Abstract
Artificial lift techniques have been utilized in the oil industry since decades. The main objective is to provide an extra energy to the fluids to be produced into the surface when the reservoir pressure is not capable to deliver the fluids naturally. Among these techniques, Sucker rod pump is still being used worldwide due to its simplicity in design, operations and maintenance. However, it still has some limitations in harsh environments like producing different zones.
For decades, Operators have been using commingled production as a valid alternative to produce mature fields to increase oil recovery. The benefits of commingling production from separate reservoirs are many. Among these benefits, it allows to produce from multiple reservoirs which may not be economic on their own, lower OPEX, less infill drilling activities and a sustained oil production plateau. There are different techniques in oil industry to handle commingled production such dual completion with ESP and gas lift.
In this paper, we will exhibit our modified design for the simple tubing pump. The new innovative design with a double acting movement in the same stroke will allow to produce from commingled zones without suffering from the pressure difference between the zones. During the downstroke, the fluids entered the pump plunger via the traveling valve while the fluids from annulus will fill the pump chamber above the main plunger via ports. Meanwhile, during the upstroke the fluid entered the pump barrel via the standing valve and the fluid from annulus entered the barrel will be lifted above the mandrel to production tubing via one way valve with a sleeve. This new design allows to increase flow area with the same pump size, and hence more flow rate.
This paper showcases a conceptual study that includes the principles and the physics behind the modified design for the tubing pump, which can be utilized as an economic alternative for the common techniques that widely used for commingled production.
