SPE-184222-MS

Production Optimizaton and Application of Combined Artificial-Lift Systems

in Deep Oil Wells

Ruidong Zhao, Xin Zhang, Meng Liu, and Junfeng Shi, RIPED, Petrochina; Lei Su, Liaohe Oilfield, Petrochina;
Hongyu Shan, Chengyan Sun, Guojing Miao, Yuntao Wang, and Liang Shi, Daqing Oilfied, Petrochina; Mingming
Zhang, Huabei Oilfield, PetroChina

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
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
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Abstract
For deep wells, the limitation and inefficiency of single artificial lifting method appears with increasing
depth. Under some conditions, conventional single lifting method is difficult to satisfy the production
requirements. Combined artificial-lift system integrates the features of two lifting techniques, and displays
the advantages of both to resolve the issues which are impossible to handle with single lifting method.
In the view of lifting process principle and string structure, there are several ways to configure combined
artificial-lift system. However, the design of combined consecutive lift is more complex than that of
conventional single pump system. Because not only does it involve the distribution of pressure, temperature
and viscosity of multiphase flowing in wellbore, but also includes intercoordination between these two
pumps and respective working conditions.
In this paper, the design approach of combined lift method is established based on nodal analysis, with
which intercoordination of both pumps drainage, dynamic adjustment of comprehensive parameters and
setting depth interval optimization could be analyzed. All of these issues have never been considered and
studied under the condition of single pump system. In Xinjiang oil field, combined lift method of sucker
rod pump and injection pump has been successfully applied in wells where thin oil is doped into heavy oil
to decrease the viscosity. It is shown that combined-type consecutive lifting method is feasible in field test.

Introduction
As more concentrations of exploration put on deeper layers, the number of deep reservoirs grows, and the
energy of developed reservoirs is depleting. Thus down-hole pumping lift will become the major choice of
exploring this kind of reservoirs. With lift height increasing, the limitation and inefficiency of single lifting
method appears[1–3]. For example, working condition of sucker rod pump will get worse and more accidents
may happen. Injection pump requires higher surface pressure and there is a rise trend of investment in
equipment. For electric submersible pump, higher downhole temperature could cause more frequent motor
or cable failure. Operating pressure of hydraulic piston pump will increase and accelerate the failure of
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ground power pump and downhole pump. System efficiency of gas lift declines greatly due to severe liquid
slippage.
In addition, with the increasing of producing reserves in deep heavy oil and low permeability reservoirs,
more highly-deviated wells, sidetracking wells and multilateral wells are being drilled. In some cases,
conventional single lifting technology is difficult to satisfy production requirements. In contrast, two types
of lifting processes are used in combined lift method and both strengths are utilized by optimization to
resolve those insoluble problems with the use of single lifting method[4–6].
Based on the lift process principles and string structure, there are many types of combined
lift systems, such as hydraulic piston pump(down)+rod pump(up), hydraulic jet pump(down)+rod
pump(up), ESP(down)+rod pump(up), hydraulic pump(down)+ESP(up), ESP(down)+gas lift(up), rod
pump(down)+gas lift(up), hydraulic pump(down)+gas lift(up). In order to produce the advantages of
this technology and improve efficiency, the below principals are supposed to be followed while making
decision[7–9]: 1) Delivery difference of these two pumps of combined lift should be as small as possible; 2)
String structure should be simple and convenient as much as possible thus to improve reliability; 3) Delivery
capacity of upper pump has excellent adjusting performance which can adopt to delivery variation of lower
pump; 4) Maintenance-free period of combined method should not be shorter than any single lift method;
5) Combined lift will increase setting depth of pump or delivery capacity;6)A better economic benefit will
be achieved by combined technique.

