ESP Intake Slots Minimize Gas Pockets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electric submersible pump (ESP) assemblies face failures due to cable penetrator systems and motor lead cables, especially when operating below bubble point pressures, which restricts production rates and maintains gas pockets within the shroud.
Innovation Solution
An integrated ESP assembly within a shroud, featuring a downhole monitoring gauge, motor, seal section, mounting member, and electrical conduit, with intake slots positioned to minimize gas accumulation, and a tubular electrical conduit sealingly connecting the motor to prevent exposure to reservoir fluid and pressures, eliminating the need for conventional motor lead cables and packer penetrators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional packer/ESP installation with packer above ESP is used, then casing annulus is protected from reservoir fluid and well control barrier is provided, but ESP cannot produce below bubble point pressure without creating gas pockets and production rates are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The packer position is inverted from above the ESP to below the ESP. This allows the ESP to be positioned above the packer, enabling it to produce below bubble point pressure without creating gas pockets in the annulus, while still maintaining casing protection and well control barrier functionality through the packer's position below the pump
2Ease of operation
If packer penetrator system and motor lead cable are used to connect ESP below packer, then electrical power can be transmitted through the packer, but these components represent major failure modes for the ESP
Solution Approach 1:
The problematic packer penetrator system and motor lead cable are completely removed from the design. Instead, the ESP motor is directly integrated with the pump assembly, with electrical connections made at the discharge head above the packer, eliminating the failure-prone components that connected through the packer
3Reliability
If shroud is positioned with upper portion relative to pump intake, then ESP can operate below packer, but gas pocket accumulates within the shroud
Solution Approach 1:
The shroud design incorporates vertical intake slots that extend from the lower end toward the upper end, creating a vertical dimension for fluid access. This allows the intake to reach down to the lowest point of the shroud, preventing gas pocket accumulation by ensuring fluid can be drawn from all levels, while maintaining the shroud's position below the packer
Data Source
AI summary
An electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly comprises an integrated sub-assembly encased within a shroud. The integrated sub-assembly comprises a downhole monitoring gauge, a motor, a well fluid intake, a seal section, a mounting member, and an electrical conduit extending between the mounting member and the motor. The intake has a plurality of intake slots positioned a select distance from the mounting member in order to minimize the space for the accumulation of gas within the shroud. The electrical conduit sealingly extends through the mounting member to a receptacle located on an upper portion thereof. Conductors are encased within the conduit and are connected between the receptacle and the motor. The conduit prevents the conductors from being affected by reservoir fluid and pressures.