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SPE 113324

Design of Progressive Cavity Pump Wells


Desheng Zhou, SPE, Hong Yuan, SPE, IHS INC.

Copyright 2008, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE Progressing Cavity Pump Conference held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 2729 April 2008.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Progressive cavity pumps (PCPs) are a special type of rotary positive displacement pumps. PCP was first introduced in
petroleum engineering as an artificial lift method in 1970s, and is becoming a popular lift tool for its advantages of broader
applications, less maintenance, and higher efficiency. PCP performances have been studied for many years, but no published
paper has discussed the relation of pump performances with well performances systematically.
This paper analyzes the system performances of PCP wells. Using nodal analysis method, the paper presents algorithms and
procedures to design pump rotational speed and production rate from well inflow and outflow performances. For the effect of
viscosity on pump volumetric slip, unlike traditional methods of trying to set up a general correlation for all PCP types, the
paper propose a method to correct the effect of viscosity on each pumps catalog performance curves, and demonstrates how
to use the corrected performances to design the pumping of viscous fluid.
By unfolding a PCP cavity and using simplified slot flow, this paper presents correlations to determine the critical pump
intake pressures for filling pump cavity completely for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.
The presented algorithms can be used not only to design a PCP well for pump rotational speed and production rate, but also
to analyze the performance of a PCP pumping well. The presented correlations of the viscosity effect on slippage and the
critical pump intake pressure are useful in PCP design and system analysis.

Introduction
Progressive cavity pumps (PCPs) are a special type of rotary positive displacement pumps, and were first introduced in
petroleum engineering as an artificial lift method in 1970s. In a PCP, the flow through the pump is almost axial, while in all
other rotary pumps, pumping fluid is forced to travel circumferentially. This gives PCP unique axial flow pattern and low
internal velocity, which reduces fluid agitation and churning and therefore reduces fluids emulsion and solids erosion.
PCP has advantages of lower investment, broader applications to fluid mixtures, less maintenance, and higher efficiency to
other artificial lift methods. It is becoming a popular lift tool and, for some wells, the best choice in artificial lift methods.
In petroleum industry, the most commonly used progressive cavity pump is a single lobe pump that consists of a single
external helical rotor turning eccentrically inside a double internal helical stator. The rotor and the stator have the same minor
diameter and are made of metal (steel). The fits between the rotor and the stator may be metal to metal, or metal to elastomer
which is set inside the stator. Compression fits are usually used for metal to elastomer contacts, while very small clearance is
left for metal to metal fits. There are chambers between the rotor and the stator, which are separated by the fits as cavities in
180o apart. The fits work as seals to prevent fluid communication between adjacent cavities. As the rotor rotates, the seal
lines change positions and form fully enclosed cavities moving continuously from pump inlet to outlet.
These cavities trap fluid at the inlet and carry it along to the outlet, thus providing a non-pulsation smooth flow. Unlike
centrifugal pump, fluid viscosity will not degrade pump head of a PCP, but increase pumping volumetric efficiency. Since
PCP is a positive displacement pump, it doesnt have gas lock problem theoretically, but due to temperature increase from
gas compression, PCP can only handle high gas slug in a short time. Due to the feature of moving seal lines, scale does not
normally deposit in a PCP. PCPs have relatively low inertia of their rotating parts, and have a reliable working life.
Although PCPs have been used for a few decades as an artificial lift method in petroleum engineering, most studies focused
on their working mechanism (Gaymard et al., 1988, Saveth and Klein, 1989, Delpassand, 1997) and pumping behaviors
(Gamboa et al., 2003, Bratu, 2005). To authors knowledge, no paper has discussed the design of PCP wells in production
system. Fluid production from a PCP pumping well is not only determined by the PCP, but also controlled by reservoir
inflow performance, fluid outflow performance and surface condition. This paper fills the gap by using nodal analysis
method to design a PCP.
2 SPE 113324

The design of a PCP pumping well is to determine the rotational speed of the pump to produce the well at desired liquid
rate, or calculate the production rate of the well at a given rotational speed. System analysis is also helpful in analyzing and
improving the pumping efficiencies of existing PCP wells. Similar to other artificial lift designs, PCP design associates with
many factors such as mechanical efficiency, reservoir temperature, working life, abrasion resistance, elastomer tolerance and
so on. This paper focuses on production rate and rotational speed, as well as the effect of viscosity.

