Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 126 (2015) 41 Contents lists available at ScienceDitect Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ELSEVIER journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol Numerical investigation of the flow in a multistage electric submersible pump H. Stel®, T. Sirino*, FJ. Ponce, S. Chiva®, RE.M. Morales **"! 2 Federal UnivertyofTecology Pound UTFPS $0230 S01 Carib, P, Bail Jaume 1 Univeayof Casein Catlin de la Pana, Spain ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT ected 6 Jy 2015 Received in cevied for $ October 2015 ‘ecepied 29 October 2015 This atc presents @ numerical study on the fow in a multistage, mixed-type Elecric Submersible Pump (ESP). Several details about the application of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program based on the finite volume method for the numerical slution ofthe flow inside a multistage pump are Dresented. At fist, the numerical model is used to evaluate the influence of turbulence models and the ‘umber of stages on performance, Next, numerical ead curves fora three-stage ESP are compared with experimental data from literature for @ pump of same model and number of stages, for which a good Keyword: agreements found. Then relevant flow characteristics inside the pump stages are compared for different Numer ow rates uch as the restriction ofthe net flow area atthe interface between diffusers and impellers Aye to 4 reverse flow structire, Some transient low features inside the pump are aso discussed, This work can give useful insight on the application of numerical simulations of the flow in multistage, rixedctype ESPs, for which there ate few works in Hteratre Ican alzo contribute to expand the un Gerstanding of the flow in this type of pump. guide design optimizations and provide a basi to in- vestigate the flow in ore realistic ESP applications, such as in boosting viscous liquids and mulhiphase ‘ows © 2015 Elsevier BY. Al sights reserved. 1. Introduction Electric Submersible Pumps ot “ESPs” are systems composed by ‘multiple pump stages mounted in a serial arrangement. They are known for their use as an artificial lift technique in offshore pet- roleum production, offering advantages such as a relatively high elfciency, great adaptability, robustness and ability to produce high oil low rates ‘Nevertheless, offshore petroleum production is a quite complex. endeavour for a number of reasons, Besides technical aspects re- garding installation, maintenance and other mechanical concerns. the ESP unit should be prepared for some unusual pumping con- itions, such as multiphase flows and oils with medium-to-high viscosities. These two conditions alone can lead to a potential performance degradation of the ESP when compared with its operation with water, for which most pumps are tested by theit ‘manufacturers, In addition, the multistage, semi-axial impeller-difuser geo- ‘metric type of most ESPs brings further complexity for studies in responeing autor malades: rnasles@utipcedubr (REM. Morales. "postal address fy Sete de Seterbr, na 3265, Rebous. 0230-801 Corba, rand rs uepldxcotore!i02016petzo.2018 10038 TRV Al ihts reserve general. Pump stages with semi-axial impellers and diffusers may be subject to a complex flow recirculation structure inside the hhydraulic channels. which changes rapidly with the flow rate and depends on the actual specific speed. This gives rise, for instance. to a peculiar “wavy” form of the head curve, such as the “saddle- type” instability explained by Gilich (2010). That is, for a given rotating speed, the pump head curve may not experiment a pro- gressive increase when rediicing the flow rate, but actually. a sudden decrease somewhere between the design flow rate and the shut-off point. Regrettably, the study of flow field phenomena that leads to head curve instability is very difficult to be experimentally ac- complished, For example, flow visualization in semi-axial pumps seems to be generally harder to obtain than it already is for radial centrifugal pumps. Examples of procedures in that regard are found in Barrios (2007), Gamboa (2008) and Trevisan (2009) for two-phase flow pattern visualization. However, several modifica- tions in the pump geometry were needed in those cases, which is not always desirable, In any case, experimentally visualizing the flow between hubs and shrouds of a semi-axial impeller is very complicated in terms of visual access due to the complex curvature of the pump channels, ‘Moreover, both single and multiphase flow behaviour are normally dependent on the number of stages considered, while2 1, Stel eta Jornal of etroteam Scence and Engineering 1362015) 1-54 Nomenclature blade height D diameter Dy hydraulic ameter ¢” blade thickness gravitational aceleration fh head k turbulence kinetic energy 1 tetakeldscharge pipe length n rotating speed ‘specific speed (with rpm, m3[s and m) pressure Due Teference pressure ‘Ap pressure increase through the pump Vp presse gradient Q volumetric flow rate r position vector Ry Coefcient of determination 5° Source teem of the general transport equation of property db Sug Central source term of the general transport eauation of property qh Coriolis source term of the general transport equation of property torque impeller tip circumferential velocity velocity vector blade-to-blade velocity component dimensionless wall distance ‘number of bladesjvanes reek symbols B Blade angle © turbulence eddy dissipation @ generic transport property ® —__impellr(dtfser relative position T generic diffusion coefficient of the general transport equation