Predictive Erosion Modeling in an ESP Pump

Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are widely used in upstream oil production. The presence of a low concentration solid phase, particle-laden flow, in the production fluid may cause severe damage in the internal sections of the pump which reduces its operating lifetime. To better understand the ESP pump’s endurance, an ESP-WJE1000, manufactured by Baker Hughes Company was studied numerically to determine the pump’s flow behavior at its best efficiency point. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted on two stages of the pump’s primary flow path employing Eulerian-Granular scheme in ANSYS-Fluent. The key parameters affecting the erosion phenomena within the pump such as turbulence kinetic energy, local sand concentration and near wall relative sand velocity were identified. The predictive erosion model applicable to pumps was developed by correlating the erosion key parameters with available experimental results.