Patent ID: 8196657

Claim:
An electric submersible pump assembly (ESP) for pumping a wellbore fluid from a wellbore, comprising: a pump; a gas separator: having one or more intake ports, one or more exhaust ports, and a passage, and operable to receive wellbore fluid through the intake ports, discharge a gas stream of the wellbore fluid through the exhaust ports, and feed a liquid stream of the wellbore fluid to the pump through the passage; an electric submersible motor for driving the pump; a conduit: extending from the gas separator and along the pump, having a lower end in fluid communication with the exhaust ports and closed to the wellbore, and operable to receive the gas stream through the lower end, transport the gas stream while isolating the gas stream from the wellbore fluid, and discharge the gas stream into the wellbore; and a first shroud: extending from the gas separator, having an upper end closed to the wellbore and in fluid communication with the intake ports, having a lower end adjacent to a lower end of the motor and open to the wellbore, having an inner diameter greater than an outer diameter of the motor along an entire length of the first shroud, thereby forming a first annulus therebetween, and operable to guide the wellbore fluid along an outer surface of the first shroud, around the lower end, and along the first annulus to the intake ports.