American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016 - 75

Oilfield Improvements®
ULTRA-FLOW®
FIELD-INSTALLED

CENTRALIZERS/
PARAFFIN SCRAPERS

Full-circle Wiping
of Tubing I.D.

This stage from Borets' WR2
electric submersible pump is
made with a process that is fundamentally different from traditional sand casting. The metal
injection process allows unique
geometries and metallurgies.
Borets is using it to create stages
that provide superior gas and
sand handling capabilities in
order to optimize early production from unconventional wells.

10 percent less at the pump's peak efficiency. The savings get bigger the more
underloaded the pump is, and average 15
percent."
The PMM saves power because it uses
a permanent magnetic field from a rare
earth element to drive the motor, rather
than spending energy inducing a current
to create a temporary field, Russell explains. "The motor operates at a much
higher and flatter power factor than an
induction motor, so the producer rarely
has to pay a penalty to the local power
company for having a poor power factor,"
he adds.
In addition, because the motor does
not have to generate an induced current,
it runs much cooler and the insulation
lasts longer, Russell points out. "Over
the life of the well, the combination of
longer run life and power savings will
reduce the pump's operating cost 20-40
percent, depending on pull cost," he continues.
The PMM can turn faster or slower
than an induction motor, Russell adds.
"We have taken advantage of that to develop the WR2, a wide-range, wear-resistant ESP that can operate at flow rates
ranging from 400 to 1,900 bbl/d," he reports. "Ideally, this will allow producers
to use a single ESP from the time they
drill a well to the time it needs to be put
on a different type of lift."
To endure the sand encountered in
unconventional wells, Russell says the
WR2 is manufactured using metal injection
molding rather than foundry casting. He
explains that the molding process allows
unique geometries and tougher metallurgies.
"Because we can turn at high speeds
and build unique geometries, the pump
can handle gas volumes as high as 50
percent," Russell reports. "A typical ESP
will lock up when gas volumes exceed
20 percent, so the WR2 is much better at

handling slugs."
The PMM enables ESPs to be shorter,
making them easier to get through deviations, Russel mentions. In addition, he
says the motor's shorter length compensates for the rare earth element's cost,
which means the more efficient pumps
cost only 4-5 percent more than conventional counterparts.
Borets is evolving the PMM to run
progressive cavity and rod pumps from
the bottom of the well, Russell reports.
"Running these pumps from below the
surface is a huge advantage. It will allow
us to push the pumps into the curve or
lateral sections without wearing out tubing
or rods by rotating or moving them up
and down through a crooked hole," he
says, adding that the smaller surface footprint is a key benefit in environmentally
sensitive or urban areas.
Although applying PMMs to rod pumps
is new, Borets has 300 PMM-powered
PCPs and 7,000 ESPs in the field, Russell
says. He points out that many of them
are in the Permian Basin or Mississippian
Lime plays with operators such as Apache,
Diamondback Energy Inc. and Concho
Resources Inc.
Automation And Monitoring
As sophisticated programmable logic
controllers become more affordable and
rugged, the oil and gas industry continues
to automate previously manual tasks, observes Brett Burger, a product marketing
manager with National Instruments.
"In the past, a technician would go to
a well with a hand-held device and plug
it into a motor to check its status," he
says. "But today, it is becoming less expensive to bolt the equivalent of that
hand-held device onto the motor, take
constant readings, and alert the owner
when something goes wrong."
This is true outside the oil and gas industry as well, Burger says. "The prolif-

More Gripping
Force on Sucker Rods
More Fluid Flow-by
Volume
Longer Useful LIfe
from Longer Vanes
& Bearing Surfaces
Positive Wear
Indicators
Amodel with Glass Fill
CALL 1-800-LES WEAR
(800-537-9327) OR YOUR
Oilfield Supply Store

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Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74012 U.S.A.
7/6 FAX 918-250-4666

Oilfield Improvements®
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For Deviated,
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Call
800-537-9327
or Your Oilfield
Supply Store
www.rodguides.com

1902 N. Yellowood Ave.
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74012 U.S.A.
7/6 -(?

JUNE 2016 75

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016

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