM within 4000–8000 rpm. The traditional introduction of industrial demulsifiers into the studied systems without additional influences is ineffective. Conclusion. The optimal level of water cut in the oil phase of ≤5% was achieved after diluting the emulsion with formation fluids, with a combined approach to the destruction of the original and diluted emulsion with formation fluids. In addition, the research showed that it is possible to re-use the extracted SP-composition when controlling its physicochemical parameters, taking into account the effect of the introduced additives.

scholarly journals ANALYSIS OF DAMAGE ROD STRING COMPONENTS IN SUCKER ROD PUMP IN THE FIELD SS

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Fitrianti Fitrianti ◽  
Anwar Haryono
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Oil ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Stroke Length ◽  
Pump Speed ◽  
Artificial Lift ◽  
Sucker Rod ◽  
Sucker Rod Pump ◽  
High Viscosity Oil ◽  
Viscosity Fluid

Field SS is a Heavy Oil field which means high viscosity oil making it difficult to flow. Therefore, artificial lift was used in this field to help lifting the high viscosity fluid, i.e. sucker rod pump (SRP). In the last several years, problem of the damage to the rod string was frequently occur. Rod string damage is usually indicated by the occurrence of broken or detached components. In order to overcome the damage of rod string components on the sucker rod pump, several parameters that causes rod string damage in 41 well samples in the field SS were analyzed and then recommendations were made as an alternative to minimize the occurrence of rod string damage. After analyzing the parameters that can cause rod string damage on 41 well samples in SS field, the cause of the breakdown of rod string is fluid pounding for 37 samples well, while the causes for 4 samples of other wells is not detected. After that, recommendation efforts is done, like size down pump speed and stroke length for 9 samples of wells, size down pump size and pump speed for 6 samples of wells and size down pump speed for 22 samples well. As for the undetected cause 4 samples of wells, is recommended to do proactive well service.

scholarly journals Investigation of outlet diameter effect on emulsion separation efficiency in rectangular separators

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1232-1242
Author(s):  
I. N. Madyshev ◽  
V. E. Zinurov ◽  
A. V. Dmitriev ◽  
Xuan Vinh Dang ◽  
G. R. Badretdinova
Keyword(s):  
Separation Efficiency ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Water System ◽  
Complete Separation ◽  
Correct Selection ◽  
Technological Parameters ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
Emulsion Separation ◽  
Oil Water

The purpose of the study is to conduct experimental studies of oil -water emulsion separation in a rectangular separator in the range of velocities along the device working area from 1.43 to 2.5 m/s. The efficiency of emulsion separation is determined by an experimental method based on measuring the density of a two-phase liquid, provided that the density of each component of the mixture is previously determined. The authors propose to use a device with U-shaped elements to increase its performance when separating oil-water emulsions. The device under study including two rows of U-shaped elements consists of one complete separation stage. The authors have conducted experimental studies of the device with U-shaped elements on the "oil-water" system, during which the efficiency of emulsion separation was evaluated. It was detemined that the proposed device provides the highest efficiency of emulsion separation of 68% when the diameter of the holes intended for the exit of the heavy phase equals to 2.5 mm in the range of emulsion velocities from 1.43 to 2.5 m/s. The conducted experimental studies will allow to use a turbulence model for calculation in the programs like Ansys Fluent or FlowVision, which will most adequately describe the separation process of similar emulsions. The experiments have proved the possibility of obtaining high values of efficiency. Therefore, the correct selection of technological parameters (average flow rate, concentration) and the size of the characteristic elements of the proposed device will allow to specify the design of a rectangular separator, for example, to calculate the number of stages to achieve the required separation efficiency or to determine the size of the separation elements.

scholarly journals Study of Influences of Fracture Additives on Stability of Crude Oil Emulsion

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-128
Author(s):  
Hongbo Fang ◽  
Mingxia Wang ◽  
Xiaoyun Liu ◽  
Weinan Jin ◽  
Xiangyang Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interfacial Tension ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Stable Emulsion ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
High Efficient ◽  
Fracture Fluid ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
The Stability