of property ¢ n) hydraulic efficiency He dynamie viscosity hy eddy viscosity @ dimensionless circumferential postion between suc- tion and pressure sides ofthe impeller blades or ei fuser vanes po aeosity © turbulence eddy frequency 2p, impeller angular velocity magnitude ‘ae impeller angular velocity veetor Subscripts 1 impeller init or blade leading edge 2 impeller outlet or Blade trailing edge 3 difiser inlet oF vane leading edge 4 diffuser outiet or vane tailing edge avg average value of all stages des design i inner diameter © oster diameter stg value calculated fora given stage Ww) value tested for wate studying numerically several pump stages can be impractical in ‘many ways. Duran (2003), for example, used a 22-stage ESP pumping an ait-water mixture to investigate the effect of intake pressure and two-phase flow pattern transitions on the ESP per- formance. In fact, most studies of flow in ESPs are experimental and are normally limited to pump performance with two-phase flows, such as Ciilo (1998), Pessoa (2001) and Zapata (2003), with few sumerical analyses, even for single-phase flows. Caridad and Kenyery (2004) and Caridad et al. (2008) used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to study the flow in an ESP impeller without simulating the diffuser and considering only a single-stage. The numerical model is used mainly to investigate two-phase flow field distribution inside the impeller hydraulic channel, but the head provided by the impeller is calculated for both single and two-phase flows. The authors pointed out that CFD proved to be 2 reliable Cool to qualitatively investigate trends, but xno analysis of impeller-difuser interaction and stage-to-stage in- uence was possible. 8a:sios (2007) also used CFD to complement ‘experimental investigations in an ESP impeller, The author stated that the calculated values of the pressure increase provided by the impeller are close to the experimental data. Flow streamlines were analyzed and aspects of flow behaviour for both single and two- phase flows were discussed. However, only the impeller of a sin- ale-stage was considered. Maitell (2010) and Maitelli etal. (2010) used CFD to investigate the single-phase flow inside the impeller and the diffuser of one ESP stage. The authors provide flow field analyses such a5 pressure and velocity distributions and identifi cation of separation zones, but the study is restricted to a single [ESP stage, for which the head curve for water deviates significantly from the manufacturer curve, Sirino (2013) and Sirino etal, (2013) studied numerically the influence of viscosity on the flow in one ESP stage. Although the head curves calculated agree fairly well, with experimental data for a wide range of viscosities, low rates and impeller rotation speeds, large discrepancies were found for some cases and the authors claimed that they should be attributed to the fact that only a single stage was considered in the CFD ‘model. Recently, tel et al. (2014) used CED to simulate the flow of water and other fluids with different viscosities in a three-stage ESP. They majorly investigated the effect of the fuid viscosity on performance parameters, with several comments on performance degradation and the convenience of dimensional analysis in this situation, However, litle information about the flow field pattern inside the ESP is presented, especially regarding the flow transi- tion between stages for both design and off-design operation. Also, no extensive details on the numerical model for a multistage si- rmulation were provided, nor the effect on performance when ‘more than three stages are considered, ‘A review of the available literature reveals that few numerical studies in ESPS exist, and that most of them are limited to single- stage simulations. Although flow field analyses using computa- tional fluid dynamics are common for radial pumps, flow may behave differenti in semi-axial pumps with vaned diffusers. being the stage-to-stage transition also important. As mentioned earlier, some authots used CFD for two-phase flow investigation in ESP impellers but, as it seems, even for single-phase flows the nt- ‘merical tool is not yet extensively explored in order to understand the flow field pattern in semi-axial pump types. Therefore, the present paper describes a numerical modeling approach developed to simulate a multistage ESP operating with single-phase lows Its intent is to disclose details of the numerical1H, Set ea Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 15 2015) 41-54 a modeling, some challenges of multistage simulation and to de- scribe average and transient low field features in a semi-axial ESP for both design and off-design operation. In a broader sense, itis intended to establish a numerical procedure that can be extended to simulations of more complex scenarios, such as multiphase flows. 