OIL-SUBMERSIBLE

ELECTRIC PUMPING
UNIT
2005.8

1 INTRODUCTION
In 1923,the first set of electric oil-submersible
pumping unit(EOSP) was made in U.S.A. In 1930,
REDA CO.was established in U.S.A.. During 50s70s, three manufacturers to produce EOSP were
established one by one in U.S.A., they are
CENTRILFT CO., ODI CO. and KEBA CO. TIANJIN
ELECTIRC MOTOR GENERAL FACTORY(TDJ) cooperated
with DAQING OILFIELD to develop successfully the
first set of EOSP in China and batches of EOSP
were produced for industrial use in 1981.In 1984,
TDJ was approved by the government to introduce
the EOSP manufacturing technology from REDA CO.
and improved the development of Chinese EOSP
manufacturing technology.

2 EOSP STRUCTURE
In well
1 P S I 2 Motor 3 Protector
4 Separator
5 Centrifugal pump 6 Check valve
7 Non-return valve
P-Pressure S-Sensing
I-Instrument
On ground
1 Transformer
2 Switchboard Variable-frequency
device
3 Junction box

ORDINARY EOSP

SHOWN FIGURE OF Y TYPE EOSP

3 EOSP TECHNICAL PROCESS

1 Power supply process of EOSP
Network Transformer Switchboard
Junction box- Cable - Motor
2 Well fluid flow process of EOSP
Oil - gas separator - Oil pump - non return valve
Check valve - Oil tubing - Well head
Oil transmitting system
3 Pressure & temperature signal transmitting process
Pressure & temperature signal sensor -

Motor winding

Downwell cable Ground cable Ground filtering

components Ground secondary instrument

4 DOWNWELL TEMPERATURE & PRESSURE

SENSING INSTRUMENT

PPressure SSensing IInstrument

( Pressure & sensing instrument

P structure composed of downwell part, ground

part , downwell sensing instrument , ground secondary
instrument and filtering components.

Downwell part including: pressure sensor, temperature

sensor, polarization relay, filter,current mutual inductor,
rectification bridge and voltage regulator tube diode
etc

Ground part including signal treatment and reading

device, reactor, filter, over-current, over-voltage
protecting components etc

PSI CIRCUIT ELEMENTARY DIAGRAM

 WORKING PRINCIPLE

PSI is adopted with approximate carrier principle. A direct

current signal sent from the secondary instrument on ground is
transmitted to the downwell part through relay, filter, reactor,
cable, motor winding and contacts to earth through polar relay,
inductance capacity filter, pressure or temperature measuring &
sensing circuit to form a complete return loop.

Because the current is continuous and the resistance is linear

with pressure and temperature, due to the resistance change,
each sensor will generate a voltage signal corresponding to the
pressure and temperature. The voltage signal is sent to ground
secondary instrument and processed to be the corresponding
data indicated.

 PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS

PSI is a device which can measure the downwell pressure and
temperature visually. The downwell part is installed at the oil motor
bottom. No special signal transmitting wire is needed. The signal is
sent to ground through motor winding and power cable. The ground
reading device can read the EOSP pressure and temperature at
pumping unit setting depth. It not only can indicate the pressure and
temperature at intervals of 20 seconds automatically and alternatively
but also can indicate the pressure or temperature separately. It not
only can make the measurement continuously, but also can break the
downwell sensing part so as to measure the motor insulation
resistance.
PSI is matched with VSD to form a complete closed system controlled by
computer to get valuable oil layer data and pump performance data. At the
same time, the power supply frequency can be adjusted according to the
related data for the purpose of reasonable, scientific and stable exploration.

5.

