PAPER 2008-339

All Metal PCP Field Trial Update

A. DAMNJANOVIC, S. JAHN, G. MITSKOPOULOS, L. SEINCE
Kudu Industries, PCM

This paper has been selected for presentation and publication in the Proceedings for the World Heavy Oil Congress 2008.
All papers selected will become the property of WHOC. The right to publish is retained by the WHOC’s Publications Committee.
The authors agree to assign the right to publish the above-titled paper to WHOC, who have conveyed non-exclusive right to the
Petroleum Society to publish, if it is selected.

1
Abstract The process proved to be the most cost effective and had the
best quality control and tolerances. Figure 2 illustrates the final
With unprecedented global growth and the consumption of shape of the hydro-formed stator inside the External housing.
oil, significant emphasis is placed on heavy oil and bitumen
production in meeting this growing demand. Among the
artificial lift technologies available to produce heavy oil, the External housing Hydro-formed stator
Progressing Cavity Pump has proven to be the most accepted
method in terms of its ability to handle solids, viscosity range,
pump efficiency and operating cost.

With the addition of thermal recovery processes such as

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) and Cyclic Steam
Stimulation (CSS), enhanced production of extra heavy oil is
possible. However, the standard elastomer technology has an
operating temperature limit of around 160oC, far below thermal
production requirements. A new technology called the PCM
Vulcain™ is based on a completely metallic pump and pushes
the temperature limit to 350°C. Furthermore, a high
temperature surface seal has been designed to operate at these Figure 2.
elevated temperatures. Since 2005, the PCM Vulcain™ has
been tested successfully in several field trials throughout Two prototypes were tested at TOTAL’s research facility
northern Alberta (Cold Lake and Athabasca). (CERT) in Gonfreville, France. The results of this testing were
presented in a SPE paper (SPE 97796). The results confirmed
This paper will discuss the completion configuration for the strength of the pump, hydraulic performance, differential
both downhole and surface equipment along with results and pressures, RPM and ability to handle a wide range of
benefits attained from the field trials. The intent is to launch this viscosities. As with an elastomer pump, the efficiency of the all
new technology from pilot to commercialization in early 2008. metal PCP increases with RPM.

The next step was to incorporate an environmentally

Introduction
The key requirement to producing thermal recover wells is a
flexible and efficient artificial lift system. Given the huge
success of the elastomer Progressing Cavity Pumps (PCP) in
conventional heavy oil applications it was obvious this positive
displacement pump was a very good fit for thermal recovery.
However, with temperature being a limiting factor for the
elastomer, an alternative was required. PCM started the
development of the all metal PCP in the mid 1990’s. The first
pump had excellent hydraulic characteristics and the theory of
an all metal PCP was proven as a potential solution. Several
manufacturing techniques were tried for an efficient and cost
effective means of manufacturing the all metal PCP. PCM
developed a hydro-forming process used to manufacture the
internal stator sleeve. PCM currently has two patents pertaining
to the all Metal PCP with another pending:
1. A patent for the use of an all metallic PCP in oilwells
up to 300°C.
2. A patent for the hydro-forming manufacturing
process. Figure 1.
friendly high temperature seal capable of handling the high
injection and producing temperatures in CSS wells along with
the conventional lower pressure high temperature SAGD wells.
After the seal was designed it needed to be laboratory tested
before being installed in the field. The environmentally friendly
high temperature seal was designed and then independently
tested to 315°C. The original design called for a cooling loop
with a hydraulic cooler, which was required to help dissipate
the high temperature. After field testing the loop was removed
as it was not required because of the heat dissipation between
the drivehead connection and the high temperature seals. The
seal is called the High Temperature Oryx Seal and to date has
proven to be extremely reliable.

