Baker Hughes installs world's first ultra-temperature SAGD production system
Baker Hughes has installed the world's first ultra-high temperature electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) wells with its installation of nine Centrilift XP ESP production systems in the Canadian oil sands.
The company said today that the systems are able to operate at fluid temperatures up to 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit). They have been in operation since instillation on 15 April at Cenovus Energy's Christina Lake, Alberta, thermal project. It is among the first to deploy the new technology.
"We expect the more robust system to increase run life and minimize operational expenditures," says Jason Abbate, a production engineer with Cenovus. "Because the ESP system is operated at higher temperatures than conventional systems, we can also expect higher oil production rates." SAGD production specialists expect an increase in production with a larger steam chamber and less viscous oil at higher steaming temperatures.
The ultra-high temperature ESP system design is the result of several years of intensive research and development in specialized testing facilities at Baker Hughes' ESP product center in Claremore, Oklahoma, USA.
The one-of-a-kind testing facilities allow the company's research and development engineers not only to design and test ESP equipment at temperatures up to 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit), but also to simulate the horizontal orientation and temperature cycling characteristics of SAGD wells. The tests conducted in the dedicated high-temperature test loop ensure that the highest levels of reliability are designed into the ultra-high temperature ESP systems.
09/01/2010