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Experiences, Innovations and Best Practices of Hydraulic Jet Pump (HJP)

Application at Remote and Swampy Brown Field in Sembakung Block,
Indonesia
Ridho. R. Algrage, Muchammad. R. Alfaqih, Tri. A. Priyantoro, Bhre. A, Alfred. Y. Partomo, Medco EP Indonesia

Copyright 2013, International Petroleum Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference held in Beijing, China, 2628 March 2013.
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Abstract
Sembakung field was discovered in 1977 and is located in North East Kalimantan, Indonesia. From the reservoir
point of view, hydrocarbon is produced from 32 layers of shallow (ranging 1500 - 3500 ft TVD) TBL sandstone
formation, which has discontinuous lenses reservoir characteristic with deltaic depositional environment. This
environment caused a significant amount of very fine sand production that may be troublesome for most artificial
lift types. The reservoir has initial pressure and temperature of 1249 psig and 180 F, with solution gas drive as the
drive mechanism. This causes a sharp decline in reservoir pressure; hence the wells cannot flow naturally for a
long time. The crude characteristic is ranging from 36-37API deg. and produces with a typical GOR of 150
2,400 scf/stb.
Sembakung is located in a remote and swampy area which can only be reached by air and river transportation. As
a result, a special rig is required for drilling and workover which will be very costly to mobilize and to operate.
Also, the wells must be developed in a cluster system (PAD), making a high inclination in trajectory to reach the
target zone.
During 30 years of operations, many types of artificial lift trial have been performed, such as electric submersible
pump (ESP), rod pump (HPU) and hydraulic jet pump (HJP). Given that TBL sandstone formation has solid
problem, rig mobilization and operations are very costly, high deviated well construction, so HJP became the
obvious choice. Currently 43 active oil wells in Sembakung are producing with the aid of HJP as artificial lift,
contributing 2,200 BOPD productions.
The aim of this paper is to share the advantages, experiences, innovations and best practices of HJP application in
a remote and marginal field, covering rig-less installation of HJP assembly with pump in (PI) and pump out (PO),
production optimization by discharge pressure (DP) setting, well surveillance, solid handling options (such as
dual vessel application, sand trap and special power fluid for severe sand problem), HJP configuration options,
and comparison of surface pump (triplex vs centrifugal pump/HPS).
Keyword: hydraulic jet pump operation, advantages, surveillance, and troubleshooting.

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Introduction
Sembakung field is located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Development of the field began in 1977, focusing on
oil production. TBL formation is the main formation from TDG sub basin. Total TBL formation thickness is
approximately 2000 feet and consists of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, claystone, shale, thin limestone layer,
and coal. The formation is divided into 32 hydrocarbon bearing zones, most of which act as oil producers, with a
range of 1 to 32 feet thickness. Produced crude oil from the zones has an API gravity ranging from 36 - 37 API
with a 50 - 60F pour point. The gas oil ratio (GOR) of producing wells varies from 150 to 2400 SCF/STB.
Reservoir permeability varies from 1 to 900 md while porosity varies from 11% to 30%.

M O D IF IE D F R O M P erta m ina BE IC IP ; 1 99 2 N e th erw o od & W igh t, 19 93 ;

H ida yat e t a l, 1 99 2; Situm o ra ng & B u c h an, 19 92

Figure 1. Geological setting

Figure 2. Stratigraphy

Sembakung field is characterized as multilayer sandstone formation, consisting of more than 30 potential layers,
with a typical layer thickness ranging from 1 to 32 ft and a well depth ranging from 1500 ft to 3500 ft. The layer
thickness is the main reasons why all wells are produced commingle by perforating 10-20 layers to minimize
future well intervention due to remote and very costly rig operations.
Most of the wells were constructed using 7-inch casing with dual string completion and designed to be able to
deliver 1000 - 1300 BLPD of total fluid (power fluid + produced fluid).
From the field data history, the oil wells produced with natural flow until late 1983. Since October 1983 hydraulic
jet pump have been choosen as the artificial lift to produce the wells (Figure4 .Production profile). Current
average production of the field is about 2,200 BOPD produced from 44 active oil wells. Average water cut from
the active oil wells is about 41%, while only 5 wells have more than 90% water cut. As a result, there is still
potential to optimize Sembakung field.

