A brief description is given of the design of a new hydrocyclone mechanical-impurity separator of type SMGB built by the Borets Company, which serves to increase the working life of an immersed electric pump in a borehole where the working media have elevated contents of mechanical impurities. The main characteristics are given from test-bed data for separators of SMGB type. Testbed results are given. The separator design with hydrocyclone separation is viable in a liquid medium with the maximum permissible mechanical-impurity content for electric centrifugal pumps of 2000 mg/liter, and gives high performance (95-97% removal). The design differs from separators used in industry of centrifugal type by the absence of rotating parts, simplicity of construction, and elevated reliability and working life. Experimental specimens of the SMGB separator have been sent for testing at the SNGDU-2 installation of the TNK-VR Company.The reliability and working life of immersed electrical centrifugal pumps (ECP) are dependent on the mechanicalimpurity contents in the borehole products. Monitoring of ECP in sandy boreholes has shown that more than 25% of the failures are due to choking of the ECP working parts by mechanical impurities [1].At present, ECP are protected from sand by the general use of antisand filters, which are installed at the pump input [2] or suspended from the electric motor [3]. Such filters on the one hand reduce the mechanical impurity contents in the borehole products passing to the ECP, while on the other hand they cause the accelerated formation of sandy plugs in the borehole and thus the need to flush the borehole.Research on slot antisand filters has shown that their performance is dependent on the fractional composition of the mechanical impurities and is restricted by the minimal slot width (50 µm). The fractions of size less than 50 µm enter the ring gap of the filter without hindrance [2] and tend to choke it, and they are partly transported with the liquid into the ECP cavity, which tends to cause the bearings to jam and produces wear in the working parts [3].It is therefore important to build devices to protect ECP from the adverse effects of mechanical impurities that are free from those deficiencies. They include centrifugal separators for mechanical impurities, whose performance is much higher than that of gravitational ones [4]. However, the deficiencies of centrifugal separators include complicated design, high cost, and inadequate reliability [4]. The mechanical-impurity separation is performed by kinematic coupling to the immersed electric motor. The devices contain rotating units with short lives (shafts, bearings, and so on). Cases are known when their installation requires nonstandard electric motors with lower output shaft and additional hydraulic protection [4].Experience with centrifugal gravitational separators is accompanied by much experience with hydrocyclones in various branches of industry for separating solid particles from a great variety of liquids, including oil [5,6].The...
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