Keep on
Lifting me
Higher and higher

("Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher," by C. Smith, G. Jackson, R. Minor, sung by Jackie Wilson in 1967)

 

FINISHING THE FOCUS ON "SPECIAL" DYNAMIC PUMPS

Brilliant PTOA Readers and Students … meaning those who are reading the PTOA Segments in the intended, sequential order … recently learned in PTOA Segment #207 that the Venturi Effect (aka the PV Pressure ↔ Fluid Velocity Swap) and a Venturi Shape Pipe provide the operating principle behind the "Special" Dynamic Pumps known as Jet Ejectors and Jet Eductors.

This PTOA Segment #208 concludes the PTOA content focused on the Dynamic Pump Family Tree by featuring the "Special" Dynamic Pumps known as:

• Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps
• Gas Lift Pumps
• Electromagnetic Pumps

 

Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps and Gas Lift Pumps share some attributes of the previously studied Jet Ejectors and Jet Eductors:

• They don't look like traditional pumps with defined "Suction Valves" and "Discharge Valves!" They look like pumping "systems" designed to move a specific fluid by commingling with a different fluid!
• Since flowing fluids commingle, some type of separation downstream of pump discharge is an integral part of the "pump system."
• They don't have many moving parts so there is no stress regarding generation of friction heat and thus no need for lubrication, priming, etc.
• Except for whatever type of Rotating Equipment is used to supply the Motive Fluid and/or injected gas, these pumps are ultra reliable and require little maintenance.

 

ARTIFICIAL LIFT PUMPS INCLUDE HYDRAULIC LIFT JET PUMPS AND GAS LIFT PUMPS

Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps and Gas Lift Pumps are "Special" Dynamic Pumps pretty much solely associated with the Exploration and Production (E&P) of crude oil and natural gas.

The prerequisite to understanding "Artificial Lift" is to first understand "NOT Artificial Lift."

NOT Artificial Lift

"Spindletop" was an oil gusher that spewed for 9 days in 1901. The drill pipe bore into a rock formation that had plenty enough PV Pressure to encourage the oil to freely flow upward from beneath the Earth's surface.

"Spindletop" is an excellent example of "NOT Artificial Lift" wherein the subsurface PV Pressure was sufficient to make the oil flow up to the Earth's surface … and then some!

Over time the PV Pressure that caused "Spindletop" to blow subsided and a first generation of Artificial Lift Technology would be used to encourage the oil to continuously flow to the surface where it could be recovered.

The nearby graphic illustrates six types of Artificial Lift.

On the left-hand side, the "beam" and "horse head" of the Rod Pump (aka Pump Jack) can still be recognized by motorists traveling throughout the southwest and mountain regions of the USA as well as in the Mid-East.

Pump Jacks require an electric motor or gas engine driver to power the up and down action of the beam.

The up and down motion of the beam is a hint that the Pump Jack falls into the classification of Positive Displacement Pump.

Most of the pumps depicted in the Artificial Lift graphic indeed are Positive Displacement Pumps. The hardware on the surface is installed to encourage the oil to flow to the subsurface Pump's suction, not to the surface.

The Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP … third from left and mislabeled "Submersible Electric Pump") became affordable and thus more prominent when oil was over $100 per barrel.

The ESP is a Dynamic Pump; a set of Centrifugal Pumps in series are driven by a submerged motor.

Imagine all the cabling extending thousands of feet down the hole!

 

Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps Use Venturi Technology

The Artificial Lift graphic features a "Reciprocating" Hydraulic Lift Pump (second from the left).

A PD Pump on the surface pressurizes recovered water or crude which drive a downhole pump.

The components of the "Reciprocating" Hydraulic Pump system thus include a high PV Pressure injection pump and pipelines on the surface, injection tubing, downhole assembly, and a subsurface Positive Displacement Pump.

The Hydraulic Lift Jet Pump is a technological advancement for Artificial Lift which employs a jet Nozzle and a Venturi Shape pipe to encourage the oil (Suction Fluid) to flow upwards. The mixture of Motive/Power Fluid and oil are recovered and separated at the surface.

The Hydraulic Lift Jet Pump still requires a PD Pump at the surface to supply the Motive Fluid. Additionally, the pumping system needs some means of separating and recycling the Motive Fluid from the mixture to make the Hydraulic Jet Pump option economical.

YOU TUBE AND CHILL TIME!