2. Pump geometry A seven-stage ESP assembly is illustrated in Fig. 1 as an example of a multistage system. A stage is composed by a combination of a rotating piece, the impeller, and a static diffuser. A shaft goes from the electrical motor through all stages, attached to all impellers. Al stages are grouped and protected by a cylindrical housing. ‘whose dimensions are based on the number of stages required for cach application ‘The ESP model studied in this work uses semi-axial impellers, a pump type which is quite common in the petroleum industry. Each stage is composed by 2 seven-blade impeller and a sever ‘vane diffuser: The ESP model considered, the Schlumberger” REDA™ GN7000 540 Series. was chosen mainly due to validation Purposes, as experimental data (Amaral, 2007) for head and etfi- ciency is available for this ESP operating with a wide range of flow rates, rotation speeds and fluid viscosities. However, this pump represents semi-axial ESP geometries quite well, and analyses here presented can be extended to other ESP models without com- mitment to a given configuration. ‘The geometry of the semiaxial stage is depicted in Fig. 2 where (a) shows examples of (cut) pieces of an impeller and 2 ifluser (b) presents a schematic 2D representation of the ESP stage and (c illustrates a single stage passage resulting from a 2D projection of a mid-span surface oriented to the semi-axial Fig 1 thstrtion of 4 malistage ESP system curvature. This figure helps understanding the distribution of bubs, shrouds, impeller blades and diffuser vanes, as well as the inlet and outlet cross-section areas ofthe ESP stage. The depicted ‘mid-span surface is of special interest to this work, and can be understood as a curved surface located halfway between hubs and shrouds. The stage passage, whose 2D view is depicted in Fig. (c) refers to an assemblage of a single hydraulic channel of the im- pellet and the diffuser. Each passage has a circumferential exten- sion of 360°/2=51.43*, where Zis the number of impeller blades or diftuser vanes, The main geometric specifications ofthe ESP model studied are also indicated in Fig. 2, and their correspondent values are given in ‘Table 1. Subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the impeller inlet and outlet sections respectively, oF the impeller blade leading and trailing edges, as detailed in Pig. 2. Similarly, subscripts 3 and 4 denote the diffuser inlet and outlet sections respectively, or the diffuser vane leading and trailing edges. in addition, | and o correspond to the inner and outer diameters of each cross sectional area, It was inferred from the manufacturers catalog curve that this ESP model is designed for a volumetric flow rate of Qusuw = 1360 x 10-2’ js (7389 oil barrels per day) and a head of Hlinse= 916m per stage at the best efficiency point (BEP) when the pura operates with water at a rotating speed of nye, = 3500 rpm. Using Qesie in m)5, Hazy in m and nay in spm, the pump specific speed is y= ty \Qaee Hy ‘The values above were associated with the design (des) de- nomination and were used in this work as references for some normalizations and calculations. This term was used mainly to avoid associating it rigorously to the best efficiency point (BEP). since the catalog does not indicate the actual conditions for the pump testing, such as the number of stages considered. However, it must be emphasized that no explicit reference to actual “design” values nor to a “design rotating speed” was found in the catalog. Conversely, curves for various rotating speeds are provided, and in the case of m = 3500rpm, the ESP is said to have an optimum ‘operating range between 201 x 1071s and 1.656 x 10~ ms, ‘or roughly 5000 to 9000 oil barrels per day. 3. Numerical modeling 34. Governing equations In this work, single-phase, isothermal and incompressible ow of water inside the ESP is assumed, Several eddy.viscosity-based turbulence models were tested in transient simulations, In this, case, mass and momentum equations are commonly referred to as Unsteady Reymolds-Averaged. Navier-Stokes Equations (U-RANS), which can be represented in a general form as (ANSYS, 2012) 8 ¥.(Vg)) = varvey+ of 2 + v(7s))= vow +s. w where p is the fluid density and V represents the Reynolds- Averaged velocity vector relative tothe frme of reference being considered. The continuity equation assumes g = 1 and For the momentum equations, =V. r=y+m, and S= ~ Vp + Seu + Sq where is the uid dynamic viscosity, is the turbulent or eddy visosity resulted from the Reynolds-aver- aging together with the Boussinesq hypothesis, and. Vp is the ressure-gradient n turn, cand Soe Fepresent the Corals and Centrifugal effects, For a static frame of relerence, Sew = See = 0. For a rotating frame of reference with a constant angular velocity [Bae] = ne Sce= = 2ptherx¥ and Sip ~ pe % Ge XP) where 7" is the position vector and ay 18 the angular velocity“ 1, Stel eta Jona of Perle cence and Engineering 136 (2015) 1-54 a ig. 2 Repcesencatin of seri-aual ESP stage (a) Image of cut pieces fan impeller ané a dsr ofthe ESP model considered (b) 20 Musraion ofthe ESP stage Deserpton pele ‘ier ‘Number of iadesvanes 7 ute inne ameter De= 298mm tole bade height by 206mm bya 3mm Cute blade height bya 159mm b= 167 Inlet bade tickness so24mm eo3imm Date blade thickness f-30nm ens Intec bade ange naw noe ute blade ance nae a 90" vector, Each U-RANS eddy-viscosity model provides a closure ap- proach for calculating. 4, in order to solve the set of equations above, The main intention is to use the SST (Shear Stress Trans- port) ker model (Mente, 1994) to resolve the flow very close to the walls and because itis said to handle separation flow fairly well (ANSYS, 2012). For purposes of comparison and validation, however, the standard k-e (Launder and Spalding, 1978), the RNG (Renormalization Group) ke (Yakhot et al, 1992), the standard kw (Wilcox, 1998), the BSL. (Baseline) ko (Menter, 1994), the EARSM (Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model) kr (Wallin and Johansson, 2000; ANSYS, 2012) and the EARSM BSL ko (ANSYS, 2012) models were also tested for a given case as will be shown later. Information regarding theory and numerical implementation of these models can be found in their respective references and in (ANSYS, 2012). Their choices were not based on any