Image Source: Intech Process Automation, "Artificial Lift Solutions", 2016, Web. Accessed June 2018.
In the competitive contemporary upstream oil sector, the concept of artificial lift is ubiquitous. New technological breakthroughs and applications are the cornerstones of the future development and sustainability. Different areas require different approaches to enhanced recovery depending on the unique geophysical and lithological properties of the area.
The progressive cavity pump is such a device which is applied to enhance oil recovery. A PCP is a linearly operating device, unlike a traditional horse head and sucker rod pump which follows the principle of oscillation in the tubing to enhance production. A PCP consists of a continuously rotating helical rotor, which is bound by enclosing cavities. This breed of pump is used in the recovery heavy oil, production of sand and directional drilling as well. A PCP can give efficiency rates of 50% to 70%. Apart from the high efficiency, A PCP is less prone to damage and erosion, and is considerably cheap to operate. Newer PCP have improved and tweaked designs. Such a pump—the Left Helix reverse-geometry progressive cavity pump—was used by Casabe Consortium in two oil wells in Colombia last year. To overcome the amount of sand entering the PCP, another rotor was installed at the bottom of the intake valve to work in the opposite direction. This effectively dispensed the accumulated sand as the intake above recovered a higher rate of pay. The bottom tag was also replaced, effectively increasing the area and efficiency of the intake. In the first case the overall increase in oil production was 13% and the increase in oil production was valued at 50,000 USD. The life of the PC pump in the first well also doubled as a result of minimising sand plugging. The increase in production for the second well was similar to first well. In the second well the pump enabled an increase in production valued at 310,000 USD. The life of the Left helix pump used in the second was more than doubled, as compared to a conventional progressive cavity pump. The two operational wells where the Left helix pump was applied, showed a drastic increase in overall profitability. (Values calculated at 50USD/bbl)
Source:
Schlumberger ltd.,"Case Study: Left Helix PCP Manages Sand to Enable 13% Drawdown Increase for Casabe Consortium", https://www.slb.com/resources/case_studies/artificial_lift/left-helix-colombia-cs.aspx, December 2017, Web, 21 June 2018.
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