Calculation of Interrelated Thermal Processes in a Submersible Electric Motor, Rocks and Water-Gas-Oil Flow in a Producing Well

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the study of interrelated thermal processes in a submersible electric motor of a pumping unit located in an oil-producing well and flowed around by a water-oil-gas reservoir mixture, taking into account the heat exchange of the flow with the rocks surrounding the well. To describe these processes, mathematical and numerical models are developed. The numerical model and algorithms are implemented in a software that allows to study temperature fields and various thermal effects using computational experiments with simultaneous visualization of the results of computations. It is shown, in particular, that the transient thermal processes in the system “motor — three-phase flow – rocks”, when the motor is turned off due to its heating to the maximum permissible temperature depend on the physical and geometrical characteristics of each element of the system and are characterized by a non-trivial temperature profiles in rocks. Calculated estimates of the duration (on the order of tens of minutes) of the cooling stage of the motor after it is turned off and its heating stage when it is turned on again correspond to the real times of these processes in producing oil wells.