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Figure 3. Geographical map

Figure 4. Production profile

HJP Advantages as Artificial Lift

An optimization study has been conducted in Sembakung field by increasing the fluid production using artificial
lift. During year 2000-2010, various artificial lifts, i.e. ESP, Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP), and HPU were
applied. Most of these trials failed mainly due to the inability of the lifts to handle sand and gas. HJP is therefore
assumed to be the most reliable artificial lift in Sembakung field, considering several factors, as follows:

Rigless installation of HJP assembly by Pump In and Pump Out

One of the leading advantages of HJP is that it does not require a well service unit for assembly
installation (after tubing and BHA already run).To install, the HJP assembly is dropped free-fall into the
tubing (pump in) from wellhead cap, followed by opening surface 4-way valve to flow power fluid into
the well, until the pump seats in the seating nipple at BHA and the HJP assembly begin to work. When
service or uninstall HJP assembly is required, it can be simply pumped to the surface (pump out) by
switching surface 4-way valve on the wellhead. The reverse flow of power fluid will push BHA assembly
to the surface until grabbed by a catcher mechanism (Figure 5. Pump in - pump out mechanism)

Figure 5. Pump in - pump out mechanism.

(Courtesy of reference)

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Easy to service and maintain

Parts of HJP assembly (nozzle, throat/mixing tube, diffuser, spacer) can be easily dismantled, replaced,
and reassembled using standard tools such as clamp and wrench. After these actions, HJP assembly is
ready to use.

Minimum well downtime during HJP assembly replacement

To minimize well down-time during replacement, spare HJP assembly is prepared and can be directly
installed soon after the broken HJP assembly reaches the surface, so the well can be immediately
produced without waiting on service or without repairing the broken one. In addition, for typical well
depth at Sembakung (1500 3500 ft), the traveling time of HJP assembly during pump out and pump in
activity is only around 30 - 45 minutes. This very short downtime results in an insignificant production
loss.

Solid resistance
TBL sandstone formation at Sembakung is characterized by low cementation, resulting in solid
production that is very troublesome for production facilities and for most types of artificial lift. Even
worse, the grain size based on laser particle sieve analysis (LPSA) shows dominantly silt at a size of
around 0.1 0.01 mm, making it impossible to be controlled in the downhole without impairing
production. Since HJP assembly configuration has no moving parts, it allows HJP to handle produced
sand. Solid particles together with well fluids just pass through space at the HJP assembly without any
interference.

High tolerance to deviated well due to rodless configuration

As HJP is a rodless operation and is better suited to high deviated and high dogleg severity such as well
configuration in Sembakung

HJP Concept
When the hydraulic jet pump system is being operated, some liquid as power fluid is taken from the storage tank
or vessel cleaning unit and fed to the surface pump. The source of energy for hydraulic jet pump is a reciprocating
or centrifugal pump to pressurized power fluid, typically 2,000-3,000 psi, delivered to one or more wells to
provide potential energy for bottom-hole assembly jet pump (Figure 6. HJP system).

Figure 6. HJP system. (Courtesy of reference)

When power fluid reaches the bottom-hole assembly, reservoir fluid will be sucked through the spacer and
combined with power fluid forced back to the surface vessel.
The required power fluid is reclaimed and reused to continue operating the wells. As an illustration, for every ten
barrels of power fluid pumped to down hole, eleven barrels will be produced to the surface. The additional one
barrel of liquid produced represents some production from the reservoir.

