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Keywords

Two-Phase fow, CFD, bubble coalescence, gas volume fraction, electrical submersible pump

Document Type

Research Article

Abstract

An Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) is the most commonly used artifcial lifting method in the oil and gas industry by converting kinetic energy to pump pressure head; however, issues like gas entrainment and shifting production rates tend to cause ESP pressure degradation. Flow behaviours inside the ESP, such as gas pockets or pressure surging, tend to diminish the pump pressure head signifcantly. Observation of gas-liquid fow in the ESP is challenging due to the compact, sophisticated geometry and highly turbulent fow structures. This paper observes two-phase fow in the ESP through CFD simulation and illustrates its pressure degradation through Air Volume Fraction (AVF) contours showing formations of gas pockets and recirculation bubbles. This research utilised Mixture Flow as its primary two-phase model with 1%, 6% and 10% Gas Volume Fraction (GVF) ratios inside the pump at a constant fow rate of 250 L/min. The results show an apparent pump head degradation from 3.062 m to 2.251 m overall. The centrifugal pump under two-phase fow cannot generate the same amount of pressure head as it normally does due to the bubble point pressure. This decrease in pump pressure head is a potentially unstable behaviour, which is acknowledged as pressure surging.

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Publication Date

30-6-2021

First Page

2

Last Page

9

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