American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014 - 117

SpecialReport: Artificial Lift Technology

Zilift's TorqueDriveTM system incorporates a permanent magnet motor, a contactless
magnetic torque converter, and an equalizer section for progressive cavity pump applications. The company says the system eliminates the rod string and stuffing box and
their associated maintenance concerns.

formance and controlled the speed to
maintain a desired column of fluid over
the pump, preventing failures that are associated with operating in the "pumped
off" condition.
"Eliminating the rod string's drag
losses and inertia significantly cuts power
costs, while its automated operation enhances efficiencies," Maclean concludes.
"The system's reduced power consumption
and zero-emission wellhead provide further
environmental benefits."
Right For Remote Locations
The rigless ESP also has become a
reality, although the solution is used
mainly in remote locations such as jungles,
deserts and offshore platforms, indicates
Todd Wray, vice president of marketing
and sales for Artificial Lift Company.
The Houston-based company says it
has pulled and reinstalled the latest version
of its AdvantageTM rigless ESP system
for a major oil company's well in West
Texas. But the system's real service target,
personnel say, is onshore wells in Alaska
or offshore wells worldwide.
The setup allows the ESP industry to
convey and deploy with a crane and a
slickline unit, without the need for a
workover rig, Wray says. While that is
less of a factor in lower-48 shale formations with many rigs and relatively little
response time lag, a rigless setup is ideal
for locations in which getting infrastructure
and operational footprint to location are
challenging or cost-prohibitive, Wray

states. Outside of the completion options,
he adds, time constitutes the solution's
true value.
When an ESP well or system fails,
production immediately ceases, he notes.
At that point, the situation becomes a
race to remediation, as costs mount in
the form of lost production, equipment
transportation expenses, and repair and
installation costs. "If you can cut that
90-120 days to 10-12, imagine the sav-

ings," he illustrates.
So far, Artificial Lift Co. says it has
deployed its solution onshore in Alaska
and offshore West Africa, the Middle
East and Southeast Asia. The system also
has been deployed in environmentally
sensitive areas in Italy, where a smaller
footprint is a priority. After all, it is much
easier to bring in an 8 foot-by-8 foot
skid, slickline unit and a crane than a
workover rig.
"Pop it up, bring it in, put it out, and
you are done," Wray characterizes.
He goes on to explain that the rigless
solution is made possible by two Artificial
Lift Co. innovations: the permanent magnet
motor and the downhole wet connect
system. In the former, magnets enable a
motor to attain the same horsepower as
conventional motors, but are a fifth of
the length and weight of their conventional
counterparts.
"That means the motor is no longer 50
feet, it's 10 feet. It's no longer 2,000
pounds, it's 400 pounds, which means I
can deploy it with slickline," Wray observes.
The other critical advance is the ability
to mate and de-mate down hole in a fluid
system, he relates. The company's sidepocket mounted wet connectors, similar
to gas-lift mandrills, provide full-bore
access when the ESP is pulled out of the
well. When it is, operators are free to go
down hole for cleanups, reperforations,
or any other necessary maintenance. ❒

Artificial Lift Company's AdvantageTM rigless ESP system is especially appropriate for
wells located offshore or at remote, difficult to reach sites. The company explains that
the equipment can be deployed with a crane and a slickline unit rather than a workover
rig, minimizing infrastructure needs and the operational footprint.

JUNE 2014 117

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014

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