Experimental Study of Sand Wear and Performance Deterioration of Mixed-Type Electrical Submersible Pumps

Abstract

Electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) are widely used in the oil and gas industry to provide external energy to producing wells when the natural drive of the reservoir is insufficient. However, ESPs are susceptible to the repetitive impact wear caused by solid particles, which affect the pump performance and run life. Predicting the degradation in the pump performance is crucial to estimate the workability and overall life of an ESP. Sand erosion testing was carried out at the Tulsa University Artificial Lift Projects (TUALP) on two multistage mixed-flow ESPs. The pumps were tested for 64 h/per pump in intervals of 8, 8, 16, and 32 h. The performance parameters such as head, efficiency, and horsepower were measured before and after each test interval. It was observed that over the 64-h test period, the head of both pumps was reduced by 10–15% and the efficiency decreased by 7–15%. The seal clearances increased by almost 10 times the original value. The degradation of ESP structures is then analyzed in detail. These findings help better understand the wear and process of erosion in ESPs and predict the change in performance over a set period of operation of the ESPs under a sandy flow environment. This study will also provide a reference for the optimal design of ESP.