Patent ID: 11965401
Assignee: HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES, INC.
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC E  F | IPC E  F

Claim 8:
9. A method of lifting liquid in a wellbore, comprising:
running an ESP assembly comprising a gas separator fluid mover assembly and a centrifugal pump assembly into the wellbore, wherein the gas separator fluid mover assembly comprises
a drive shaft extending through the gas separator fluid mover assembly;
a first fluid mover comprising a first centrifugal pump stage having an inlet and an outlet;
an impeller and a diffuser, of the first centrifugal pump stage, wherein the impeller is mechanically coupled to the drive shaft, wherein the impeller includes less than three flow chambers, wherein each flow chamber of the impeller includes an inlet, a flow path, and an exit, wherein the inlet of each flow chamber includes a profiled edge and an inner surface, and wherein the diffuser comprises one more flow chamber than the impeller;
a first fluid separation device located downstream of the fluid mover having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet of the first fluid separation device is fluidically coupled to the outlet of the first centrifugal pump stage;
a separation chamber concentrically disposed around the drive shaft and located downstream of the first separation device, wherein an inside surface of the separation chamber and an outside surface of the drive shaft define an annulus that is fluidically coupled to the outlet of the first separation device; and
a flow path separator located downstream of the separation chamber and having an inlet fluidically coupled to the annulus, having a gas phase discharge port open to an exterior of the assembly, and having a liquid phase discharge port;

receiving a reservoir fluid into an inlet of the gas separator fluid mover assembly, wherein the reservoir fluid comprises gas phase fluid and liquid phase fluid;
moving the reservoir fluid downstream within the gas separator fluid mover assembly by the first fluid mover of the gas separator fluid mover assembly;
inducing, by the first fluid separation device, rotational motion of the reservoir fluid within the separation chamber;
receiving the reservoir fluid into an inlet of the flow path separator of the gas separator fluid mover assembly from the separation device;
separating at least some of the gas phase fluid from the reservoir fluid by the flow path separator of the gas separator fluid mover assembly to yield separated gas in the gas flow path and separated liquid in the liquid flow path;
venting the at least some of the gas phase fluid by the flow path separator out of the gas separator fluid mover assembly via the gas phase discharge port of the flow path separator into an annulus defined between an interior of the wellbore and an exterior of the gas separator fluid mover assembly; and
flowing the at least some of the reservoir fluid, received by the centrifugal pump assembly from the liquid phase discharge port of the flow path separator, out a discharge of the centrifugal pump assembly via a production tubing to a surface location.