SPE-184179-MS

ESP Suffers Erosion Due to Sand Production in a Mature Onshore Oil Field

Adnan A. Boudi, Ph.D., P.E., AVS, Saudi Aramco Oil Company

Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, 30 November-1
December 2016.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
This paper demonstrates the findings of Electrical Submersible Pump (ESPs) failure investigations of sand
erosion occurring in sandy wells. The study comprises a review of reasons for sand production through well
streams penetrating through the ESP internals. Remedial measures to minimize or eliminate the sand attack
to the ESPs are discussed.

Introduction
Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) were determined to be the most efficient Artificial Lift technology for
an onshore field in the Middle East as they are able to produce at very low bottom-hole pressures and permit
maximum inflow, improving yields from the reservoir. When the field was first developed in 1994, ESPs
were deployed throughout, producing from an unconsolidated low-pressure sandstone reservoir classified
as Arabian Super Light (ASL). The reservoir began to show an increasing rate of solids production due to
formation pore pressure decline, which led to un-consolidation. This, coupled with an increasing water cut,
has resulted in expensive field operations as subsurface and surface equipment suffer frequent failures due
to erosion-abrasion from sand particles produced with well fluids. Shorter ESP run lives, recurring periods
of downtime and deferred production have resulted in a lower return on investment (for installed equipment)
and higher operating costs due to increased work overs.
The produced sand affected both the productivity of the well and the performance of the installed ESP.
Sand entered the cased well bore through the perforated zone and accumulated, to varying degrees, at the foot
of the casing. To ensure continued production from the reservoir, sand screen technology is now routinely
installed to limit the influx of sand and gains are seen in the run life of the ESP and surface equipment.
In addition to better sand control, results from Dismantle, Inspection, Failure Analysis (DIFA)
investigations of the pulled equipment recommended a more robust pump construction, with mixed flow
stages, compression design and abrasion resistant bearings spaced along the pump shaft. Mixed flow stages
offer a gentler flow path for the fluid at a reduced velocity thereby limiting the erosional wear caused by
suspended particles. Compression design lifts the impellers off the diffusers and reduces the abrasion wear
seen on the thrust washers and the addition of Tungsten Carbide bushings and sleeves along the length of
the pump shaft increases the radial support provided to the shaft, reducing the risk of a leak path via the
mechanical seals in the seal section.
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Recommended operations practices are to ensure the well is cleaned out properly by drilling companies
after completion and prior to ESP installation/work over, sand bridges should be removed by coiled tubing.
Traditional Fixed Speed Drives are used in this field due to the predictable productivity however, a Variable
Speed Drive (VSD) could be employed to gradually ramp up the ESP to the designed operating frequency
which would help avoid a sudden, large pressure differential across the perforations, reducing the risk of
pulling unconsolidated sand into the pump. Ideally, the perforated zone would not be at the foot of the casing,
in such instances where the rathole is very shallow, it is advisable to set the pump a few joints higher in the
well to reduce the likelihood of pulling in sand at start up. To minimize the erosion seen in the pump, an
undesirable course of action could be to reduce the fluid velocity through the pump by limiting the operating
frequency, compromising production for longer pump run life.
An expensive, long-term solution requires collaboration with vendors to bring new abrasion resistant
materials to the key areas in the pump that were identified as suffering from greater wear, such as the impeller
hubs, thrust washers and diffuser walls. New stage coatings could prevent the formation of scale and the
damaging effects of brine, parrafins and asphaltenes that disrupt normal flow through the stage.

