Abstract
This paper describes the full-scale testing conducted on a new, step-change subsea boosting system that pairs an in-well electrical submersible pump (ESP) with a mini-processing plant.
A typical subsea boosting application is demanding for several reasons, perhaps most importantly being higher free-gas fractions, and the potential for variable or slugging flow that is often associated with aging wells. The new system as tested, demonstrates how a near-standard ESP can be operated in such high-gas environments within a mechanical embodiment that is compact, easy to deploy and to redeploy should the original ESP no longer meet the boost requirements. This paper lists the tests conducted and the results obtained regarding the operational, electrical and control performance, the vibration response and finally the ease of assembly.
