TY - THES

T1 - Performance analysis of the SRABS pump in polymer producing wells

AU - Habernig, Manuel

N1 - no embargo

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Due to constantly fluctuating oil prices, aging oil fields, and the resulting dilution of production, oil companies are obliged to constantly improve and optimize their pumping systems in order to be able to guarantee economic production. Sucker Rod Pumps are the first and oldest type of artificial lifting system. Even today, they are still one of the most frequently used pumping systems. Over the decades, these pumps have been optimized through different materials and technical changes due to deeper wells and increasing production requirements. A further development is, among other things, the SRABS pump, in which the essential difference or improvement to a conventional Sucker Rod Pump is that the compressive load on the downstroke is much lower. This was achieved by redesigning the rod string especially the standing valve, which led to a significant overall efficiency increase. This thesis presents the results of a performance analysis of the SRABS pump carried out on the Pump Test Facility of the University of Leoben. Tests were carried out with the same general conditions for water and a polymer, each with constant and sinusoidal speed profiles for defined lifting speeds. The literature research deals with the history of Sucker Rod Pumps and then goes into the current standards of these pumps and the individual components. Then strengths and weaknesses are dealt with, especially the buckling of the sucker rod string is discussed in detail. The SRABS pump is then presented, compared with a standard pump, and the main differences are shown. The rheology of fluids and polymers is presented as well as the factors that influence viscosity. When evaluating the various tests with different numbers of strokes per minute and velocity profiles, factors such as differences in force, energy requirement per stroke, volumetric efficiency, leakage rates, time curves, and viscosity differences, especially in the case of the tests with polymer, are taken into account. The focus here is comparing tests with water and polymer in the laboratory and showing the essential differences. It is not the aim of this thesis to compare tests in the laboratory with tests of the pump in the field. Finally, a recommendation is made for further research goals and tests with the SRABS pump.

AB - Due to constantly fluctuating oil prices, aging oil fields, and the resulting dilution of production, oil companies are obliged to constantly improve and optimize their pumping systems in order to be able to guarantee economic production. Sucker Rod Pumps are the first and oldest type of artificial lifting system. Even today, they are still one of the most frequently used pumping systems. Over the decades, these pumps have been optimized through different materials and technical changes due to deeper wells and increasing production requirements. A further development is, among other things, the SRABS pump, in which the essential difference or improvement to a conventional Sucker Rod Pump is that the compressive load on the downstroke is much lower. This was achieved by redesigning the rod string especially the standing valve, which led to a significant overall efficiency increase. This thesis presents the results of a performance analysis of the SRABS pump carried out on the Pump Test Facility of the University of Leoben. Tests were carried out with the same general conditions for water and a polymer, each with constant and sinusoidal speed profiles for defined lifting speeds. The literature research deals with the history of Sucker Rod Pumps and then goes into the current standards of these pumps and the individual components. Then strengths and weaknesses are dealt with, especially the buckling of the sucker rod string is discussed in detail. The SRABS pump is then presented, compared with a standard pump, and the main differences are shown. The rheology of fluids and polymers is presented as well as the factors that influence viscosity. When evaluating the various tests with different numbers of strokes per minute and velocity profiles, factors such as differences in force, energy requirement per stroke, volumetric efficiency, leakage rates, time curves, and viscosity differences, especially in the case of the tests with polymer, are taken into account. The focus here is comparing tests with water and polymer in the laboratory and showing the essential differences. It is not the aim of this thesis to compare tests in the laboratory with tests of the pump in the field. Finally, a recommendation is made for further research goals and tests with the SRABS pump.

KW - Artificial lifting systems

KW - sucker rod pump

KW - SRABS

KW - buckling

KW - pump test facility

KW - polymer

KW - laboratory tests

KW - data evaluation

KW - Künstliche Hebesysteme

KW - Gestängetiefpumpe

KW - SRABS

KW - Knickung

KW - Pumpenteststand

KW - Polymer

KW - Labortests

KW - Datenauswertung

M3 - Master's Thesis

ER -