Paper: ESP Design and Analysis of Existing Installations

A design procedure is detailed which uses motor performance and electrical submersible pump stage performance corrected to actual pumping speeds with IPR performance. The program then shows what any selected design will produce under various conditions including HZ and surface pressure. The calculations routine is "Nodal" (TM of Macco Schlumberger) in the respect that it will plot expected performance of a given design at either the perforations or at the pump intake; At the perforations, an IPR curve can be checked or generated by using the program output. Pump intake pressure readings can be checked against the program output if the calculated output plot is selected at the pump intake near a downhole pressure instrument. The design is made at one point and operation at a broad band of off-design conditions is made using graphical output. Examples are presented to demonstrate some design considerations that should be examined when considering an application of ESPs in a new area.