Dr.Gabor Takacs is a professor and Head of the Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Miskolc, Hungary and holds MS and PhD degrees in Petroleum Engineering from the same institution. He has more than 30 years of teaching and consulting experience in the production engineering field. He taught as Visiting Professor at Texas Tech University , USA in 1988/89 and at the Mining University of Leoben, Austria in 1995. In 1995/96 he was selected SPE Distinguished Lecturer, was Outstanding Technical Editor for the SPE journal “Production and Facilities” 1992-2003, and chaired the Artificial Lift TIG (Technical Interest Group) of SPE in 1997-2003. He is the author of several books on artificial lift technology; “Sucker-Rod Pumping Manual” was published in 2002, “Gas Lift Manual” in 2005, both by PennWell Books, USA. Dr. Takacs has more than 80 technical papers to his credit. He taught various short courses for many oil companies in Libya , Mexico , Argentina , Indonesia , UAE, and Austria ; and is a well-known consultant and instructor on production engineering and artificial lift topics.

 

 

by Gabor Takacs

 

by Gabor Takacs

 

Power Efficiency of Sucker-Rod Pumping
by Gabor Takacs, PhD
Head, Petroleum Engineering Department, University of Miskolc

Download paper

 

 

Abstract

The paper investigates the power conditions of sucker-rod pumped installations. The power losses occurring in a rod pumping system are detailed and are grouped in surface and subsurface losses. The system's overall energy efficiency is defined and is broken into its constituent parts. After a detailed evaluation of the possible energy losses, a three-term formula is proposed in which the most important term is the lifting efficiency that describes the downhole energy losses in the rod-pumped well.
When evaluating the energy efficiency of sucker-rod pumped installations, the calculation of the rod pump's useful power plays a decisive role. The paper shows that the formula most often used in the industry may give inconsistent results under the same conditions. This is why a new formula is proposed that properly describes the useful power exercised by the downhole pump and represents the minimum power requirement for lifting the given amount of liquid to the surface. Through worked examples, the paper shows the advantages of using the proposed formula and recommends its future use for the calculation of the rod pumping system's power efficiency.