Monitoring an electric submersible pump for failures

• US 10,113,549 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2015
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensia, LLC (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (Schlumberger NV)
• Inventors: Coste, Emmanuel
• Primary Examiner(s): Rogers, David A
• Application Number:
  US15/314,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20170107989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/128 Adaptation of pump systems with down-hole electric drives
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/008 Monitoring of down-hole pump systems, e.g. for the detection of "pumped-off" conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 13/10 adapted for use in mining bore holes
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/0077 Safety measures F04D15/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/0088 Testing machines

Abstract

A method for monitoring an electric submersible pump. The method includes acquiring a baseline signature for the electric submersible pump in a first environment, acquiring a downhole signature for the electric submersible pump in a downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is confirmed to be healthy, applying an operator to the baseline signature and the downhole signature that results in a downhole noise component, acquiring a vibration signature for the electric submersible pump in the downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is in an operating mode, removing the downhole noise component from the vibration signature to produce an isolated electric submersible pump signature, and determining a health status of the electric submersible pump based on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring an electric submersible pump, comprising:

acquiring a baseline signature for the electric submersible pump in a first environment while the electric submersible pump is confirmed to be healthy;

acquiring a downhole signature for the electric submersible pump in a downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is confirmed to be healthy;

applying an operator to the baseline signature and the downhole signature that results in a downhole noise component;

acquiring a vibration signature for the electric submersible pump in the downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is in an operating mode;

removing the downhole noise component from the vibration signature to produce an isolated electric submersible pump signature; and

determining a health status of the electric submersible pump based on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a health status further comprises performing a frequency-based analysis on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising identifying a frequency component indicative of electric submersible pump failure and, based on the identification of the frequency component, generating a failing indication.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the baseline signature is determined for multiple pump flow rates.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the downhole signature is determined for multiple pump flow rates.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the flow rates used to determine the baseline signature correspond to the flow rates used to determine the downhole signature.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first environment is a controlled surface environment.

8. A system for monitoring an electric submersible pump, the system comprising:

a vibration sensor coupled to the electric submersible pump to measure a vibration signature of the electric submersible pump; and

a processor coupled to the vibration sensor to;

receive the vibration signature for the electric submersible pump in a downhole environment from the vibration sensor and while the electric submersible pump is in an operating mode;

remove a downhole noise component from the vibration signature to produce an isolated electric submersible pump signature, wherein the downhole noise component is determined by applying an operator to a baseline signature for the electric submersible pump in a non-downhole environment and a downhole signature for the electric submersible pump in the downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is confirmed to be healthy; and

determine a health status of the electric submersible pump based on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein when the processer determines the health status, the processor performs a frequency-based analysis on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the processor further identifies a frequency component indicative of electric submersible pump failure and, based on the identification of the frequency component, generates a failing indication.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the baseline signature is determined for multiple flow rates.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the downhole signature is determined for multiple flow rates.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the flow rates used to determine the baseline signature correspond to the flow rates used to determine the downhole signature.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein the non-downhole environment is a controlled surface environment.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a vibration signature for an electric submersible pump in a downhole environment from a vibration sensor and while the electric submersible pump is in an operating mode;

remove a downhole noise component from the vibration signature to produce an isolated electric submersible pump signature, wherein the downhole noise component is determined by applying an operator to a baseline signature for the electric submersible pump in a non-downhole environment and a downhole signature for the electric submersible pump in the downhole environment while the electric submersible pump is confirmed to be healthy; and

determine a health status of the electric submersible pump based on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein when the processer determines the health status, the instructions further cause the processer to perform a frequency-based analysis on the isolated electric submersible pump signature.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to identify a frequency component indicative of electric submersible pump failure and, based on the identification of the frequency component, generate a failing indication.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the baseline signature is determined for multiple flow rates.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 wherein the downhole signature is determined for multiple flow rates.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the flow rates used to determine the baseline signature correspond to the flow rates used to determine the downhole signature.