Node Analysis of Combined Artificial Lift

From single pump lift to combined consecutive lift, the conversion, from intercoordination of reservoir
and single pump to intercoordination of reservoir and two pumps, is achieved. Although combined lift
method and workflow become more complex, nodal systems analysis is still the foundation for optimizing
design. Nodal system analysis is widely used in production design of mechanical recovery well. Taking
well production system as an object, system engineering theory is used. According to different flowing
disciplines, the entire well production system from reservoir to ground separator is divided into several flow
subsystems, and nodes are set on the starting point and joint point of every subsystem.
For combined lift, two node analysis methods can be used, namely common node analysis and functional
node analysis method. Equipment characteristic curve is essential to both node analysis methods. As is all
known, characteristic curve of electric submersible pump and screw pump have been given by manufacturer.
Meanwhile, characteristic curve of pumping unit lifting system could be calculated by API method or
theoretical model[10].
Taking combined lift of sucker rod pump-injection pump as an example, two methods and workflows
of node analysis are given, as is shown in Figure 1. Top lifting relies on rod pump and injection pump is
used at the bottom.
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Figure 1—Node analysis for composite Jet-Rod pumping system

Common node analysis method

One spot between two pumps is selected as a node (recommend suction port of top pump or outlet opening of
bottom pump as the node), then inflow and outflow curves of the node are calculated and drawn respectively.
Inflow curve contains operating characteristics of reservoir inflow performance, tube multiphase flowing
and jet pump. Outflow curve includes operating characteristics of wellhead, tube multiphase flowing and
sucker rod pump. The intersection of these two curves stands for intercoordination point. Corresponding
production is intercoordination production, while corresponding pressure equals node pressure.
When taking suction pressure of sucker rod pump as a node, calculating formula for inflow pressure can
be expressed as
(1)
Where Pinflow is inflow pressure; Pwf(Q) is flowing bottom hole pressure; ΔPdown(Q) is pressure drop under
jet pump in the wellbore which is calculated by using Beggs-Brill model, ΔPJet(Q) is differential pressure
which is provided by jet pump, ΔPmiddle(Q) is pressure drop between two pumps in the wellbore.
The calculation formula of node flow pressure is
(2)
Where Poutflow is outflow pressure; Pwh is wellhead pressure; ΔPup(Q) is pressure drop of the sucker rod
pump in the wellbore; ΔPSRP(Q) = differential pressure which is provided by sucker rod pump and calculated
by using the performance curves of sucker rod pump.

Functional node analysis method

In this method, top pump(sucker rod pump) or bottom pump(jet pump) is selected as a functional
node, and then the upstream and downstream pressure of functional node with different flow rates are
calculated when both ends of system are viewed as starting points. On the basis of differential pressure
provided by functional node, the curve of differential pressure-flow rate is drawn. According to flow rate-
differential pressure formula of functional node equipment(sucker rod pump, jet pump), working curve
of equipment is obtained. The intersection of these two differential pressure-flow rate curves is called
intercoordination point, which corresponds differential pressure(pumping head) induced by node equipment
and oil production. If specifications of equipment or production parameters are different, different pumping
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head and oil production will be obtained. According to requirements, appropriate lifting equipment and
working parameters will be chosen.

System Analysis
Pressure field distribution
Figure 2 shows the pressure distribution of well 1 with single lifting production and combined lift method
respectively. It can be seen that the fluid is not able to flow out of wellbore only with single lifting
method(ESP). Consecutive lifting of fluid can be realized through ESP_GL combined lift. Figure 3 shows
the pressure distribution of well 2 with single lifting production and combined lift method respectively.
When Well 2 is produced only by electric submersible pump, oil production can be lower value Q1, and
lifting height is H1. If the well is developed at a higher production of Q2, dynamic liquid level will drop and
setting depth of electric submersible pump needs to be increased. At the same time, lifting height should rise
to H2. Single electric submersible pump is impossible to lift oil out of wellbore. After adopting combined
lift of ESP-GL, this well can be exploited by higher production and head of delivery. It is obvious that
combined lift is able to increase the lifting height and lifting capacity.