The name for the all metal PCP is the PCM Vulcain™.
Figure 1. External envelope containing
pressurized fluid

Die

Figure 3 Oryx Seal

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 With the pump proven and an environmentally friendly
sealing solution found, it was time to begin field trails. Field
trials would enable a better understanding of the practical limits
in a producing environment and how an all metal PCP
completion needs to differ from a conventional elastomer PCP
installation.
Principles of Operation
PCP’s are positive displacement pumps, which consist of a
stator and a rotor. The elastomer PCP is described as a gear
pump with a single helical rotor, which rotates inside a double
internal helical elastomer lined stator.
The all metal PCP is constructed of three hydro-formed
stator tubes. These tubes then have flanges welded to them, and
the flanges are connected to the outer housing. Figure 4
illustrates the internal profile of the stator with a rotor cross
section.
Figure 4 All metal Pump internals
There are currently two versions of the pumps operational at
the current time.
• Version 1 (V1) and
• Version 2 (V2) has addition internal flanges used
to distribute the applied torque and deflection of
the stator tubes. Version 2 became operational in
early September 2007 and to date there are no
failures.
Nomenclature for pump models.
550MET750
550 is the flow rate at 500 RPM and 0 head
MET is for all metal PCP
750 meters lift of water column
Refer to the Appendix for the Pump Model chart.
Developmental Testing
PCM conducted extensive testing in France on a loop before
proceeding with field trials in North America. A Joint Industry
Project (JIP) “laboratory testing of Artificial Lift System for
low Pressure SAGD” was conducted at the Centre for
Frontiering Engineering Research (CFER) in 2005. The results
of testing are confidential to the JIP participants.
In 2005, an operator created an initiative to trial other forms
of artificial lift. The results of the JIP inspired our first field
trials in CSS wells at Cold Lake. The first pump was installed in
November 2005. The criteria included that the pump would
remain downhole during steaming and flowback. The
equipment also had to operate over a wide range of production,
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temperature and pressure. The pilot was to prove operation,
performance and maintenance baseline on a first cycle well
candidate.
Case One
This case was the first CSS project for the all metal pump.
The environment in the CSS application is as follows:
• Vertical wellhead to horizontal production zone
• Initial high pressure
• High fluid temperature / low viscosity
• High free gas and potential for steam flashing
The installation used:
• 8 5/8” production casing
• 4 1/2” tubing
• 25.4 mm Corod
• 550MET750 pump
• VH100HP drivehead
• High Temperature Oryx Seal
• 100HP EXP electric motor
• Pump setting depth of 640 m MD
• Pump inclination 80°
• No Anchor or Antivibration Sub (AVS)
The first pump installed in November 2005 was put on steam
and allowed to flowback until January. The pump was
started in the middle of January 2006 at 200 RPM and
gradually increased to 300 RPM by the end of the month.
After 1600 hours of run time the rotor was inspected and
measured. Minor wear was observed and even though the
rotor still met dimensional specifications, a new rotor was
installed. The pump continued to run until the end of cycle
one, with a run time of approximately 2300 hours.
Production volumetric efficiency was calculated to be around
70% during the length of the cycle.
Cycle two began steaming in May 2006 to November 2006.
The pump restarted and went through the second production
cycle with no down time due to the pump or drivehead.
The pump ran at:
≥ 200 RPM for 99% of the time
≥ 300 RPM for 89% of the time
≥ 400 RPM 45% of the time
The results above are worth noting as vibration testing has
shown the pump runs with less vibration at higher RPM.
The pump efficiency over cycle two dropped to as
low as 50% and as high as 70%. A flow meter was installed
on this well, but was non-operational for most of the pump’s
life. Production numbers were inferred from group
production and a periodic test to a rig tank was performed
when fluid conditions were appropriate. The pump never ran
in “cool bitumen” environment so the expected efficiency
increase with higher viscosity was not realized. The stator
failed after approximately 5000 hours of run time, shortly