Basic Correlations
Many authors discussed PCP structure and its working mechanism, such as Gaymard et al. (1988), Saveth and Klein (1989),
and Delpassand (1997). Here is a summary of a PCPs basic equations.
A PCP rotor is a single external helical gear. Its cross section is a circle with the diameter of d at any place as shown in Fig.
1. The centers of all the cross sections are on a helical line which has an eccentricity, e, with the rotor's axis. A stator is a
double internal helical gear, and has the same minor diameter as the rotor. The stator has twice pitch length as that of the
rotor. Generally, one and a half stator pitches are called a stage in a PCP.
A stator's cross section at any place is a long circle and can be described as two half circles of diameters d departed a
distance of 4e as shown in Fig. 2. The stator has the same cross-sectional shapes along it axis but with different angles. The
cross-sectional areas of the rotor and the stator are

1
Arotor = d 2
4 and

1
Astator = d 2 + 4ed
4 . (1)
After setting a rotor in a stator, the rotor axis is not coincidence with stator center line. In addition to rotating around its
axis, the rotor rotates eccentrically around the stator center line with the same eccentricity of e. The cross-sectional area at
any place of a PCP reduces to a rectangle with width d and length 4e as shown in Fig. 3.
The rotor divides stator chamber into two crescent sections at any place. The two sections belong to two cavities and their
areas change with the rotation of the rotor. The two cavities are apart 180o, and work alternatively as a suction container and
a discharger. The total area of the two sections is constant at any place along the pump, and it is the fluid flow area.

A f = 4ed
. (2)
The length of a cavity is the pitch length of the stator, Ps. The 180o departed two cavities move one pitch when the rotor
turns 360o. Therefore, a PCP will move fluid of 4edPs per rotation.
For a rotational speed n, the cavity moving speed along stator center line is

v = nPs . (3)
When pumping fluid, the fluid velocity through a PCP depends on its stator pitch length and rotational speed. The higher
the rotor rotational speed is, the faster the fluid travels along pumps center line.
Since the cross-sectional area for fluid flow is constant at any place, the flow rate in a PCP is

qt = A f v = 4ednPs . (4)
The correlation implies that the cavity fluid is displaced completely. The rate qt is the theoretical rate of the pump at the
rotational speed n. However, internal leakage from outlet to inlet is always there whenever a differential pressure applies.
This is because that the seals have small clearances for metal to metal fits or the seals are pushed apart by the pressures in
cavities for metal to elastomer. The leakage, also called slip, depends upon pump type, the clearance between rotor and stator,
fluid viscosity, and differential pressure. Pump size also affects slip. Larger pump has longer clearance length and thus has
larger slip.
Taking into account the slip rate, qs, the actual discharge rate of a PCP, qa, is,

q a = qt q s = 4ednPs q s . (5)
Volumetric efficiency of a PCP is defined as the ratio of the actual rate to the theoretical rate. The higher the slip is, the
lower the volumetric efficiency. The efficiency of one hundred percent represents no slip.
SPE 113324 3

qa q
Ev = = 1 s . (6)
qt qt

Basic PCP Design


As show in Eq. 4, the theoretical flow rate varies with pump, and is proportional to pump rotational speed. For a higher
production rate, selecting a large size pump will avoid high rotational speed. Also noted is that the rate has nothing to do
with stage number or pump length. Unlike for an electric submersible pump, selecting a PCP with more stages will not
increase production rate.
More stages represent more seals and longer length. If each seal takes the same differential pressure, a PCP with longer
length or more stages can take higher total differential pressure. When a high lift head is needed, a pump with more stages
should be selected.
The same as other displacement pumps, a PCP is not a pressure generator. PCP just takes the environmental pressure at
discharge place as its discharging pressure theoretically. Therefore, for a given production rate and wellhead pressure, longer
PCP may just reduce slip rate but will not generate a high discharge pressure. For a low slip pump, adding stages will not
benefit production, but cause low mechanical efficiency.
In short, to get a higher production rate, one can use a larger pump or make a pump rotate faster. To overcome higher
differential pressure, one can use longer pump or add more stages to a pump.
Eq. 4 gives the basic design correlation. The term 4edPs is the theoretical volume or nominal displacement per rotor
revolution. It represents a pumps volumetric capacity. If all the parameters are known, the theoretical rate can be calculated
easily. Normally, PCP manufacturers provide the theoretical displacement directly. If Qt is the theoretical displacement per
revolution, Qt=4edPs.
Substituting Qt into Eq. 4 and solving for the pump speed give the correlation of flow rate and rotational speed. For PCP
design, replacing the theoretical rate, qt, by the total fluid rate at the pump intake, qtl, yields the correlation to calculate the
required rotational speed from total flow rate.