Time to "You Tube and Chill" with Weatherford's Hydraulic Lift Jet Pump You Tube. Weatherford does not add verbiage so Your Mentor will do the (no joke) "color commentary."

In Weatherford's Hydraulic Lift Jet Pump You Tube the color Red is the Motive Fluid. The color Blue is the "Reservoir Fluid"(a mixture of oil and gas) which is the desired product that is to be "lifted" from the rock formation. 

Within the first minute of the video, the Jet Pump Nozzle/Venturi hardware is installed within the inner circumference of a pipe-within-a pipe structure such that a flow area is created in an annular area of the outer pipe.

The Motive Fluid is discharged from what is most probably a Triplex Pump located at grade (aka, Earth level). Triplex PD Pumps were introduced in PTOA Segment #204.

As the Motive Fluid flows through the Jet Nozzle, the fluid is accelerated by the mixing hardware and the Venturi Effect is created.

The favorable Pressure Drop that the Venturi Effect creates encourages the Reservoir Fluid to flow upward where it is entrained with the Motive Fluid. The mixture (gas, oil, and Motive Fluid) is diffused to the annular area at the outer pipe diameter and the combined fluids flow upward.

Weatherford has an interest in showing prospective customers how their technology can be used in remote locations and controlled from far away office towers. Unfortunately, Weatherford does not show how the mixture of oil and gas is separated from the Motive Fluid. The Motive Fluid is then recycled back to the well.

The PTOA thanks Weatherford for allowing use of this video.

(1) Hydraulic Lift Systems - Jet Pump - YouTube

 

Gas Lift "Special" Dynamic Pumps

First of all …

"Gas Lifting" is not pumping!

Just overlook that detail and focus on the fact that Gas Lift Technology is a method of getting a liquid (oil) to flow upward and out of a reservoir and thus by that description can be included in a Pump Family Tree!

Second of all …

Gas Lift Technology is NOT a Venturi based technology!

So what is Gas LIft if it is not real pumping and not a Venturi-based operating technology?

Gas Lift appears in the middle of the nearby Artificial Lift graphic and can be summarized thus:

 

• Natural gas is specifically and intentionally injected into a subsurface mixture of natural gas, crude oil, and water.
• The density of the mixture becomes lighter as the gas is injected, thus the viscosity of the mixture decreases, and the mixture can more easily flow (the fluid properties "density" and "viscosity" were featured in PTOA Segment #162).
• Once sufficient gas is injected, the lower viscosity of the mixture and the natural reservoir subsurface PV Pressure "lifts" the mixture to the surface where recovery and separation of the water, oil, and natural gas take place.
• Some of the natural gas will be recycled to continue the Gas Lift process and the remainder will be "produced gas product."

 

The "Gas Lift Technology System" includes a high PV Pressure compressor for the natural gas injection and a means to monitor and control the gas flowrate as it is injected through special Gas Lift Valves.

The system must also include the ability to separate the mixture at the surface and recycle the gas to the compressor.

Gas Lift Technology cannot recover as much oil from spent reservoirs as the Artificial Lift Pumps described above can.

Furthermore, some rock formations just do not have sufficient gas to make Gas Lift Technology feasible.

Many thanks to Weatherford for their Gas Lift You Tube.

Be absolutely certain to give the video a Thumb's Up!

The injected gas is light Yellow-Green, provided from an unseen Gas Compressor. The gas supply valve is shown opening, presumably operated remotely by the Process Operators shown in a control room at the end of the video.

The flowrate of the injected gas is controlled via subsurface Gas Lift Valves which are housed in what are known as mandrels.

Once the gas to liquid ratio is changed and the mixture's "resistance to flow" (aka viscosity) is decreased, the black crude oil flows … or is "lifted"... to the surface.

 

Obviously, the Weatherford Gas Lift You Tube is once again intended to show the successful use of Gas Lift Technology in remote locations. Thus the video unfortunately does not show how the mixture is separated at the surface.

PTOA Readers and Students must be aware that Gas Lift Technology requires a high PV Pressure compressor to supply clean, dry high PV Pressure gas to the well. The system must also include the ability to separate the mixture at the surface and recycle some of the recovered gas to the compressor.

 

ELECTROMAGNETIC PUMPS

Electromagnetic Pumps are so "Special" that the PTOA is not going to spend much time on them! These pumps have nuclear industry and non nuclear industry applications.