ELECTRIC OIL-SUBMERSIBLE MOTOR

Structure feature of electric oil-submersible motor

Electric oil-submersible motor mainly consists of stator,
rotor, thrust bearing and radial centralizing supporting
system, oil-cycling system, leading wire connection etc
According to the electric oil motor structure feature, the
temperature rise produced when motor operating must be
cooled and dissipated by the flow of well fluid around the
motor surface So the motor must operate under the well
fluid surface and above the perforation section to guarantee
the fluid flow rate around the motor surface no less than
0.3m/s and good cooling environment for pumping unit
operation.
(Detailed see the shown figure of structure.

SHOWN FIGURE OF OIL-SUBMERSIBLE MOTOR

1 shipping cap
2 connecting bolt
3 Motor head
4 Thrust runner
5 lower thrust bearing
6 motor lead wire joint
7 oil-filling machine
8 bushing
9 rotor end ring
10 rotor iron core
11 conducting rod
12 stator iron core
13 stator iron core
14 rotor bearing
15 rotor bushing
16 motor housing
17 wire
18 shaft
19 O ring
20 base
21 lead wire

6. MAIN COMPONENTS OF
OIL-SUBMERSIBLE MOTOR
1) Motor oil
The motor is filled with special motor oil with good
lubricating and heat-conductive performance. The
oil cycling system can lubricate the motor bearings
and transmit the heat energy produced when motor
operation to the motor housing.
The motor oil also have good insulation
performance.
Usually, the new motor oil voltage-resistance is
higher than AC25KV and the thermal voltageresistance is higher than AC10KV.

2) Thrust bearing
Due to the limit of working environment, the
motor shapes thick and long. The rotor adopts
hanging type of structure, The motor rotor is
stood by the thrust bearing at the motor upper.
The lubricating pair is composed of a runner and
a thrust disc with six fan sections. Some thrust
bearing fan sections surface is coated with
wear-proof paint to guarantee the rotor good
operation at high rotation speed.

3) Stator
Because the motor operates in the depth from
1000m to 3500m underground. So the motor must
have good insulation performance under the
actions of oil, gas, water, temperature and
pressure.
The motor stator winding is adopted with oilresistant, water-resistant, heat-resistant winding
wire. The wire is wrapped and sintered with
polyimide film. The winding coil, winding end
treatment and joint are completed manually. Then
the winding coil is immersed in special insulation
lacquer for several times according to the whole
vacuum lacquer immersing technology. So the
stator have good oil-resistant, heat-resistant and
insulation performance.

4)Shaft
Due to the limit of working
environment the motor shapes thick and
long. So the rotor shaft and pump shaft
is required strictly. The ratio of
length to radial should be more than
100, as a result, it has some difficulty
to select and process the materials.
Special equipment and processing
technology should be adopted to
guarantee the strength and flexibility.
For example hollow motor shaft 30-35mm
L=6~8m
Pump shaft 15.8-30mm L=4~7m

5 Rotor
For each motor, multi-stages of rotor are
connected in tandem and the stages quantity
are decided according to the motor power.
Except for upper, lower guiding bearings,
centralizing bearings are assembled between
each stage of rotor to guarantee the rotor
have a stable,good rotation center.
There are two kinds of centralizing bearings
including ordinary type and rotation-proof
type.Usually Reda series are adopted with
rotation-proof bearing of which the
structure is better for motor long-period
high-speed operation.

7. Working principle of motor

When the stator windings are connected with three-phase
current, a resultant magnetic field with rotating speed
60f/P will be generated. The resultant magnetic field
direction will change in space time after time. The
changing pattern is rotation in a direction. This is
a rotating magnetic field.
According to the electro-magnetic induction principle,
inductive current will be generated in the rotor
conducting rods, the carrier is acted by the magnetic
force to produce electro-magnetic torque. The rotor will
rotate in the magnetic field. The rotating direction is
upon to the current phase sequence. At the same time,
the electric energy is transferred to the mechanical
energy.

