SIMULATION OF FLOW IN A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP OF ESP SYSTEMS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Abstract

Artificial lift methods can be implemented in the oil industry in order to increase the production rate of flowing oil or gas wells. Electrical Submersible Pumping (ESP) is a complex and viable method of artificial lift that is applicable to a wide range of flow rates. ESP systems are responsible for the highest amount of total fluids produced by any artificial lift method. This paper presents a 3D simulation of the stationary flow in the impeller and stator of a mixed centrifugal pump using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques and a commercial software, ANSYS® CFX® Release 11.0. Three conditions were simulated to obtain the pressure fields in the impeller and stator in a stage of the pump. Comparisons among the simulations of the present work and the head capacity of the performance curve given by pump manufacturer were performed and showed satisfactory agreement.