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Artificial Lift to Boost Oil Production

Article  in  International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology · August 2015

DOI: 10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V26P201

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 26 Number 1- August 2015

Artificial Lift to Boost Oil Production

Saurabh Goswami1, Dr. Tej Singh Chouhan2
1 2
Research Scholar, Research Supervisor, Mechanical Engineering
JJT University, Vidyanagari, Jhunjhunu–Churu Road, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, India

Abstract— Increase in word energy demand has reduced bottom hole pressure and increased
encouraged the producers to search for methods to improve production of liquids, predominantly water.
production and economics for oil wells.
Abandoning a mature well was once an option but
Artificial lifts improves the production and economics by
increasing flow rates and optimizing the production cycle of
now regulatory bodies are appearing more and more
oil and gas reservoirs. It is one of the most important unreceptive toward abandoning producing wells too
methods to boost oil production from oil well. Artificial lift early so operators are looking at new technologies
solutions are designed to overcome bottom-hole pressure to such as multiphase boosting as options to enhance oil
enable a well to produce at the desired rate. This typically recovery and maintain economical late-life production.
involves either using a pump or injecting gas to reduce its
hydrostatic pressure to provide additional lift pressure II. ARTIFICIAL LIFT
downhole.
Artificial lift process is used to increase reservoir
Keywords— Artificial Lifts, Oil & Gas Production,
Offshore, Sub-sea. pressure and encourage crude oil to the surface.
Artificial lift is employed when the natural drive
I. INTRODUCTION energy of the reservoir is not strong enough to push
the oil to the surface. Artificial lift is used to recover
Production of oil requires energy to lift the fluids more crude oil from the reservoir. While some wells
from the reservoir to the surface. In the early phase of contain enough pressure for oil to rise to the surface
their production lifetime, the majorities of oil wells flow without stimulation in beginning but it will reduce
naturally and are referred to as flowing wells. In a over the time. Artificial lift is generally required on
naturally flowing well there is enough energy stored in most of the wells at some time during their production
the reservoir to flow the produced fluid to the surface. life or to increase oil well life.
Reservoir pressure and formation gas provide this
energy in the flowing well. When reservoir energy is Artificial lift is used to overcoming bottom-hole
too low for natural flow, or when the desired pressure so that a well can produce at some desired
production rate is greater than actual production rate rate, either by using a pump to provide additional lift
then it becomes necessary to use artificial lift to get pressure or injecting gas to reduce its hydrostatic
desired production. pressure.

Even though subsea completed wells enable Artificial lift uses to increase the flow of liquids to the
development of deep water resources as well as surface of a production oil well and this is usually
marginal fields in normal water depths, without some achieved by
form of subsea processing, these wells are expected to
experience poor ultimate recoveries due to the high  A mechanical device inside the well, such as
backpressures. Study of researchers‟ shows that a pump;
operating on continual high backpressure has direct  Decreasing the weight of the liquid/gas
impact on production decline behaviour that wastes mixture via high pressure gas;
reservoir energy. Energy that could be used to move  Improving the lift efficiency of the well via
reservoir fluids to the wellbore and out of the well is velocity strings.
instead lost to flow through a choke or a long flow line.
It is expected that some form of subsea boosting Generally, people tend to associate artificial lift
and/or processing of produced fluids will be necessary with mature, depleted fields, where reservoir pressure
to improve efficiencies, allowing longer production has declined such that the reservoir can no longer
from these wells and better recovery factors. Subsea produce under its natural energy. But these artificial
processing covers a wide spectrum of subsea lift methods are also used in younger fields to increase
separation and boosting scenarios. production rates and improve project economics.

III. TYPES OF ARTIFICIAL LIFT

And also, an increasingly large number of
producing wells are maturing so operators must
resolve a number of new problems which will impact Selection of the proper artificial lift method is
the total economics of their production. The most critical to the long-term profitability of the oil well; a
common development for maturing gas wells is poor choice will lead to low production and high
operating costs. There are several methods of artificial

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 26 Number 1- August 2015

lift but following two main categories of artificial lifts the downhole components up and down in
are: the process. The entire surface system is
run by a prime mover, V-belt drives, and a
A) Pumping Lifts gearbox with a crank mechanism on it.
B) Gas Lifts

A. Pumping Lifts

Pumps are used to increase reservoir pressure to

lift fluid from reservoir to the surface. These pumps
can be divided into two basic categories:

Positive displacement pumps ,

Dynamic displacement pumps.

