Professional Documents
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054
1
A second pump, similar to the one in the Arecuna field, was with two 54 MBEPD pumps. The second suction head is simi-
set in operation in 1996 at the Bare field (30 km west of lar to the first one while the third only serves a single pump of
Arecuna field). The pump performed similar to the first one in 110 MBEPD. In normal conditions, the first and third suction
Arecuna. Along 1996, three new units with the same design heads operate at full capacity while the second one does at
but different capacities were ordered (one of 110 MBEPD and half of is capacity. That means an installed capacity of 272
two of 88 MBEPD) and installed in the multiphase flow sta- MBEPD with 54 MBEPD of backup capacity. The actual pro-
tion Arem2 on the same Arecuna field. In December 1996, a duction handled by Arem2 is 44 MBPD of liquid and 6.5
mechanical failure (shaft fracture of the driver screw) in the 88 MMSCFD of gas. The liquid flow rate is split into three parts:
MBEPD pump causes a fire that destroyed most of the pump 22 MBPD of 9.2API formation oil coming from 47 produc-
station Arem2. In 1997, two new 54 MBEPD pumps were ing wells, 20 MBPD of a 24API medium oil used a diluent
acquired with an improve design: a recirculation valve to injected either at the wellhead or bottom of the well, and 2
adjust dynamically the pumping capacity from 2754 MBPD of formation water.
MBEPD and a lubrication system for the mechanical seals. In the Arem2 upstream production network, all wells are
The pumps were installed in the rebuilt station Arem2 in July help to produce with artificial lift methods. Progressive cavity
1997, and after 45 days of continuous operation, one of them pumps (PCP) is the dominant producing method (70%), fol-
broke down due to a fracture of the driver screw caused by lowed by electro submersible pumps (ESP, 19%) and finally
fatigue while the other has 7 months of failure free operation. sucker rod pumps (SRP, 11%). Diluent is injected downhole
Actually there are three multiphase flow stations in contin- for ESP pumps and at the wellhead for PCP and SRP. The
uous operation, two of them with a single 54 MBEPD pump diluent is supply to Arem2 and sent to each location through-
(Bare10 and Arem1) and the other, Arem2, with three out a distribution manifold followed by 4" transmission lines
units installed (two 54 and one 110 MBEPD) where only two which reach the diluent MSV. From there, the diluent is trans-
pumps are in operation (one 54 and one 110 MBEPD). Arem- ported to the well using 2" lines.
1 was the first multiphase flow station installed in the Arecuna Well production lines are between 4"6 of diameter with
field. length in the range of 0.13.3 km. There are seven field MSV
and two production manifolds which collect the production
through seven general production lines of 10 inches diameter
and lengths between 0.96.7 km as can be seen in Figure 4.
Multiphase Installation The well test lines are either 6" or 8". All this testing lines are
Description gathered into two MSV in Arem2. Each well is tested with a
The multiphase flow installations have in general a production fully instrumented gas/liquid separator which is able to mea-
network that feeds a set of pumps, and then a pipeline through sure the flow rates of oil, water and gas. In the near future, two
which the total production reaches the main process station. In multiphase flow meters will be installed in series with the sep-
Figure 2 it is shown a typical multiphase flow station. The pro- arator.
duction network is made of well production flow lines, field Downstream of the multiphase pumps, the total production
multiport selector valves (MSV), general production lines and is sent to two different process stations: Ared4 and Bed10
test lines. Produced fluids from each well are directed to the (see Figure 5). To Ared4, located in the same Arecuna field,
field MSV through a flow line. A single MSV can manifold as 14 MBPD of liquid are been pumping (7 MBPD of 9.2API
many as eight flow lines through it simultaneously. Two lines gravity oil, 6 MBPD of diluent and 1 MBPD of water) and 2.5
leaves a MSV: a general production line and a test line. The MMSCFD of gas using a 12" diameter and 7 km long pipe
first one carries all the production that reaches the valve while line. The rest of the production, 30 MBPD (15 MBPD of
the second is used only for well testing purposes. The produc- 9.2API gravity oil, 14 MBPD of diluent and 1 MBPD of
tion area may have several field MSV where all general pro- water) and 4 MMSCFD of gas is transported to Bed10 sta-
duction lines are connected to a production manifold at the tion using a 20" diameter and 29.7 km long pipe line followed
multiphase flow station. From the production manifold, the by a short section of 12" diameter and 4.2 km long pipe. The
reservoir fluids are guided to the suction head manifold of the station Bed10 is located in the Bare field.
multiphase pumps and is distributed evenly among the pumps.