Failure Modes
During the first two years of ESP operations, several ESP failures occurred and were attributed to the
inability of the pumps to handle minor amounts of formation sand. Solids in well streams cause plugged
perforations due to sand fill in the wellbore, restricting inflow from the reservoir, resulting in a lower
Productivity Index (PI). The drawdown ratio is also constrained as the oil recovery rate is reduced to
minimize the solids produced.
Successive failures have been attributed to fine sand. Sand fill accumulation is monitored on a periodic
basis in non-gravel packed wells by tagging total depth with wireline tools. Sand fill data is compiled and
analyzed to help determine the proper course of action for each well. Vertical wells are grouped into three
categories in order to analyze the severity of sand fill problems:
1. Category A – minor fill, less than 50' of sand in wellbore
2. Category B – substantial fill, more than 50' of sand but not restricting inflow
3. Category C – sand fill covers perforated zone restricting inflow
It is believed that the particle size and distribution are solely responsible of the wear and erosions rate
and damage severity. As suspended particles in the well stream were identified as the sole source of ESP
damage, equipping all wells with sand control technologies including gravel packing, frack-packing and
sand screens - particularly Expandable Sand Screen (ESS), was a logical first step to limit the volume of
produced formation sand. Once applied, routine sampling of produced fluids demonstrated a reduction of
solids volumes by ninety-five percent throughout the field and improved reservoir inflow performance in
both open and cased hole completions. Flow meter runs on horizontal wells completed with ESS showed
that 80% of the 1000' horizontal section is now contributing to production.
The unconsolidated sand drawn through the pump led to mechanical failures and electrical failures as
the additional load seen on the motor, due to the worn pumps, led to increased temperatures and insulation
breakdown in motor lead extensions (MLE) [Figure 1].
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Figure 1—MLE insulation breakage due to excessive horsepower consumed by the motor.

The ESP centrifugal pump is multistage with each stage comprising of a rotating impeller and stationary
diffuser cast from a Ni-resist high-nickel iron containing both abrasion and corrosion resistant properties.
The impellers are mounted on, and rotate with the shaft, made of Monel, Inconel or another high strength
alloy as the application dictates. In this field, 513 Series pumps with up to 174 stages per pump are typically
used and initially, the pumps were of a Floater configuration. Standard floater pumps feature a Ni-resist
journal bearing at the head and base to provide radial support to keep the shaft rigid.
DIFA investigations were performed on several pulled ESPs to examine the severity of the damage.
Failed pumps were disassembled in the vendor shop for inspection and common pump diagnosis revealed
that evidence of erosion, radial and downthrust abrasive wear. Primary wear areas were: erosional wear in
the fluid passages, erosional and radial wear in the journal bearings and abrasive down thrust between the
impellers and diffusers.
Erosional wear results from hard sand particles suspended in fluid travelling at high velocity abrading
both moving and stationary parts within the pump. Within the stage, erosion is seen in the vanes openings,
around the eye and discharges of the impeller. The damage was worsened by an increase in operating
frequency and scale build up within the stage, which reduced the vain aperture, increasing the fluid velocity
and thus the erosional wear. The affected pump part can collapse at the impact angle and may extend to
cause a cutting action in diffuser walls and housings.
The journal bearings at the base and head of the pump (intake and discharge) suffered significant erosional
and radial wear to the extent that subsequent inspection of failed pumps shows as much as 1" of lateral shaft
play at both locations. As the journal bearing wear progressively worsened in the pump, the motor load
increased due to radial drag and the ESP tripped on current overload.
There was also significant evidence of Abrasive Downthrust Wear. In a Floater Pump, the downthrust
generated by the pump stage is handled within the stage; the impellers are keyed to the pump shaft and
are allowed to float up and down the shaft within the confines of the stage based on the flow seen through
the stage. The normal axial interaction zone between the impeller and diffuser is in mild to moderate down
thrust, which is transferred through the thrust washers to the diffuser pedestal. The fiber-resin thrust washers
in each stage are designed to withstand the normal radial wear between the lower shroud of the impeller
and the stationary diffuser pedestal. The developed head in the centrifugal pump is relative to the produced
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downthrust. With low flow going through the pump, the impeller will sit down (downthrust), if there is more
flow it will rise (upthrust). As the pumps are designed to operate in, mild to moderate downthrust it is critical
to keep the pump within its Recommended Operating Range to ensure best efficiency and longest possible
run life. Operating out-with the recommended operating range increases downthrust or upthrust forces and
reduces run life significantly; in sandy environments, impinging sand particles cause pump upthrust and
downthrust abrasive wear and resulting material loss within the stage causes recirculation which reduces
efficiency and increases heat [Figure 2].