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The jet phenomena in downhole pump can be described in simple terms as follows: power fluid at high pressure
and low velocity entering nozzle is converted to be low pressure and high velocity. The pressure at the entrance of
the throat becomes very low compared to pressure in the wellbore, the suction fluid becomes entrained and
intermixed with the high velocity jet and the pumping action then begins. After mixing in the throat, the combined
power fluid and suction fluid is slowed down by the diffuser where flow area increases. Because the velocity is
reduced, the pressure increases, rising to a value sufficient to pump the fluid to the surface (Figure 7. Jet
phenomena). A combination of nozzle and throat sizes will determine power fluid rate and pressure to meet
production rate and lift capacity.

Figure 7. Jet phenomena.

(Courtesy of reference)

Operation Experience of HJP

Surface Equipment
The HJP system requires surface equipment to clean, condition, and pressurize power fluid to operate downhole
pump. The produced oil or water is used as the power fluid.

Figure 8. Surface unit. (Courtesy of reference)

One skid contains the surface pump, its prime mover and various controls. The fluid is pressurized by a surface
pump to typical injection pressure of 2,000 to 3,000 psi. The pump can be driven by electric motor or gas engine.
Two types of surface pump are used to pressurize power fluid. The first type is the plunger triplex reciprocating
pump. This pump type is relatively compact and thus does not require much space. At discharge line of
reciprocating pump, a pulsation dampener is installed to minimize the effect of pulsation shock, so power fluid
can flow steadily from surface pump to downhole pump. This plunger pump type can also be easily customized to
operation requirement parameters, such as power fluid rate and discharge pressure by substituting plunger with
suitable dimension.

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The second type of surface pump is multistage centrifugal pump. This type of pump has relatively low
maintenance because there is no friction inside the pump. By complementing it with variable speed drive (VSD),
this pump is very flexible in its ability to meet operation requirement parameters by tuning electric motor speed.
The second skid contains the vessel cleaning unit. Cleaning the power fluid is accomplished by the use of cyclone
separators properly sized to remove solids. Return well fluid and power fluid are typically brought to a vessel unit
for conditioning to allow an acceptable division of gas, oil, and water. Vessel design pressure is usually between
40 to 70 psi.

Figure 9. Plunger triplex pump

Figure 10. Vessel cleaning unit

One surface unit can serve one well (single system) or more than one well (parallel system) depending on the unit
specification. Power fluid at discharge line of parallel system is split ideally by manifold for delivery to each well
handled. Return fluid from each well recombines to flow to one vessel unit. The production result delivered to the
station is the accumulative quantity from wells handled.
Downhole equipment
There are four types of HJP downhole configuration, each having advantages and disadvantages (Figure 11.
Downhole configuration). Downhole configuration in Sembakung field implement free parallel type, which
consists of two main types of tubing i.e. tubing for power fluid injection and tubing for production fluid (mixing
fluid).
With the free parallel pump system, a small string of tubing (production string) is strapped to the outside of the
tubing string (injection string) and both strings of tubing are lowered into the hole at the same time. After the two
strings of tubing have been lowered into the hole at target depth and the wellhead has been installed, a plug or cap
can be removed from the wellhead and the pump can be dropped free-fall into the tubing (pump in).

Figure 11. HJP downhole configuration. (Courtesy of reference)

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The size of tubing depends on the size of casing and the bottom hole assembly (BHA) size. When using 7-inch
casing, power fluid injection requires 2-7/8 inch tubing and 2-3/8 inch tubing as production fluid tubing. For 5inch casing, 2-3/8 inch and 1.9 inch tubing is used. Gas anchor and mud anchor are applied to minimize produced
gas and sand flow into the jet pump.