8. PROTECTOR
1)Protector type
Connecting type
Labyrinth type
bag type
Compound
type
Combined type Wind box
type

2) Protection function

Connect the motor & pump housing with shaft and

transmit the motor torque. Spline couplings are used to
connect each single section.
Stand the axial force happening when pump
operation. The protector thrust bearings have two types
one is of fixed support point , the other is of rotating
support point. Special coating (Babbitt metal) is
painted on the thrust bearing surface. After special
treatment, a layer of oil film will be formed between
runner and fan sections when rotating at high speed to
get excellent wear-resistance and lubricant
performance and stand larger axial force.

 Seal the motor driving shaft to prevent well fluid

from entering in the motor to realize the soft
separation between motor oil and well fluid and
balance the pressure between motor inner chamber
and annular space.
When the motor operation time increases, the
motor temperature rise will result in the motor oil
expanding. The protector can provide a flexible
expanding space . When the motor stops operation
and the temperature decreases, the motor oil in the
motor chamber will shrink , while the protector can
provide enough supplement for it.

3) Working principle of protector

Connecting type heavy oil isolation (not
suitable for inclined well
Labyrinth labyrinth not suitable for
inclined well
Bag type form an elastic isolating layer
Compound type labyrinth combined with
bag
Combined type building block type multistages in tandem
Wind tank type with a metal stretcher

SHOWN FIG. OF PROTECTOR BAG TYPE

1.Shipping cap
seal

11.Mechanical

2.Bolt

12.Shaft

3.Protector head
protecting tube

13.Shaft

4.Air release vlave

14.Bag

5.Seal ring

15.Housing

6.Housing

16.Bag base

7.Shaft protecting tube

protecting tube base

17.Shaft

8.Bag

18.Thrust bearing

9.Bag base

19.Runner

10. Seal base

20.Base

SHOWN FIG. OF PROTECTOR

Labyrinth type
1.Shipping cap

11.Thrust runner

2.Bolt
lower

12.Thrust beairng,

3.Protector head

13.Breathing tube

4.Air release valve 14.Lower joint of

spline
5.Seal ring

15.Protector base

6.Bushing

16.

7.Housing

17.Mechanical seal

8.Guiding tube
ring

18.Positioning

9.Bearing

19.Shaft

10.Upper thrust bearing

SHOWN FIG. OF PROTECTOR

Compound type
1.Shipping cap
2.Bolt

12.Seal base

3.Protector head

13.Housing

4.Air release valve

tube

14.Connecting

5.Seal ring
tube

15.Shaft protecting

6.Bearing liner

16.Runner

7.Housing
bearing

17.Thrust

8.Shaft protecting tube

18.Base

9.Bag (HSN, Viton or Aflas)

10.Shaft
11.Mechanical seals(silicon carbide)

4) Protector importance
According to the figure it can be seen that the
mechanical seal of any isolating form must be reliable,
otherwise any good isolating form does not make
functions. So the mechanical seal is very important. To
guarantee the motor reliable operation, some protectors
are installed with three mechanical seals. The protector
seal position should be processed accurately. Practically
the working conditions can make a big effect on it.
especially on the well with larger sand content. Because
the sand easily results in the friction pair worn. At high
rotating speed, the worn will be rapid to damage the
mechanical seal and the protector will fail.

9. OIL-GAS SEPARATOR
1) Separator type and function
One is of labyrinth, the other is rotating type.
When the gas content in well fluid is higher, the
pumping unit must be installed with oil-gas
separator. It can separate a part of free gas
before the gas entering in the first impeller to
reduce the gas content in well fluid entering in
pump so as to increase the pump performance
and prolong the pump life.

2) Working principle of oil-gas separator

When the well fluid entering into the separator,
under the functions of centrifugal force produced
when the inducer rotating at high speed, the part
with less free gas and large quality of well fluid
is thrown around, then the part with more free gas
and low quality is drained off the separator
housing along the fixed flow path near the shaft
core.

