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Sensors for Centrifugal Pumps Understanding Flow Patterns: Sensor Technology for High-Performance Pumps

Source: Kistler 4 min Reading Time

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The oil and gas industry places extreme demands on pumps: in subsea oil production, powerful water-injection pumps are indispensable. But how well do we understand the flow processes inside the units? A pump specialist relies on piezoelectric pressure sensors to gain insight.

Beneath the surface: Offshore oil production requires high-powered pumps – but these are essentially a black box. At least until now.(Source: Kistler Group)
Beneath the surface: Offshore oil production requires high-powered pumps – but these are essentially a black box. At least until now.
(Source: Kistler Group)

The development of subsea oil fields requires the location and drilling of wells deep beneath the seabed, followed by the extraction of oil and natural gas deposits via a network of subsea infrastructure. To maintain pressure in aging or mature reservoirs and maximize oil recovery, water is injected back into the formation. High-performance centrifugal pumps play a central role in this water injection process: they must deliver large volumes of seawater or treated injection water, transported at very high pressure from surface or subsea facilities down through injection wells.

High pressures and capacities are required to overcome hydrostatic pressures at depth as well as resistance in the piping and the formation so water can reach the target zones with sufficient force to displace oil. In summary, water injection enables offshore oil production, and cutting-edge water injection pumps that maintain reservoir pressure are key to economically viable oil production from deep subsea oil fields.

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