As ESG considerations become increasingly core to oil and gas production, operators keep looking for ways to align their field operations with sustainable production. In the area of artificial lift, this means implementing more efficient lift strategies and technologies that maximize production while minimizing CO2 emissions and operating costs.

Baker Hughes developed its CENefficient high-efficiency electrical submersible pumping (ESP) system to address these industry needs. The system combines several proven technologies into a single unit, that together deliver greater efficiency, reliability, and flexibility to optimize economics in conventional and unconventional wells alike. 

  • A high-efficiency pump lowers energy consumption and costs. Less energy translates to lower carbon emissions per well. The savings in per-well energy consumption can be used to bring ESP systems online in more wells around the field to boost production with minimal additional expense. The pump’s low wear weight loss rate and enhanced-duty design help improve pump run life by up to 50% compared to other centrifugal pumps. The pump is also designed to operate efficiently in downhole environments with a high percentage of free gas without gas locking—affording a wide operating range and greater performance flexibility across a well’s lifecycle. 
  • The system uses field-service-less seals designed for greater reliability and reduced rig time. By shifting all servicing activities from the field to the factory, the seals eliminate oil service operations at the rig—saving hours on the rig floor and minimizing the time that the motor connection is exposed to the elements.
  • A rigorously designed permanent magnetic motor (PMM) provides consistent power in a compact design. The PPM has twice the power density of traditional induction motors, which affords shorter ESP completions, easier ESP placement, and reduced material consumption and finished weight for completion. PMMs eliminate the need for tandem motors while avoiding induction losses and extend the ESP’s operating range by monitoring system performance at lower loads. This ability eliminates typical induction motor operations in conditions that historically rely solely on temperature alarms. 
  • The system uses a variable speed drive controlled by intelligent software algorithms to enable operators to monitor and adjust system operating parameters while managing power consumption for optimized production. 

The integrated technologies in the CENefficient ESP system create a shorter ESP body, pump, and motor length, all while improving reliability by reducing the number of wear components. They also decrease make-up rig time by up to 50% and improve the ESP accessibility in deviated wells.

Effectively minimizing Scope 3 emissions
The efficiency improvements afforded by the CENefficient ESP system go a long way to reducing CO2 emissions in the field—specifically, the Scope 3 emissions generated by equipment power consumption. Baker Hughes conducted a series of studies designed to quantify CO2 emission reductions associated with the transition to more efficient technologies like the CENefficient ESP system. Following established testing procedures, the studies generated lab results to quantify power savings in switching from induction motors to PMMs. These lab results were then scrutinized to determine if they truly lined up with the actual performance claim for the product in use. Finally, the power savings were normalized to make it easy to compare induction motor-versus-PMM performance in multiple applications.

The studies found that implementing PMM equipment improves system efficiency by 7.5% or more, thanks to improved motor efficiency and reduced cable losses due to higher power factor. This efficiency improvement was then translated to a representative CO2 impact associated with converting to PMMs.

Based on average efficiency and power factor improvements between induction motors and PPMs, a 100-hp PMM conversion saves an estimated 127 metric tons/year of CO2—the equivalent of removing 27.4 gasoline-powered cars from the road. To expand this to a larger, more typical ESP operation, the analysis considered installing 100 225-hp PMMs per year. This conversion would reduce CO2 emissions by  28,587 metric tons per year. This CO2 savings is equivalent to removing 6,160 cars, powering 5,562 homes, or generating power from 7.8 wind turbines.

Proving its potential in the field
The ESP system is proving itself in many field applications. An operator in Colombia deployed the new system in a heavy oil (8°API) production well that previously degraded the performance and power efficiency of other ESP systems. The high-power consumption lead directly to elevated carbon emissions from the well while the lower pumping efficiency contributed to higher lifting costs.

The ESP system’s pump and PMM delivered efficiency gains and lowered power consumption to the well. Power consumption from the pump dropped by 37% compared to previous systems while the PMM reduced power consumption by 13%. The new system effectively pumped heavy oil with 27% less performance degradation compared to legacy ESPs, which contributed to a 50% savings in both lifting costs and carbon emissions for the well.

With lower power consumption and less material usage, the CENefficient ESP system delivers higher lifting performance and power density while decreasing operating costs. The ESP system is on track to reduce field carbon emissions in the field by one million metric tons by 2025.

The result: more production and less carbon in both conventional and unconventional wells.