Experimental Study on Deteriorated Performance, Vibration, and Geometry Changes of an Electrical Submersible Pump Under Sand Water Flow Condition

Abstract

In the oil and gas industry, the proppant backflow from fracturing wells severely reduces the lifespan of widely used downhole electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). In field applications, a minimal sand concentration may cause severe damage to ESPs in a short time. In order to resist the three-body abrasive sand wear, flanged tungsten carbide sleeves are used in ESPs. However, the wear-resistant performance of different pump geometry is not well analyzed and understood. Therefore, a 64 h pump erosion and abrasion test was conducted with water at the pump's best efficient flowrate with a sand concentration of 1 wt% to imitate the damage caused by short-term proppant backflow. The test was divided into several periods, after which the pump performance, paint-removal wear pattern, eroded pump geometries, and stage vibration were measured and recorded. The wear-rate on pump stage geometries gradually decreased at the beginning of 8–16 h. Then, the carbide sleeves started to help sustain the pump rotation. As a result, the wear-rate and pump vibration became relatively stable. Therefore, the wear mechanism in the secondary flow region (seal rings and sleeves) is believed to change from abrasive wear to the combined erosive-abrasive wear. The pump overall performance decreased by approximately 10% after the 64 h test. The performance, pump geometry, and vibration data are previous for understanding wear mechanism, predicting failures, improving pump design, and saving the well service cost.