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Abstract
This study consisted of a Matlab electric submersible pump (ESP) design along with an
economical evaluation performed on three selected oil wells. The economic evaluation was
conducted to study the feasibility of changing these three oil wells from producing with
artificial gas lift (GL) to producing with ESP. Moreover, Matlab, with the aid of GUI, was
used to create the optimum ESP design for each well. The design was then compared with the
available commercial software such as Autograph software and Pipesime software. The
comparison results show a good agreement between the Matlab design and the commercial
software.
Generally, in ESP design procedures, several pump performance charts are needed to select
the optimum pump. Thus, in this work, more than 50 pump performance charts were
converted to equations (Appendix A), and these equations were used in developing the
proposed Matlab design. Furthermore, an economical evaluation was then conducted to find
the feasibility of switching the selected wells from GL system to ESP system due to the fact
that prices of gas these days is high compared to that of electricity. This evaluation involved
two scenarios: do nothing or switch to ESP. The final results show that the possibility of
switching depends on the well productivity.
1) Introduction
In the oil and gas industry, ESP systems are probably best known as an effective artificial lift
method of pumping production fluids to the surface. ESPs are especially effective in wells
with low bottomhole pressure, low gas/oil ratio, low bubblepoint, high water cut or low API
gravity fluids.
About 15 to 20% of almost one million wells worldwide are pumped with some form of
artificial lift employing ESps. In addition, ESP systems are the fastest growing form of
artificial lift pumping technology. They are often considered high volume and depth
champions among oil field lift systems [1].On the other hand, most of the Libyan oil wells are
producing by ESP. Table (1) shows the capable producers during the year of 2013 for
different Libyan oilfields. It shows that almost 66% of the oil wells produced by ESP system,
and about 6% produced by Surface Rod Pump (SRP), while almost 15% produced by gas lift
system (GL), and 13% of the Libyan oil wells producing naturally.
246
Generally, gas lift method is used to lift the Oil to the surface artificially for high (GOR)
wells, sometimes, the wells which is producing with high water cut could be switched to
produce by electrical submersible pump, ESP. at the same time, due to the increase gas of
price it's more economically to produce wells by ESP rather than gas lift.
This study consisted of a Matlab electric submersible pump (ESP) design along with an
economical evaluation performed on three selected oil wells. The economic evaluation was
conducted to studythe feasibility of changing these three oil wells from producing with
artificial gas lift (GL) to producing with ESP. Moreover, Matlab, with the aid of GUI, was
used to create the optimum ESP design for each well. The design was then compared with the
available commercial software such as Autograph software and Pipesime software
Artificial lift refers to the use of artificial means to lift the oil from bottom of the well to the
surface. Artificial lift is needed in oil wells when there is insufficient pressure in the reservoir
to lift the produced oil to the surface, but often used in naturally flowing wells to increase the
oil flow rate above what would flow naturally. However, with a wide range of artificial lift
systems available, it is important to choose the best method for the well, considering its
location, depth, estimated production, reservoir properties, and other factors. On the other
hand, most of the Libyan oil wells produced with ESP and GL artificial systems as illustrated
in table 1.
Gas lift is defined as a process of injection gas into the fluid column of a well to lighten and
raise the fluid by expansion of the gas. Gas lift is the method of artificial lift that uses an
external source of high-pressure gas for supplementing formation gas to lift the well fluids.
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2.2 Electric submersible pump (ESP) system
ESP is an efficient and reliable artificial-lift method for driving moderate to high volumes of
oil from the wellbore to the surface.Pumping involves the use of a down-hole pump to
increase the pressure in the well to overcome the sum of flowing pressure losses. Table 2
illustrated the comparison between GL and ESP lifting systems.
Limitations handling of free gas < 70 hole deviation for wire line
x Step One: Basic Data; collect and analyze all the well data that will be used in the
design.
x Step Two: Production Capacity; determine the well productivity at the desired
pump setting depth, or determine the pump setting depth at the desired production
rate.
x Step Three: Gas Calculations; calculate the fluid volumes, including gas at the
pump-intake conditions.
x Step Four: Total dynamic head (TDH); determine the pump discharge
requirement.
x Step Five: Pump Type; for a given capacity and TDH, by using manufacturers
catalog, select the pump type that will have the highest efficiency for the desired
flow rate.