after the beginning of the third pumping cycle. The failure
was attributed to a combination of torque and vibration near
the flanges. We suspect one of the stator tubes broke near the
flanges and was allowed to spin freely for a length of time
causing the tube to break apart into ¾” diameter pieces.
This first pilot well proved the technology worked
well using essentially a standard PCP configuration. The
successes of this first well trial lead to a six well test
expansion. These six pumps ran in virtually the same
 downhole conditions as the first trial pump. Of these six
pumps, two failed prematurely. These failures are attributed
to a combination of vibration and torque near the welded-
flanged connections. It is important to note that the failures
occurred away from the heat affected zone created during
welding. The other four pumps ran well with a presumed
efficiency of 65% but were pulled before the next steam
cycle, as to not risk future production.
Lessons learned in this first application are:
• The internal component in the first pump failed
and broke into small metal pieces. It was
recognized that the intake was required to work as
a “junk basket” to prevent any pieces of the pump
from contaminating the wellbore after a failure.
• Explosion Proof Electric motors can become
contaminated with moisture from the CSS
application.
• Additional internal components.
• The temperate at the High Temperature Oryx Seal
was low enough that the cooling loop could be
removed.
• An additional secondary final rope packing seal to
the polished rod was added to the High
Temperature Oryx Seal.
Figure 5 all metal PCP in CSS application
Case Two
Our second CCS installation was in the Cold Lake Oilsands
area as well. The downhole configuration was the same as the
Pilot well.
The installation used:
• 9 5/8” casing
• 4 ½” tubing
• 25.4 mm Corod
• 550MET750 pump
• VH100HP drivehead
• High Temerpature Oryx Seal
• 100HP Exp electric motor
• Pump setting depth of 630 m MD
• Pump inclination 88°
• No Anchor or Antivibration Sub (AVS)
The main goal of this trail was to compare the initial
production increase versus the 1280 pump jacks and
incremental overall production between steam cycles. Smaller
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footprint, ease of installation, lower capital and operating cost
accounted as additional benefits. After only 24 hours of a break
in period the pump ran at 500 RPM. The pump ran at very low
torque for the first two weeks. The reservoir pressure was high
enough that the pump was driving the rod string. The pump
efficiency started at 90% and dropped down to 80% and leveled
off when the pump was in or near a pump off condition. The
pad had a power bump 45 days into the production cycle. The
well was restarted with a quick ramp up time back to 500 RPM.
The rapid change on downhole pressure caused a sand bridge to
break and enter the pump in high concentrations. The pump
inspected in is good structural condition with the exception of
excessive wear. During evaluation of the stator large amounts of
sand were noticed, which was due a large influx of sand. The
efficiency dropped and the torque increased during this time.
Lessons learned from this application are:
• Differential pressure across the pump is required to
prevent 3 things;
o Keep the rod string in tension.
o Keep the pump from driving the rod
string.
o Keep steam from flashing in the tubing.
• Increase the ramp up time after a shutdown to be
more representative of a sandy well application.
• Run a slotted intake on the pump with the same
slot sizes as the liner to break up any large sand
slugs, initial design was for ten times the open
flow area for a 3 1/2” tubing joint.
Case Three
The first SAGD project for the all metal pump was at
Athabasca Oilsands area. The operator is very experienced
using PCP’s in other areas internationally. They were searching
for an artificial lift method that didn’t have the production
limitations of Beam Pump or the temperature and viscosity
restrictions of an Electric Submersible Pump (ESP). The
operator was also looking for increased production at low
operating and capital costs along with less complex well
completions.
The environment differed from the CSS applications in the
follow areas:
• Slant well
• Shallow depth
• Low pressure
• Cooler bitumen temperature; high viscosity
• Less free gas and potential for flashing
The installation used:
• 7” production casing inside 11 3/4” casing
• 4 1/2” tubing
• 1.90” Tenaris Hollow Rod
