Tag Archives: ESP pump performance curve

ESP submersible pumping system

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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

ESP design – Step 6: Optimum Size of Compounds

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ESP compounds have different sizes and can be assembled in a variety of combinations. These combinations must be carefully determined to operate the ESP with production requirement, downhole conditions, material strength and temperature limits, etc. to select the optimum size of compounds.

Pump:

To determine the required number of stages of the pump to produce the anticipated capacity; just divide the Total Dynamic Head (TDH) by the Head developed by Stage.

Refer to the article “ESP design – Step 4: Total Dynamic Head” to review how the TDH is calculated.

The Head developed per stage is deducted from the published performance curve which shows the discharge head developed by the pump. It is an experimental curve given by the manufacturer and obtained with fresh water at 60 F under controlled conditions detailed in API R11 S2. Refer to the articles “Pump Performance Curves – part 01” and “Pump Performance Curves – part 02” for more details.

Once calculated, divide the TDH by the Head developed per stage to get the Total Number of Stages required to produce the anticipated capacity.

Total Stages = TDH / [(Head / stage)]

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ESP design – Step 4: Total Dynamic Head

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The step4 of the ESP design consists on determining the total dynamic head required to pump the desired capacity. It is common to simplify the procedure by combining or summarizing the additional energy that the pump must supply into a single term, Total Dynamic Head (TDH). TDH is a summation of the net vertical distance fluid must be lifted from an operating fluid level in the well, the frictional pressure drop in the tubing and the desired wellhead pressure.

TDH = HD + HF + HT

  • TDH: total dynamic head in feet (meters) delivered by the pump when pumping the desired volume.
  • HD: vertical distance in feet (meters) between the wellhead and the estimated producing fluid level at the expected capacity.
  • HF: the head required to overcome friction loss in tubing measured in feet (meters).
  • HT: the head required to overcome friction loss in the surface pipe, valves, and fittings, and to overcome elevation changes between wellhead and tank battery.

PS: HT is normally measured in gauge pressure at the wellhead. It can be converted to head, in feet (meters) as follows: HT = (psi / (0.433 psi/ft x sp. gr.)

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Affinity Laws

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The affinity laws, also known as “Pump Laws”, for pumps are used to express the relationship between variables involved in pump performance (such as head, flow rate, shaft speed) and power.

According to the affinity laws, the following relationships exist between the actual speed of the centrifugal pump and its most important performance parameters:

  • The flow rate of a pump changes directly proportional to its operating speed.
  • The head developed by the pump changes proportionally to the square of the speed.
  • The brake horsepower required to drive the pump changes proportionally to the cube of the speed.
  • The efficiency of the pump does not change with speed changes.

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Pump Performance Curves – part 02

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In the previous article “Pump Performance Curves – part 01“, we have discussed how pump performance curves are obtained? How there are plotted? What are the downthrust and the upthrust? and what is the recommended operating range of the pump? In this article, pump performance curve is further detailed and we will answer the following two questions :

  • How the shape of the pump performance curve is related to changes in well performance?
  • What are the tolerance limits of performance data?

Shape of the pump performance curve:

The  ability  of  a  pump  to  adapt  to  changes  in  well  performance  depends  on  the characteristic  shape of  the pump performance  curve.

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