Finally, the pressurized production is transported by a mul-
tiphase pipeline to a near process station. The multiphase
pipeline can be shared by a other stations either multiphase or Multiphase Pump Production
conventional. Performance
The main evaluation process is underway at the station The operation of the rebuilt Arem2 multiphase flow station
Arem2 which is outlined schematically in Figure 3. This sta- relies on a fully automatic control system. The system allows
tion has been sized to hold five pumps where only three units a better monitoring of the process, control of the flow vari-
has been installed so far. There are three independent suction ables and real time data acquisition. The multiphase process
heads in order to take into account the influence of the flow variables are:
pattern at suction of the pump. The first suction head is line up
2
Pump. Active/Reactive power and current.
Suction and dischard pressure. The pump performance shows a cyclic behavior as can be
Temperature of the pumped fluids. observed in Figure 6. Typical figures of the active/reactive
Windind motor temperature. power and current consumption are display in Table 1 where
Reactive and active power consumption. the process conditions are: QL = 44 MBPD (40 MBPD of oil
16API and 2 MBPD of water) and QG = 1.9 MMCFD (65
Current consumption.
MBEPD). The larger (smaller) the inlet pressure, the larger
Pressure of the diluent system. (smaller) the power and current consumption. Less inlet pres-
Status of the diluent valve located at the suction of the sure means less gas through the pipeline.
pump. The maximum power and current consumption are detected
Flow pattern at the inlet. between 68 a.m. while the minimum are between 24 p.m.
General. The current consumption is about 2830% of the design
Average liquid and gas total production from well test- value whereas the power range is between 5060%.
ing data and measurement at the process station. Pump failure summary
Pressure of the well tests.
In a six year evaluation period, 16 repair jobs have been
Alignment of the MSV. done in 4 out of 5 operating pumps, accumulating 4.6 years of
A brief description of the performance of the main flow operation. That means an average of 3.5 repair jobs per year
variables is given as follows. (0.7 repair/pump-year) or 3.5 months of continuous operation
per pump. Here it is excluded the two 88 MBEPD brand new
pumps that were damage by fire late 1996.
Suction and Discharge Pressures The most frequent failures are classified as follows:
The arrangement of independent suction heads has contrib- Failure Percent of Occurrence
uted to an even distribution of the produced fluids to each Mechanical seals 50%
pump. The suction pressure varies between 4580 psi depend-
Fracture screw 25%
ing on the amount of gas handled by the pump. When all the
produced gas is directed to the pump, the inlet pressure rises Bearings 12.5%
continuously up to a stable value about 80 psi because the Pump-motor coupling 12.5%
actual volume flow rate exceeds the pump capacity and the A summary of the types and frequencies of repair job per-
gas requires to be compressed. Removing some gas from the formed by type of pump up to February 1998 is given in Table
inlet of the pumps, drops the intake pressure from 8045 psi. 2.
This increases the total production in about 20% due to the
reduction in the wellhead pressure. The extracted gas is
directed to a gas/liquid separator in Arem1 station and them
to a flare system. Production System Simulation
On the other hand, the discharge pressure is affected the Within the scope of a global evaluation of the station Arem2,
amount of gas handled by the pump. For high suction pres- a simulation study was done both upstream (from producing
sure, when all produced gas is directed to the pipeline, the dis- wellheads to the pump suction, i.e., the production network)
chard pressure reaches 490 psi while it drops to 380 psi when and downstream (from pump discharge to the process station)
some gas has been diverted. Figure 6 shows the inlet and out- of the multiphase pump.
let pressure trends for the multiphase pump. Hydraulics of the production network was investigated
after establish the topology of the network, pipe lengths and
pipe diameters. Each well was tested using a production sepa-
Motor and Pump Temperature rator and total production was measured at the process station.
