Multiple Stage Vane Pump, a New Production Technology Used in Thermal Recovery Well

Abstract China has a large quantity of heavy oil reservoir and many steam flooding wells and steam soaking wells. At present, normal artificial lift forms cannot meet the requirements for both high temperature lift and efficient lift. The traditional vane pump is a positive displacement pump which features its good high-temperature resistant performance and stable flow characteristics. Based on these features, the new multiple-stage vane pump (MVP) was designed. In the MVP, the flow direction was changed to the axial direction for fitting the slim wellbore; two or three stages were assembled in series connection for increasing the pumping pressure. In the laboratory, the comprehensive experiment workbench was used to test the relationship between pumping pressure, flow rate and other hydraulic parameters. The results show that MVP has smaller operation torque, high volumetric efficiency and high system efficiency. The artificial lift system of MVP uses conventional drive head as the energy source and sucker rod to transfer the energy downwards. The transmission system is specially designed for the MVP system, which can be used for power transmission, sand control and steam injection. It can realize the functions for both production and steam injection, which means that the production tubing and MVP are not pulled out in steam injection periods. The vane pump had been deployed in eight wells, two of them with steam injection valve. Compared with the beam pumping unit with the similar liquid-producing capacity, the energy consumption for the vane pump is about 30 percent lower.