Background: A hydraulic fracture is a key technology to increase production of the low permeability oil fields. Fracture additives such as gels, friction reducers, pH adjusters and clay stabilizers were injected into the underground. While more than 50% of the fracture fluid remains underground. The residue of fracture fluid comes out with the produced liquid (a mixture of crude oil and water) in the subsequent oil recovery process, which results in a highly stable crude oil-water emulsion. Objective: The stability and stable mechanism of the emulsion with fracture fluid have been experimentally investigated. Materials and Methods: The influences of fracture additives and components of crude oil on the stability of emulsion were investigated by bottle test and microscopic examination. The interfacial tension and modulus of dilation were explored by a spinning drop interfacial tension meter and an interface expansion rheometer, respectively. Results: The fracture additives played the key role on the emulsion stability. On one hand, the interface energy of oil-water was reduced by friction reducer (IFT was decreased from 24.0 mN/m to 1.9 mN/m), which was a favor for the formation of an emulsion. On the other hand, the dilational modulus of crude oil-water film was increased by hydroxypropyl guar and pH adjuster (Na2CO3) to form a viscoelastic film, which resulted in a highly stable emulsion. Conclusion: The residual fracture fluid accompanied by produced liquid resulted in a highly stable emulsion. The emulsion with fracture additives was difficult to be broken, which may affect the normal production of the oil field. A positive strategy such as developing demulsifier with high efficient should be put onto the schedule.

Single-Phase Model for Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) Head Performance

SPE Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 80-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Datong Sun ◽  
Mauricio G. Prado
Keyword(s):  
Single Phase ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Phase Model ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pump Performance ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Artificial Lift

Summary This paper presents a new incompressible single-phase model for ESP head performance. Sachdeva (1988, 1994) and Cooper and Bosch (1966) developed models for ESP channels and for inducers, respectively. The model presented in this paper is based on 1D approximation along an ESP channel. The new derived pressure ordinary differential equation (ODE) for frictionless incompressible flow (Bird 1960) is consistent with the pump Euler equation. New models for pump frictional and shock losses have been proposed. Finally, a comparison between the predicted pump performance and the pump performances derived from the affinity law for different rotational speeds is presented. The single-phase model can predict ESP performance under different fluid viscosities and also is the basis of a gas/liquid model for ESP head performance. Introduction ESPs are dynamic multistage devices that use kinetic energy to increase liquid pressure. The relationship between the head developed by the pump and the flow rate through the pump for a certain rotational speed is usually known as the pumphead performance curve. This curve is experimentally determined by the pump manufacturer using water as the working fluid. As a consequence, published pumphead performance curves can be used for any other low-viscosity, single-phase liquid, independent of its density. Pump performance, however, is significantly affected by the presence of free gas or high-viscosity fluids. The U. of Tulsa Artificial Lift Projects (TUALP) is currently conducting experimental as well as theoretical research to improve the understanding of pump performance when handling viscous fluids and two-phase flow mixtures at different pump rotational speeds. A better understanding of the pump performance under those conditions will certainly contribute to a reduction in the uncertainty of engineering tools for the selection, design, and operation of ESPs in more challenging applications. This paper presents the new single-phase model developed for the prediction of an ESP's performance. The model consists of the mass and momentum equations, based on the streamline approach or 1D assumption. In the momentum equations, the calculation of the friction factor proposed by Sachdeva is improved by incorporating the channel curvature, channel rotation, and channel cross-sectional effects. A new shock loss model, including rotational speeds, has been proposed. The new single-phase model is capable of predicting the pump performance for different pump rotational speeds and for different fluid viscosities.

scholarly journals Development of Energy-Efficient Equipment and Technology for Environmentally Friendly Microwave Processing of Oil Sludge

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1683-1687
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Dipole Moments ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Microwave Processing ◽  
Oil Sludge ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
Production Wastes ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Low Efficiency

The article proposes the technology of low-temperature microwave separation of oil-water emulsion in the oil sludge processing. Currently used the most common methods for oil sludge processing, with low efficiency and high cost, have a number of other disadvantages, the main ones being the burning of “useful” hydrocarbons, the formation of large amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases, low productivity, inapplicability to high viscosity emulsions. At the present time, one of the promising technologies in the oil and refining industries is considered to be high-frequency and microwave processing of hydrocarbon compounds for stable emulsions separation during primary processing of oil, disposal of petrochemical production wastes. In this case, the separation of the emulsion phases occurs mainly due to heating, which requires the use of powerful (tens of kW) microwave generators, therefore, many of the above disadvantages still remain. To determine the parameters of the microwave field, we proposed the mathematical model that relates the electric field strength to the known dipole moments of coupled charges and electronic, atomic, and relaxation (orientational) polarizability. It is shown, that the required power does not exceed 100 W. The experimental check on the test unit with a video recording of microwave processing with a power of 2 W for 2 minutes showed the adequacy of the proposed model. Thus, the possibility of low-temperature microwave separation of oil-water emulsions is proved in the work. Implementation of the proposed approach will eliminate the disadvantages of existing methods for the separation of oil-water emulsions during oil sludge processing.

