Page 12 - Artificial Lift Methods

Electric Submersible Pumps

Petroleum Extension-The University of Texas at Austin

Electric Submersible

Pumps

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In this chapter:
• Typical applications of electric submersible pumps

• Operating principles for high volumes of fluids
• Key system components and how they function
• Basic ESP system design factors to consider

n 1916, Armias Arutunoff developed the first cylindrical multistage
Ielectric submersible pump (ESP) for dewatering mines and ships.
He formed the Russian Electrical Dynamo of Arutunoff Company
(REDA) and applied the technology to oilwells, first in Russia and
then in Germany. Mr. Arutunoff immigrated to the United States
and installed the first ESP in the Western Hemisphere in a Phillips
Petroleum well in Kansas in 1928. By 1938, approximately 2% of
artificially lifted oil in the United States was lifted by REDA pumps.
Today, ESPs have become the preferred lift technology for
many pumping applications, from shallow dewatering of mines to
high-volume offshore oil production. High-temperature systems have
been developed to allow ESPs to pump in applications traditionally
serviced only by rod pumping systems. Special gas-handling features
have made it possible to use ESPs in some gaseous well applications.
As a result, more capital is spent on procurement of ESP systems
today than all other lift technologies combined.

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