“Unconventional Artificial Lift Configurations and

Deployment Methods”

SPE Applied Technology Workshop

13-14 March 2012

Amwaj Rotana Hotel, JBR Dubai, UAE

High GOR Environment

Gas Handling Solutions
Aslan Mollaev
 Overview

- Why is High GOR a Problem

- How to Recognize the Gas Influence
- Solutions Available
- Gas Separators
- Abrasion Problems
- Multiphase Pump
ä Gas tends to "Gas Lock" a pump

ä Gas does not allow to properly lubricate bearings

ä Pumping efficiency is reduced

ä Overall System efficiency will be reduced

 Gas Impact
 Pump efficient capacity is reduced when Gas occupies
part of a space in pump’s lower stages
Recognizing a “Gas Problem”

1 – motor load, 27-55%

2 – bottom hole pressure,
1300psi (90atm)
 Stage Designs

Pancake Stages

10 to 15%
free gas by volume
Vortex Type 20%

Mixed Flow Stages

15 to 25%
free gas by volume Vortex Type 30%
 Managing a Gas

SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE:

GAS SEPARATION GAS HANDLING

- Rotary or Vortex - Multiphase Pump

Gas Separator
Gas Separators

Challenges/limitations:

1. Severe abrasive down-

hole conditions(bearings
AR Bearings – Tungsten and
failure) Silicon Carbide
2. Extremely gassy wells
3. Oil production with non-
vented packers
4. Horizontal wells
Gas Separators

Housing Cutting
Problem Investigation
Problem Investigation

85
80
75
70
65
60
55
g/l

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5

0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 440

 Problem Investigation

• Maximum solids
concentration is in the area
130
120
of vortex impeller.
110
100 950 BPD • At 1900 BPD flow rate
Solids concentration, g/l

90
80 solids concentration in the
70 critical area is 8 times as
60
50
much than concentration of
40 the injected solids, and 11-
30
1900 BPD 14 times as much at 950
20
10 BPD flow rate.
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 440
Sleeve length, mm
 No gas – bigger wear
40
38
36
34
32
Speed of wear, mkm/h

30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45

Length, cm

Blue – 20% gas, red – no gas

 New Gas Separator design

Helical inducer of varied pitch 1,

containing sleeve 2
with spiral vanes 3,
inclined toward the fluid flow

Pumping and separation units are combined

 Results Achieved
•Dependence of sleeve thickness along its length after 100 hours
of Hydro-Abrasive testing on test bench at equal flow rate 500-
630 BPD
 Actual Experience

 Wide experience: since 2006 more than

1420 abrasion resistant gas separators
were supplied to the Customers

 Application of such gas separators

helped to eliminate the problem of
housing cutting by abrasive flow
 High GOR Solutions
Application of Gas separators
Challenges/limitations:

1. Extremely gassy wells

3. Producing in non-venting conditions
4. Deviated/horizontal wells

Solutions
1. Application of Multiphase Pump
 Multiphase Pump Application

What does it do?

Homogenizes the fluid

Pushes gas-liquid
mixture thru Main ESP
stages
Drastically reduces a
possibility of pump to
Gas Lock at low Pi
 How does it work?
MPP stage design has axial screw type impeller and gas
handling diffuser
Operation:
1. Flow streams to the axial
type impeller  gas

Diffuser
volume is compressed
2. Compressed gas
streams to the diffuser 
gas bubbles break into

Axial type
impeller
small
Result: homogeneous
gas-liquid mixture
MPP primes the Main ESP and pushes the gas-liquid flow into centrigugal
stages with no gas locks
 ESP Sizing considerations when using MPP

 MPP flow capacity should be not less then

main pump capacity
 Pump Head degradation
 Better to use ESP with vortex-type stages.
 ESP system designs for gassy fluids
production
Test results for different ESP configurations achieved on
working fluid (water+gas+surface-active substance) imitated
reservoir fluid properties on Test bench for gas handling
application
Maximum gas content at pump intake, %
25 30 65 70 75

Pump * *
Pump * *

Pump * *
Pump * *
Pump*

CV -
CV -

CV -
CV -
C-

Intake
Intake

Multiphase

Multiphase
separator

pump

pump
Gas
Protector
Protector

Motor
Motor

Protector

Intake
Motor

separator
Gas
Protector
Motor
* centrifugal pump

Protector
Motor
** centrifugal-vortex pump
 ESP Vs. MPP
ESP: OD 4.06”, 3145 bpd MPP: OD 4.06”, 3145 bpd
(500m3/day) (500m3/day)

Discharge pressure, psi

Discharge pressure, psi

Flow rate, bpd Flow rate, bpd

MPP has stable and wide range operation

(even at low intake pressure) vs. ESP performance
 Motor current analysis
ESP without MPP:
1 – motor load, 27-55%
2 – bottom hole pressure,
1300psi (90atm)

Gas pulses at Unstable mode of ESP system reliability

pump intake motor operation decreasing

ESP with MPP:

1 – motor load, 42%
2 – bottom hole pressure,
1000psi (70atm)

532 well, Vyngapurovskoye oilfield

 MPP operation
at different intake pressure
Max free gas volume up to
MPP @ Pi = 40psi @ Pi = 700psi
(3atm) (50atm)

406 series >40-45% >60-65%

362 series >35% >45-50%

319 series >30% >40-45%

The bigger MPP series the bigger

volume of gas can be handled
 MPP nomenclature

Flow rate
MPP
Bpd @60Hz m3/day @50Hz
272 series 950 125
319 series 950 125
362 series 1500 200
406 series 940, 2400, 3800 125, 320, 500
449 series* 7600 1000
535 series* 12000 1600
* coming soon
 Achieved results:

 Increased production and reservoir life in gassy wells by

increasing drawdown and allowing effective pump operation at
lower intake pressure
 Due to gas-lift effect greater lift per stage and efficiency are
ensured
 Increased production by reducing gas locking production
shutdowns
 Extended System Runlife by stabilizing motor current
 Laboratory tests and actual field applications proved MPP to be an
excellent solution for high GOR wells
 Wide experience: since 2006 more than 550 MPP were supplied
to the Customers
 Case study data

• Customer: GazPromNeft-Noyabrsk
• Number of operating well: 80
• Problems:
• High reservoirs free gas content
• High number of ESP shutdowns caused
by high free gas content
• No possibility to use gas separator due
to under-packer design
• Wells after interventions
 Operating results: MTBF increase
450 405 Solution:
400

350
Installation of

Current run life with MPP

Novomet
MTBF, days

300
247
250 Multiphase
200 pump to avoid
MTBF before

150 gas locks

100

50

0 Result:
1 2

Operating results
Increase of run
after MPP implementation life by 230%
 Operating results: shutdowns decrease
shutdowns
Number of
Number of wells
with MPP

Number of shutdowns due to free gas

content decrease 20 times as less!
THANK YOU !!!