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x Step Six: Optimum Size of Components; select the optimum size of pump, motor,
and seal section, and check equipment limitations.
x Step Seven: Electric Cable; select the correct type and size of cable.
x Step Eight: Accessory and Optional Equipment; select the motor controller,
transformer, tubing head, and optional equipment.
x Step Nine: The Variable-Speed Pumping System; for additional operational
flexibility, select the variable-speed submersible pumping system.
ESP manufacturers publish performance curves for the pumps. The performance of ESP
pumps is characterized by the pump performance curves. These curves are plotted in the
function of the pump rate (Fig. 1) and represent; (1) the head developed by the pump, (2) the
efficiency of the pump, and (3) the shaft horsepower required driving the pump. The pump
characteristic curves are stage performance curves based on water with a specific gravity of
1.0. Refer to the manufacturers performance curve, usually, curves for 60-Hz, 50-Hz, and
variable-frequency operations are provided in the manufacturers catalog.
In this study, fifty three ESP performance charts for Baker Hughes Company [3], were
converted to equations, and presented in the Appendix A (Baker Hughes ESP performance
equations). However, a total of 159 equations were obtained and utilized in the ESP Matlab
design program. The program was build using Graphical User Interface (GUI) with the
Matlab. Furthermore, these equations can be used instead of the ESP manufacturers
performance curve.
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3.2 ESP design
To study the accuracy of the proposed ESP performance equations and the exactitude of the
ESP Matlab design program, two commercial software named Pipesime and Autograph
software were used to compare the results for a three oil well N-14, N-18 and N-36. The
required input data is shown in Table (3). The ESP Matlab program was designed to select
the best three pumps in order to give more choice according to the pumps availability in the
warehouse.
Type of Lifting GL GL GL
Perforations Top, ft KB 10023 10169 10165
Perforations Bottom, ft KB 10155 10314 10257
Casing Size, in 7 7 7
Casing Wight, lb/ft 26 26 26
Casing Grade N80 N80 N80
Liner Nil Nil Nil
Tubing Size, in 3 3 3
Tubing Wight, lb/ft 9.3 9.3 9.3
API 37 37 37
GOR, scf/stb 600 446 698
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Table 4.Comparison between Proposed ESP Matlab Program with Autograph Software
and Pipesime Software
4) Economical Evaluation
In this section, we study the possibility of switching the above three oil wells from Gas Lift
(GL) production system to ESP system. The evaluation was based on the present value
(PV10%) and pay out time, POT.
However, the present value (PV10%) is normally used in the oil and gas industry evaluation
to express the summation of all annual net cash flow after each amount has been discounted
at a rate of 10% compounded annually. This refers to the interest rate for discounting the
future amount is estimated at 10% per year. Additionally, POT refers to the time from
committing the first capital investment until the cumulative net cash flow (CDNCF) becomes
and remains positive [3].
It should be noted that the wells are producing with GL at the moment and the study is
looking at the feasibility of producing with ESP. Thus, we have two alternatives; (1) do
nothing, and (2) switch to ESP. In case of do nothing alternative, the costs include yearly
maintenance of down-hole equipment (gas lift valves). On the other hand, in case of
switching to ESP alternative, the costs include six things aside the GL system's pull out
cost;(1) centrifugal Pump, (2) seal section (protector), (3) motor, (4) cable, (5) switch board,
(6) junction box, and (7) motor lead. Based on the above discussion, the economical formulas
used summarized in Table 5.
The economic study is based on the oil price of $110/barrel, gas price of $5/Mscf, and
electrical current of $0.05/KWH. On the other hand, our system includes three wells; N-14,
N-18, and N-36. Each well were looked at separately and the two scenarios were applied.
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Table 5 - Illustrated the Economic Formulas
Table 6 illustrated the economic analysis results in terms of net cash flow (NCF), cumulative
discount net cash flow (CDNCF), payout time(POT), and the present value at 10% interest
rate (PV10%) for the coming fifteen years
Well N36:the value of PV10% In case of do nothing is$1,326,082. In the same way, the
second scenario of switching provides a PV10% with $1,624,111 and the POT is 2 years.
As a result, the three wells have different results based on each productivity rate. For
instance, well N-14 takes over eight years to return back the investment; whereas, well N-36
takes about 2 years.
In order to further enhance this study, a decline curve analysis should be conducted for each
well. That should be done to calculate the remaining reserves and the abandonment time for
each scenario. In our case, we do a quick evaluation due to lack of data available.