qtl
n= . (7)
Qt
The theoretical displacement tells the pumps volumetric capacity, and larger pump has larger Qt. For US field units, the Qt
is in B/D/RPM, the flow rate qtl is in B/D, and the rotational speed n is in RPM.
The production rate, qtl, in the equation is the total fluid (the sum of liquid and gas) rate flowing into a PCP at pump intake
condition, which excludes the gas separated and vented through the annular of tubing and casing. The in-situ fluid rate can be
calculated from desired production liquid rate, qd, formation volume factor at pump intake, and in-situ free gas amount into
the pump.
The design of PCP speed is to find a speed to produce the well at a given desired liquid rate. The desired liquid rate is the
rate at standard condition, STB/D. Many engineers like to use it directly in Eq. 7 to replace the total fluid rate at pump intake.
This is correct when pumping water. For most oil well production, the formation volume factor at pump intake is greater than
one. Therefore, using desired liquid rate as the total fluid rate at pump intake will underestimate the rotational speed. For a
well with very low gas oil ratio, using the desired liquid rate will give similar results.
For a given rotational speed, the production rate can be calculated by rearranging Eq. 7,

qtl = nQt . (8)

Again, the calculated rate is the in-situ rate at pump intake. It can be converted to the desired liquid rate at surface by
calculating in-situ formation volume factor and free gas fraction.
In addition to PCPs theoretical displacement rate, pump lifting capacity is also a major parameter for PCP design and
selection. The lifting capacity is generally a head and gives the maximum head limit of the pump. When design a PCP pump,
calculated total dynamic head should be lower than the lifting capacity.
Many manufacturers use theoretical displacement and lift capacity to name their pumps, like 60ABC200. The first number
(60) represents one percent of the pumps lifting capacity, ABC is the pump type, and the last number (200) is the theoretical
displacement rate at the speed of 100 RPM. The two parameters are generally measured at laboratory condition with pure
water.
For instance, a PCP has a name of 60ABC200 in field units. The number 60 tells the pump has 6000 (60 * 100) feet of
water lifting capacity. And the 200 tells the pump has a theoretical displacement rate of 200 B/D at 100 RPM
(200B/D/100RPM)
4 SPE 113324

The design of a PCP pump is simple when using the desired liquid rate directly. For example, for a desired liquid rate of
600 STB/D and using the pump 60ABC200, the required rotational speed is 600 STB/D / (200 B/D/100 RPM) = 300 RPM. If
one wants the production rate at 500 RPM, the production rate is 500 RPM * 200 B/D/100 RPM = 1000 B/D.
As shown in Eq. 5, the basic PCP design ignores volumetric slip rate, therefore is only correct for pumping water, and may
also be used in the situations of no or very low slip pumpings, or small differential pressure. In most cases, in petroleum
production, it is only an approximation and accurate calculation should take into account the effect of slip.

Rotational Speed Design


Substituting the given theoretical rate, Qt, into Eq. 5 yields

qa = nQt qs . (9)