Pumping lift is the most efficient and cost

effective lift methods of crude oil from the reservoir
and pumps can be modified to lift corrosive fluids.
Pumps can be employed on high-temperature
wells. .

1) Positive Displacement Pumps:

A positive displacement pump works by

moving fluid from a suction chamber to a
discharge chamber. Positive displacement
pump operates on the principle that a definite
amount of fluid is transferred through the pump
based on the volume created by the pumping
chamber and the speed at which this volume is
moved. The amount of differential pressure
that develops in the pump is a function of the
resistance to flow downstream of the pump that
incurs the pressure losses which must be
overcome to deliver the fluid to a set pressure
downstream of the pump. For any positive or
near positive displacement pump, the
interaction between the pump and the adjacent
pipeline segments determines pump
performance.

This basic operating principle applies to

sucker-rod pumps, progressive cavity pumps Fig. 1 Sucker-rod Pump, Source [14]
and hydraulic piston pumps.
Rod pumping systems can be used to
a) Sucker-rod Pump: Sucker-rod lift method reduce bottomhole pressures to very low
is the oldest and most commonly used levels, and offer great flexibility for low-to-
artificial lift method for a wide range of medium production rates. They are relatively
production rates and operating conditions. simple with respect to design, operation and
maintenance, and can be adapted to a wide
A sucker-rod pumping system is made up
range of operating conditions. They account
of several components, some of which
for the large majority of artificial lift wells,
operate aboveground and other parts of and are one of the most well-known and
which operate underground, down in the generally understood systems in the field.
well. The surface-pumping unit, which Surface and downhole equipment can easily
drives the underground pump, consists of a be refurbished, and tends to have high
prime mover and, normally, a beam fixed salvage values.
to a pivotal post. The post is called a
Sampson post, and the beam is normally b) Progress Cavity Pumps: Positive
called a walking beam. This system allows displacement pump that consist a single
the beam to rock back and forth, moving helix rotor turning inside a double helix

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 26 Number 1- August 2015

stator. As the rotor turns, driven by a environmentally conscious areas. Special

topsides motor, an advancing series of pump designs are available for such
cavities are formed between the rotor and completions as sliding sleeves, gas lift
stator, in which the fluid is displaced mandrels, coil tubing, DST, well cleaning
through the pump and up the tubing. The and testing. The hydraulic jet pump is used
stator is attached to the tubing string while with higher pressure reservoirs while the
the rotor is attached to a rod string, hydraulic piston pump is geared towards
attached to and rotated by the topsides low pressure reservoir applications.
pump.
The Hydraulic piston pump gives
you easily controlled changes in pumping
rate over a wide range of capacities. This
allows rapid “trimming” of the system to
accommodate changing well conditions,
such as the effect of water flooding or
declines in well production capability.

This approach is effective in the low

and moderate flow rate ranges with a
maximum capacity of approximately
110,000 bbl/day (total volume of gas, oil
and water) and maximum discharge
pressure of approximately 1,400 psig.
Fig. 2 Progress Cavity Pump, Source [13]
2) Dynamic Displacement Pumps:
Progress Cavity Pumps are widely
used in shallow wells as an artificial lift A dynamic displacement pump works by
method; the Progressing Cavity Pump has causing fluid to move from inlet to outlet under
been adapted for surface pumping. These its own momentum, as is the case with a
pumps are comprised of a rubber stator centrifugal pump. It operates on the principle
and a rotating metal rotor. This pump is that kinetic energy is transferred to fluid which
effective for low flow rates (less than is then converted into pressure. In dynamic
30,000 bbl/day total volume of gas, oil and displacement pumps, this occurs when angular
water) and for lower discharge pressures momentum is created as the fluid is subjected
(maximum of 400 psig). to centrifugal forces arising from radial flow
through an impeller. This momentum is then
Progress Cavity Pumps very converted into pressure when the fluid is
efficient and excellent for handling fluids slowed down and redirected through a
with high solids content. However, stationary diffuser.
because of the torsional stresses placed on
rod strings and temperature limitations on Dynamic displacement pumps commonly
the stator elastomers, they are not used in used in artificial lift include Helixo-axial
deeper wells. Pumps (ESPs) and Multistage Centrifugal
Pumps.
c) Hydraulic Piston Pumps: One of the
simplest forms of pump. Hydraulic piston a) Helixo-axial Pumps: The Helico-axial
pumps operate similarly to sucker rod pump is a type of dynamic displacement
pumps, but are actuated hydraulically from pump and fluid flows horizontally through
the surface rather than mechanically with a a series of pump stages, each consisting of
sucker rod. The system uses the well fluid a rotating helical shaped impeller and a
as the power fluid, and not hydraulic oil. stationary diffuser.
The fluid is pressurized at the surface by
the pump through the tubing string to
actuate the piston pump.