SHOWN FIGURE OF OIL-GAS SEPARATOR

Rotating type of oil-gas separator

10. OIL-SUBMERSIBLE PUMP

1) Structure of oil-submersible pump
Oil-submersible pump is a kind of multi-stages
centrifugal pump, which is composed of upper,
lower pump head, pump shaft, pump housing,
impeller, diffuser, bearing stand and connecting
system. Each stage is composed of a rotating
impeller and a fixed diffuser. The impeller string is
installed on the pump shaft and positioned radial
with square key. Each impeller is assembled with
washers. Two bearing stands is at both end of each
pump stage.
Impeller type: Floater FL
Bottom Floater BFL
Compression C

Floater FL

Bottom Floater BFL

COMPRESSION TYPE

2) Working principle of oil-submersible centrifugal pump

When the fluid getting in the first stage of impeller,
under the function of the centrifugal force produced by
the vane rotating at high speed, the fluid is thrown
around and gets in the next stage of impeller along the
diffuser s fixed flow path. As a result, after pressured
stage by stage, the fluid is lifted to ground through the
pump outlet and oil tubing.
The impeller shape( profile structure decides the pump
flow rate and efficiency. The impeller stages decides the
pump head. At the same time the flow rate, head and
efficiency are important factors to decide the motor
power.

11. CHECK VALVE AND NON-RETURN VALVE

1)Non-return valve
Non-return valve consists of a inverted metal valve
and valve base. The function is to allow the fluid
flowing from lower to upper in one way.
2)Check valve
The check valve structure: a metal discharging pin
with annular groove at the middle position
perpendicular to the metal valve. The function
When the pump stop operation, the oil tube is filled
with fluid. Before lifting the oil tube, the discharging
pin should be broken up and the fluid in oil tube will
flow into the casing for the convenience of the oil
tube disassembling.

12. SWITCHBOARD
1) Switchboard structure ordinary
The switchboard consists of two parts: main return
circuit and control circuit. The main return circuit
includes: high-voltage isolating switch, high-voltage
fuse, vacuum contactors, pressure-sensitive
resistance.
The control return circuit include control
transformer, air switcher, fuse, over-voltage protecting
components, switcher, PCC and voltage mutual
inductor, voltmeter current mutual
inductor current recorder etc

 2) SWITCHBOARD ELEMENTARY DIAGRAM ORDINARY

GB

GC

1 ~ 4

GK
BK1

RD

1 ~ 10

BK2

GC

RYM
ZJC

GB

A101
B101

C101

A101

B101

4 10

C101

5 11

JLY

ZJC

JLY

6 12
PCC
N

00
XK

RYM

DK

R
ZJC

3 ) Switchboard function and PCC type

The switchboard is used to control the pumping
unit start and stop, measure and record the
pumping unit operation status, realize power-off
automatically when there is any abnormal status.
Following types of PCC are now used in oilfields

SB-400 type SB-200 type QYZB3 type KRATOS

VORTEX
K-095
DA QING
SHENGLI

13 TRANSFORMER
1) Transformer structure, function and types
The transformer consists of iron core, primary coil,
secondary coil, wiring terminals etc.
The transformer is to transfer the users network
voltage to the ground operation voltage required by
the pumping unit. In order to cover widely each kind
of EOSP voltage grade and the voltage drops
produced by different pump setting depth, usually
the transformer secondary order have three types:
multi-taps no-load separate-connection switcher
load auto voltage adjusting. The voltage range of
the later two types are smaller.

14. JUNCTION BOX

Junction box structure and function
Junction box is installed between the wellhead and
switchboard for cable connecting. It can prevent
downwell gas from running to the switchboard to
avoid the spark produced by the electric equipment
meeting the combustible gas to explode and burn.
The junction box insulation material, shape, size,
distance among wiring rods, between wiring rod
and housing should meet the national standard.
The junction box used on platform are explosion
type.

