Electric submersible pump (ESP) gas slug mitigation system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11248628-B2
Application number	US-201916685221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2019
Priority date	Nov 15, 2019
Publication date	Feb 15, 2022
Grant date	Feb 15, 2022

Abstract

An electric submersible pump assembly. The electric submersible pump assembly comprises an electric submersible pump comprising a pump intake and a tubing configured to provide continuous fluid communication between a discharge side of the electric submersible pump and the pump intake.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly, comprising:
a pump intake;
a centrifugal pump coupled to the pump intake;
a discharge coupled to the centrifugal pump;
a Venturi having an inlet, a narrowed throat that has a port defining an opening, and an outlet, wherein the inlet of the Venturi is coupled to a production tubing that is coupled to the discharge and wherein the port of the venturi is configured to draw gas into the venturi from a wellbore; and
a tubing coupled at an upper end of the tubing to the outlet of the venturi and directed into the pump intake at a lower end of the tubing.

2. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tubing has an oblong cross-section.

3. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a solid rod located proximate to the tubing and extending substantially parallel to the tubing.

4. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tubing comprises two separate tubes that extend in parallel along an outside of the electric submersible pump.

5. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a second electric submersible pump having an intake in fluid communication with the discharge side of the electric submersible pump.

6. The ESP assembly of claim 5 , wherein the electric submersible pump is an axial flow pump and the second electric submersible pump is a radial flow pump.

7. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electric submersible pump is an overstaged pump.

8. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the ESP assembly further comprises a motor lead extension (MLE) and the tubing is located abutted against the MLE.

9. The ESP assembly of claim 8 , wherein the tubing is strapped to the electric submersible pump.

10. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein an interior of the tubing is abrasion resistant.

11. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lower end of the tubing is made of carbide or is made of tungsten.

12. The ESP assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pump intake is a reverse flow intake.

13. An electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly, comprising:
a first centrifugal pump having an intake and a discharge;
a second centrifugal pump having an intake coupled to the discharge of the first centrifugal pump;
a reverse flow intake having a discharge in fluid communication with the intake of the first centrifugal pump; and
a tubing coupled at a first end to the ESP assembly, via a Venturi, at a point located between the discharge of the first centrifugal pump and the intake of the second centrifugal pump and coupled at a second end to the ESP assembly at the reverse flow intake, wherein the Venturi has a narrowed throat that has a port defining an opening and the port of the Venturi is configured to draw gas into the venturi from a wellbore.

14. The ESP assembly of claim 13 , wherein the first centrifugal pump has a higher flow capacity than the second centrifugal pump.

15. The ESP assembly of claim 13 , wherein the tubing has an oblong cross-section.

16. The ESP assembly of claim 13 , wherein the tubing extends in parallel with and in close proximity to a motor lead extension (MLE) along an outside of the first centrifugal pump.

17. The ESP assembly of claim 13 , wherein the reverse flow intake comprises an outer wall that defines a plurality of intake ports located proximate to a top of the reverse flow intake, wherein a top of the inner sleeve of the reverse flow intake is closed to radial flow of fluid from an outside to an inside of the inner sleeve and a bottom of the inner sleeve allows flow between an annulus defined between the outer wall and the inner sleeve and an annulus defined between the inner sleeve and a drive shaft of the ESP assembly, wherein the discharge of the reverse flow intake is in fluid communication with the annulus defined between the inner sleeve and the drive shaft of the ESP assembly, and wherein an exit of the tubing is configured to discharge into the annulus defined between the inner sleeve and the drive shaft of the ESP assembly.

18. The ESP assembly of claim 13 , wherein the tubing comprises an abrasion resistant layer in an interior of the tubing.

19. A method of producing reservoir fluid from a wellbore by an electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly, comprising:
receiving reservoir fluid from the wellbore into a pump intake of the ESP assembly;
receiving a portion of fluid from a production tubing coupled to the ESP assembly by a Venturi intake;
flowing the received portion of the fluid through a narrowed throat of the Venturi;
drawing gas through a port of the Venturi from the wellbore;
entraining the gas drawn from the wellbore with the portion of fluid received by the Venturi;
flowing the gas entrained with the portion of the fluid as a recirculation fluid out of a Venturi outlet into a recirculation tube of the ESP assembly;
receiving the recirculation fluid from an exit port of the recirculation tube of the ESP assembly into the pump intake;
receiving the reservoir fluid and recirculation fluid from the pump intake by a centrifugal pump of the ESP assembly;
discharging fluid by the centrifugal pump; and
producing a first portion of the fluid discharged by the centrifugal pump to a wellhead.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising receiving the first portion of the fluid discharged by the centrifugal pump by a second centrifugal pump, wherein the second centrifugal pump produces the first portion of the fluid to the wellhead.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein receiving recirculation fluid from the exit port of the recirculation tube comprises receiving the recirculation fluid into an annulus defined between an inner sleeve of the pump intake and a drive shaft of the ESP assembly.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the reservoir fluid is a mix of liquid and gas.

23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising, by drawing gas through the port of the Venturi from the wellbore, relieving an accumulation of gas below a packer located in the wellbore above the ESP assembly.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Brown Donn J
• Beck David C

Classifications

• E21B43/38

  in the well · CPC title

• F04D29/4293

  Details of fluid inlet or outlet · CPC title

• F04D13/021

  containing a coupling · CPC title

• F04D13/10

  adapted for use in mining bore holes · CPC title

• F04D29/708

  specially for liquid pumps · CPC title