PET 332E Production Engineering

&
Surface Facilities

An Introduction
to
Artificial Lift Methods
Production mechanisms :: 1

Most oil reservoirs are volumetric type reservoirs.

The driving mechanism for volumetric type reservoirs is the

expansion of solution gas due to pressure decrease because of
fluid production.

Most oil wells will eventually cease economical production of

petroleum due to decreased level of energy in the reservoir.

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Production mechanisms :: 2

Decrease in the reservoir energy may be replenished by

1. Natural drive mechanisms (water drive and/or gas cap drive)

2. Pressure maintenance mechanisms (water flooding, gas

injection)

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Artificial lift methods :: 1

The only way to obtain a high production rate under declining reservoir
pressure from a well is to reduce bottom-hole pressure with artificial lift
methods.
Approximately half of the oil wells worldwide use one of the following
artificial lift methods :
1. Sucker rod pumping
2. Gas lift
3. Electrical submersible pumping
4. Hydraulic piston pumping
5. Hydraulic jet pumping
6. Plunger lift
7. Progressing cavity pumping
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Artificial lift methods :: 2

To decide which type of artificial lift method is suitable (optimal)

for a given well depends on the reservoir, fluid, well and surface
facility characteristics.

Proper selection of an artificial lift method for a given production

system requires a thorough understanding of the hole system.

Since the number of parameters are many, deciding which artificial

lift method should be in a specific well is an optimization problem.

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Share of artificial lift methods in the world oil
production
Sucker rod pumping :: 1

Sucker road pumping is also referred to as “ beam pumping ”. It

provides necessary mechanical energy to lift oil column from
bottom hole to surface. It is simple, efficient and relatively easy to
operate for oilfield people.
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Sucker rod pumping :: advantages

Sucker road pumping can pump a well down to a very low

pressure to maximize oil production rate

It is applicable to slim holes, multiple completions and high

temperature and viscous oils

The system is also easy to change to other wells with minimum

cost
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Sucker rod pumping :: disadvantages

Excessive rod to tubing friction in crooked/deviated holes

Sensitivity of the download pump to produced solids

Low efficiency in gassy wells

Limited pumping depth due to rod capacity

Very bulky for offshore installations

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Sucker rod pumping system :: 1

A sucker road pumping system

consists of a pumping unit at
surface and a plunger pump
submerged in the production liquid
in the well.
The prime mover is either an
electric motor or an internal
combustion engine.
Power from the prime mover is
transmitted to the input shaft of a
gear reducer by a V-belt drive.

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Sucker rod pumping system :: 2

Output from the gear reducer

drives the crank arm at a lower
speed (~4 to 40 rpm) depending
on well characteristics, production
rate and fluid properties.
The rotary motion of the crank
arm is converted to an oscillatory
motion by means of the walking
beam through a pitman arm.

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Sucker rod pumping system :: 3

The horse's head and the hanger

cable arrangement is used to
ensure that the upward pull on the
sucker road string is always vertical.
The polished rod and stuffing
box combine to maintain a good
liquid seal at the surface.
Fluid flow from the well is forced
to the T connection just below
the stuffing box.

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Surface unit working ranges

Conventional pumping surface units are available in a wide range of

sizes with stroke lengths varying from 12 to ~200 in.

The different stroke lengths are achieved by varying the position of

the pitman arm connection on the crank arm.

Walking beam ratings are expressed in allowable polished rod loads

(PRLs). Allowable loads vary from approximately 3,000 to 35,000 lb.

Counterbalances are installed directly on the beam for small units. For
deeper wells the weights are placed directly on the rotating crank arm.
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Types of surface pumping units

There are three different designs of surface pumping units :

1. Conventional pumping unit

2. Lufkin Mark II unit

3. Air-balanced unit

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Conventional pumping unit :: 1

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Conventional pumping unit :: 2

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Lufkin Mark II pumping unit :: 1

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Lufkin Mark II pumping unit :: 2

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Air-balanced pumping unit :: 1

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Air-balanced pumping unit :: 2

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Types of sucker rod down hole pumps

There are two basic types of plunger

pumps : tubing pump and rod pump.
Tubing pump has an outer barrel
attached to bottom of production
tubing. Lowered into the well bore at
the end of tubing.
The plunger is run into the well
(inside tubing) attached to the rods.
After seating the plunger into the
barrel, pump can be initiated.
A rod pump is a single unit and is
attached to the sucker rods. It is
seated on a wedge type seat fixed to
the bottom of production string.