specific ad- vantage, but rather because they are models readily available in the commercial CFD software used, 3.2, Numerical approach The ANSYS® CEX® Release 145 software (ANSYS, 2012) was used in this work for the numerical solution of the flow inside the pump. Itis computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package used for the setup and numerical solution of the governing equations. The ‘numerical solution of the equations is based on the finite volume ‘method, In this method, the domain of interest is divided in sub- regions called control volumes, for which the equations are dis- cretized and solved in an iterative manner, Several numerical schemes and specific algorithms have to be used in this pracess, as explained in numerous references such as Patanikat (1980), Inthe present numerical simulations, a high-resolution scheme (ANSYS, 2012) is used to the discretization of the advec- tion term, and the second-order backward Euler is assumed for discretization in time. A co-located grid arrangement is used for all ‘equations. According to ANSYS (2072), the pressure-velocity de- coupling associated with co-located grids is avoided by using an alternative discretization based on the interpolation procedure proposed by Khie and Chow (1983), For turbomachinery applications, the ANSYS® CFX® code em- ploys a multi-block technique in which each piece of the pump. for ‘example the impeller (rotating) and the diffuser (static). are as- sumed as separated numerical domains connected by interfaces The way that information is transferred across the domains ac- counts for both different mesh distributions at each side of the interface and for the fact that one domain may be a rotating one (the impeller) and the other a static one (e.g. the diffuser) Fig, 3 shows a simplified example of an interface where a ro- tating piece slides over a static one. There are three basic issues to bbe modeled in this case. Firstly, both meshes at each side of the interface may be different. They also slide relatively to each other ddue to the displacement of the rotating patt. Moreover, if only a single passage of both the rotating and the static part are Rotating part mesh Rotating part _aeInterface Intl Blade Statie part Statie part mesh Fie 3. Schematic ofa mul ec snge- for all equations. Regarding the numerical setup, a final word about the total physical time of simulation, that is, the total number of time steps or impeller revolutions simulated must be said. As discussed ear- lier, every simulation starts with a steady state solution using the stage model. This procedure demands further simulations for afew impeller revolutions only, with the transient rotor-stator model to obtain statistically converged results. However, the first time steps are stil influenced by the initial, condition assumed. As a conservative approach, results obtained from the first two impeller revolutions in the transient solution {a} Suear-wise positon of he veloc prfle calculation over he mié-span suc; (Velo profes clclated using the eds neat in ble 2. were discarded in the averaging process in order to avoid biasing the final average solution with the effect of the initial condition Additional three full impeller revolutions were simulated in every case to calculate average values for head and efficiency. Averaging solutions with more impeller revolutions did not prove to affect the average values ofthese quantities in mare than 1% in any case Using local parallel calculation with 8 processors (Intel® Core"™'i7 (CPU 3.2 GHz, 12 GB RAM), each case demands an average run time of 48 h to simulate a total of five impeller revolutions (420 time steps) when three stages of the ESP are considered. Nevertheless, when investigating local velocity features such as vector plots or velocity profiles (as the ones shown in Fig. 5), as much as twelve full impeller revolutions and 116h of simulation ate required so that the results for these specific variables can achieve statistical convergence 4. Results All data shown in this article refer to cases using water (w= 899 x 10-4Pass, p= 997 kgim™ ) as the pumping fluid. For validation purposes, four pump rotating speeds were considered in the numerical simulations, namely 3500, 3000, 2400 and 1800 rpm. These values were chosen following the experimental work of Amaral (2007) and Amaral e¢ al. (2008), who tested a three-stage ESP of the same model studied in this work. For each rotating speed assumed, a wide range of flow rates, was simulated. Several partload conditions, including the pump shut-off point, and various overload flow rates up to Q= 15:-Quanw were numerically simulated. As mentioned earlier, the best eff ciency point obtained from the manufacturers catalog, Ques = 1360 x 10%’ fs, is the flow rate used to reference all other flow rates in this wor Head and efficiency are referred to as H and 1, respectively Since the inlet and outlet cross-section areas of each stage are Identical, the head is calculated using the static pressure difference between the inlet of the frst impeller and the outlet of the last difuser, that i, H = @y ~ ppieg, were p, and py are the average slatic pressure over the cross sectional ateas of the first impeller inlet and the last diffuser outlet, respectively, and g is the grav- ational acceleration. The hydraulic efficiency is then numerically calculated a8 1 = p£QH|(Tayn.), where T is the torque with respect to the pump axis provided by the solid surfaces of the impellers,* 1H, tel eta Jounal of eroleu Science and Engineering 185 (2015) 1-54 Table a Comparison of head and hyaline resus of singlstage BSP assuming rumen simulations wih several turbulence models Q= 05 Qgnn a. =3500 19). Ho it te ena na eas nas o13 ‘which include not only the torque provided by the blades, but also any additional frictional influences of the hubs and shrouds. 