ESP submersible pumping system

The ESP submersible pumping system consists of both downhole and surface components. The surface components are transformers, motor controllers, junction box and wellhead.

The wellhead accommodates the passage of the power cable from the surface to the wellbore.

The main down-hole components are the motor, seal, pump, and cable. Additional accessory equipment may include the gas separators, check and drain valves, cable bands and protectors, and downhole sensors.

Technologies, types, recommended practices and selection criteria of each compound of the ESP pumping system are discussed in the following list of 22 posts.

ESP Pump:

01- Submersible Pump System Overview

02- Centrifugal Pump ( ESP Pump)

03- ESP: Pump Stage

04- Pump impeller types

05- Pump Performance Curves – part 01

06- Pump Performance Curves – part 02

07- Pump Construction: Compression Pump vs. Floater Pump

08- Pump Shaft

Pump Intake:

09- Pump Intake

10- ESP Motor Shroud: Applications, Configurations and Selection Criteria

11- ESP: Gas handling device

Seal Section:

12- Motor Seal

ESP Motor:

13- ESP Motor

ESP Cable:

14- ESP Cable

15- Power losses in cables

16- Motor Lead Extension

17- ESP Power Cable Accessories

Motor Controller:

18- ESP Motor Switchboard

19- Variable Frequency Drive Basics

Transformer:

20- Introduction to transformer: How it works?

Wellhead Equipment:

21- Wellhead Equipment for ESP

Accessory Equipment:

22- ESP Accessory Equipment

Power losses in cables

Cable power losses or power drop are due to the conductor resistance heating that occurs when current flows. These cable losses are more often called KW losses or I²R losses. This is expressed by the following formula:

Power losses = 3 × (I²R) /1000

Where: Power losses in kW units, I is the current (in amps) and R (in ohms) is the average conductor resistance.

How to lower the resistance in the cable?

Power lost in a cable depends on the cable length, cable size and the current through the cable. Therefore, there are three ways to lower the resistance in the cable:

  • Shorten the length of the cable,
  • Increase the size of the conductor,
  • Decrease the current through the cable.

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