Design of Progressive

Cavity Pump Wells

Desheng Zhou, SPE,

H. Jasmine Yuan, SPE,
IHS INC.
 Introduction
• About PCP
– Special type of rotary positive
displacement pump
– Flow through the pump is almost axial

• Advantages of PCPs
– Lower investment
– Broader applications to fluid mixtures
– Less maintenance
– Higher efficiency
 Introduction …
• PCPs in Petroleum Industry
– Single lobe pump
– Non-pulsating smooth flow
– Fluid viscosity will not degrade pump head
– Normally no scale deposition
– Low inertia of rotating parts

• Previous studies focused on

– Working mechanism
– Pumping behavior
 Introduction …

• Purpose of this study

– Design of PCP in production
system
• Rotational speed design
• Production rate design
• Fluid viscosity effect
 A PCP Rotor
A
B d
C
e
Rotor Center
Rotor Axis

A’
B’
C’

AA’ BB’ CC’

 A PCP Stator
Ps

A A
B
S C S’
D

d
4e

A B C D
A Rotor in Stator

+
Rotor Cross Center
4e +
+
Rotor Axis
Stator Center Line
 Basic Correlations
Cross-sectional areas of the rotor and the stator

1
A rotor = πd 2
4
1 2
Astator = πd + 4ed
4
Fluid flow area at any place

A f = 4ed
 Basic Correlations …
Cavity moving speed along stator center line

v = nPs
n - rotational speed
Ps - length of a cavity is the pitch length of the stator

Flow rate in a PCP

qt = A f v = 4ednPs
 Basic Correlations …
Taking into account of the slip rate, actual
discharge rate

qa = qt − qs = 4ednPs − qs
Volumetric efficiency of a PCP

qa qs
Ev = = 1−
qt qt
 Basic PCP Design
Correlation to calculate required rotational speed
and total flow rate at pump intake

= qtl
n
Qt

qtl = nQ t
qtl – Total flow rate at pump intake
Qt – Theoretical displacement per revolution
Production Rate Design

qa = nQt − qs
Where:

Qs - Theoretical displacement
qs - slip rate
n - rotational speed
qa - actual flow rate
Rotational Speed Design
q
Speed n1 = 200 RPM

Qtn1/n0
Flow Capacity, B/D

Speed n0 = 100 RPM

Qt Slip

H
Lift Capacity, ft
Rotational Speed Design …
d
pwh

Pump Depth pi
pd
A B
0
pwf p
qd

q
 Rotational Speed Design
100(qa + qs )
n=
Qt

q = C0 + C1H + C2 H 2 + C3 H 3 + C4 H 4 + C5 H 5

qs = − +
(C1 H C2 H 2
+ 3
+
C3 H C 4 H 4
+ 5
C5 H )
Rotational Speed Design …
q

Qtn
Flow Capacity, B/D

A
qa

100 RPM
Qt
qs

Ha H
Lift Capacity, ft
 Production Rate Design …
Algorithm to Solve Total Flow Rate:

• Assume the initial slip qs(1) is zero.

• Use Eq. 9 to calculate the total flow rate qa(1) at the

PCP's intake for a given rotational speed n and
theoretical flow rate Qt at 100 RPM.

• Use the calculated total flow rate qa(1) to calculate the

inflow from reservoir to the pump intake and the
outflow from wellhead to pump discharge. The outflow
is in the annular between sucker rods and tubing for
wellhead driving or in tubing for bottom driving. The
flow rate for the inflow is the sum of the qa(1) and the
separated gas at pump intake.
Production Rate Design …
• Obtain the differential pressure across the pump
from the calculated inflow and outflow pressure
profile, and change the differential pressure to
head H(1) by using the average fluid density
through the pump.

• Check the required head H(1) with the lift capacity

of the pump. If the head is greater than the lift
capacity, stop the calculation. A longer PCP
should be selected and start from step one.
Otherwise,

• Calculate the volumetric slip rate qs(2) at the head

H(1) from pump performance curves.

• Use the slip qs(2) and repeat the process from

step two until the difference of qs(n)-qs(n-1) is
less than an acceptable value.
 Production Rate Design …
H
n0 =100 RPM 2n0 n 3n0 Well System Curve
Head, ft

Ha S

Qt qa qt q
Flow Rate, B/D
Production Rate Design …
p

pwf
Pressure,psia

Outflow
Δpi
Inflow

qi q

Flow Rate, B/D

 Viscosity Effect - on slip
Viscosity effect on slip

32
qs _ µ = qs
µ
qs-µ - Slip of viscous fluid

qs - Slip of water
µ- Viscous fluid viscosity in SSU

qa = nQt − q s _ µ
Viscosity Effect - on slip …
• Obtain pump’s theoretical capacity
Qt at zero head

• For a series of given heads, H(1),

H(2), and H(i), obtain corresponding
flow rates q(1), q(2), and q(i)

• Calculate the volumetric slips of

water by qs(i) = Qt – q(i) at any head
H(i).
Viscosity Effect - on slip …
• Calculate in-situ fluid viscosity of the
fluid, µ.
• Calculate the corrected slip rates qs-
µ(i) for the fluid.

• Calculate corrected flow rates, qc(i) = Qt

– qs-µ(i).

• Construct the corrected performance

curve using H(i) and qc(i).
Viscosity Effect - Cavity Filling …

ls
Ps

π(d+4e)
Viscosity Effect - Cavity Filling …

Ac

w
Viscosity Effect - Cavity Filling
Critical Pump Intake Pressure for Fluid
Filling the Cavity (Newtonian Fluid)

1 ls
pin = 3
µ (nQt − q s _ µ )
8.04 E 6 dt
Where:

l s = ( Ps2 + (π (d + 4e)) 2 )1 / 2
4ePs
t=
πl s
Viscosity Effect - Cavity Filling …

Critical Speed for Fluid Completely

Filling the cavity

3
8.04 E 6dt pin
n=( + q s _ µ ) / Qt
ls µ
 Conclusions
• Algorithms and procedures to design pump
rotational speed and production rate from well
inflow and outflow performances are presented.

• A method to account for the effect of viscosity on

pump volumetric slip is proposed.
• Simplified models to calculate the critical pump
intake pressures are developed for both
Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.