The slip, qs, varies with the structure of a PCP and the differential pressure on it. It doesn't change with pump rotational
speed. Usually, the slip of a PCP comes from extensive test data provided by PCP manufacturers.
Fig. 4 is a typical graph of the flow capacity of a PCP versus lift capacity from manufacturers. It is generally called catalog
performance of a PCP. The horizontal axis is the head across the pump. It represents the differential pressure by taking away
the effect of fluid gravity. The ideal non-slip line (horizontal dash line) is added in Fig. 4 to describe the slip. The slip is the
difference between the non-slip line and the performance curve. As shown in Fig. 4, the slip increases with increasing
differential pressure.
From Fig. 4, at zero head, the slip is zero and the actual flow rate equals the theoretical rate at the rotational speed. Thus,
Eq. 9 reduces to Eq. 8 at this point.
Performance curves depend on pump rotational speed. The performance curves at different speeds are parallel to each
other. To get the performance curve at a given rotational speed, one may use the point at zero head (zero differential pressure)
to determine the position of the performance curve at the new speed. For instance, if the catalog performance curve is at the
speed of n0 (usually 100 RPM) and its flow capacity is Qt at zero head, the performance curve at the speed of n1 is parallel to
the catalog curve with a flow capacity of Qt n1/ n0 at zero head.
During the design of a PCP well, Eq. 9 needs to be solved iteratively. As shown in Eq. 9, the actual production rate depends
on the slip, the slip is a function of differential pressure across the PCP, and the differential pressure is determined by the
actual production rate. Fig. 5 is a typical pressure profile of a pumping well at a production rate.
As shown in Fig. 5, the pressure profile consists of the pressures at well perforation place (pwf), at pump intake (pi), at pump
discharge (pd) and at well surface (pwh). The differential pressure across a PCP is the pressure difference of points B and A.
For different production rate, the profile and differential pressure are different.
The pressure curve in Fig. 5 can be determined before selecting a PCP for a desired production rate. Therefore, the design
of a pumping well is to find a proper pump to satisfy the required differential pressure. The method is also the basis of all
artificial life design.
To obtain the pressure profile curve before selecting a pump, nodal analysis method should be used. The node is set at the
pump setting depth. The inflow to the node is from reservoir to well bottom hole, and then from bottom hole to the pump
intake. The calculation direction is from reservoir to pump intake. The outflow of the node is from the pump discharge to
wellhead. The calculation direction is from well head down to the pump discharge.
As illustrated in Fig. 5, for a desired production rate (liquid rate at standard condition), qd, one can get the flowing bottom
hole pressure, pwf, from the inflow performance relationship of the reservoir. Then from the pressure pwf and temperature
(reservoir temperature) at the bottom hole, one can calculate the pressure and temperature at any place from bottom hole to
the pump intake by using multiphase flow correlations. The fluid properties, such as water cut, gas oil ratio, bubble point
pressure, the densities of the oil, gas, and water, are known variables for the calculation. In addition to the pressure and
temperature, in-situ fluid density, liquid rate, and free gas rate are also calculated. Many commercial programs can provide
the calculation.
The outflow performance curve in Fig. 5 is calculated from wellhead (known pressure and temperature) down to the pump
discharge by using multiphase flow correlation. The pressures, temperatures, fluid rates (liquid and gas) and fluid densities
along the well are calculated. It should be noted that the fluid properties may be different from those of upstream fluid below
pump intake since some gas may be separated and vented through the annular of tubing and casing.
Once the differential pressure across the PCP has been determined, one can convert it to head by dividing it by the average
fluid density between pump intake and pump discharge. The calculated head and the total fluid rate at pump intake are used
to design the rotational speed of the PCP.
The graphical method to design the rotational speed of a selected PCP is shown in Fig. 6. Draw a vertical line from the
calculated head, Ha, on the horizontal (lift) axis, draw a horizontal line from the total fluid rate (liquid + gas into pump), qa,
on the vertical (flow) axis, then find the intersection of the two lines, point A. Move the performance curve at speed 100 RPM
up or down vertically until it matches the point A. Find the theoretical rate, Qtn, from the new curve at zero differential
pressure. The solution speed of the pump is
SPE 113324 5

100Qtn
n= . (10)
Qt

Another method is using the slip from the catalog performance curve. Since PCP slip doesn't vary with pump speed, one
may use it directly to calculate the design speed,

100(qa + qs )
n= . (11)
Qt

Fig. 6 shows the method graphically. The slip at head Ha is qs from the catalog performance curve. The slip at any speed is
the same qs. Therefore Qtn=qa + qs.
A computer program can be used to design the rotational speed. The catalog performance curve can be expressed by a
polynomial correlation as

qa = C0 + C1H + C2 H 2 + C3 H 3 + C4 H 4 + C5 H 5 , (12)

where C0 to C5 are polynomial coefficients. The theoretical rate Qt of the PCP equals the first coefficient C0.
The slip at any head H is,

qs = (C1H + C2 H 2 + C3 H 3 + C4 H 4 + C5 H 5 ) . (13)

Production Rate Design


The above design is to determine PCP rotational speed at a desired liquid rate. For a given rotational speed, the design of a
PCP well is to calculate the production rate. The production rate depends on many factors that need to be determined through
well system analysis. The method of calculating production rate also is helpful in analyzing an existing PCP well.
Eq. 9 is the correlation to calculate the total flow rate at pump intake. Once the total rate is obtained, production liquid rate
at surface can be calculated from the formation volume factor and free gas fraction at pump intake. The slip rate in Eq. 9 is
the key factor to calculate the production rate. The basic PCP design as discussed above neglects the volumetric slip due to
the complexity of solving the value. To solve Eq. 9, iteration is required since the slip depends on the production rate
indirectly.
The algorithm to solve total fluid flow rate from Eq. 9 is as follows.

