French
English
Nowadays, turbomachinery plays a fundamental role in many areas such as Oil & Gas, chemical and petrochemical, energy generation, pharmaceutical, food processing, agriculture, among various others. U. S. Department of Energy studies indicates that pumping systems account for approximately 20% of the world’s electrical energy demand (Nesbitt, 2006). In the O&G industry, Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are among the most common artificial lifting methods employed nowadays. The ESP is a type of centrifugal pump with multiple stages in a serial arrangement driven by a submerged electric motor that is used to add energy to the fluid on the wellbore to sustain or increase oil production. This work aims to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the performance and internal flow features of a multistage ESP when handling complex non-Newtonian flows, which are commonly found in mature, heavy oil wells. The first stage of this work focuses on the comparative analysis of single-phase Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, studying the effects of the internal flow behavior and effective viscosity variations in the pump’s performance through CFD. The second part jointly analyzes the performance and flow behavior of the ESP when handling two-phase oil-water flow and unstable emulsions. It is of interest to predict the performance of pumps when handling flow systems commonly found in industrial applications, as it is a crucial input for cost-effective pump designs.
Dr. Miguel ASUAJE TOVAR
Full Professor in Energy Conversion. Born on November 1, 1974, in Caracas. BSc in Mechanical Engineering in 1997 and MSc in 1999 earned both in the Universidad Simon Bolivar. Graduate of Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers- France, where he obtained the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Energy Conversion (2003) and post-Doctorate in the same domain (2004). He has developed his academic career at the Universidad Simon Bolívar, at Energy Conversion Department. He has served as professor and associate researcher at several universities like Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica “Antonio José de Sucre”, NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) – Norway, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers- France, and the Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES) – Colombia.
He has worked as a consultant of prestigious firms and institutions, working in multiples oil, gas, and energy projects for international companies like Weatherford, Pacific Rubiales Energy, PDVSA, Corpoelec, HarvestVincler/Petrodelta, YPergas, Petrobras, Eni, Statoil, among others.
Since 2014, he has been working in the industrial side of the Oil&Gas industry as New Technology Director for Frontera Energy E&P in Colombia.
He constantly works with undergraduate and postgraduate courses, conferences, and training for the industry in Energy Conversion, Oil and Gas Production, Optimization of Oil and Gas Fields, Multiphase Flow (Pumping, Transportation, Measurement, and Separation), Applied CFD Hydroelectric Power Stations.
He has more than 80 publications in international magazines and conferences of high industrial and technological impact.