Jet Pump – A Highly Compatible Device For Well Operations

The mechanism of the jet pump always stages its units above the ground. So, you can consider this pump as a non-submersible one.

These kinds of pumps typically use a suction pipe to pull water from the wells. So, in portable water or liquid applications to create water pressure, you can install this pump. Generally, to meet different requirements of residential water supply, a jet pump always provides the best performances, and lightweight commercial applications also involve this type of pump.

In sultry climate areas, this pump has excellent popularity as these areas have high water applications.

What Is The Core Working Principle of Jet Pump?

The jet pump contains high-end mechanisms of artificial systems for lifting fluids. And the core principle of this pumping unit has two compositions – surface-based pumping equipment and another is downhole jet pumping unit.

On the surface, the reciprocating equipment drives the energy to the fluid for the increment of its pressure.

The specific components of a jet pump, like surface piping and production tubing, play a vital role in the operation, which involves the critical components of a jet pump like pump throat and nozzle.
Besides, a fully equipped jet pump executes three heavy-duty-based completion types – Concentric, Parallel, and Conventional. With all these completion types, the jet pump executes a compatible mechanism to reflect proper efficiency curves in all applications areas.

Why Jet Pump Becomes Popular For Specific Well Applications?

In most cases, wells have the issue of dropping reservoir pressure. And this fact creates a hindrance to producing hydrocarbons.

So, the operators need to deploy a particular system for artificial lifting.

Among different technologies of artificial lifting force deployment, you must opt for a profitable option.

And here, you have to keep in mind that any single technique does not provide an essential solution for each condition.

According to the scenario, the techniques of an artificial lift should be modified.

If you consider the limitations of Well applications, you must understand where a jet pump mechanism works best.

In the cases of diverged wells, rod pumping mechanisms face lots of limitations. As a part of limitations, the friction between the tubing wall and the rod creates most problems.

This problem affects the shelf-life and efficiency of electric energy-based submersible pumps.

So, due to high volumes of gas and sand, submersible pumping technology creates lots of shortcomings.

And these submersible technologies include moving parts, which prescribes periodic replacements.

So, this particular mechanism requires additional costs for the replacements.

And having no moving parts as a part of the simple downhole architecture, the jet pump mechanism suits best with this type of application.

Now, please look at the core architecture of a jet pump and the specific procedure of operations to consider its advantages.

How Jet Pump Architecture Suits Best With Specific Operations In Well ?

To increase the production rate, a Jet pump can create fluid jets with high velocity and push them towards the force of downhole pressure.

This pump depends on the jet engine to execute the overall operation with core principles. Both engine and pump involve a nozzle, which plays a significant role in converting slow-moving pressurized fluid into fast-moving low pressure-based fluids. The operation goes through adiabatic expansion.

According to the working principle of jet engines, the burning composition of jet fuel and the air starts the initial phase of operations.

As a fast-moving liquid, it creates a force, which moves forward through a plane surface. And the fluid having high velocity creates the required force for lifting the hydrocarbons on the surface.

The whole deployment of the jet pump involves a downhole technique using the casing string.

It makes an operational journey to the depth where production fluids remain in the wellbore. And the depth immerses the parts of the pump.

Using the core operational methods, this pump moves a highly pressurized fluid towards the surface. And it is called power fluid, which can be water, refined oil, or the mixture of produced water and oil.
The specific downhole tubing technique of the jet pump pushes the fluid using the nozzle to the nose of the whole pump.

The nozzle initiates a squeezing process on the way of power fluid to increase the fluid’s speed.

The power fluid at the nozzle with high velocity and the force of lower pressure in the surrounding area of wellbore fluid executes the whole operation.

The robust mechanism of this pump ensures the pulling of wellbore fluid towards such a section of the pump, where it gets low pressure.

And in this phase, the wellbore fluid has to cross the inlet chamber of the production base.

A short-length mixing tube combines the dual streams of fluid. This mixing tube is called the jet pump throat.

And this portion contains the force of power fluid, which is pushed to the produced fluid. After reaching the endpoint of the pump throat, dual fluids start to be mixed.

And the stream of each single mixed fluid stream contains the power of kinetic energy. Then the fluid mixture is transferred to the expanded area, which is used as a diffuser. And this diffuser converts the kinetic energy into the power of static pressure.

This pressure remains in the fluid stream.

The pressure becomes high and creates sufficient force for lifting the fluid mixture using another tubing string towards the surface.

How Size Impacts The Performance of A Jet Pump?

➢ In primary terms, the pump’s discharge pressure matters a lot for the efficient performance of a jet pump.

And this discharge pressure is created using the influence of gas-liquid proportion in the reservoir of power fluid.

While the power fluid returns to the surface, the existence of force in the fluid generates the required discharge pressure.