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1400000
POT = 2 years
400000
200000 N-14
0
-200000
POT = 8.5 years
-400000 POT = 3.2 years
-600000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time, years
5) Conclusion
x The Matlab with GUI were used to build a friendly program to design electrical
submersible pump. The program was employed to design submersible pumps for three
wells producing by artificial gas lift selected from Libyan oilfield. The results show a
good agreement betweenthe two popular commercial software (Autograph and
Pipesime software)
x The selected wells are subjected to the economical evaluation in order to study the
visibility of two scenarios (do nothing and switch from gas lift to electrical
submersible pump). The study shows that the possibility of switches depended on
well productivity.
x Fifty three ESP performance charts for Baker Hughes Company were converted to
equations. However, a total of 159 equations were obtained and utilized in the ESP
Matlab design program. These equations are listed in the Appendix A (Baker Hughes
ESP performance equations).
6) Recommendation
It is strongly recommended from Alzawia university and\or any specialized Libyan authority
to help and give support for developing and publishing the proposed ESP Matlab program.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to extend their gratitude to the petroleum engineering
department, Zawia University for their support. Special thanks to planning department
at Harouge oil company, Baker Hughes Company for helping and providing the
required data for this study.
253
References
1) Steve Breit and Neil Ferrier, 2008. Electric Submersible Pumps Gaining Ground in
Oil and Gas Industry, Wood Group ESP, Inc. available at: www.pump-zone.com
2) The Nine Steps. 1999. 1-27. Claremore, Oklahoma: Centrilift.
3) Baker Hughes Company, 2007. Submersible Pump Handbook 8th Ed. Baker Hughes
Centrilift
1 G5 Pump 338 Series y = -0.0002x2 + 0.165x - 2 1 y = -4E-05x2 + 0.0193x + 20.61 1 y = 0.0002x + 0.08 1
2 P1-5 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0009x2 + 0.2915x - 3.3161 1 y = -0.0005x2 + 0.0048x + 36.414 1 y = 1E-06x2 - 0.0003x + 0.1531 0.93
FLEX3-2 Pump 400 2 2 2
3 y = -0.0005x + 0.3287x - 3.7598 1 y = -9E-05x + 0.0163x + 23.158 1 y = 6E-08x + 3E-05x + 0.0751 1
Series
4 P3 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0004x2 + 0.2561x - 1.0476 1 y = -9E-05x2 + 0.0206x + 22.177 1 y = -3E-07x2 + 0.0003x + 0.0513 1
2 2 2
5 G4 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0003x + 0.266x - 14 1 y = -0.0001x + 0.042x + 31.3 1 y = 5E-07x - 0.0002x + 0.22 1
2 2 2
6 P4 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0002x + 0.1973x - 3.56 1 y = -3E-05x + 0.0078x + 33.175 1 y = 2E-08x + 0.0001x + 0.137 1
2 2 2
7 P4L Pump 400 Series y = -0.0003x + 0.2473x - 8.825 1 y = -8E-05x + 0.0272x + 33.295 1 y = 2E-07x + 0.0001x + 0.1265 1
8 P6 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0002x2 + 0.2362x - 13.308 1 y = -6E-05x2 + 0.0341x + 34.061 1 y = -6E-08x2 + 0.0002x + 0.1597 1