Electromagnetic Pumps can only move certain high conductivity liquids. 

The nearby photo shows an Electromagnetic Pump used to transport liquid sodium.

Electromagnetic Pumps are also used to transport liquid lithium, potassium, mercury, molten aluminum, lead, and bismuth … even blood!

The operating principle behind Electromagnetic Pumps is "electromagnetism"... like Duh!

The fundamentals of electromagnetism were featured in PTOA Segment #187.

The application of electromagnetism to Electromagnetic Pumps results in a highly conductive liquid being moved by a "Pumping Force."

The "Pumping Force" is created within the highly conductive liquid when the coils that are wrapped around an iron core become energized … which simultaneously energizes the highly conductive liquid!

In the nearby graphic, the iron core is labeled "Ferromagnetic core."

The 3 phases of the electrical coils are shown in three different colors.

Energizing those coils induces (aka creates) a uniform magnetic field. This uniform magnetic field is at right angles to the electric current. And the electric current is at right angles to both the induced magnetic field AND the direction of moving liquid!

In the nearby graphic, the induced magnetic field that is created when the coils and liquid are energized is labeled but in the real world cannot be physically seen.

The highly conductive liquid is shown confined to the annular between the iron core and the outer pipe wall.

Properly oriented at right angles, the created "Pumping Force" propels the highly conductive liquid "forward." The direction of the flow is labelled "U" in the Electromagnetic Pump graphic.

Like the other "Special" Dynamic Pumps, Electromagnetic Pumps have no moving parts, seals or bearings. Ergo they are reliable and low maintenance.

PTOA Readers and Students have concluded delving into the Dynamic Pump lineage line of the Pump Family Tree.

Internet High Five with Your Mentor!

The next few PTOA Segments feature the Positive Displacement Pump lineage line of the Pump Family Tree.

 

TAKE HOME MESSAGES: The "Special" Dynamic Pump lineage line includes Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps and Gas Lift Technology, both of which provide the "Artificial Lift" required in the production of crude oil and natural gas.

This PTOA Segment included an illustration of six technologies used to provide "Artificial Lift." Four of the technologies relied on surface PD Pumps to hydraulically drive a subsurface PD Pump. The purpose of the surface hardware was to encourage the oil mixture to flow into the suction of the subsurface PD Pump.

The "Artificial Lift" in ESPs is provided by a series of subsurface Centrifugal Pumps driven by a submerged motor. The ESP pumping system includes thousands of feet of cabling extending down the well.

The Hydraulic Lift Jet Pumps incorporates a Nozzle and a Venturi Shape Pipe into the former "Reciprocating" Hydraulic Pump.  The Hydraulic Lift Jet Pump System still must have a surface PD Pump that supplies the Motive Fluid, a means of separating mixed fluids at the surface, as well as a means to recycle the Motive Fluid.

Gas Lift Technology is just that … a Technology and not a "pump."

In Gas Lift Technology, natural gas is injected into the well at a controlled flowrate through Gas Valves enclosed in mandrels. Once the viscosity of the subsurface oil and gas mixture is reduced, the mixture can more easily be "lifted" to the surface by the reservoir's PV Pressure. Gas Lift Technology requires a means to supply high PV Pressure natural gas and a means to separate the recovered oil and gas at the surface.

Gas Lift Technology is not a favorable mode of Artificial Recovery for spent reservoirs and is not economical for reservoirs that do not have recoverable gas. 

Electromagnetic Pumps are used for moving highly conductive liquids.  Like all "Special" Dynamic Pumps, Electromagnetic Pumps do not have moving parts and thus are low maintenance and reliable.

The Electromagnetic Pump creates a "Pumping Force" within the highly conductive liquid, and this force makes the liquid move. The "Pumping Force" is created when the coils that are wound around an iron core are energized, thus inducing a uniform magnetic field.

The orientation of the induced magnetic field, electrical current, and flow direction of the highly conductive liquid are specific; the "Pumping Force" will not be created if the iron core and coil hardware are not accurately oriented to the highly conductive liquid. 

PTOA Readers and Students have completed the PTOA content related to the Dynamic Pump Family Tree.

©2020 PTOA Segment 0208
PTOA PV PRESSURE FOCUS STUDY AREA
PTOA ROTATING EQUIPMENT AREA - DYNAMIC AND POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT PUMPS

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