1. Assume the initial slip qs(1) as zero.


2. Use Eq. 9 to calculate the total flow rate qa(1) at the PCP's intake for a given rotational speed n and theoretical flow
rate Qt at 100 RPM.
3. Use the calculated total flow rate qa(1) to calculate the inflow from reservoir to the pump intake and the outflow
from wellhead to pump discharge. The outflow is in the annular between sucker rods and tubing for wellhead
driving or in tubing for bottom driving. The flow rate for the inflow is the sum of the qa(1) and the separated gas at
pump intake.
4. Obtain the differential pressure across the pump from the calculated inflow and outflow pressure profile, and change
the differential pressure to head H(1) by using the average fluid density through the pump.
5. Check the required head H(1) with the lift capacity of the pump. If the head is greater than the lift capacity, stop the
calculation. A longer PCP should be selected and start from step one. Otherwise,
6. Calculate the volumetric slip rate qs(2) at the head H(1) from pump performance curves.
7. Use the slip qs(2) and repeat the process from step two until the difference of qs(n)-qs(n-1) is less than an acceptable
value.
The design of production rate at a given rotational speed can also be done by using the following procedures. First of all,
use the pump depth as a node and then calculate the inflow and outflow curves for the node as shown in Fig. 7. The inflow
and outflow curves are calculated as follows.
Assume a series of surface liquid flow rates (in STB/D), and calculate their corresponding pressures at pump intake from
reservoir inflow performance relationship and multiphase flow correlations. Construct the inflow curve using the liquid flow
rates and calculated pump intake pressures. From wellhead pressure and temperature, calculate the pressures at pump
6 SPE 113324

discharge for a given surface liquid rates and construct the outflow curve. The vented free gas needs to be taken away from
the fluid stream for the outflow calculation.
The inflow and outflow curves can be used to construct a well system curve at the pump depth. As shown in Fig. 7, for any
flow rate qi, the corresponding differential pressure is pi. Select a series of flow rates, calculate their corresponding
differential pressures and change the differential pressures to heads by using corresponding average fluid densities. Calculate
the corresponding total flow rates at pump intake. Draw a curve of the heads versus the total flow rates to obtain the well
system curve as shown in Fig. 8.
The well system curve gives the required head for a given total flow rate at pump intake. Also plotted in Fig. 8 are the
pump catalog performance curves from Fig. 4. The intersections of the pump performance curves and the well system curve
are the production rates at the rotational speeds.
As shown in Fig. 8, for a given speed n, calculate qtl from Eq. 8, where Qt is the rate at zero head for the catalog
performance curve. Shift the catalog curve (100 RPM) horizontally from Qt to qtl and the new curve is the pump performance
curve at the rotational speed n. The intersection of the pump performance curve at speed n and the well system curve is the
solution point S. The solution rate qa is the total production rate at the pump intake and the corresponding solution head Ha is
the head across the pump at the solution production rate. Ha should be checked against the lift capacity of the pump.
The solution liquid rate at surface and the differential pressure across the pump can be calculated from the solution qa and
Ha by using the pumping fluid properties.

Viscosity Effect
Viscosity Effect on Slip. The above designs do not include the effect of fluid viscosity. The pump performance curves
provided by manufacturers are test data from pure water. Comparing with other artificial lift methods, a PCP can pump high
viscous fluids, such as bitumen, efficiently. As stated previously, slip rate is controlled by pump type, pump size, the
clearance between the rotor and stator, differential pressure, and fluid viscosity.
The relationship of viscosity with slippage is generally determined from test data. A general model to calculate the slips of
all types of PCPs are still in research. Gamboa et al. (2003) tried to set up a general model. As the authors pointed out that
their model failed to match the performances of pumping water, as well as for PCPs with polymer stator. They suggested
future researches on the friction factor inside PCPs and the calculation of the gap area between rotor and stator.
For a given pump and differential pressure, the higher the viscosity of pumped fluid is, the lower the slip rate. This is due
to the resistance to flow for a viscous fluid. Viscosity increases the difficulty of flowing. Therefore, pumping viscous fluid
has higher volumetric efficiency than pumping water.
Due to the difficulty to set up a general slip model for all PCPs, we suggest using pump catalog performance curves and
correcting the viscosity effect on them. The pump performance curve is test result for each pump by manufacturers, and
reflects the effects on the volumetric slip of differential pressure, pump type, pump size, fits, and rotor and stator materials.
Empirically, slip varies inversely with some power of fluid viscosity. For a range of 100 SSU (Saybolt Seconds Universal)
to 10,000 SSU fluids, the slip varies inversely with the square root of fluid viscosity (Karassik et al., 2001). One may use the
following equation to estimate the effect of viscosity on volumetric slip.

