New Experience with Electrical Submersible Pumps in Heavy Oil Crude

Bortolin, Luigi; Uzcategui, E.

doi:10.2118/23707-ms

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Because of high oil viscosity the actual production is located on the left side of the down thrust condition of ESP. It results in an overheat of the downhole motor and pump wear [13] , so that downhole equipment had to be replaced, which increases capital expenditures of oil production. There are many ways to slow the wax accumulation process in well and remove previously formed deposits, the most popular of which is the chemical method due to its high technological effectiveness [8,[14][15][16][17][18] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy efficiency challenge of waxy oil production by electric submersible pumps

Struchkov¹,

Roschin²

2017

REFFIT

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In this paper the solid wax formation in two live oils of the Samara region fields on five operating pressureswith different contents of high molecular substances were examined. For both oil samples a linearrelation between wax appearance temperature and pressure was obtained. The study showed theinevitable transition of wax from the liquid phase to solid in the examined live oils under downhole conditions.This fact indicates a high probability of complications during well operations of these oilfields.If measures are not put in place to prevent the deposit formation in wells, there is a chance of completeblockage of tubing and flowlines by wax. These problems will lead to decrease in well flowratesto their shutdown, thereby increasing the operation costs to remove deposits and capital expenditures ofoil production. Evaluation of the conditions for the wax precipitation in oil wells will allow to developtechnology of prevention and remediation of previously formed organic deposits. The potential solid waxformation depth of both wells for minimum well flowrate of 20 m 3 per day are calculated. The technologyof continuous injection wax inhibitor in designed depth where formation of solid wax has not beenobserved yet is proposed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy efficiency challenge of waxy oil production by electric submersible pumps

Struchkov¹,

Roschin²

2017

REFFIT

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Investigations of temperature and dilution effect on rheological properties of waxy crude oil

Struchkov

Roschin²,

Litvin³

et al. 2019

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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The purpose of the paper is to study the effect of temperature and hydrocarbon solvent addition on thixotropy of waxy crude oil. Oil is a complex multicomponent hydrocarbon system. There are many interactions between wax and asphaltene, wax and aromatics, asphaltene and resins in original oil. For example, the dispersion of asphaltenes is known to be influenced by resins. The resins are adsorbed onto the surface of the asphaltenes, whereby the asphaltenes are not aggregated. Wax is adsorbed by fine asphaltene particles and wax appearance temperature (WAT) observed at low temperature (formed wax crystals too small to be detected by measuring system). The authors of the paper have studied the separate effect of two solvents (kerosene and diesel fuel), wax concentration and impurities (kaolinite) on WAT to understand how all these factors affect WAT in wax-bearing solutions individually. Wax-bearing solutions in wax concentration range from 10 to 60% by weight were investigated by the visual and rheological methods under atmospheric pressure. It is shown that the diesel-based solutions have higher WAT than the kerosene-based solutions. Studies have shown that the increase in wax concentration in solution leads to an increase in WAT. The paper describes that the addition of impurities (kaolinite) to the solutions resulted in an increase in WAT. Besides, it is shown that WAT obtained by rheological method is higher on average of 1 °C than WAT obtained by visual method. The authors suggested that under constant other conditions (pressure, resin and asphaltenes content, etc.) an increase in wax content in oil and the content of impurities will lead to an increase in WAT. The scientific basis for this conclusion is that, in the future we can, adding or removing from solution hydrocarbon components, with certain assumptions, simulate the properties of oil. In particular, this will allow us to study separate interactions between the wax and asphaltene, wax and aromatics, and wax and naphtha compounds, and abstract away from other factors. The waxy crude oil production in the Samara region is complicated by impurities entrainment and non-Newtonian properties of oil. The investigations of waxy crude oil were provided with light scattering method (in near infrared region), microscopy under high pressure with the grain size analysis (visual) and a rheological method. We obtained the unique «viscosity superanomaly» discovered by Vinogradov and Malkin (Rheol Acta 5(3):188-193, 1966) at low temperatures and shear stress by rheological method under atmospheric pressure. The area of the hysteresis loop on the flow curve increases as the temperature decreases, which is caused by the formation of the lattice by wax. We have also shown that the use of solvent and the increase in temperature allow to reduce «viscosity superanomaly». Simultaneous use of light scattering and microscopy under high-pressure methods allows increasing in accuracy of measuring. For waxy crude oil, there will also be a difference between rheological and visual...

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Peregrino: An Integrated Solution for Heavy Oil Production and Allocation

et al. 2011

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An Integrated Solution Enabling Allocation of Heavy Oil in the Peregrino Field The complexity of producing from a heavy oil reservoir is a challenge limited by both economics and available technology. Various methods exist for producing from heavy oil reservoirs, but in areas such as Latin America, cold production is used where electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) are employed to artificially lift the oil from the reservoir. This paper highlights an integrated approach of using ESPs and downhole flowmeters in heavy oil production. It will focus on the validation and analysis of production performance from ESPs and the allocation performance of the downhole flowmeters used in multiple wells in Peregrino field, offshore Brazil to address huge variations in the wells’ behavior such as production rates and bottomhole pressure. A test was commissioned to benchmark ESP and flowmeter functions when working in tandem. Three sizes of ESPs and flowmeters were tested over the flow range of 500stb/d and 22,000stb/d and up to 360cP in oil viscosity. The ESPs were operated from 2300 to 3600 rpm in the different viscosity fluids and used water data as a baseline to calculate the performance correction factors for each operating condition. The performance correction factor is incorporated into the development of software to predict the performance of each pump at a specific operating condition. Eventually, the data will be used to develop the ESPs’ monitoring tool. In the downhole flowmeter test, new correction methods were employed to improve the measurement accuracies such as an iterative calculation of the discharge coefficient based on the measured fluid properties. Test results will help validate ESP performance and verify flowmeter allocation accuracies to meet ANP specifications. The lessons learned will be applied toward future field allocation application using downhole flowmeters in the Peregrino field.

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New Experience with Electrical Submersible Pumps in Heavy Oil Crude

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Energy efficiency challenge of waxy oil production by electric submersible pumps

Energy efficiency challenge of waxy oil production by electric submersible pumps

Investigations of temperature and dilution effect on rheological properties of waxy crude oil

Peregrino: An Integrated Solution for Heavy Oil Production and Allocation

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