• 3 1/2” tubing and 8.5DR Continuous Rod was used
when Hollow Rod was unavailable.
• 550MET750 pump
• VH100HP drivehead
• High Temperature Oryx Seal
• 60HP Exp electric motor
• High Temperature Oryx Seal
• Pump setting depth of 327 m MD
• Pump inclination 86°
• Kudu Cam Loc Torque Anchor
The first pump, which was a 550 MET 750 lasted for 387
days (approximately 8700 hours). The pump efficiency started
at 55% and dropped the 35% over the run life of the pump. The
average RPM over this period was 320 RPM. Low efficiency
was the reason for pulling this pump and was found to have no
mechanical failure. The longest running 400 MET 1000 lasted
for 333 days, with efficiency ranging from 70% to roughly
45%. The reason for failure is currently being investigated.
This pump had approximately 7300 hours of run time.
There are currently four V1 pumps operating with the
longest run time being approximately 6600 hours with an
efficiency of 40%. The first six V2 pumps are still currently
operating with the longest run time of approximately 3000
hours and an efficiency of 45%.
These applications used Hollow rod where as our other
applications used Continuous Sucker Rod. The main advantage
with the hollow rod is the string can be pulled using the service
rig reducing downtime and added rig expense. An additional
advantage was reduced rod wrap due to the stiff nature of the
rod string. Three of the wells with hollow rod have been
inspected and have shown no significant signs if wear.
Therefore, the rod tubing wear characteristics are estimated to
be similar to continuous sucker rod.
Figure 6 all metal PCP in SAGD application
Case Four
Our second SAGD application was in the Cold Lake
Oilsands area. The operator has an artificial lift history deeply
rooted in PCP’s. They were looking for an artificial lift method
to replace the gas lift currently installed in the field. The
operator wanted increased production at low operating and
capital costs.
The SAGD application was as follows:
• Vertical wellhead
• Medium depth
• High pressure
• Less free gas and potential for flashing
The installation used:
• 11 3/4” production casing inside
• 5 1/2” tubing
• 1.90” Tenaris Hollow Rod
• 550MET750 pump
• VH100HP hydraulic drivehead
• 5.7 GM hydraulic walk-in enclosure
• Pump setting depth of 529 m MD
• Pump inclination 72°
• No Anchor or Antivibration Sub AVS
• Additional Tail Joint
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Two pumps were installed in late October 2007. High
bottom hole pressure caused the pump to turn the rod string.
Low flowline pressure allowed for some steam flashing. Steam
flashing pushed a slug of water and bitumen up the tubing
causing a quick RPM increase in the pumping system. The
inline choke on the tubing was used to increase the back
pressure on the well increasing the differential pressure on the
pump. This action eliminated the drive from the reservoir,
turning of the rod string and eradicated compression in the
sucker rod string. At the time of this paper operational
requirements and performance were being evaluated.
Lessons learned in this application are:
• Differential pressure requirement as in Case
two.
Case Five
Our third SAGD application was in the Athasbasca Oilsands
area. The operator was seeking an artificial lift method that
didn’t have the production limitations of Gas Lift. Secondly,
they also wanted lower capital, operation and repair costs.
The SAGD application was as follows:
• Slant wellhead
• Shallow depth
• Low pressure
• Less free gas and potential for flashing
The installation used:
• 11 3/4” production casing inside
• 4 1/2” tubing
• 28.6 mm PROROD
• 1100MET500 pump
• VH100HP electric drivehead
• 100HP EXP motor
• 100 HP VFD
• Pump setting depth of 312 m MD
• Pump inclination 86°
• No Anchor or Antivibration Sub AVS
The pump was installed in November; however, at the time
of this paper the equipment was not running due to work at the
facilities.
Summary
Efficiency
The volumetric pump efficiency on start up typically is in
the 70% to 90% range. This number will change based on the
water cut, bitumen temperature (viscosity), pump differential
pressure and pump RPM. Over the life of the pump the
volumetric efficiency has dropped as low as 35%. Typically a
small increase in RPM will improve the pump efficiency.
Manufacturing and quality control improvements have been
improving the pump efficiency on new pump models. PCM has
defined a new standard for pump efficiency and start up torque.
Test Bench Results V1 versus V2 Gas Lock