qs _ u 2 1
= . (14)
qs _ 1 2

Where qs-1 and qs-2, B/D, are the volumetric slips of fluids with viscosities 1 and 2. Using water as one fluid and well
fluid as another in Eq. 14, one can get the pump performance curve for the viscous fluid from catalog pump performance
curve. For water, viscosity is about 32 SSU, the slip of a viscous fluid in a PCP can be calculated as

32
qs _ = q s . (15)

Where qs is the volumetric slip of pumping water, and can be calculated from the catalog pump performance curve. qs- is
the slip of a viscous fluid with viscosity . Use Eq. 15 for the same PCP at the same differential pressure.
For a viscous fluid, Eq. 9 becomes

qa = nQt qs _ . (16)

Fluid viscosity varies with fluid pressure and temperature, and is especially sensitive to temperature. It also depends on
SPE 113324 7

fluid shear rate for non-Newtonian fluids. The shear rate in a PCP is controlled by pump rotational speed.
The previous discussed design methods for solving production rate and rotational speed of a PCP can be used for pumping
viscous fluid by using corrected pump performance curve. The correcting procedure is,

1. From the catalog performance curve of a PCP, obtain its theoretical capacity Qt at zero head.
2. For a series of given heads, H(1), H(2), and H(i), obtain their corresponding flow rates q(1), q(2), and q(i)) from the
performance curve.
3. Calculate the volumetric slips of water by qs(i) = Qt q(i) at any head H(i).
4. Calculate in-situ fluid viscosity of the pumping fluid, .
5. Calculate the corrected slip rates qs-(i) for the pumping fluid using Eq. 15.
6. Calculate corrected flow rates, qc(i), from qc(i) = Qt qs-(i).
7. Construct the corrected performance curve by points of H(i) and qc(i).

The corrected catalog performance curve starts from the same point of Qt as standard catalog curve. Viscosity reduces fluid
slippage, so most production fluids have lower slip rates than that in standard catalog curve.

Cavity Filling. As the rotor of a PCP rotates, a cavity opens and well fluid enters the cavity. Until the rotor closes the cavity
and pushes the fluid, the pump does not do any work to the fluid. The rotor rotation just creates the void for entrance. The
fluid is not pulled into the void by the PCP, but is pushed into by the pressure at the pump intake. For tubing production, the
pump intake pressure is determined by annular fluid level and casing pressure.
Pump volumetric efficiency will drop if the cavity is partial filled. To ensure quiet and efficient operation, the cavity should
be filled completely with the well fluid before rotor closes the cavity. In practice, experience is used to ensure the complete
fillage, such as the fluid level above pump should be in the range of 50 ft -100 ft to avoid partial filling problem.
Fluid flow into a cavity depends on the fluid viscosity, the size and shape of the opening and the pressure at the pump
intake. High viscosity fluid will not flow easily into the cavity. The more viscous the liquid is, the greater the resistance to the
flow, and therefore the slower the fluid to fill the cavity. Generally, a PCP rotor turns at a speed of a few hundreds. For
viscous fluids, the fluid may do not have enough time to fill the cavity before it is closed.
To model the fluid flow into a cavity is rather complex due to the irregular shape of the cavity. By unfolding the cavity,
using average cross-sectional area, and using a slot flow model, simplified models to calculate the critical pump intake
pressures are presented in Appendix A for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. For example for Newtonian fluid, the
correlation is

1 ls
pin = (nQt q s _ ) . (17)
8.04 E 6 dt 3

Where d, in, is the diameter of the rotor, ls, in., is the spiral length of a cavity in one stator pitch, and t, in., is the average
thickness of the cavity. pin, psi, is critical pump intake pressure, n, RPM, is the pump rotational speed, Qt and qs-u are in B/D.
The correlations to calculate ls and t are

l s = ( Ps2 + ( (d + 4e)) 2 )1 / 2
4ePs . (18)
t=
l s

Eq. 17 gives the critical pump intake pressure, below which the cavity couldn't be completely filled. The critical fluid level
above the pump can then be calculated from the critical pump intake pressure, casing pressure, pump depth, net zero flow
correlation.
For a PCP well, there is a rotational speed at which the fluid just completely fills the cavity. This is the critical speed for the
viscous fluid at the pump intake pressure. Rearranging Eq. 17 yields

8.04 E 6dt 3 pin


n=( + q s _ ) / Qt . (19)
ls

Once the design speed is calculated from the design method discussed previously, Eq. 19 can be used to judge the design
8 SPE 113324

rotational speed. If the design speed is less than the critical speed, the pump is partially filled and its volumetric efficiency
will be low.
One way to increase the critical speed is to increase the pump intake pressure by lower pump depth. This is especially
useful for high viscous fluids. Decreasing rotational speed is another way to fill the cavity completely. From Eq. 16,
decreasing speed yields a lower production rate. From reservoir inflow performance, lower production rate gives higher
flowing bottomhole pressure and therefore increases the pump intake pressure.