41. Turbulence model A single-stage domain was used to test the influence of several turbulence models on the results of head, H, and hydraulic eff- ciency, 9, of the ESP stage. This test was made for a single point, using the my =3500spm speed and a part-load flow rate of Q= 05-Queyy, which is usually more critical than Q = 1.0-Qsey9 fOr ‘turbulence models since it gives rise to flow separation. Resuits are shown in Table 4, As mentioned earlier, the models tested were the standard k=, the RNG k-e, the EARSM k-, the standard k the BSL k-o, the EARSM BSL ko and the SST k-« models. 'No noticeable differences can be observed wien comparing ‘results for all models, The k-e based models seem to slightly un- derestimate the stage head with respect to the other models, while marginally overestimating the hydraulic efficiency. How- lever, differences are rather small to be conclusive in favour of any model. This was actually expected, as suggested by Feng et al. (2010). In fact, the objective of this comparison was indeed to censure that any of those models could be used fora fair estimation of performance values However, kr based models may not be adequate for flow se- paration, which occur at part-load operation. The SST model, on the other hand, may be a more adequate choice in that regard, as suggested by ANSYS (2012) and Feng et al. (2010). The SST model was then chosen for the further analyses shown in this work. 42. Number of stages ‘ig. 7 illustrates the flow pattern fora three-stage simulation at the design flow rate. It shows vector plots over the mid-span surface insce all impellers and diffusers. Vectors were projected tangentially over the mid-span surface, and results forthe single passages were graphically replicated over the whole 360° for convenience. Vp is the “blade-to-blade" velocity component, or ‘he component tangent to the mid-span curvature. U; is the im- peller tip circumferential velocity. Velocity values and vector or Jentations inside the impeller are taken using a rotating frame of reference, fixed atthe impeller ‘One can clearly notice that the first-stage receives an axially oriented flow ftom the intake pipe. No separation is seen inside the impeller, bt a recirculation spot is observed close to the dif- fuser vane pressure side, near to the diffuser exit. The following stages are then expected to receive the flow influenced by the previous diffuser. The existing low at the last diffuser is not strictly axially-oriented, che 90° exit angle of the diffuser vanes notwithstanding. The discharge pipe does not seem to provide such an important backward influence over the last stage, never- theless, The differences between the flow patterns entering and exiting all stages eventually reflect in each stage performance, Tstage 2" stage 3 stage VU, EE 0750375 0.0 Fig 7. Flow ‘lel pattern at a mid-span surface ise a three-stage ESP [@= 10.Q¢e m= 3500 ep. with the first stage flow being significantly different from the other stages. ‘An example ofthe influence of the number of stages considered in the simulations is described in Fig, 8, Comparisons of the static pressure increase through each stage as a function ofthe flow rate of models with a single-stage, a three-stage and 2 five-stage ESP are presented. The most visible finding is that none of the curves1H, Sel ea Jura of Petroleum Science nd Engineering 136 (205) 41-54 ” Ted: snglstage ode Yellow: three-stage model Blue: vestage mode! | 1 sage 40,000. Semge Sn See age 0 025 0s a7 1 12s 1S Dow Big. 8. Comparison of stati presse gan curves vere normalized Now rate of all model ‘match each other with perfection, meaning that a distinctive in- fluence of the boundary conditions and the stages one on each other always exists t can be observed that the curves of the first stages are the ones that deviate most with respect to the re- maining stages. The general observed trend is that the static pressure difference of the first stage is underestimated for part- Toad flow rates, but overestimated whenever > Qunw- Con- versely, the last stages of the ESPs with more than one stage overestimate the part-load static pressure increases, but under- estimate them when Q > Que The evolution of the static pressure gains through the five stages of a ive-stage ESP simulation is shown in fig. The static Pressure gain at each stage, p,q, is normalized by the average of all ive stages, pj and results are given for six flow rate con- ditions. The solid’ line indicates a condition where the static pressure increase for a given stage matches the average pressure increase, that iS APc/Pyg 10. in the first stage, haw much the pressure gain deviates from the average value Ap,,, largely de- pends on the flow rate, For Q = 0.5-Qéeww and above, the pressure gain in the frst stage is higher than the average value, and this Giflerence increases with the flow rate. However, results for all flow rates converge to a value close to the average pressure gain in the second stage, and with good agreement. There is still fair variation of the pressure gain from the second to the third stage. Whose rate is also dependent on the flow rate. Then, the pressure 16 14 Average Stage ig. 9. Evolution of the static pressure gain through stages in fie-stage ESP = rolatons ats eiferent Now rater, Ta Ep 3500 pmoAee 5000 m= @ Doone } Hea] 0 025 0S) 078) 1128S DQ sou Fig. 