9 P8 Pump 400 Series y = -0.0001x2 + 0.1572x - 2.0926 1 y = -3E-05x2 + 0.0235x + 34.417 1 y = 2E-08x2 + 0.0001x + 0.212 1
FLEX10 Pump 400 2 2 2
10 y = -8E-05x + 0.1478x - 1.7702 1 y = -2E-05x + 0.0145x + 35.081 1 y = -6E-08x + 0.0002x + 0.1621 1
Series
11 P10 Pump 400 Series y = -9E-05x2 + 0.1757x - 21.193 1 y = -2E-05x2 + 0.0206x + 34.404 1 y = -3E-09x2 + 0.0001x + 0.2377 1
2 2 2
12 G12 Pump 400 Series y = -4E-05x + 0.0876x - 3.0765 1 y = -2E-05x + 0.0257x + 27.286 1 y = -1E-08x + 8E-05x + 0.4437 1
2 2 2
13 P12 Pump 400 Series y = -7E-05x + 0.1806x - 46.022 1 y = -2E-05x + 0.0266x + 26.834 1 y = -3E-08x + 0.0002x + 0.2403 1
2 2
14 P16 Pump 400 Series y = -3E-05x + 0.0975x - 18.935 1 y = -8E-06x + 0.0135x + 28.479 1 y = 8E-05x + 0.4364 1
FLEX17-5 Pump 400
15 y = -3E-05x2 + 0.0886x - 2.9883 1 y = -3E-06x2 + 0.0001x + 27.416 1 y = -3E-08x2 + 0.0001x + 0.2156 1
Series
2 2 2
16 P18 Pump 400 Series y = -3E-05x + 0.1129x - 31.925 1 y = -3E-06x - 0.0007x + 29.715 1 y = -4E-08x + 0.0002x + 0.2118 1
17 G22 Pump 400 Series y = -1E-05x2 + 0.0479x + 7.4919 1 y = -2E-06x2 + 0.0037x + 26.385 1 y = -1E-08x2 + 0.0002x + 0.2602 1
18 P22 Pump 400 Series y = -2E-05x2 + 0.0769x - 23.468 1 y = -5E-06x2 + 0.0113x + 25.943 1 y = -4E-08x2 + 0.0003x + 0.3908 1
2 2 2
19 P28 Pump 400 Series y = -7E-06x + 0.0358x + 9.9969 1 y = -3E-06x + 0.017x + 6.0569 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0002x + 0.5456 1
2 2 2
20 P29 Pump 400 SERIES y = -7E-06x + 0.0411x - 2.942 1 y = 1E-08x - 0.0074x + 41.994 1 y = -4E-09x + 3E-05x + 0.7621 0.82
21 P30 Pump 400 Series y = -8E-06x2 + 0.0463x - 0.1516 1 y = -1E-06x2 - 0.0018x + 35.981 1 y = -2E-08x2 + 9E-05x + 0.5691 1
GINPSHL Pump 400
22 y = -6E-06x2 + 0.036x - 4.4263 1 y = -4E-07x2 - 0.0028x + 26.303 1 y = -7E-09x2 - 3E-06x + 0.7177 0.98
Series
2 2 2
23 P35 Pump 400 Series y = -5E-06x + 0.0384x - 1.232 1 y = -4E-07x - 0.0015x + 31.933 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0001x + 0.5053 1
24 G42 Pump 400 Series y = -3E-06x2 + 0.0255x + 7.3257 1 y = -6E-07x2 + 0.0017x + 28.591 1 y = -9E-10x2 + 0.0002x + 0.6489 1
2 2 2
25 P43 Pump 400 Series y = -2E-06x + 0.0153x - 15.789 1 y = -2E-06x + 0.0117x + 5.2784 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0002x + 0.4755 0.97
2 2 2
26 P60 Pump 400 Series y = -4E-06x + 0.0395x - 38.429 1 y = -1E-06x + 0.0099x + 3.3002 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0003x + 0.1844 1
2 2 2
27 P11 Pump 538 Series y = -8E-05x + 0.1702x - 39.632 1 y = -5E-05x + 0.0639x + 33.486 1 y = -2E-07x + 0.0005x + 0.4434 0.97
28 P17 Pump 538 Series y = -2E-05x2 + 0.0785x + 0.9332 1 y = -1E-05x2 + 0.0133x + 67.591 1 y = -4E-08x2 + 0.0003x + 0.6752 1
29 P23 Pump 538 Series y = -2E-05x2 + 0.0666x - 8.7694 1 y = -8E-06x2 + 0.02x + 52.885 1 y = -1E-08x2 + 0.0003x + 0.8312 0.98
2 2 2
30 G31 Pump 538 Series y = -3E-06x + 0.0217x + 14.127 1 y = -3E-06x + 0.0096x + 57.792 1 y = -8E-08x + 0.0009x + 0.7061 1
