4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

Desander protects downhole pump

11/05/2001

Field tests in Canada demonstrated the effectiveness of a downhole desander to protect electric
submersible pumps (ESPs) from failure caused by the production of formation sand. An abrasive
environment can cause radial wear of the pump bearings, leading to vibration, which inevitably
results in equalizer and motor failure.

Erosion of diffusers and impellers also reduces the efficiency of the pumping system, resulting in
By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described in our cookie
less than optimal production from the well.
policy unless you have disabled them. You can change your cookie settings at any time but our site
Ok
requires cookies to function properly. You may not be able to access content or other services correctly
without
Husky cookies.
Energy Inc., formerly Renaissance Energy Ltd., initiated the tests as part of its efforts to
reduce operating costs, 24% of which it attributed to well workovers and related servicing costs. The
combination of high volume lift systems and sand production is the predominant factor behind these
high costs.

Cantuar Unit

Husky identified its Cantuar Unit, in southwestern Saskatchewan, as among its critical areas for cost
reduction. In this unit, the producing reservoir has a 12-14 m thick, fine to medium grained quartz
arenite, semiconsolidated sandstone that is laterally continuous and fairly homogenous throughout
the unit.

The sandstone has a 25-28% average porosity and a 1-darcy average permeability.

In the Cantuar Unit, Husky had 30 operating ESPs and plans called for doubling that number of
pumps, but only if something could be done to control the pump damage and related costs.

The average ESP run life in the Cantuar Unit was 406 days, with some pumps running as few as
103 days.

Desander choice

In search of a solution to formation sand production, Husky decided to test a desander for downhole
pumps that was made by the same manufacturer, LAKOS Filtration Systems, Fresno, Calif., that
provided the surface desanders for their production streams.

Click here to enlarge image

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 1/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

The surface production-stream desander employs centrifugal action to separate the heavier-than-
water particles from the water stream (Fig. 1). Each unit operates within a prescribed flow range at a
low and steady pressure loss. The desander has no moving parts, no screens or filter elements to
clean or replace, and requires no backwashing.

The removal of separated particles also does not require pump or system shutdown, enabling
continuous and uninterrupted operation.

The surface production-stream desanders use an automatic valve to flush away the separated sand,
but the downhole-pump protection models operate with a self-cleaning technique.

Use of these downhole desanders in the groundwater industry has produced at least a four-fold
increase in pump life.

Click here to enlarge image

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 2/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

To test the downhole desanders (Fig. 2), Husky installed 12 in wells over a 2-year period, beginning
in 1999.

Test objectives

Husky established the following test objectives:

The pump-protection desander will separate sand in the oil field downhole environment.
Sand buildup in the well sump and a lack of erosion or wear to the ESPs would indicate
success because Husky did not install sand-production monitoring equipment.
The pump-protection desander will not cause the production equipment to sand up. This
would be determined if the equipment could be removed from the well, trouble-free, at
the time of inspection.
The pump-protection desander will extend the current pump's producing life. This would
be evaluated based on past pump data, run time measurement, and pumping efficiency
calculations.
The installation will reduce oil production rates. Sand buildup in the well would reduce
the inflow performance of the well. This condition could be determined by monitoring and
comparing total fluid and oil rates.

Manufacturing, operating parameters

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 3/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

Although oil field water can be corrosive, the Cantuar Unit fluid did not appear to pose such a risk to
standard carbon steel construction. An inspection of existing desanders in the Husky production
streams also dispelled any concern for abrasive wear to the pump-protection desanders.

The manufacturer, however, made the test desanders with stainless steel and a Viton flapper valve
to achieve a material hardness of 95 Rockwell B. This effectively neutralized any potential for wear
to the desander so that the test objectives could be isolated from other possible failures, no matter
how remote.

An external upset (EUE) pipe connection threading matched the field equipment specifications. No
other operating conditions influenced any changes in material or design specifications.

Operating conditions were:

Electric submersible pump.

275 - 960 cu m/day flow.
2% maximum gas rate by volume at operating conditions.
95% water and 5% oil flow.
Sand, silt, and clay solids.
2.6 solids specific gravity.
1 µm - 9.5 mm particle size.
1-10,000 ppm solids concentration (100-ppm average)
Ambient temperature.

Applications characteristics

Because of the concern for excessive sand accumulation in the well, Husky selected wells with
boreholes of 7-in. ID that provided ample annular space in the event that the pump might sand up.
Additionally, adequate well depth below the pump setting was also a factor in well selection. Wells
selected include those with at least a 20-m sump.

Oil field ESPs offered no substantial operating differences to the groundwater pumps commonly
installed with the pump-protection desanders. The most important selection factor was good pump
history. This history established benchmarks for comparing pump run life and efficiency.