Speed Pressure Volumetric Pump Efficiency
RPM kPa V1 V2
100 3000 27% 55%
200 6000 60% 75%
300 6200 76% 85%
400 6200 85% 90%
500 6200 89% 93%
The above test is from a 550MET750 with the same stator
and rotor before and after adding additional internal
components. The test fluid was oily water with a viscosity of
8cp at 20°C. 200, 300, 400, 500 RPM tests at 82% of rated
head pressure.
Note: Viscosity will affect the sealing between the rotor and
stator. The higher the viscosity the better the seal; therefore, the
efficiency maybe higher at the low RPM depending on reservoir
temperature and water cut combined viscosity.
Temperature
The pump, while downhole was in temperatures up to
330°C. Start up and operation has been as high as 185°C in the
CSS wells and as low as 65°C on the low pressure SAGD.
Currently the pump temperature rating is set at 350°C. The
technical limit is above our current rating of 350°C. Further
practical field testing is required before increasing our set
temperature.
Operating Range RPM
The typical operating range has been between 80 and 500
RPM. A 400 RPM limit has been imposed based on the direct
relationship of higher cycles = higher wear. Testing has proven
that the pump has less vibration at higher RPM so there will be
future testing to define this relationship.
Production Ratio
The production ratio or turn down ratio is the relationship
between volumetric efficiency and RPM. The current practical
limit is based on 100 to 400 RPM pump speed with an
efficiency range of 40% at 100 RPM and 80% at 400 RPM.
Therefore; the production ratio of 8:1 has been established as a
rule of thumb.
See note on viscosity in Test Bench Results V1 versus V2.
Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH)
The Net Positive Suction Head required for PCP is very
low. The required pressure at the pump intake is only what is
required to push fluid into the first empty cavity before the rotor
makes a rotation. If the pressure is too low the cavity will not be
full of fluid before the rotor swipes the cavity clean causing
pump cavitations. The benefit of low pressure start up is cooler
temperature, which reduces the amount of steaming required
before the well can be started. The quicker the producer can go
on production the faster the steam chamber can expand in a
SAGD application. In the CSS applications producing longer
into a cycle will increase the oil recovery rate before the costly
steam cycle has to start again
The PCP will not gas lock but free gas will take up space in
the pump cavity reducing pump efficiency. Bench testing was
conducted during the initial TOTAL testing in France. The loop
was taken up to 200°C and steam was injected at the pump
intake. A variety of differential pressures across the pump
where used to test the pump behavior during steam flashing.
For all practical purposes the pump did not show any vibration
increases, torque spikes or unusual occurrences.
Capital Costs
Capital costs have not been defined as the project is still in
pilot phase. Version One (V1) lasted one year so measurable
field cycle life performance increase on Version Two (V2) will
not be realized for another year. However, efficiency and torque
improvements have already been realized.
Installation Complexity
The installation complexity of the all metal PCP is no
different than the tens of thousands if PCP’s already running in
Canada. One potential problem in the future may be the limited
bored size in the wellhead for the pump to run through. This
limitation reduces the amount of available No Turn Tool or
Antivibration subs available for vibration dampening.
Operating Complexity
The operating complexity of the all metal PCP is once again
not much different than the tens of thousands of PCP’s running
in Canada. Simple standard practices should be followed.
• Sufficient fluid inflow to the pump intake.
• Minimal amount of gas produced through the
pump.
• Minimal amount of sand production produced
through the pump.
RPM equals production leading to extremely easy well
control. It is able to handle viscous fluids so cold temperature
(high viscosity) low pressure start ups are possible.
Abrasion
To date abrasion resistance has been hard to gauge.
Sediment testing on some fluid samples have shown only trace
amounts of sand. Other sieve samples from producing wells
have shown a higher percentage of sand particles, larger than
the liner slots, which is a clear indication of a liner hanger
problem or a more severe casing problem. To date only one
well has what we can characterize as an abrasion failure. At the
time of writing this paper a cut off for sand production has not
been defined; however, in the future sand screens are
recommended to break up large slugs of sand.
It is important to note that the Case One CSS application
used a bare rotor and a coated stator and the Case Three SAGD
application used a chrome rotor and coated stator. PCM’s third
generation of coatings, application, consistency and tolerances
has greatly increased over the last 18 months.

