Moossa Kauvngal Areekat, Ala Aoun, Diego Estupinan, Tom Ngo - Baker Hughes
Production challenges associated with high gas-liquid ratios (GLR) and severe gas interference are frequently encountered in gassy wells, limiting artificial lift performance and preventing operators from achieving desired drawdown levels. The CENesis PHASE™ system fully encapsulates the Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) and uses density-driven separation of free gas upstream of the pump intake rather than relying on conventional mechanical gas separators. This approach reduces the volume of free gas entering the ESP and expands the stable operating envelope in gas-dominated flow regimes.
Performance of PHASE™ installations in gassy wells averaging 1,800 scf/bbl GLR was evaluated through direct before-and-after comparisons with conventional ESP configurations and gas-lift conversions, with emphasis on shutdown frequency, uptime, intake-pressure behavior, and production trends. Numerical simulation was conducted to evaluate the separation efficiency.
Deployment of the CENesis PHASE™ system with tapered, extended-range pumps resulted in more stable operating trends and increased drawdown. Oil production increased by up to 36%. Motor current also stabilized, resulting in smoother operating trends and potentially improved equipment reliability. Uptime improved by 5–15%. Gas interference shutdowns were reduced in some instances by up to 90%. Based on the simulation results, the CENesis PHASE™ system can achieve natural gas separation of 95% allowing the pumps to run with minimum gas volume fraction.