Figure 2—Pressure distribution of well 1 with single lift system and combined lift system
SPE-184222-MS 5

Figure 3—Pressure distribution of well 2 with single lift system and combined lift system

As is shown in Figure 4, the variation in gas injection depth of gas lift will result in the change of
the pressure distribution curve above gas injection point, and fluid pressure below gas injection point will
vary as well(including below electric submersible pump). It is indicated that pressure field of two pumps
of combined lift influences each other. Thus intercoordination problems must be taken into consideration
during optimizing design.

Figure 4—Pressure distribution at different gas injection depth of ESP+GL system

Production optimization
Take combined lift of electric submersible pump + gas lift as an example, production sensitivity analysis
has been done. Sensitive parameters of the modeling include stage number of electric submersible pump,
gas injection depth and rate;Given calculation parameters:well depth is 6000m,setting depth of electric
submersible pump is 4500m,casing OD is 177.8mm and tubing OD is 89mm.
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Figure 5 shows the in flow curves with different electric submersible pump stage number and the out flow
curves of that with different gas injection depths. The intersection of inflow and flow out curves is exactly
the intercoordination production. The curve shows the varying pattern of intercoordination production as
the stage number of electric submersible pump and gas injection depth is shown in Figure 6. It's observed
that:1) As the increase of stage number of electric submersible pump, intercoordination production of both
pumps increases;2) With the increase of gas injection depth of gas lift, intercoordination production also
increases, but increasing range reduces. Considering energy consumption and efficiency, it is not the case
that the deeper of gas injection, the better. There exists an optimal gas injection depth(optimal interval
of two pumps) on the basis of energy consumption and efficiency. Based on the above analysis, through
adjusting gas lift delivery capacity according to requirements, gas lift can preferably adapt to the change
in delivery capacity of downhole pump. Electric submersible pump provides high delivery capacity and
continuous liquid drainage, so its scope of delivery has a good adaptability with that liquid drainage range
of gas lift. In addition, electric submersible pump and gas lift is hardly affected by borehole bending degree.
Its maintenance-free period is basically determined by electric submersible pump. As a result, it is probably
the ideal combined way.

Figure 5—Nodal Analysis application of the ESP-GL Artificial Lift System

Figure 6—Production sensitivity analysis curve of ESP-GL Artificial Lift System

Nodal analysis of combined lift method of electric submersible pump - sucker rod pump is shown in
Figure 7. Setting depth of rod pump is the sensitive parameter. It is observed that, instead of increasing all
SPE-184222-MS 7

the time, production increases at first and then declines as the setting depth of sucker rod pump increases.
The change in interval of two pumps can affect submergence depth of the upper pump and stroke loss of
sucker rod pump. So it can be obtained that there is an optimal SRP depth under double effect just as shown
in Figure 8.

Figure 7—Nodal analysis application of the ESP-SRP artificial lift system

Figure 8—Production sensitivity analysis curve of ESP-SRP Artificial Lift System

In some literature, it is thought that electric submersible pump has the ability to discharge continuously,
while sucker rod pump only discharges fluid during upstroke, resulting in bad intercoordination of two
pumps [1]. After computation, liquid drainage only makes submergence depth of rod pump increase by about
2m during down stroke. The inconsistency will affect production slightly as long as the submergence depth
of rod pump is sufficient.

Computational formula and analysis of system efficiency

System efficiency is defined as the ratio of effective power and total input power. This formula can also be
applied to combined lift, system efficiency of combined lift can be obtained by deduction.

(3)
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where, Q is the production of combined lift system, H is the total lifting height, H1 is the lifting height of
the upper pump, H2 is the lifting height of the lower pump, ρ average density of the well fluid, g is gravity,
P1 is the input power of the upper pump, P2 is the input power of the lower pump, η1 is the efficiency of
the upper pump, η2 is the efficiency of the lower pump.
Based on the analysis, system efficiency of combined lift is not equal to the product of system efficiency
of two lifting pump, but it is related to input power, system efficiency of each pump and energy ratio of two
pumps. It is also indicated that optimizing system efficiency of combined lift is necessary. If P1=0, η=η2,
if P2=0, η=η1, then it is changed to one of single pump lift.
In figure 9, it is shown that the change trend of system efficiency of ESP - SRP under different pump
intervals of combined lifting system. There is an optimal interval of two pumps which leads to highest
system efficiency of combined lift.