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Sucker rod down hole pump

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Sucker rod down hole pump animation

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Electrical submersible pump

Electrical submersible pumps (ESP)

are easy to install and operate. They
can lift extremely high volumes of
well fluid from highly productive oil
reservoirs.
Deviated holes present no problem.
ESP’s are very suitable for offshore
operations.
Limitations include high voltage
electricity availability, not applicable to
multiple completions, not suitable
deep – high temperature wells, gas and
solids create problems, and costly to
install and repair.

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Submersible pump and armored electric cable

ESP’s are made of dynamic pump stages. The

electric motor is directly connected to the
centrifugal pump module. Their outside
diameter changes from 3.5 to 10 in.

Length of the pump module can be 40 to 344

in. Electric is supplied from the surface to the
pump by means of armored electric cable.
Electric motors are three-phase AC induction
type. They can produce 10 to 750 hp at 60 or 50
Hz. Diameters range from 3 ¾ to 7 ¼ in.

The voltage requirements vary from

420 to 4,200 V.

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Gas lift

Gas lift technology increases oil

production by injecting compressed gas
into the lower section of tubing through
the casing-tubing annulus and an orifice
installed on the tubing string. Injected
gas effects the well fluid by

Propelling it to the surface due to

expansion energy

Reducing the effective density

(lowering the column weight)

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Gas lift system :: 1

Gas lift technology has been widely used in

the oil fields that produce sand and gassy oil.
Well depth and deviation do not create major
problems. It is also applicable to offshore
installations.
However the process requires lifting gas from
nearby oil fields. It is usually not efficient in
lifting small fields with a small number of
wells if gas compression is required.
A complete gas lift system consists of a gas
compression station, a gas injection manifold
with surface controllers, a tubing string with
unloading valves and a down hole chamber.

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Gas lift system :: 2

Gas lift could be either continuous or intermittent.

A continuous gas lift operation is a steady state flow of the aerated well
fluids from the bottom of the well to the surface.
Intermittent gas lift operation is characterized by start and stop of flow
(unsteady state). 28
Progressive cavity pump

The progressive cavity pump (PCP) is a positive displacement pump

using an eccentrically rotating single-helical metal rotor, turning
inside an elastomer stator.

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Progressive cavity pumping system

Progressive cavity pumping systems can

be used for lifting heavy oils at a variable
flow rate.
PCP’s can handle solids and free gas
better than other type of pumping
systems.
They can be installed in deviated and
horizontal wells.
PCP’s reduce overall operating costs by
increasing operating efficiency while
reducing energy requirements.
The major disadvantages of PCP’s are
short operating life and high installation
cost.
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Plunger lift :: 1

A plunger is very similar to a pipeline pig

that runs vertically in a well to remove
liquids from the wellbore.
As a gas well becomes mature, it loses its
ability to lift liquids because gas velocity
declines and liquid droplets fall to the
bottom. These liquids need to be
removed to ensure minimal back-pressure
and optimized production.

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Plunger lift :: 2

A plunger cycle consists of 3 stages:

1. Shut-in : Well is shut-in to build casing
pressure required to lift the plunger
and liquid column.
2. Unloading : Tubing is opened, stored
casing pressure lifts the column and
plunger to the surface.
3. After-flow : Well is allowed to flow
while plunger is at the surface. During
after-flow, well is producing gas and
flowing liquids into the wellbore in
preparation for the next shut-in
period. At the end of this period, well
is shut in and the plunger is dropped
to the bottom.
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Plunger lift :: 3

Plunger lift systems are applicable to high

gas-liquid ratio wells. They have very
inexpensive initial cost. Rising plunger
keeps tubing clean of paraffin and any
other scale.
Plunger lift systems should be used for
low-rate oil wells usually less than 200
Bbl/day. They are also used in gas wells
for de-liquefaction.

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Plunger lift :: 4

Plunger lift system uses a free piston travels

up and down in tubing string. It provides a
piston-like displacement and prevents
liquid fallback.

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Hydraulic jet pumping

The pump converts the energy from the injected power fluid (could be
oil or water) to pressure that lifts production fluids.
Since there is no moving parts, gassy and dirty fluids pose no problems.
Disadvantage of hydraulic jet pump is its low efficiency. 35
Hydraulic piston pumping system

Hydraulic piston pumping system can lift

large volumes of liquid from deeper wells
down to fairly low pressures.

They are applicable to multiple

completions and offshore operations.

Major disadvantages are having a power oil

system, treatment of power water,
problems with high solids production.

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Hydraulic piston pump

A hydraulic piston pump (HPP) consists of

an engine with reciprocating piston driven
by a power fluid connected to the surface.

HPP’s are usually double acting pumps.

That is, fluid is being displaced from the
pump on both up and down stroke.

Power fluid may (open type) or may not

(closed type) mix with the well production.

Pump and engine pistons are directly

coupled.

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Comparison of artificial lift systems