The pump temperature varies between 3555C depending on Produced fluid properties (oil density and viscosity, water cut
time of the day (average 40C). The highest temperature is and water density and gas specific gravity) were measured at
observed from 9 a.m.3 p.m. and the lowest during night time different locations along the network. Laboratory analysis
(8:00 p.m.6:00 a.m.). The temperature looks independent of shown heterogeneity in the oil phase properties along the well
the pump pressure performance. Figure 7 indicates a typical production flow lines. The injected diluent requires of a mini-
pump temperature cycle. mum of pipe length in order to form an homogeneous oil
phase. This distance is called mixing length and could be as
For large gas pockets, the pump temperature increases. An
large as 30% of the pipe length. Diluent injection rate was also
automatic system flush the pump screw with diluent when the
gathered. Gauge pressure were record sequentially at the well-
pump temperature is larger than 65 C.
head, field MSV and production manifold. Topography data
Windind motor temperature remains within 6080C, was not available for the time of the simulation. PipePhase
which is below of the critical protection value: 120C.
3
was selected as the simulation tool. The flow was considered driver screw. Hence, it was avoided a potential fire in the sta-
isothermal due to the minor changes in the produced fluid tion similar to the one that happened at the very late of 1996.
temperature along the network. Beggs-Brill-Moody with For well testing, there is an automatic system that requires
experimental viscosity data was the correlation that provides the alignment of the field MSV with the MSV at the mul-
better results. An average error of 5.2% with a maximum devi- tiphase flow station as is indicated in Figure 8. The equipment
ation of 10% were found. Slug flow was the dominant flow is a fully instrumented and controlled gas/liquid separator.
pattern. The liquid flow rate is measured with a mass flow meter and
Downstream of the pumps in Arem2 there is a pipeline the gas flow rate with a vortex meter. A water cut monitor
through which the total production is transported to Bed-10 installed in the liquid leg reads the water liquid ratio. Figure 9
station. This line was simulated under steady state condition shows an scheme of the gas liquid/separator as well as the dif-
even though the flow is naturally in a transient condition. ferent control variables. The separator will be complemented
Topography, average total liquid production, GOR and WLR, with two multiphase meters in series commercially available.
pressure drop for the full pipe and average fluid properties
were the input data for the simulations. The match between
the pressure drop measurement and the simulation was good.
Investment and Maintenance Cost
The pipe line capacity for different production scenarios was
The installation costs of the multiphase flow station under
also investigated. Slug flow was the dominant flow pattern
were the flow was most of the times laminar or transition. evaluation is about 4.8 MMUS$ for a capacity of 31 MBPD of
16API oil (16 MBPD of 9.2API heavy oil and 15 MBPD of
During 1998, new production data per well using mul- 24API oil diluent) and 4.5 MMSCFD (185 MBEPD) of gas.
tiphase meters and an equip gas-liquid separator will be col- Materials and equipment represents 75% of the total invest-
lected. At the same time it will be recorded continuously the ment.
pressure and temperature profiles along both production net-
work and pipeline. The topography of the network will be also Along the total evaluation period, the maintenance costs
available. With this new data, a reservoir simulators will be has been 400 MUS$. That is, an average of 80 MUS$per
pump or 87 MUS$a year for five pumps.
historically matched and coupled with a production optimizer
software. In this way the production forecast for Arem-2 will
be updated and reviewed accordingly to the drilling program
for this field. The transient behavior will be studied with two
different transient simulators and it will be matched with the Conclusions
pump performance. 1. Multiphase pumping has proved to be an adequate, effi-
cient, simple and economical method for handling heavy
crude oil and its associated gas.
