Gas and Viscous Effects on the ESPs Performance

Abstract This paper aims at presenting the experimental ESP performance curves (head, brake horsepower and efficiency) when operating with gas-liquid mixtures and viscous fluids. In order to investigate the ESP performance operating with gas-liquid, a three-stage ESP with some modifications in its casing was used so that we could visualize the flow inside the pump. This pump was tested with gas void fraction varying between 0% and 10%, different liquid flow rate and speed. Pump tests operating with viscous fluid were conducted in a radial three-stage ESP with viscosity ranging from 1 to 820 cP and different speeds. Data has shown that it is possible to verify the performance degradation of ESP operating under unfavorable conditions, contributing, therefore, to a better physical understanding of the phenomena involved.