FIELD TRIALS OF NEWLY DEVELOPED POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT SUBMERSIBLE PUMP

摘要

The purpose of this grant was to evaluate under real world conditions the performance of a new type of downhole pump, the hydraulically driven submersible diaphragm pump. This pump is supplied by Pumping Solutions Incorporated, Albuquerque NM. The original scope of the project was to install 10 submersible pumps, and compare that to 10 similar installations of rod pumps. As an operator, the system as tested was not ready for prime time, but has shown the ability to reduce costs, and increase production, if run times can be improved. The PSI group did improve the product and offered excellent service. The latest design appears to be much better, but more test data is needed to show short run life is not a problem. PSI and Beard Oil intend to continue testing the pump with non-government funding. The testing to date did not uncover any fundamental problems that would preclude the widespread use of this pump, and as an operator, I believe that with further improvement and testing, the pump can have a significant impact on stripper well costs. On the positive side, the pump was easy to run, was more power efficient then a rod pump, and is the only submersible that could handle the large quantities of solids typical of the production environment found at the Weber field and in CMB production. The product shows much promise for the future, and with continued design and testing, this type of submersible pump has the potential to become the standard of the industry.