So, if you want to maximize the lift, you have to arrange a process to optimize the gas-liquid ratio. And it is a specific complex process, which requires fine-tuning of the mixture.

➢ Here, the size of the nozzle influences the optimized volume of the power fluid. And also, the power of operating pressure on the surface pump supplies the force to the power fluid.

And the proper balance of the rate of power fluid and nozzle size creates an optimal volume of discharge pressure.

And due to the proper establishment of this balance executes the refined estimation at successive rates.

➢ Now, to get the best results using these parameters, many jet pump manufacturers develop specific computer programs.

With the calculation of these programs, they estimate the compatible design of the application.

This calculation has a proper objective to boost the sequence of the performance of a jet pump to a high level.

The computerized performance curve is compared with the IPR curve (Inflow Performance Relationship) of the well.

And a specific graphical representation establishes a core relationship between the rate of liquid production and the bottom hole pressure of the liquid flow.
➢ Thus, the manufacturers create the best ways to create successive changes as per program inputs.

Because this type of program inputs helps to select nozzle size and define surface pressure, this consideration helps to design the optimized application, which can deliver a high level of performance for the operation in wells.

What Are The Benefits VS Shortcomings of Jet Pump?

➔ In different cases of applications, the core architecture of a jet pump ensures the operation-wise advantages at a high level.

For its operational versatility, you can involve its compatible mechanism for different lifting operations.

So, the changeable size of this pump’s nozzle and pump throat ensures a reasonable production rate.

The jet pump does not contain any moving parts for specific mechanism generation; it requires minimal maintenance.

So, its sustainable equipment ensures the low risks of damage. And naturally, in terms of corrosion-prone Well fluids lifting, this pump can provide you with flawless performance.

And its most tolerant mechanism executes the downhole lifting technique in the best manner.

So, where you need to deal with free gas production along with the production stream, you can opt for a jet pump.

The best thing about a jet pump is the process of repair or replacement.

The technician needs to redirect the power fluid flow to bring back this pump to its surface for repair.

So, where the relative mechanisms of other pumps require additional expense to pull the unit to rectify the damages, a jet pump does not require any extra expense.

And while you need to optimize the pump’s efficiency, you can replace the pump throats, nozzles even at the rig site and redeploy the pump for instant downhole technique.

➔ Few design-related drawbacks like cavitation risk and vapour cavity formation can be problematic during applications.

At the entry point of the pump throat segment, this kind of issue can be experienced if the production fluid is accelerated rapidly while making entry to the pump body.

Then as the velocity of fluid increases, fluid pressure causes declination of vapour pressure.

And due to low pressure, vapour cavities formation restricts the flow into the throat. While the pressure rises, vapour cavities can collapse in the pump.

And this occurrence causes severe cavitation damage like erosion at the internal parts of the pump.

According to field experience, the rates of cavitation-led erosion are meagre during the operation in oil wells.

But, where a small amount of gas exists in water-cut wells, the cavitation-led erosion rate can increase.

Above all, the devices of a jet pump can create the essential velocity at a high level. So, you will get the most potent internal turbulence along with friction.

And these both decline the horsepower efficiency. So, the amount of power supplied to lift the fluids from the wells is almost 35% of total power consumption.

And this estimation is lower than the consumption ratio of a positive displacement pump.

Now, you can consider the benefits of the jet pumps to get more economical solutions for different applications in wells.

What Are The Importance of Versatile Applications in Different Well Conditions?

❖ For boosting the production rate at a high level, a jet pump provides highly flexible services.

You can deploy this pump in the Wells in different scenarios, where the whole operation has to go through challenging geometries and different fluid compositions.

❖ The compact architecture of a jet pump ensures rig-free installation. So, the horizontal application of this pump brings high compatibility between mechanism and operation in the deviated wells.

❖ To manage a high volume of gas and solids, this pump is a perfect operational device for earlier applications in Well production.

The reliable mechanism helps this pump to perform best in the cases of high-volume production wells.

And for best results, the mechanisms of this pump increase the flow rate of power fluid, enhancing the horsepower of the surface pump.

❖ Having high-strength components and alloys with corrosion-resistant power, this pump reflects the best performance to pump hot power fluid.

In high-temperature-based environments, a jet pump provides flawless performance for being integrated with high-temperature tolerant sealing elements.

❖ In cases of marginal offshore well operation, the deployment of the jet pump becomes highly profitable.

It has specific equipment and a well-suited mechanism to reduce the high cost of intervention.

So, the involvement of this pump provides the best services in gas dewatering, coalbed methane dewatering, and shale wells.

So, the techniques of cost-effective fluid recovery
make a jet pump a highly dependable device for different Well operations.

All the discussed stuff about jet pump equipment, mechanism, advantages, and drawbacks will help you understand the literal value of core integration of this pump. And you must be able to decide where this pump can reflect the core benefits of installing a pumping unit.