Conclusions
Algorithms and procedures to design pump rotational speed and production rate from well inflow and outflow performances
are presented in this paper. The presented algorithms can be used in the design of a PCP well, as well as in analyzing the
performance of existing PCP pumping wells.
Also proposed in the paper is a method to account for the effect of viscosity on pump volumetric slip. Unlike traditional
methods of trying to set up a general correlation for all PCP types, this paper proposes a simplified model to correct the effect
of viscosity on each pumps catalog performance curve. The corrected performance curve can then be used in the design and
analysis of pumping viscous fluids.
By unfolding the cavity, using average cross-sectional area, and using a slot flow model, simplified models to calculate the
critical pump intake pressures are developed for both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.

Nomenclature
Arotor = rotor cross-sectional area, in.2
Astator = stator cross-sectional area, in.2
Af = fluid flow area at any place, in.2
C1, C2, C5 = coefficients of performance curve
d = rotor minor diameter, in.
Ev = volumetric efficiency, dimensionless
e = eccentricity, in.
H = head, ft
ls = cavity spiral length, in
n = rotational speed, RPM
Ps = stator pitch length, in.
pi, pd = pump intake and discharge pressures, psi
pwf, pwh = flow bottom hole and well head pressures, psi
Qt = theoretical displacement per one revolution, B/D/RPM
qa = actual flow rate, in3/min., B/D
qd = desired liquid rate, STB/D
qt = theoretical displacement rate at any rotational speed, in3/min.
qtl = total flow rate at pump intake, B/D
qs = volumetric slip rate for water, in3/min., B/D
qs-u = volumetric slip rate of viscous fluid, B/D
t = cavity average thickness, in.
v = axial flow velocity, in./min.
= fluid viscosity, SSU

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank IHS for permission to publish this paper.

References
1. Bourgoyne, A. T., Chenevert, M. E., Millheim, K. K., Young, F. S., 1991, Applied Drilling Engineering, SPE Textbook Series,
Richardson, TX.
2. Bratu, C.: Progressing Cavity Pump (PCP) Behavior in Multiphase Conditions, paper SPE 95272 presented at the 2005 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Dallas, 9-12 October.
3. Delpassand, M. S.: Progressive Cavity (PC) Pump Design Optimization for Abrasive Application, paper SPE 37455 presented
at the 1997 SPE Production Operations Symposium held in Oklahoma City, 9-11 March.
4. Gamboa, J., Olivet, A., Espin, S., New Approach for Modeling Progressive Cavity Pumps Performance, paper SPE 84137
presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, Colorado, 5-8 October 2003.
5. Gaymard, B., Chanton, E. and Puyo, P.: The Progressing Cavity Pump in Europe: Results and New Developments, paper
OSEA 88136 presented at the 7th Offshore South East Asia Conference held in Singapore, 2-5 February, 1988.
6. Karassik, I. J., Messina, J. P., Cooper, P., Heald, C. C., 1991, Pump Handbook, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill.p.p 3.115.
SPE 113324 9

7. Saveth, K. J., Klein, S. T.: The Progressing Cavity Pump: Principle and Capabilities, paper SPE 18873 presented at the 1989
SPE Production Operations Symposium held in Oklahoma City, 13-14 March.

SI Metric Conversion Factors


bbl 1.589 873 E-01 = m3
ft 3.048* E-01 =m
ft3 2.831 685 E-02 = m3
hp 7.460 43 E-01 = kW
in. 2.54* E+00 = cm
in.3 1.638 706 E+01 = cm3
lbm 4.535 924 E-01 = kg
*Conversion factor is exact.