To maximize the testing objectives, Husky selected wells with pumps that had a short run life.

It selected pumps with a moderate flow rate, 275-480 cu m/day fluid, to test desanders with a
reasonable size, price, and handling capability.

A steady flow rate, as compared to periodic slug flow, optimizes desander performance. The
expected 95:5 water-to-oil ratio posed no risk to the desander's performance.

The desander's maximum gas handling capacity is 2% GOR. Higher GORs could be handled with
additional sizing calculations.

Click here to enlarge image

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 4/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 5/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

Fig. 3 shows the installation selected from many options possible. While this technique required two
procedures to set the pump and the desander in the well, it also minimized retrieval complications if
the well sanded up.

A packer is a common method for positioning the desander, effectively isolating the ESP from the
well's production (and sand-laden) perforations and directing flow through the desander prior to the
pump intake.

Post-test inspection

Husky shut down and pulled the first test desander for inspection after operating it for 203 days.

Click here to enlarge image

This particular well had a history of severe sand damage. Its three previous pumps lasted an
average of only 126 days (maximum 143 days, minimum 103 days). All operating conditions at the
time the first desander was retrieved appeared to be stable (Table 1), causing no other reasons for
Husky to shut in the well other than for gathering test data.

The pump and desander were pulled without incident, indicating no sand up conditions. The well
sump revealed a new depth difference of 4.67 m, all attributable to the desander's separation and
purging of sand into the well instead of passing that sand through the pump.

On site pump inspection indicated that the pump was in good condition, with no shaft play and clean
oil throughout the equalizer and motor. After the pump was shipped to the pump manufacturer for a
full test and comparison to original bench tests, the pump manufacturer measured a head capacity
reduction of only 4.6% at its best efficiency point (bep).

A thorough breakdown inspection of the pump revealed that the impellers and diffusers had only
minor sand erosion and the radial support bearings had minimal damage. This condition compares
significantly better to the catastrophic failure observed in the three previous pumps in this particular
well after much shorter operating cycles.

The desander manufacturer inspected the desander and considered it to be in excellent condition. It
rated a minor polishing at the edges of the inlet slots as normal and insignificant, found no evident
internal sidewall erosion, and noted minimal wear on the internal deflection pedestal.

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 6/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

It did find a slight tear of the flapper valve but did not determine its origin. The tear did not appear to
reduce operation or performance.

Operating, objective comparisons

The pump-protection desander afforded the test ESP to have a significantly longer run time and
better overall efficiency than any previous pump in that particular well. Also, fluid pumping rates
were higher than expected.

The pump-protection desander tests showed that:

The desander will separate sand in the oil field downhole environment. An accumulation
of 115.8 l. of sand in the well sump provided strong confirmation that the desander was
removing sand from the production fluid, discharging it into the well sump, and keeping
sand out of the pump.
The desander will not cause the production equipment to sand up. Removal of the pump
and desander for inspection was trouble-free, and the packer showed no evidence of
sand accumulation above, indicating little or no occurrence of sanding up.
The desander will extend the current pump's producing life. The maximum pump run life
for this particular well without a desander was 143 days, with one pump lasting only 103
days. The inspection after 203 days clearly indicated that the pump would continue to
operate at reasonable performance for some time to come. In fact, it was still operating
at an efficiency of 60%, optimal for its design and application conditions.
The test indicated no negative impact on oil production rates. The well continued to
produce oil at an average rate of 25 cu m/day, which matched the predicted oil rate,
based on inflow performance relationship data. The data indicated that the desander did
not significantly reduce inflow performance of the well.
This desander matched or exceeded all of the established expectations. As a result of
this testing, LAKOS has since engineered a specific PPD Series of pump protection
desanders exclusively for the oil and gas industry, featuring industry-standard materials,
connections and specifications.

The author
Click here to enlarge image

Michael Briffett is a completions engineer with Husky Energy Inc.'s offshore east coast Canada
operations. He previously worked as a production engineer and a reservoir engineer for a number of
companies in Western Canada. Briffett holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Memorial
University of Newfoundland.

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 7/8
4/9/2018 Desander protects downhole pump - Oil & Gas Journal

Home Events
General Interest Market Connection
Exploration & Development White Papers
Drilling & Production Webcasts
1455 West Loop South Processing PennEnergy Jobs
Houston, Texas 77027 Transportation Equipment
(713) 621-9720 Unconventional Research
GIS Data & Maps
Copyright © 2018: PennWell Corporation RSS
All Rights Reserved.

Advertise About Us
Newsletter Subscription PennWell
Book Store View All Pennwell Websites
Privacy Policy View All Pennwell Events
Terms & Conditions Site Map
Contact Us Webmaster
Magazine Subscription
Mobile

https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-99/issue-45/drilling-production/desander-protects-downhole-pump.html 8/8