10. Comparion of numeri and experimental (Ansel 2007) ead versus gain ofthe third stage for a given flow rate differs slightly from the Value calculated in the following stages for the same flow rate, It seems clear that using only a single-stage to analyze the flow in ESPs is insufficient for both performance evaluation and flow field investigation. However, comparisons of the second stage curve of the three-stage ESP with the intermediate stages of the five-stage ESP (second, third and fourth stages) in Fig. 8 show that the trends of those curves agree fairly well in qualitative terms. Fig, 9 also shows that the pressure gain inside the second stage shows a fair agreement with the average value of five stages in a five-stage stimulation, for all compared flow rates. Nevertheless. those results hold only provided that there is at least one stage downstream, i. the third stage. From the third stage onwards, no definite variation is observed in the pressure gain at each stage. Since five-stage ESP simulations are very time-consuming, using three stages is enough for good qualitative analysis and fair quantitative estimation, which are the purposes of this work. Moreover, experimental data for validation is available for a three- stage ESP mount, as will be shown in the next section. 43. Comparison with experiments Numerical head curves for the four pump rotating speeds considered are compared with experimental data of Amaral (2007), as shown in Fig. 10. Both numerical and experimental va- Tues represent data for a three-stage ESP model. A very good agreement is observed at the best efficiency points, the average deviation for this point being 1.5% with all rotating speeds con- sidered, The other points near the BEP also agree quite well, For strong part-load and overload operating conditions. numerical results fall slightly below the experimental values. At 15% of the best efficiency point, for example, deviation is of 75% (average deviation forall rotating speeds), even though interpolation had to be used for the experimental data since the exact flow rates si- ‘mulated experimentally were not followed in the numerical re- sults. If all points are to be compared, the coefficient of determi- nation, &°, is of 0.988. It is understood that results provided by the numerical model are good and acceptable for the purposes of this work, considering that small differences in the design ofthe blades and the hydraulic channels between mumerical and experimental models are almost inevitable, that leakage and gaps are not considered in the nu- ‘merical models, that there are inherent deficiencies in the turbu- lence model, and other approximations that do not allow a50 100 80 60 1% 40 20 0s 075 1 DQ. Fi. 1, Comparton ofthe numerical hyeralieeiciency with the experimental elency (msl 2007} vera normale low rate fora thre-age FSP ope ting a r= 3500 spr rigorously straightforward comparison. ‘Numerical and experimental efficiency values are also analyzed together in Fig, 11, However, comparison of both methods is made here just for sake of qualitative evaluation since the experimental efficiency refers to the whole pump efficiency (including me- chanical losses), which cannot be calculated with the numerical ‘model, It can be noticed that the hydraulic efficiency calculated numerically remain slightly higher than the experimental values for almost the whole range. For high flow rates, however, the Vstage 1H, tel eta Journal of etroteam Science and Engineering 185 (2015) 41-54 ‘numerical values fall slightly below the experimental data. This seems to be related to a numerical underestimation ofthe head for very high flow rates, which influences directly the » calculation. In any case, numerical and experimental BEP flow rates match well with Q= 1.0-Q4e 44, Hlow field features inside the three-stage ESP ‘There are numerous aspects to be considered in this study re garding the flow field pattern inside the ESP hydraulic channels. ‘Amongst those, the onset of flow separation inside the impellers ‘when reducing the flow rate from the design point, the interaction between impeller and diffusers and the influence of the stages one to each other are examples of interesting features that can be explored. Fig. 12 shows vector plots of time-averaged flow fields inside ‘the impeller channels for several flow rates all at a rotating speed (of nag = 3500 rpm. Vectors were tangentially projected over a ‘mid-span surface inside the impeller, which was coloured by Vl. Vector directions and velocity values are calculated using a rotating frame of reference, fixed at the impeller. ‘When Q=05-Qge:y, which can be considered a strong part- load operation, large separation zones are observed close to the suction sides of the impellers in all stages. This is a quite expected ‘outcome, as a result ofthe high angle of incidence of flow for too low flow rates. The flow tends to exhibit a geometry-oriented behaviour inside the fist stage when Q = 0.75 Qasw (Which agrees with some radial pump analyses such as Feng etal, 2009 and Stel et al, 2013), whereas for the same flow rate recirculation zones appear at the suction sides of the blades in the second and third stages, lose to the impeller trailing edge. This might be explained suse Sstage Ma VdU, 075 a Por 037500 Fig. 12. Row fe pattern a a midspan surface inside the implies ofthe three-stage ES, forfour lw rates an fixe rotating speed (nag 3500p)1H, Sel ea Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 16 2015 41-54 s Diffisey outlet Shroud ~ Hub, 95Q.e 0.75Qee 1.00... {J-u2 1250... Fig 12 usation of regen of downstream (ce) and upstream (blue) fow a vasiou locaton inside the dtse ofthe second sage fr fou dierent ow rates(For Interpretation ofthe reetences to coors ths gue lege. the reads fete to the we vesion of ths afte) by the influence of the frst stage on the flow in the following stages, mostly by the inability ofthe diffuser in delivering a purely axially-oriented flow to the next impeller. Flows at Q= 1.0-Qseiw and Q= 1.25-Qsey tend to be blade-oriented inside all stages, ‘with no visible flow separation except around the blades! tailing edges, where the “jet-wake" flow structure is visible. Differences are clear when the flow inside the first stage is compared with patter inside the other stages. Inside the first stage, larger velo- city values tend to concentrate close to the blade suction sides for high flow rates, but this pattern is less discernible inside the sec- cond and third stages. In general, the fows inside the second and third stages tend to be similar, whereas the low ofthe frst stage is not as similar ‘The flow separation at the exit of the diffusers forces the Quid to flow to the next impeller through a restricted area with respect to the whole diffuser outlet section. This behaviour is compared for several flow rates in Fig. 13, which shows velocity vectors over several planes inside the diffuser of the second stage, Red arrows indicate downstream flow, while blue arrows ilustrate reverse (upstream) flow. The length of each arrow is scaled by the velocity ‘magnitude, with a representative magnitude scale shown in the bottom-right corner of the figure. Flow at Q= 1.25-Qumiw shows a thin region of reverse flow near the diffuser inlet (first plane from bottom to top), attached to the diffuser hub. As the flow advances through the diffuser, the reverse flow region shortens and be- comes restricted to a small comer between the diffuser ub and the vane pressure side (PS), No reverse flow is observed at the iffuser exit plane, even though the orientations of the velocity vectors demonstrate a significant switl a this region. This general flow pattern is also observed for the other flow rates. shown, However, one can see that the reverse flow areas through the diffuser increase as the flow rate decreases. Down to Q= 075 Qeesw, the How at the diffuser exit is stil predominantly downstream, with a small region of reverse flow close to the shroud, Then, for Q= 0.5 Qu a thick reverse flow layer is ab- served at the diffuser outlet. Moreover, it can be seen that from the diffuser's inlet to its outlet, this upstream flow region migrates from hub to shroud. Eventually the formation of large areas of reverse flow impacts performance since the Oud entering the next stage flows through a restricted area, ‘Another issue with regard to separation flow is that the Dow pattern may become quite unstable. In order to illustrate how unstable the flow becomes as the pump operates in part-load condition, Fig. 14 shows instantaneous flow fields at a mid-span surface inside the second stage (chosen as an example) a diferent impeller/diffuser relative positions. The blade-to-blade velocity component, Vi, is used to illustrate the flow pattern, once itis projected tangentially over the mid-span surface. The flow rate used for this comparison is Q= 05-Qzecw. Stating with an arbi- trary initial position g,, one can obseive that after a 25.7" dis- placement of the impelier (hal a blade passage) there are dilfer- ences of the velocity magnitudes close to the diffuser side of the interface, a5 well as around the diffuser vane leading edge and at ‘the impeller inlet. Although the gap between the impeller blades and the diffuser vanes of the ESP is much bigger than usually found in radial pumps, transient variations are obviously stil ex- pected due to impeller-diffuser interactions. The unstable char- acteristic of the separating flow inside the impeller and the dif- fuser, however, can be already seen after only one complete im- Peller revolution, g, + 360°. Even though one would expect ast 1H, Stel eta Jounal of Perle Sclence and Engineering 185 (2015) 41-54 mar ons eo 3er ene Fig. nscantaneos Ml ld pater atthe midspan sae ofthe second sage fr dierent ipeliediser relative postions (Q~ 05 Quays Rag =3500 periodic behaviour, it can be seen that the recitculation inside the rotor seems to be instantaneously more spread across the impeller channel. The differences in velocity magnitude close to the difuser side of the interface are aso visible. The shape of the recieulation inside the diffuser, close to the difluser's pressure side, is also changed from yy t0 gp + 360°. Further unsteadiness is observed as the impeller advances to yp + 385.7", with variations in the vector orientations and velocity magnitudes in some spots, especially in the diffuser, close to the interface, It can be observed that in the region between the impeller blades and the diffuser vanes, the flow exhibits a wavy behaviour, mostly due to the inefficient flow angle reaching the diffuser vanes 2t this part-load operation. Nine revolutions later, at yp +9360", one can confirm that the flow patter is indeed not periodic, due to further differences in vector orientations and velocity magnitudes in several spots, when compared with previous equivalent impeller positions ( y, and ‘%0+ 360"). The last image at the bottom-right corner shows the average flow field up to this point. It demonstrates the big differ fences between instantaneous and time-average flow patterns for part-load condition. For example, between the impeller blades and diffuser vanes, the instantaneous wavy behaviour is eventually smoothed in the average flow field. Fig, 15 shows how the ESP torque, T, is affected by the unstable flow inside the pump during one impeller revolution, Le. from @ =0° to 360°, Simulations with flow rates of Q= 0.5:Qsew and (Q= 15Qseuw are used here for the sake of comparison. Numerical1H, Sel ea Journal of Peoleum Science blade “ — 050... passages = 150. 