Supervision, Monitoring and Control of 2. Twin screw pumps were evaluated and were able to oper-
Automated Systems ate with a GVF as high as 80% and an oil with a gravity
The station Arem2 is equipped with a set of instruments and of 16API.
controls which allow the operator to follow up in real time the 3. Multiphase pumps have been capable to deal with liquid
pump performance. Among the different parameters and sta- flow volumes greater than the design ones.
tus conditions it can be mentioned the following ones: 4. Pump operation is affected by the instantaneous liquid
Pressure and temperature at the inlet and outlet of the and gas flow rate when the flow pattern is slug flow.
pump. 5. The power consumption is 60% of the power design in a
Electric motor performance. 54 MBEPD capacity pump.
Automatic pump starter. 6. Well production increases when the suction pressure of
Diluent injection control system to regulate the internal the multiphase pump is lowered.
pump temperature. 7. The evaluated production scheme is very efficient when
Inlet and outlet valve status. the proper controlling and monitoring system are
Security and protection systems. installed.
Pressure release system at inlet and outlet of the pump.
Fire detection system.
By pass of the production to a safety pit.
Electric motor protections.
Mechanical pump protections.
The control and security system has been very efficient
along its 8 months of life. This system was triggered when the
54 MBEPD pump failed in July 1997 due to a fracture of the
4
Inlet Ave. Ave. Current Ave. current
pres s ure active reactive range (Amp)
(ps i) pow er pow er (Amp)
(kw ) (kw )
70- 80 450 340 75 - 88 75
45 - 50 380 287 70 70
Table 1: Representative Values for Active/Reactive Power and Current for the Multiphase Pump
Average 3. 5 3. 5
Table 2: Multiphase Pumps Repairs (Mechanical seals = MS, Screw = S, Bearings = B & Coupling = C)
5
PLC
Punta de Mata
Jose
Maturn
Anzoategui
Anaco
San Tom
El Tigre Monagas
Hamaca
Arecuna
Field
ARED-2
10 x 8.5 Km
8 x 8.5 Km
MULTIPORT
SELECTOR MULTIPHASE 12 x 9 Km
VALVE PUMP
BARED-10
10 x 5 Km 20 x 30 Km
6 x 1 Km
8 x 5 Km
BARE
FIELD
MULTIPHASE
METER
HORIZONTAL ARECUNA
WELLS FIELD
6
DILUENT SYSTEM M
16
MANIFOLD
16 M
MANIFOLD
16 AREM - 1
10
GRAVE
MOTOR 5 4 3 2
1
PUMP
M
16
M 16
COB
ARED - 2
M MOTORIZED
VALVE FLOWCONTROLVALVE
SUCTION DILUENT
CONTROL
VALVE ARED - 4
DISCHARGE RELIEF
VALVE
RELIEFLINES CLOSEPNEUMATICVALVE
DILVENT
SYSTEM
127
187 191 185 190 192
17 112
166
168
130
200
180 160 113 159
Figure 4: Arecuna Field Production Network with the Wells, Field, Multiport Select
Valves and Arem-1 and Arem-2 Multiphase Flow Stations
7
ARED - 1
ARED - 2
e
Lin
d.
Pro
8 x 8.5 Km Production Line
10 x 8.5 Km Production Line
ARED - 4
AREM - 2
16 x 7 Km Production Line
L i n d.
e
Pro
AREM - 1
12 x 7 Km Production Line
20 x 29 Km Production Line
AREM - 3
BED-10
73.368
58.695
Active Power
Discharge Pressure
29.347
0.000
24 16 8 24 16 8 24 16 8 24
08 - 18 - 97 08 - 25 - 97
08 : 00 : 00 08 : 00 : 00
Figure 6: Performance of the Suction and dischArge Pump Pressures and the Active and Reactive Motor Power
8
73.368
Discharge Temperature
58.695
44.021
29.347
14.674
0.000
24 16 8 24 16 8 24 16 8 24
08 - 18 - 97 08 - 25 - 97
08 : 00 : 00 08 : 00 : 00
Production
MSV
Instrumented
Wells
Separator
MSV
Production Multiphase
Pumps
Process Stations
9
Separator Contrl
Pressure
Vertical
G/L LT LC
Separator
LC
Basic Meters V
U
V
Production
MSV
Diluent Control
Multiphase Pump
Wells
10