Figure 12. Free parallel configuration

(Courtesy of reference)

Figure 13. Subsurface pump

(Courtesy of reference)

Free parallel type configuration allows HJP assembly to apply rigless installation by pump in and pump out
activity for service and maintenance. This configuration does not need a packer to isolate the annulus from tubing,
so some of the gas produced can be released to the surface through the annulus. If the annulus is not passed by
power fluid or production fluid at a certain pressure, there is a possibility of minimizing casing leak or corrosion.
To accommodate well influx and size of casing, 3 (three) sizes of subsurface jet pump are used in Sembakung
field i.e. 2-1/2 inch, 2 inch, and 1-1/2 inch, so each well condition can be met. The selection of pump size depends
on the injection string tubing size that suits BHA, and the casing size. When injection string uses 2-7/8 inch
tubing, the pump size selected is 2-1/2 inch, when the injection string uses 2-3/8 inch tubing the pump size
selected is 2 inch, and when the injection string uses 1.9 inch tubing, the pump size selected is 1-1/2 inch.

Innovations and Best Practices Applied

Well surveillance
During surveillance of the HJP performance, the following activities are conducted routinely:
1. Liquid level survey.
A routine survey to find out the liquid level is generated by sonolog activity, which shoots pressurized
nitrogen via casing valve through annulus to capture reflection from liquid level.
2. Bottomhole pressure survey
Reservoir pressure data is important for evaluating the performance of the well itself. A bottomhole
pressure (SBHP/FBHP) survey is conducted by using electronic memory gauge (EMR), which is attached
by wireline unit to be delivered to the bottom hole wellbore.

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Design and Optimization

After collecting data from well surveillance activity, the HJP performance can be compared with well capabilities.
To reach optimum HJP and well performance, the most suitable combination of nozzle and throat should be
defined and installed in the well, combined with a suitable power fluid discharge pressure that can be adjusted by
tuning mover speed or setting bypass discharge valve. Each well has specific property data as input for obtaining
a suitable combination as optimum condition.
Advance Solid Handling Method
As mentioned above, there is no interference to HJP assembly from produced solid particles from the wellbore.
Together with production fluid, solid particles are conditioned at vessel by using a cyclone separator (Figure 14).
But in some cases these solid particles cannot be trapped by cyclone due to very fine properties. As a result, some
advance solid handlings at surface have been applied to overcome this challenge.

Figure 14. Cyclone separator

The first method is by installing a sand trap tube at return line before vessel, so the solid particles can be trapped
in tube. Production fluid is supplied to the surface pump from the vessel already cleaned (Figure 15. Sand trap
tube). Inside the tube there is a baffle arrangement for holding and trapping solid particles in the tube. To maintain
the effectiveness of the sand trap tube, draining the accumulated trapped solid particles is conducted routinely to
prevent solid particles from flowing to the vessel and surface pump. When draining is conducted, to minimize the
well downtime return fluid is flowed through the bypass line to vessel instead of through the sand trap tube.

Figure 15. Sand trap tube

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The second method is by installing dual vessel as sequence (Figure 16. Dual vessel configuration). This method
uses the retention time principle to allow a longer time for solid particles to settle, drop and then accumulate at the
vessel. Typically, when sand trap tube is applied to maintain effectiveness, draining of accumulative trapped solid
particles should be conducted. However, to minimize well downtime, return fluid is flowed through a single
instead of dual vessel.

Figure 16. Dual vessel configuration

Figure 17. Dual vessel scheme

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The third method is conducted by applying clean water as a power fluid to be injected by the surface pump to the
down-hole pump. An amount of clean water is obtained from another external source instead of from the return
liquid from the same well. This method requires extra facilities such as tank and piping to accommodate power
fluid supply. A special calculation formula is needed to measure production by well test, including water cut
parameter.

Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank SKMIGAS, Direktorat Jenderal Migas, and PT Medco EP Indonesia for allowing this
paper to be published. We also acknowledge the valuable contribution and support of members of Medco
Petroleum Engineering, Well Engineering and Field Operations.

Reference

Hydraulic Pumping System Training Manual. Weatherford Artificial Lift Systems.