90" 180° 270 360" 9 Fig. 15. ESP torque asa funtion of te impel ditse selative postin, com aed for Q=05 Qn a 15.Qre results are normalized by the ESP catalog torque value at the de- sign point, Tw = 1587N-m, which was estimated from the cat- alog chart for'a three-stage ESP operating at a rotating speed of ‘neq = 3500 rpm, One can notice that the torque for the case with Q=15:Qsere Shows an approximate periodic behaviour at each blade passage. The standard deviation of T with respect to the ‘mean value for this low rate is approximately 0.70 Nm. There are small differences in magnitudes of peaks and valleys between passages, but this is actually expected due to the influence of one stage onto another, which may be non-periodic. For operation with Q-= 05-Q4e, however, no periodic behaviour is clearly ob- served at all. Although the standard deviation of T for this latter case (~ 057 Nm) is slight smaller than the former, analysis of the curve shows that the unstable flow inside the impeller and dif- fuser channels causes the ESP flow at part-load operation to be strictly non-periodie at each blade passage From the results shown, it was possible to notice that the flow Inside a given multistage ESP model is highly influenced by stage- to-stage transition, impeller-diffuser interaction and part-load operation, to name a few and clear issues that influence the pump ow bebaviout. Several other factors, such as turbulence, highly- viscous liquid pumping and two-phase flow inside an ESP also Geserve deep, detailed studies on their own, since all of them are responsible for key influences on the pump performance. Using a similar CFD model as the one detailed and tested in this article to analyze those features, not just for the ESP considered but for ther ESP models as well, is targeted by the authors as a future work 5. Conclusions In this article, a numerical study of the flow inside a multistage electric submersible pump was presented. Several important a5- pects were discussed, such as the numerical modeling itself. the Giflerences of the pressure increase values obtained when con- sidering a different number of stages in the simulation, and how the flow pattern behaves for different flow rates in the fist, second and third stages of a three-stage model. From the analysis shown, the main conclusions can be summarized as follows: (1) Simulating a single-stage ESP does not give a realistic pre- diction ofthe global performance ofa multistage ESP, since the ‘low is very affected by the boundary conditions. In fact, this, influence is observed inside all stages for multistage nd Engineering 136 (2015) 41-54 s simulations, but the most different with respect to the others seems to be the fitst stage, which is subject to an incoming, flow without a pre-rotation effect. Although the flow through all stages is not strictly similar, simulations with a three-stage model proved to be able to provide good global results when compared with a five-stage ‘model, the former being obviously much less time consuming, than the latter. Also, three-stage results for head agreed well with experimental data (3) There are important differences when comparing the flow between different stages, even for high flow tates. For part load operation, separation flow inside the ESP hydraulic channels is unstable and reverse flow occurs at the diffusers, exits IC was shown that this instability influences the torque provided by the impellers, which shows a non-periodic behaviour, (4) The numerical approach described and used inthis paper seems to be a good tool for performance predictions from an engineering standpoint, as well as to qualitatively investigate flow field phenomena @ ‘As mentioned earlier, there are quite a few numerical analysis, of the flow in ESPs, but it was shown that important information can be extracted from a computational fluid dynamics analysis. ‘This type of pump is of great importance to industrial applications especially inthe petroleum field, and studies that guide engineers to make a better use of the equipment are very valuable. This in- volves gathering more detail ofthe flow field inside an ESP, such as the analysis shown in this paper. The authors inten to further this investigation as future works, not just to collect more detail about the present numerical model but also to extend it to other sce- ratios, such as highly viscous liquid pumping and multiphase ows. ‘Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the financial and technical support from the TE/CENPES/PETROBRAS(Grant No. 0050.0086159:13.9), References ‘Submersa Operanée com Fides Viscoses (MS. thesis) Universidade Estaal atch tras rouge i periormance SPE rad. Oper 2.305210 ° ‘NSS 2012 ANSWS® header Research, Release 145, Help System, CPX Doc arian. 2007 Viazstion and Moding of Miitiphase Performance insige an ecical Submersible Pump PhD. dsserten)- The University a Tusa Tulsa, caida], uae M,Kenyey, Teme, A Agiln 0, 2008, Characterization ‘of cennfgl pump imple under two-phase New coneiins Pe St Ene handling ewo-phace mares] Energy Resor Technol Iran ASM 125, cu 08. ees Rw sou Be Somes Punpe Sn) Duran). 2003 Pressure fects on ESP stages arate performance. 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