2 2 2
31 P31 Pump 538 Series y = -1E-05x + 0.0757x - 51.827 1 y = -6E-06x + 0.0246x + 40.704 1 y = -7E-08x + 0.0004x + 1.1829 1
254
32 P37 Pump 538 Series y = -6E-06x2 + 0.0426x - 14.058 1 y = -3E-06x2 + 0.0131x + 51.899 1 y = -8E-08x2 + 0.0007x + 0.8437 1
33 P47 Pump 538 Series y = -4E-06x2 + 0.0329x - 10.568 1 y = -1E-06x2 + 0.0027x + 65.354 1 y = -7E-08x2 + 0.0007x + 0.8406 1
FLEX47 Pump 538
34 y = -3E-06x2 + 0.0255x + 7.3598 1 y = -1E-06x2 + 0.002x + 66.121 1 y = -4E-08x2 + 0.0005x + 1.3214 1
Series
35 P62 Pump 538 Series y = -2E-06x2 + 0.0294x - 31.705 1 y = -9E-07x2 + 0.0058x + 44.545 1 y = -2E-08x2 + 0.0002x + 2.4672 1
36 P62LS Pump 538 Series y = -2E-06x2 + 0.0313x - 34.44 1 y = -7E-07x2 + 0.0031x + 52.072 1 y = -2E-08x2 + 0.0002x + 2.0447 1
2 2 2
37 G68LS Pump 538 Series y = -1E-06x + 0.0157x + 5.1865 1 y = -7E-09x - 0.0049x + 81.821 1 y = 2E-08x - 0.0001x + 3.8247 1
2 2 2
38 P75 Pump 538 Series y = -1E-06x + 0.0225x - 9.569 1 y = -6E-07x + 0.0026x + 53.426 1 y = -4E-08x + 0.0006x + 1.3049 1
2 2 2
39 P75LS Pump 538 Series y = -1E-06x + 0.0206x - 3.9599 1 y = -6E-07x + 0.0032x + 51.808 1 y = -1E-08x + 0.0002x + 2.1201 0.96
GINPSHH Pump 538
40 y = -1E-06x2 + 0.0161x - 3.2864 1 y = -6E-08x2 - 0.0028x + 47.81 1 y = 1E-10x2 - 5E-05x + 2.754 0.97
Series
FLEX80 Pump 538
41 y = -1E-06x2 + 0.0225x - 10.2 1 y = -4E-07x2 + 0.0002x + 71.629 1 y = -1E-09x2 + 0.0008x + 31.364 1
Series
2 2 2
42 P100 Pump 538 Series y = -7E-07x + 0.0143x + 2.9588 1 y = -2E-07x + 0.001x + 54.962 1 y = -1E-08x + 0.0003x + 2.2521 1
P100LS Pump 538
43 y = -7E-07x2 + 0.0141x + 3.4485 1 y = -2E-07x2 + 0.001x + 55.24 1 y = -1E-08x2 + 0.0003x + 2.2475 1
Series
G110LS Pump 538
44 y = -8E-07x2 + 0.0163x - 18.5 1 y = -3E-07x2 + 0.0039x + 39.891 1 y = 4E-22x2 + 0.0002x + 3 1
Series
45 P110 Pump 562 Series y = -6E-07x2 + 0.0131x + 7.0921 1 y = -3E-07x2 + 0.0029x + 56.916 1 y = -4E-08x2 + 0.001x - 0.487 1
2 2 2
46 P155 Pump 562 Series y = -3E-07x + 0.0108x - 11.526 1 y = -2E-07x + 0.0049x + 31.549 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0008x + 0.9882 1
2 2 2
47 P200 Pump 562 Series y = -6E-07x + 0.0229x - 147.37 1 y = -4E-07x + 0.015x - 73.656 1 y = -5E-08x + 0.0023x - 14.849 1
2 2 2
48 G200 Pump 562 Series y = -3E-07x + 0.0096x - 35.242 1 y = -2E-07x + 0.0062x + 5.1958 1 y = -4E-22x + 0.0005x + 4 1
49 P210 Pump 875 Series y = -2E-07x2 + 0.0101x - 27.322 1 y = -2E-07x2 + 0.0033x + 114.84 1 y = -7E-08x2 + 0.003x - 10.241 1
2 2 2
50 P240 Pump 875 Series y = -1E-07x + 0.005x + 11.125 1 y = -9E-08x + 0.001x + 145.86 1 y = -2E-08x + 0.0013x + 9.9921 0.99
2 2 2
51 P340 Pump 1025 Series y = -6E-08x + 0.0037x + 12.613 1 y = -7E-08x + 0.0009x + 206.09 1 y = -3E-08x + 0.002x + 16.319 0.98
2 2 2
52 G400 Pump 1025 Series y = -4E-08x + 0.0034x - 5.3265 1 y = -9E-09x - 0.0011x + 271.94 1 y = 3E-08x - 0.0008x + 83.774 1
53 P410 Pump 1025 Series y = -5E-08x2 + 0.0038x - 0.0974 1 y = -9E-08x2 + 0.0041x + 150.15 1 y = -3E-08x2 + 0.0025x + 10.496 0.99
255