15. CABLE
Cable types, structure and function
Cable includes lead cable and power cable. The
lead cable is from motor to power cable . The
lead cable length is usually from 15m to 25m(or
longer). The power cable is from lead cable
end to the junction box.
The cable structure from inner to outside:
round conductor , insulation layer, shield layer,
packing layer and steel tape with armor.
The cable is used to transfer the electric energy
on ground to the motor hung in well.

CABLE SHOWN FIGURE

1. Conductor

Round cable
cable
2. Shield

Flat

3. insulation layer

4. steel tape with ar

1)Oil-submersible cable features

Because the working voltage of oil-submersible
motor is usually 800V-2000V. The highest can
reach 3500V. So the cable must have excellent
insulation performance.
Usually, the downwell temperature are more
than ground temperature. Sometimes it can reach
more than 150. So the cable must have
excellent thermal-resistant performance.

There are many kinds of corrosive material in

oil well. Under the function of pressure, they can
corrode the cable. So the cable must be
corrosive- resistant.
The cable will go up or down along with the
pumping unit when lowering in well and
assembling. It is difficult to avoid extrusion,
bump and stretch. So the cable must have good
mechanical strength.

16. CABLE EXTENSION

Cable extension connection method and function
Cable extension is connection with motor by the
method : plugging type and wrapping type.
The connection of cable extension with motor is
important for the pumping unit assembling and
related directly with the pumping unit running life.
Because lead cable is laid on the pumping unit, the
lead cable section area is less than the power cable
section area to decrease the pumping unit max.
projected size. Under the same current load, the
lead cable should have excellent thermal-resistance,
insulation resistance, corrosion-resistance and
mechanical strength.

SHOWN FIGURE OF CABLE EXTENSION

Lead cable

Flange shell

Epoxy resin glue

Insulation tape
Seal padding block
Flange seal block

Seal sleeve
Flange seal gasket

Plug

17. FACTORS TO INFLUNCE

THE PUMPING UNIT LIFE
Manufacturing quality
(Motor, protector, separator, pump cable and
control system reasonable design, parts
material, processing accuracy, assembling
quality, test procedure, and standards etc should
be guaranteed.
Installing quality
Including: mechanical parts matched reliably,
reliable motor-oil filling procedure and seals,
ground controlling equipment selected correctly,
and correct protecting data setting.

Power supply quality includes if the power

supply capacity is enough, if the voltage is stable,
if the three-phase is balanced, if the power supply
is continous.
Well conditions This is also an important
factor, including sand-content, gas-content,
water-content, corrosion degree, fouling
materials types, fluid capacity, viscosity, well
slope, pipe column etc.
For example BOHAI OILFIELD WELLSZ36-1A
About 100 days
DA QING OILFIELD WELL LAR419 12years

18. WORKING CHARACTERS OF EOSP

The oil-submersible pumping units performance

should be tested before ex-work, including raw
material test, half finished, finished test, complete
set test etc. to certify scientifically and accurately
if the components performance.
Main data indicating the EOSP performance index:
rated flow rate(Q), with unit m3/d, m3/h, l/s, rated
head (H) with unit m,ft, rated power(P) with unit
KW, HP, efficiency() with unit %, rated rotating
speed(n) with unit: rpm/min , impeller
shape( contour structure) decides pump flow rate
and efficiency, impeller stages decides pump
head , and capacity, head and efficiency are the
main factors to decide shaft power.

