Built in the Field, For the Field

ESP Calc was created by an ESP consultant working daily in the Permian Basin. Every calculator addresses a real problem encountered during troubleshooting, equipment installs, or production optimization work.

Why I Built This

Working across Delaware and Midland Basin operations, I kept running into the same friction: quick calculations that should take 30 seconds were buried in spreadsheets, scattered across vendor software, or locked behind logins that don't work on a phone at the wellsite.

Voltage drop for a 6,000-foot cable run? That's a lookup table and some math, but finding the right table in the field is the hard part. Converting between intake pressure and fluid level above pump? Simple formula, but you need to know the specific gravity and have it handy. Normalizing PID parameters between a Vacon drive and a Levare controller? That's a translation problem that wastes hours when you're trying to tune a well that's cycling.

The goal: Put the calculations ESP people actually use into a fast, mobile-friendly tool that works offline. No login. No subscription. No vendor lock-in.

What's Inside

ESP Calc currently includes six modules covering the most common field calculations:

Basic Calculators — PSI/feet conversion, voltage drop, affinity laws, KVA/KW/HP, TDH, and tubing capacity with annular volume
Well Snapshot — Operating point analysis combining pump curves, fluid properties, and current parameters
Gas Handling — Free gas at intake, separator sizing, and gas interference calculations for high-GOR unconventional wells
Stage Design — Pump stage sizing with head degradation factors for gassy conditions
BGAN Antenna Pointing — Satellite look angles for Inmarsat terminals used in remote well monitoring
PID Response Translator — Normalize tuning parameters across 12 different drive and HMI controller profiles

Technical Approach

The calculator is built as a progressive web app (PWA), which means it installs on your phone like a native app and works without an internet connection. All calculations run client-side—your well data never leaves your device.

The math behind each module is documented in the documentation section, including the specific correlations, assumptions, and data sources used. If you spot an error or have a suggestion, I want to hear about it.

Permian Basin Focus

While the underlying calculations are universal to ESP operations, the tool is designed around problems common in unconventional Permian wells: high gas-to-liquid ratios, frequent cycling from slugging behavior, remote locations without cellular coverage, and the mix of equipment vendors you encounter across different operators.

The PID Translator module, for example, exists because I got tired of mentally converting between different manufacturers' parameter formats when troubleshooting wells. The BGAN pointing calculator exists because I've set up enough satellite terminals in cell-dead zones to know that getting the azimuth and elevation right the first time saves a trip back to the truck.

What's Next

This is an active project. I add modules as I encounter calculation problems that are worth solving in a reusable way. Current areas of focus include:

Backpressure valve sizing (ball-and-seat, Cv-based)
Motor cooling system comparisons
Gas separator design tools for high-GVF conditions

If you work with ESPs and have a calculation you do repeatedly that should be in here, let me know.