Figure 9—System efficiency sensitivity analysis curve of ESP-SRP Artificial Lift System

Field Application
Xinjiang Lunxi Oilfield is a deep and ultra-deep carbonate heavy oil reservoir, average well depth is about
5500m[11]. Formation fluid is high density and viscosity, and oil density ranges between 0.95 g/cm3 and 1.08
g/cm3. Oil has a good mobility in the formation, but it need higher downhole flowing pressure to overcome
gravity of oil and friction as the reduction of temperature and increase of oil viscosity and lifting height
after flowing into wellbore. When formation energy depletes to a certain extent, artificial methods must be
adopted to improve production. Because of deep well depth and high oil viscosity, combined lift of injection
pump- rod pump is recommended.
Jet-rod pumping system technology is mainly used in heavy oil recovery of deep well[12–16]. The deep
pumping capacity is strong and working condition is good. Jet pump does not have any mechanical motion
component and the working pressure of power fluid is low, it can be down to the sufficient depth with
tubing. In theory, as long as rod pump is within the effective head lift range of jet pump, the valve can
be switched, namely combined consecutive lift can be realized. Therefore, the pumping depth radio of jet-
rod pumping system and single jet pump or rod pump is increased significantly. Reasonable design of the
distance between jet pump and rod pump can improve the liquid producing capacity and working condition
of rod pumping system. The parameters which are needed to adjust on the ground include stroke, pump
speed of rod pump system and wellhead power fluid volume of jet pump system. All these parameters must
satisfy the coordination of consecutive lift. Compared with single rod deep pumping system or jet deep
pumping system, the adaptability of consecutive lift technology is improved. For example, as for deviated
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well and horizontal well, the jet pump of combined consecutive lift system can be down to inclined section
and horizontal section; as for high-pour-point and high-viscosity well, the power liquid of jet pump is helpful
to heating and dilution of the high-pour-point and high-viscosity oil. The combination of the two lift systems
is useful to improve the systematic performance.
Composite rod-jet pumping is able to conduct deep pumping of heavy oil. Meanwhile, calculation method
of combined lift optimization design has been established. Since thin oil is used as power fluid for injection
pump, the viscosity of mixed liquid is reduced greatly, as well as the lifting difficulty of deep pumping of
heavy oil. Through the result of field application, it is indicated that production efficiency and yield are
improved enormously after adopting combined lift of sucker rod pump-injection pump. According to design
plan, after executing of combined lift of injection pump-sucker rod pump, oil production of the test well
increased obviously, at first achieving 713t/month, then oil production stabilized at above 228t/month in
the following one year, showing an obvious yield-increasing effect. Before combined lift, the production
of oil well was not continuous. Production efficiency was as low as 60.4%. After combined lift, production
efficiency was 99.4%.

Conclusion
1. Combined consecutive lift combines the features of two lifting methods to handle the issues that are
unable to be resolved by any single lifting method. It has a wide application foreground in production
of deep wells, heavy oil, low permeability, highly-deviated well, offshore high production wells.
2. Combined lift of sucker rod pump-injection pump has been successfully implemented in wells where
thin oil is doped into heavy oil to decrease the viscosity in Xinjiang oil field. It is demonstrated in
field test that combined lift is viable and adds new artificial lift technique.
3. This paper illustrates the design and analysis method of combined lift based on node analysis,
which can be used to analyze intercoordination of discharge of both pumps, dynamic adjustment of
comprehensive parameters and interval design of setting depths of pump.

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