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 Vibration Modeling
The all metal pump cannot absorb and dissipate vibration
and harmonics as well as an elastomer PCP. Vibration modeling
and bench testing is on going but we can make some
conclusions.
The pump has been installed in several different well bore,
bottomhole assembly and surface configurations in a wide range
of production and operating conditions. Future field pilots,
bench, facility and laboratory testing will take the project into
commercialization later this year.

Testing was conducted with the stator inside 9 5/8” casing NOMENCLATURE
with 2 joints of 4 1/2” tubing above the stator. Accelerometers
were attached at the pump discharge and on the drivehead. The DLS = Dog Leg Severity
pump ran at 100 to 400 RPM with 50 RPM increments across ESP = Electric Submersible Pump
differential pressures of 0, 2,500, 5,000, 6,600 kPa (6,600 kPa RPM = Revolutions Per Minute
limit was imposed by the pressure sensor, which is 88% of the MD = Measured Depth
full head rating for this pump). CSS = Cyclic Steam Stimulation
The early conclusions from the testing are: SAGD = Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage
• The pumps run smoother at 350 + RPM. PCP = Progressing Cavity Pump
• Running the stator with a No Turn Tool or NPSH = Net Positive Suction Head
Antivibration sub at the bottom of the pump VFD = Variable Speed Drive
assembly reduces the vibration.
• Running the stator without a No Turn Tool or REFERENCES
Antivbration sub was second best.
• Running the stator with a No Turn Tool or 1. J.L Beauquin, F.Ndinemenu, TOTAL E/P,
Antivibration sub at the discharge with and G.Chaler,TOTAL E/P CANADA, L. Lemay,
without a No Turn Tool or Antivibration sub had L.Seince,PCM, A Damnjanovic KUDU INDUSTRIES,
the highest pump vibration. World’s First Metal PCP SAGD Field Test Shows
Promising Artifical Lift Technology For Heavy Oil Hot
Well Profile Production: Josyln Field Case, SPE Paper 110749

• The maximum DLS above the pump setting depth 2. Development status of a Metal Progressing Cavity Pump for
was 14.2° DLS 30 m. heavy oil and hot production wells (JL.Beauquin, C.Boireau,
• The typical DLS in conventional sucker rod TOTAL; L.Lemay, L.Seince, PCM), a SPE 97796 paper presented
pumped PCP wells is below 10° DLS / 30 m. at the 2005 SPE International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil
• The pumps have been installed primarily in the Symposium held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1–3 November
deviated section with an inclination of 70° to 89°. 2005
• The average DLS in the tangent section for the
pump has been approximately 5° DLS over the
pump length. Appendix
• The recommended tangent section length is 30
meters above the pump discharge before hitting a
DLS high enough to cause bending in the tubing PCM VULCAIN Pump Models
string.
1600
3 1/2" NU - 150 MET 1500
Note: Casing and tubing size dictate the maximum DLS 1400
4" NU - 400 MET 1000
Pu m p h ead (m W C )

allowed before the pump will have bending stress. 1200

4" NU - 550 MET 750
1000 4 1/2" EUE - 1100 MET 500
800
Surface Equipment 600
400
Segmented Polished Rod – The all metal PCP is often 200
installed before the steam cycle in a CSS well. This procedure 0

requires the rotor to be lifted out of the stator, which creates 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

approximately 30 feet of polished rod stick up. Steam can then Pump capcity (m3/d)

be sent down the tubing and casing. The polished rod is then
secured by a structure or supported by ropes. A segmented
polished rod will allow for less obtrusive installation as a
minimal length would be sticking above the drivehead during
steaming and flowback.

Conclusion
The PCM Vulcain™ field trials have proven the all metal
PCP to be a viable artificial lift alternative with distinct
advantages. One operator has proceeded to switch all the
production completions to PCP’s. The pumps have been
installed primarily in the deviated section with an inclination of
70° to 89 °. The average DLS in the tangent section for the
pump has been approximately 5° DLS over the pump length.
The temperature range has been between 65°C and 330°C.