Electric Submersible Pump Behavior with Viscous Fluids
Research output: Thesis › Master's Thesis
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Research output: Thesis › Master's Thesis
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TY - THES
T1 - Electric Submersible Pump Behavior with Viscous Fluids
AU - Pratscher, Hans-Peter
N1 - embargoed until 29-08-2024
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The objective of this work was to investigate electric submersible pumps performance within polymer-laden (non-Newtonian) fluid conditions. The study focuses on the pump performance derating, mechanical shearing of polymer molecular chains in the pump, and the applicability of existing correlations. Two different ESPs (82 stages and 7 stages) were tested in a newly-build Pump Testing Facility. The measurements included pressure, flow rate, torque, rotational speed, and temperature. First, the pump’s experimental water performance under constant intake pressure and constant rotational speed were compared to the manufacturer's catalog curves. The obtained performance was then used as the basis for the viscous experiments. Additionally, fluid samples were taken during all tests and were subsequently analyzed. The experiments were conducted for three polymer concentrations and three rotational speeds. The tests showed that the performance derating factors are much higher than expected, although a low viscous fluid was present. Most likely, the non-Newtonian fluid behavior was responsible for this substantial performance loss. Moreover, also the startup torque is significantly higher for the polymer-laden liquid. Mechanical shearing of the molecular polymer chains was minor. The fluid conditions present during the experiments might have affected these observations. Lastly, when comparing the experimental performance data with existing correlations, it can be said that they do not hold for the non-Newtonian fluid pumped. The novelty of those experiments was the testing of a powerful 82-stage electric submersible pump using a non-Newtonian fluid, in order to investigate the pump performance and fluid shearing effects.
AB - The objective of this work was to investigate electric submersible pumps performance within polymer-laden (non-Newtonian) fluid conditions. The study focuses on the pump performance derating, mechanical shearing of polymer molecular chains in the pump, and the applicability of existing correlations. Two different ESPs (82 stages and 7 stages) were tested in a newly-build Pump Testing Facility. The measurements included pressure, flow rate, torque, rotational speed, and temperature. First, the pump’s experimental water performance under constant intake pressure and constant rotational speed were compared to the manufacturer's catalog curves. The obtained performance was then used as the basis for the viscous experiments. Additionally, fluid samples were taken during all tests and were subsequently analyzed. The experiments were conducted for three polymer concentrations and three rotational speeds. The tests showed that the performance derating factors are much higher than expected, although a low viscous fluid was present. Most likely, the non-Newtonian fluid behavior was responsible for this substantial performance loss. Moreover, also the startup torque is significantly higher for the polymer-laden liquid. Mechanical shearing of the molecular polymer chains was minor. The fluid conditions present during the experiments might have affected these observations. Lastly, when comparing the experimental performance data with existing correlations, it can be said that they do not hold for the non-Newtonian fluid pumped. The novelty of those experiments was the testing of a powerful 82-stage electric submersible pump using a non-Newtonian fluid, in order to investigate the pump performance and fluid shearing effects.
KW - Electric submersible pump
KW - ESP
KW - performance
KW - viscosity
KW - non-newtonian fluid
KW - pump test facility
KW - correlations
KW - Tauchkreiselpumpe
KW - ESP
KW - Leistung
KW - Viskosität
KW - Nicht-Newtonsche Flüssigkeiten
KW - Pumpteststand
KW - Korrelationen
U2 - 10.34901/mul.pub.2024.193
DO - 10.34901/mul.pub.2024.193
M3 - Master's Thesis
ER -