Hydraulic pumping systems produce

economically and reliably from deep wells.
Our pumps are also easily installed in
deviated wells, offshore platforms, remote
jungle areas, urban areas, and

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 26 Number 1- August 2015

other gases that dissolve in the oil to lower its

viscosity and improves its flow rate.

Gas lift system can be classified in following

categories:

1) Continuous gas lift:

A gas is injected in a constant, uninterrupted

stream in this lift. This lowers the overall density
of the fluid column and reduces the hydrostatic
component of the flowing bottomhole pressure.
This method is generally applied to wells with
high productivity indexes.

Continuous gas lift is cost effective, easy to

implement, and very effective in a wide range of
operating conditions, in addition to requiring less
Fig. 3, Helico-axial Pump, Source [5]
maintenance in comparison to the other
alternatives, and is considered as one of the most
b) Multistage Centrifugal Pumps: Multistage
typical forms of artificial lift in oil production.
Centrifugal Pumps are dynamic pumps
and they contain several impellers with in
a single casing. Electric Submersible 2) Intermittent gas lift:
Pumps (ESP‟s) are basically multistage
centrifugal pumps and are used as an Intermittent gas lift is designed for lower-
artificial method in oil wells. productivity wells to increase the production.
In this type of gas lift installation, a volume of
There are different drive mechanisms for the formation fluid accumulates inside the
pump and different ways of delivering the production tubing. A high-pressure “slug” of
motor force to the oil, but at the end of the day, gas is then injected below the liquid, physically
each of them add energy to the system. displacing it to the surface. As soon as the fluid
is produced, gas injection is interrupted, and
B. Gas Lifts the cycle of liquid accumulation-gas injection-
liquid production is repeated.
Gas lift is the process of injecting high pressure
gas in the annulus between tubing and casing Gas lift systems can be classified in another
through one or more subsurface valves at way based on the reuse of injection gas.
predetermined depth. The gas will then reduce the
weight of the produced fluid column, which will 1) Rotational Gas Lift:
lower the bottom-hole pressure. Reservoir fluid will
then experience lower resistance to flow, resulting In this gas lift system, the gas recovered from
in increased flow rates and increased production. oil is compressed and sent back for production.
This system is known as „Rotational Gas Lift‟
The main idea in gas lift technology is that by systems. This is a closed system and uses a fixed
compressing gas at the surface and injecting it as amount of gas over and over again for gas lift.
deep as possible into the well, the density of the External supply of injection gas is not required for
fluid decreases, thereby reducing the hydrostatic rotational gas lift system.
pressure loss along the flow path. Due to the
reduced pressure drop in the well, the pressure in 2) Recoverable Gas Lift:
the bottom of the well becomes sufficiently low to
continue production, in other words, the injection of The injection gas is supplied from an external
gas at the riser base mixes with and lightens the oil source in this gas lift system. Gas recovered from
and hence enhances the production rate. This gas lift is sent for commercial uses through a
method is favourable for offshore fields due to pipeline and this gas is not re-injected for
flexibility in its production rates, ability to handle production.
corrosive fluids, suitable for high temperature. IV. APPLICATIONS
Gas lifts uses gases such as natural gas, nitrogen, Artificial lifts can be used for offshore, onshore
or carbon dioxide (CO2) that expand in a reservoir or sub-sea applications to boost oil production
to push additional oil to a production wellbore, or from low and medium pressure wells.

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 26 Number 1- August 2015

V. CONCLUSIONS

In this study, I have analysed that artificial lifts

are viable option to boost oil production and it
prove to be most useful. Artificial lifts acquire
major share of their revenues and help oil recovery
markets generate better returns from difficult
international reservoirs.

Artificial lifts can reduce back pressure on the

well by boosting the untreated well flow, and by
allowing the reservoir to accelerate production and
the operator to delay abandoning a producing well.

Energy of a reservoir reduces later in the field

life so artificial lift systems are useful for mature oil
reservoirs but it can also be used in younger fields
to increase production rates and improve project
economics.

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