Abstract
As the metallic stator progressing cavity pump (PCP) operates with the stator and rotor in clearance fit, the slippage between cavities has a significant influence on the pump performance. In this paper, an analytical model is developed for the flow in the metallic stator PCP. Based on the analyses of the meshing movement and the clearance geometry inside the pump, the slippage through the transversal and longitudinal sealing regions is calculated considering different slippage mechanisms. Then the flow rate is obtained by subtracting the total slippage from the theoretical volumetric rate. This model is validated against results obtained from the performance experiments of commercial metallic stator PCP products from Shihong Petroleum Equipment Company. The model results show that the metallic stator PCP with smaller clearance or more stages is more capable of achieving good performance at high differential pressure. It is suitable for pumping the fluid with certain viscosity, and the influence of the slippage can be compensated by adopting appropriate high rotational speed. Furthermore, the model can be used to predict the pump performance and provide guidance for the pump design and performance optimization in field applications.
Highlights
Progressing cavity pump (PCP) is a positive displacement pump devised by Moineau in the 1930s [1], which has been used for the artificial lift to enhance oil production in the oilfield since the 1970s [2, 3]
Due to the characteristics of the elastomeric stator and the interference fit, the conventional PCP has some shortcomings in temperature resistance (
The slippage due to the differential pressure plays the dominant role in influencing the pump performance
Summary
Progressing cavity pump (PCP) is a positive displacement pump devised by Moineau in the 1930s [1], which has been used for the artificial lift to enhance oil production in the oilfield since the 1970s [2, 3]. For the operation of the conventional PCP, a helical rotor rotates eccentrically inside a helical stator with interference between them, in which the stator is generally deformable and made of elastomeric material. It has many benefits in oilfield applications, such as simple installation, easy operation, low flow pulsation, high efficiency, and high tolerance for gas and solid contents. Most importantly, it shows a good adaptability for pumping the fluid with high viscosity, which makes it widely used in viscous oil fields [4,5,6]. The metallic stator PCP has been applied in many field cases in recent decades [10,11,12,13], which is proved to be an effective and promising artificial lift technology for oil production
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