Flumping
Authors: Braganza Eduardo , Gonzalez Esteban 
Published: December 2007

The inflow performance of a well represents the ability of that well to give up fluids. This ability depends to a great extent upon the type of reservoir and drive mechanism, and such variables as reservoir pressure, permeability, etc. It is common practice to assume that inflow into a particular well with constant conditions is directionally proportional to average reservoir pressure. When this pressure decline, the well is not able to flow by itself and it is necessary to used a properly artificial lift method.

In many cases, sucker rod pumping is the method used.

Some times, the dynamometer registers shows that the well is flowing by itself and at the same time the sucker rod beam is pumping, and as soon as the operator stop de sucker rod beam, the production quickly ceases till de sucker rod start again, but still without any sign of pumping action.

But flumping is a combination of flowing and pumping, and it is when a well that is being pumped through the tubing is flowing at the same time from de casing tubing annulus. There is no question here of a dual completion, and both the annulus and the tubing production come from the same horizon.

Many wells today are flumping, and this condition is generally fortuitous and no conscious effort has been made to bring it about. It is therefore worth inquiring into the nature of flumping to be able the engineers achieve a production methodto be applied in certain types of well.

This method used is to suppose the oil production, to know the pump efficiency, calculate the production curve in the annulus, anddefine the vertical flow condition that may be possible the combination of flowing by the annulus and pumping in the tubing production.

Introduction

When the pressure of the oil reservoirs declines, they change the flowing well performance, chord with the flowing well s behavior.

Between the phases gas and liquids and considering that it conforms the pressure constantly decreases in their vertical lift for the production pipe, the raw petroleum removes the gas that contains in solution, falling the volume of liquid, modifying its relationship with free gas, generating such flows quickly as that of bubble, slug, froth, annular, and mist that together with other such variables as viscosity and its dependence of the pressure and temperature, characteristic PVT of the fluids of the location, head pressures, etc., they finish hopelessly in the necessity of establishing a system of artificial production to optimize the extraction of liquid of the oil wells.

One of the systems of artificial extraction used historically, is the beam pumping.

Under this extraction system, some wells don't present action of pumping before the surface dynamometer, but however, they have a continuous production, in many in disagreement cases with the bottom hole design. On the other hand if we suppose that the well returned to its fluent condition and we stop the team of pumping, we observe that the contribution of liquid for the production pipe decays immediately and alone it returns when the action of the mechanical pump begins, it is worth to say, the well really flows maintaining the valves it fixes and opened traveler, but alone when the team of pumping is working. This way of producing can be almost continuous, to last many months or to appear intermittently, it is known in the oil jargon as agitation.