INSPECTION AND TEST

Test standard GB755-87
GB16750.3-97
Test items
Finished test motor, protector
Complete set test: motor, protector, separator,
pump
Value to be tested before motor no-load test
Motor stator winding cold D.C. resistance:
2%
Motor stator winding cold
insulation resistance 1000M
Motor stator winding cold
voltage-resistant test: 2UN+1000/min

19. NO-LOAD TEST OF MOTOR

Values to be measured in motor no-load test
1 No-load loss Po including mechanical
loss, iron loss, stator copper loss
2 No-load current Io of which most are
no-load excitation current used for
establishing magnetic field. Small
no-load current is better for network
and can increase power factor.
3.Coasting test3S
4 Motor oil thermal voltage-resistant test12KV

20. COMPLETED SET TEST OF EOSP

Values to be measured in EOSP completed set of test:
1) Input power P1 :the power motor get from power supply
2)Full-load current I1 :motor working current at rated
voltage,rated load, rated rotation speed
3) Rated head H: Head at flow rate 100%
4) Rated flow rate Q :flow rate at head 100%
5) D.C. resistance Rr:thermal linear resistance at zero time after
completed set test
6)Rotation speed nN measured rotation speed when test
According to the national standard, the EOSP performance test
should be done at least at 7 measuring points from 0 to
max.flow rate.After calculating the values measured , we can
get Qn Hn p Pan.

PERFORMANCE CURVE OF MOTOR AT LOAD

PERFORMANCE CURVE OF EOSP

Best working points of pump

As shown in the curves, the rated flow rate is an
area near the point instead of a point. The area is
nearest the peak of efficiency curve in the high
efficiency area. It has been considered when
designing impellers that the axial force between
impeller two ends at high efficiency point should
be balanced.
Usually the EOSP best flow rate range should be
at 0.75-1.25 times of highest efficiency point.
When EOSP working in this range, the upper,
lower washers of impeller can be avoided from
worn unnecessarily.

SHOWN FIGURE OF IMPELLER WORKING STATUS

21. EOSP STARTING FEATURES

Starting current Iq instant linear current when motor is
powered and started (at rotating speed 0)
The motor starting current is large when starting at full
voltage (about 5- 7IN , the large starting current can
influence the motor and network power supply to make the
network drop, especially when the power supply capacity is
smaller, the voltage will drop more. This status not only make
the motor start at load difficultly, but also influence other
electrical equipments running and starting normally.For
ordinary motor, to reduce the starting current, the methods
adopted includes: star-delta start, triangle starting, selfcoupling transformer starting etc. For submersible pump, the
frequency changer starting is most suitable, which not only
can reduce starting current, but also can get larger torque.

Staring torque Mq Starting torque is one of the

most important index to judge the motor starting
performance. The more the starting torque is, the
more the motor acceleration is. So the motor with
heavy load can be started easily. Otherwise if the
starting torque is small, the motor start will be
difficult and need long time, especially at full
load,large current status, the motor will be
overheat or cant be started.
The starting torque is related to the following
factors:
1 Direct ratio to the square of voltage
2 Inverse ration to the leak reactance

Power factor cos Power factor is the

ratio of input active power to visual
power.
When motor operating, the power factor
is changing. The change is related to
the motor load. After motor
starting,along with resistance moment
and stator winding current increasing,
the ratio of active current will
increase and the power factor will also
increase The motor power factor reaches
max.value when the motor runs at rated
load. So uneconomical no-load or lightload running should be avoided.

Motor efficiency
The ratio of output power to input
power.The motor will produce some power
loss when running, such as: copper
loss,iron loss, mechanical loss, stray loss
etc.Input power is equal to output power
added all kinds of loss. Power loss in the
motor is judged with the efficiency i.e.
= P2/P1 100%. Usually, the efficiency
of submersible motors is between 75%82%.When the load is 0.7-1 times of rated
load, the efficiency is highest and the
running is the most economical.

22. EOSP ON-SITE INSTALLATION

Purpose
Correct and reliable installation can guarantee oil well
production and prolong the unit life.
On-site layout (figure)
Oil tube arranging position and
direction
The pumping unit arranging position and
direction
Cable
reel stand position and direction
Cable pulley position and height
Requirement on
well repairing machine

SHOWN FIGURE OF ON-SITE

LAYOUT
Well head

Well repairing machine

Cable pulley
skid

Pumping unit

Cable reeler

Oil tube