Design of Electrical Submersible Pump system in geothermal wells: A case study from West Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

Geothermal is defined as one of the renewable and sustainable energy sources. The sustainability of geothermal wells is highly dependent on the pressure drive mechanism and non-condensable gas (NCG) content of the produced geothermal fluid. Pressure decline and decline of non-condensable gases are commonly observed in geothermal production wells, which is unfavorable for wells’ lifetime. Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) are one of the solutions for extending the lifetime of geothermal wells. In this study, the application of ESP in a geothermal well was designed and simulated. The case study well is located in one of the most exploited geothermal fields in Western Turkey: the Alasehir geothermal field. ESP design is performed by using the codes constructed in PYTHON in this study. The sensitivity of production profiles of the well is simulated by using a wellbore simulation program called WELBOR. Sensitivity studies are conducted for different sizes of production tubing (5, 6, 65/8, and 7 inches), setting depths (500, 600, 700 m), and flow rates (85, 150, 180, 250, and 275 ton/hour). The optimum ESP design conditions are determined by considering pump consumption, flashing depth, wellhead flowing pressure, and production rate. Finally, it was found that ESP design will increase the production rate of the case study well by 165 tons/hour. Furthermore, the proposed ESP will make a profit for at least 8 months, according to the economic analysis in this study.