American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016 - 78

SpecialReport: Artificial Lift Technology
points such as optimum bottom-hole pressures for mitigating free gas."
Closely monitoring ESPs can make a
big difference, Haapanen insists. "It is easy
to see single-digit percentage increases in
production from optimizing pumps, and
not uncommon to see increases as high as
20-40 percent, with an average around 1015 percent," he estimates. "The improvements in run time should be similar."
When something is amiss, LOOKOUT
can highlight it in daily reports or send
e-mail or text alerts to designated users,
Haapanen says. He adds that the software
is an extension to XSPOC, Theta Oilfield
Services Inc.'s platform for monitoring
rod pumps.
Haapanen says the software is helping
Dover provide better service to operators
who do not have in-house ESP engineers.
"We have been using LOOKOUT internally for four months," he commented in
May. "So far, the feedback has been great.
The trending is user-friendly. Because
XSPOC's architecture lends itself to better
performance than a traditional Web-based
system, we are able to get data quickly
and watch what is going on."
Sand-Tolerant Rod Pump
With its mechanical efficiency, reliability and simplicity, rod pumping remains

By keeping potentially damaging sand
particles away from the plunger/barrel
interface, Weatherford's sand-tolerant
rod pump technology extends pump run
time.

78 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

With the LOOKOUT® electric submersible pump monitoring system, Dover Artificial Lift
is helping operators increase ESP production and run time. The system provides robust
diagnostic capabilities through an efficient, time-saving platform.

far and away the most common lift method
deployed in U.S. wells. But because sand
can cause rod pumps to fail frequently,
other methods often are used in wells
completed in sandy formations or those
with high concentrations of proppant
flowback, observes Bill Lane, Weatherford's vice president of artificial lift
system emerging technologies. He says
the company hopes to change that with
its new sand-tolerant pump.
"In the initial trials, we tested the
pumps in a California field where the
operator was having sand issues. Even
though the wells previously used the best
technology then available, we saw huge
run life increases," he reports. "In some
wells, the increase approached 800 percent.
In others, it was 300-500 percent, but
that was still impressive."
Lane says the pump works so well
because it addresses the primary cause
of sand-related failure. "If sand is small
enough to pass through the spaces between
the pump plunger and barrel with ease, it
is rarely a problem," he says. "However,
if the sand is about the same size or
slightly larger than the plunger clearance,
fluid pressure will push it through and
damage the pump."
Some amount of fluid slippage past
the plunger will occur since the plunger's
outside diameter must be smaller than
the barrel inside diameter. This fluid slippage is necessary to lubricate the pump,
but it carries with it sand and particulate
that can score the plunger and barrel,
Lane explains.
Typically, rod pumps are designed to
resolve this issue by either making the

clearances so small that almost no particulate matter can get in or so large that
most particulate matter flows by easily,
Lane says. "Unfortunately, no matter how
small or big the clearances are, there always will be some particulate matter that
is of the same size or slightly larger than
the clearances, which means even the
best pump will wear out eventually," he
cautions.
"To address this problem, we decided
to filter the slippage fluid so that it could
lubricate the sliding surfaces without
causing damage," Lane recalls. "The
screen filter only passes particulate matter
that is smaller than the clearance, and
will not grind against the plunger and
barrel sealing surfaces."
As the plunger falls through the fluid
on the downstroke, the fluid flushes the
screen clean of sand. This cleaning process
works so well that Lane says the pump
has had only one screen failure in more
than 2,000 installations, and that occurred
because of overpressurization. Initial field
testing showed pump run life improved
by 450 percent, he adds.
"So far, the feedback we have gotten
in every application has been positive,"
Lane comments. "The technology can be
put on any standard rod pump without
interfering with the pump's efficiency,
so we see it being applied in almost any
well where particulate matter is an issue."
Long-Stroke Pumping Unit
As operators achieve higher and higher
production rates in horizontal wells, a
need has emerged for rod pump setups

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016