Figure 2—Upthrust wear visible on damaged washer

The combined effect of the aforementioned wear and the excess friction will typically result in the motor
load steadily climbing until the ESP trips on current overload. Downhole, the l oss of shaft rigidity creates
excessive vibration, which is transmitted via couplings along the length of the multiple ESP shafts. The
mechanical seals in the Seal Section rely on concentric motion to ensure a proper sealing face in the shaft
bore, any eccentric rotation results in a leak path, which allows fluid to enter, and damage, the seal, thrust
bearing chamber and motor.
Another failure mode can occur when the pump section simply fills-up or packs itself with formation
sand and "locks-up" [Figure 03].

Figure 3—Blocked impeller vanes

When the ESP trips or is shut down, all the fluid in the tubing string falls back down the tubing. While the
production fluid runs back through the pump, all the suspended debris sits in the top stages and discharge of
the pump making a re-start difficult, pulling high amps and risking a broken shaft. If the motor starts up but
there is insufficient flow past the motor and MLE to provide adequate cooling the higher amps being drawn
by the motor significantly increases the temperature and was responsible for damaging the MLE insulation
[Figure 4]. No rubbing and fatigue mark observed on the MLE.
SPE-184179-MS 5

Figure 4— MLE burnt approximately 4 inches from pothead.

Corrective actions identified started with equipping ESP intakes with screens to prevent large debris from
entering the pump [Figure 5]. Yet, these screens experience collapse due sand deposits.

Figure 5—The Intake screen collapsed due to sand deposits found at the intake screen flow

The screens do not stop fine sand or protect ESPs from sand therefore development and careful selection
of the proper metallurgy for pump components can improve wear resistance. To combat the erosional wear
seen at the journal bearings and the resulting vibration seen, the failed floater pumps were replaced with
Radially Stabilized Floater Pumps. These pumps have bearings made of a hardened material, Tungsten
Carbide, instead of the standard Ni-resist, which offers greater abrasion resistance. An additional bearing is
also in place in the middle of the pump, providing more stability in the shaft and reducing the risk of a leak
path being created at the mechanical seals in the Seal Section. Whilst the Radially Stabilized Floater pumps
gave greater resistance to erosion and radial wear, downthrust wear remained an issue and required a change
to Compression style pumps. The key difference between a Floater and Compression pump is that the stage
thrust is transmitted down to the bearing in the Seal Section in a Compression pump, lifting the impeller
off the thrust washers and reducing the friction seen in the floater pump design. As the impeller hubs of a
compression pump are all in contact, the keyed shaft is not exposed to erosional wear, reducing the risk of
the key holding the impeller to the shaft being eroded. The selection of a mixed flow stage over the radial
design provides axial and radial direction to the flow. A less angular flow path reduces the erosional wear
as the fluid is travelling at a lower velocity and the larger vain aperture can better accommodates debris and
scale build up. An additional benefit of Mixed Flow stages is that a hardened bearing can be incorporated
into the body of the diffuser providing greater abrasion resistance throughout the pump. The ESP upgrade
program has resulted in improved mean time between failures with the average ESP operating life increased
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from 14 months to more than 24 months in the early life of the filed. As of 2015, the average pump run
life is 36 months (3 years).
ESP Dismantle Failure Analysis (DIFA) tasks performed showed that the major cause of failure is sand
attack to ESP as shown in the statistics [Figure 6].

Figure 6—ESPs Dismantle Inspection Failure Analysis failure modes

Shaft stuck position due to rust deposition and well debris presence with radial wear on impellers is
common as demonstrated in [Figure 7].

Figure 7—shaft stuck in position due to sand accumulation

Conclusions
The results of the study identified the three key areas to address the early ESP failure due to sand. Firstly,
by ensuring as much as sand as possible is excluded from entering the pump, significant improvement was
seen in not only ESP run life but also the inflow from the reservoir. Careful selection of pump configuration,
stage hydraulic design and metallurgy can help to minimize the effect of wear caused by sand impingement.
Installing the pump at the optimum depth to allow space for debris to settle at the foot of the casing, managing
the startup of the ESP to avoid creating a large drawdown and damaging the formation are critical to ensure
unconsolidated material is not drawn into the pump. Operating the pump as close to it's Best Efficiency
Point as possible minimizes the risk of wear within the stage however it is proposed to revisit the current
ESP design in collaboration with ESP vendors to bring new AR materials and to make hydraulic design
modifications.