American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2018 - 103

SpecialReport: Artificial Lift Technology

Innovations Extend Pump Run Times
By Colter Cookson
Whether they are experts in electric
submersible pumps, rod pumps, plunger
lift systems, tubulars and sucker rods,
or downhole separators and other equipment, the companies that provide artificial lift solutions share a goal: Helping
operators not only produce high initial
volumes, but also maintain production
as economically as possible over a well's
full life.
That often means extending a given
pump's minimum and maximum flow
rates and enhancing its durability to reduce how frequently an operator needs
to pull and replace equipment. Toward
that end, pump providers and other artificial lift experts say they are employing
slicker materials, optimizing component
geometries and refining techniques for
reducing flowing bottom-hole pressure.
Simultaneously, they are coming up
with ways to improve safety, including
blowout preventers to protect wellheads
against completion-induced pressure
spikes and a portable device that makes
it easier for well technicians to respace
rod pumps.
Most unconventional wells' artificial
lift programs start with ESPs or gas lift,
says Jeff Dwiggins, managing director
of Artificial Lift Solutions Pte. Ltd. "Companies that want to maximize initial production rates lean toward ESPs because
they offer higher volumes, while those
that are driven by operating costs lean
toward gas lift, which can be more reliable
if gas is available," he assesses.
ESPs are becoming more reliable as
manufacturers come up with ways to
minimize the damage from solids and
thermal cycles, and operators get better
at mitigating operational issues, Dwiggins says. He argues that the pumps'
ability to handle high production volumes
from moderately deviated wells can
make managing their inherent reliability
issues worthwhile.
Operators concerned with prolonging
ESP life should invest in resources, Dwiggins advises. "An operator that understands
how to manage ESPs and address problems
before they become detrimental to the
system will be less likely to have issues,"
he says.
Monitoring software can help operators
identify problems, Dwiggins notes. "As

a baseline, the software should analyze
the data, highlight potential problems,
and send out alerts so those problems
can be addressed. The most useful packages do everything they can to minimize
the amount of analysis and work users
need to do manually. However, even the
best packages still require users who
know what they are doing."
When ESPs fail, determining the root
cause can be tricky, Dwiggins reports.
"There is almost always more than one
problem, and the one that caused the unit
to fail may not be the biggest concern
from a reliability standpoint," he says.
It can be tempting to attribute failures
to manufacturing errors, but Dwiggins
says it is worth considering operational
issues. He points out that an ESP's reliability goes down significantly when it is
used outside of the recommended operating window.
As industry activity recovers, Dwiggins
encourages operators to support strong
quality assurance. "We would all love to
buy a Chevy Malibu and get the same
quality as a BMW, but the reality is that
we get what we pay for," he says.
Extending Operating Windows
Horizontal wells' artificial lift programs
often start with a large ESP, then move
to a small ESP and finally to a rod pump,
notes Ryan Gernentz, director of mechanical engineering and quality at Endurance Lift Solutions. To mitigate the
need to employ a small ESP, he says
many operators are adopting lightweight
fiberglass sucker rods, which can produce
larger liquid volumes than steel rods because they stretch on the down stroke
and enable longer plunger travel.
"To push fiberglass sucker rods' production even higher, we have developed
a high-flow end fitting with a diameter
of 1.8125 inches instead of 2.0 inches,"
he reports. "The slimmer profile increases
the flow area between the end fitting
and the production tubing, which means
fluid can bypass at each coupling location
without as much pressure drop. That
should allow the rods to fall faster, possibly increasing the bottom-hole stroke
and production."
Gernentz predicts the high-flow end
fittings, which were undergoing initial
field trials in early June, will boost production considerably. "With pumps, small

changes in pressure drop lead to large increases in production. This change has
the potential to reduce the pressure drop
from each connection by more than 60
percent. With more than 100 connections
in a rod string, we think that will add up
to a meaningful difference in production,"
he says.
The compact design utilizes a 7/8 full
size coupling and pin arrangement that
will place the one-time pull rating at
65,000 pounds, Gernentz mentions. He
says that with most fiberglass venders
already using this pull number, there
should be no issue with being able to unseat pumps. The rods' working load and
other characteristics will remain the same
as Endurance's current product lines.
Boosting Equipment Durability
To extend the life of metal equipment
such as rod pumps, plungers and ESPs,
Endurance President Dan Runzheimer
says the company has partnered with
B4C Technologies to find upstream applications for a surface treatment that
increases metal's resistance to mechanical wear, abrasion and corrosion. Describing the treatment as a revolutionary
method of thermal boron diffusion originally developed for military applications, he says it has increased certain
equipment's run life by an average of
400 percent.
"Because plunger lift plungers wear
out quickly, we initially applied the technology to them," Runzheimer recalls.
"When we saw run time increases exceeding
300 percent, we realized it could make a
huge impact on production economics."
According to Runzheimer, the technology uses a proprietary chemical formula
to produce a slick, hard intermetallic ceramic boride case layer at the metal surface. The process works by migrating
boron atoms into the surface, where they
attach to the dominant substrate element
such as iron. This subsequently converts
the surface to a protective layer composed
of an intermetallic ceramic that is rich in
boron, which Runzheimer points out is
an excellent lubricant.
"The treatment gives the metal a lower
coefficient of friction, so it will generate
less heat when it slides across other surfaces, thus lasting longer. Once treated,
the metal surfaces also become highly resistant to corrosive fluids," he says.
JUNE 2018 103

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2018

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