Appendix A: Critical Pump Intake Pressure


As shown in Fig. 2, the stator chamber is a spiral long circle. Once a rotor is set in, the chamber is separated into two sealed
chambers (cavities) in 180o by the rotor. As the rotor turns, the two separated chambers work as suction and discharge
chambers alternatively. When the rotor turns one rotation, the two cavities travel a one pitch length of the stator. Therefore,
one cavity has a half volume of a pump's theoretical displacement. From Eq. 4, one cavity volume Vc is

Vc = Qt / 2 = 2edPs . A-1

If unfold a pitch of a PCP from its stator's center line, the surface of the spread has dimensions as shown in Fig. A-1. The
spiral length is fluid maximum path length and is the hypotenuse of the triangle,

ls = ( Ps2 + ( (d + 4e)) 2 )1/ 2 . A-2

The flow in the suction chamber is very complex since the cross-sectional area of the cavity varies with rotation angle. The
average cross-sectional area of a cavity is

Vc 2edPs
Ac = =
ls ls . A-3

The average cross-sectional area of the suction cavity is crescent as shown in Fig. A-2. Unfold the crescent to a slot with a
length of w as shown in Fig. A-2. The length w is

w = d / 2 . A-4

The slot thickness is

Ac 4ePs
t= = . A-5
w ( Ps + ( (d + 4e)) 2 )1 / 2
2

The flow correlation in a slot for the laminar flow of Newtonian fluids is (Bourgoyne et al., 1991),

dp 12 q a
= . A-6
dL wt 3
10 SPE 113324

Where dp/dL, dyne/cm2/cm, is the pressure gradient along the spiral of a cavity, w and t, cm, are from Eqs. A-4 and A-5, ,
poise, is viscosity, qa, cm3/s, is the flow rate.
For Bingham and power-law non-Newtonian fluids, the flow correlations in a slot are,

dp 12 p wt 2
= q + y , and
dL wt 3 4 p
a

dp 21/ n (4 + 2 / n)
= K( ( 2 +1 / n )
qa ) n . A-7
dL wt

Where p, poise, and y, dynes/cm2, are the plastic viscosity and yield point in Bingham model, and K, dynes-sn/cm2, and n
are the consistency index and power-law exponent in power-law model.
Substituting Eq. A-4 into Eqs. A-6 and A-7 will give the correlations for the calculations of critical pump intake pressures
for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.
Eqs. 6 and 7 are in consistent units, and one may converted the units to field units. For Newtonian fluid, for instance, use
field units, model Eq. A-6 becomes

dp 1 qa
= . A-8
dL 5.1184 E 6 wt 3

Where, dp is in psi, dL is in inch, is in cp, qa is in B/D, w and t are in inch.


Substituting Eq. A-4 into Eq. A-8 yields

dp 1 q a
= . A-9
dL 8.04 E 6 dt 3

Use the average viscosity in a cavity, integrating the above equation along the spiral line of the stator gets the differential
pressure to fill the whole cavity,

1 qa ls
p = . A-10
8.04 E 6 dt 3

Substituting Eq. 16 into Eq. A-10 and assuming the pressure in an empty cavity is zero yield

1 ls
pin = (nQt qs _ ) . A-11
8.04 E 6 dt 3

Eq. A-11 is the critical pressure of fully filling the cavity of a PCP for Newtonian fluid. Follow the same procedure, one
can get the critical pressures for non-Newtonian fluids in field units from Eq. A-7.
SPE 113324 11

Ps

A d
B
C A A
e B
S C S
Rotor Center D
Rotor Axis

A
B
C
d

4e

AA BB CC A B C D

Fig. 1A PCP rotor. Fig. 2A PCP stator.

Speed n1 = 200 RPM


Qtn1/n0
Flow Capacity, B/D

+ Rotor Cross Center


4e +
+
Rotor Axis Speed n0 = 100 RPM
Stator Center Line
Qt Slip

H
Lift Capacity, ft

Fig. 3A rotor in stator. Fig. 4Flow capacity vs. lift capacity of a PCP.

d
pwh q

Qtn
Flow Capacity, B/D

A
qa

100 RPM
Qt
Pump Depth pi qs
pd
A B
0 pwf p
qd

Ha H
q Lift Capacity, ft

Fig. 5A typical pressure profile of a pumping well. Fig. 6Designing the rotational speed of a PCP.
12 SPE 113324

H
n0 =100 RPM 2n0 n 3n0 Well System Curve
p

pwf

Head, ft
Pressure,psia

Outflow Ha S
pi
Inflow

qi q Qt qa qtl q

Flow Rate, B/D


Flow Rate, B/D

Fig. 7Inflow and outflow curves of a node. Fig. 8A well system curve.

Ac

ls
Ps

w
(d+4e)

Fig. A-1Unfold a pitch of a PCP from stators center line. Fig. A-2Average cross-sectional area of a suction cavity.

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