scholarly journals Experimental and CFD modelling of a Progressive Cavity Pump using overset unstructured mesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 321 ◽  
pp. 02014
Author(s):  
Deisy Becerra ◽  
Miguel Asuaje ◽  
Alexander Zambrano ◽  
Nicolás Ratkovich
Keyword(s):  
Gas Flow ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Cfd Model ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Cfd Modelling ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Artificial Lift ◽  
Phase Liquid

A Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP) is widely used in industry as an artificial lift method because of its high efficiency during the pumping of high viscosity fluids and two-phase liquid-gas flow slurries. However, modelling PCP through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is quite complicated since it requires a meshing algorithm and is computationally expensive. Therefore, this study's main objective is to develop a CFD model capable of predicting a progressive cavity pump's behavior by implementing the Overset Mesh, which includes the relative motion between the rotor and the stator. Overset meshes are used to discretize a computational domain with several different meshes that arbitrarily overlap each other. They are most useful because the rotor geometry can be enclosed in a fluid (background) region and set to different positions. The PCP analyzed in this study is a GRP 4.0-4000 208 TSL 1-2 mono-lobe, which contains an API J55 stainless steel rotor and stator handling four Newtonian fluids (water, oil API 11, oil API 22, and oil API 31) at three rotational speeds (100 rpm, 150 rpm, and 200 rpm). The experimental data presented in this paper was collected in the PCP experimental facility of the SLACOL BCP Group (Tenjo, Colombia). All the measurements were made using the CILA2S controller for artificial lifting in the underground and on the surface to determine the operational curves of flowrate, volumetric efficiency, torque, and power consumed. The CFD model implementation was developed on Star- CCM+ version 15.02-R8 of 2020 for laminar and turbulent regimens. The results obtained through this study show that it is unnecessary to program a structured mesh to capture a progressive cavity pump's performance since the operational parameters evaluated to have an accuracy of 10% concerning the experimental data.Similarly, capturing the viscous effect near the wall and the transversal y horizontal slip inside the cavities is possible. The flow rate obtained for higher viscosity oils is more significant for the same pressure differences for water with average volumetric efficiencies of 85%. Finally, the pressure increase per stage is homogeneous along the pump's entire length for all fluids evaluated

Experiment Research of Phase Inversion in Mineral Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in Horizontal Pipe

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wang ◽  
Jing Gong
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Phase Inversion ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Mineral Oil ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Horizontal Pipe ◽  
Horizontal Pipes ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Flow Phenomena ◽  
Oil Water

In oil-water two-phase dispersed flow, phase inversion may occur when the continuous phase becomes dispersed. This phenomenon, which controls the nature of the phase in contact with the pipe, has a great importance on the corrosion and on the pressure drop, which dramatically affects the delivery ability and operational modality. It is therefore imperative for the phase inversion research to be taken into consideration. However, most of the knowledge on phase inversion is for light mineral oil with low viscosity, few research focuses on high viscosity oil-water phase inversion. Arirachakaran et al. (1989, “An Analysis of Oil/Water Flow Phenomena in Horizontal Pipes,” SPE Professional Product Operating Symposium, Oklahoma, SPE Paper No. 18836) found that critical water fraction when inversion occurred was dramatically reduced with the increment of oil viscosity, and the existing phase inversion models are invalidated. In this paper, an experimental study has been made of high viscosity mineral oil-water flow through a horizontal pipe loop. Results indicate that phase inversion for oil phase with high viscosity occurs much earlier than low viscosity oil, and phase inversion tends to be delayed, with the increment in experimental temperature. The influence of mixture velocities on the inversion process could be neglected in the range of mixture velocities that we studied. As well, inversion point obtain by our experiment are best predicted by the correlation of Arirachakaran et al. (1989, “An Analysis of Oil/Water Flow Phenomena in Horizontal Pipes,” SPE Professional Product Operating Symposium, Oklahoma, SPE Paper No. 18836). Models of Decarre and Fabre (1997, “Phase Inversion Prediction Study,” Rev. Inst. Fr. Pet., 52, pp. 415–424) and Braunerand Ullmann (2002, “Modeling of Phase Inversion Phenomenon in Two-Phase Pipe Flows,” Int. J. Multiph. Flow, 28, pp. 1177–1204), based on minimization of system total energy, seem to be invalidated for high viscosity oil.

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