New Concept for Lifting in Onshore Oil Wells

This paper presents the development of a prototype of a tubular linear induction motor applied to onshore oil exploitation, named MATÆOS (which is the Portuguese acronym for Tubular Asynchronous Motor for Onshore Oil Exploitation). The function of this motor is to directly drive the sucker-rod pump installed in the down hole of the oil well. Considering the drawbacks and operational costs of the conventional oil extraction method, which is based on the walking beam and rod string system, the developed prototype is intended to become a feasible alternative from both technical and economic points of view. At the present time, the MATÆOS prototype is installed in a test bench at the Applied Electromagnetism Laboratory at the Escola PolitÉcnica da Universidade de SÃo Paulo. The complete testing system is controlled and supervised by special software, enabling good flexibility in operation, data acquisition, and performance analysis. The test results indicate that the motor develops a constant lift force along the pumping cycle, as shown by the measured dynamometric charts. Also, the evaluated electromechanical performance seems to be superior to that obtained by the traditional method. The system utilizing the MATÆOS prototype allows the complete elimination of the rod string sets required by the conventional equipment, indicating that the new system may advantageously replace the surface mechanical components presently utilized.