Transient Modeling of Plunger Lift for Gas Well Deliquification

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Qingqi Zhao ◽  
Jianjun Zhu ◽  
Guangqiang Cao ◽  
Haiwen Zhu ◽  
Hong-Quan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Production Rate ◽  
Transient Flow ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Hydrocarbon Mixture ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Compositional Model ◽  
Reservoir Coefficient ◽  
Casing Pressure

Summary As an economical and efficient artificial lift method, plunger lift can be used to unload the accumulated liquids from the bottom of gas wells, which helps lower the bottomhole pressure, resulting in higher gas production rate. However, the transient flow behavior of the plunger-lift-aided production system is still not well understood due to the lack of a reliable and accurate prediction model. In this study, a transient mechanistic model is developed to simulate the comprehensive dynamic process of a plunger-lift system that is cyclically paced by a surface control valve. Starting from the Gasbarri and Wiggins (2001) dynamic plunger-lift model, four stages in the cyclic movement of a plunger can be identified and calculated using a set of specific governing equations. Considering the gas flows with a plunger in the tubing, the model can calculate the instant velocities of the plunger during its rising and falling movement. The classical inflow performance relationship (IPR) is employed as the reservoir model to obtain the fluid flow rates from the reservoir to the wellbore. The proposed new model can capture the essential parameters of plunger-lift cycles, including plunger velocity/acceleration, tubing/casing pressure, production rates, etc. Compared to previous models, the predicted rising and falling speeds of the plunger are improved. The hydrocarbon mixture properties in the gas well are computed by a compositional model in this study, which provides more accurate and reasonable predictions of tubing and casing pressure. Several parametric studies are presented in the paper. These studies will help to understand the influence of different parameters on the process of plunger lift. An appropriate combination of casing and tubing pressure should be taken into consideration. A reservoir coefficient term is introduced and defined. A larger reservoir coefficient will improve the ultimate profitability of the well by increasing the production rate at the beginning and accelerate the depletion of gas wells. If the gas/liquid ratio (GLR) is too low, liquid loading may be triggered. The parametric study shows that an adequate GLR is necessary for reliable plunger-liftperformance.

Wettability Alteration to Intermediate Gas-Wetting in Gas-Condensate Reservoirs at High Temperatures

SPE Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 397-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashhad Mousa Fahes ◽  
Abbas Firoozabadi
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Production Rate ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Reservoir Rock ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Absolute Permeability ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Water Blocking

Summary Wettability of two types of sandstone cores, Berea (permeability on the order of 600 md), and a reservoir rock (permeability on the order of 10 md), is altered from liquid-wetting to intermediate gas-wetting at a high temperature of 140C. Previous work on wettability alteration to intermediate gas-wetting has been limited to 90C. In this work, chemicals previously used at 90C for wettability alteration are found to be ineffective at 140C. New chemicals are used which alter wettability at high temperatures. The results show that:wettability could be permanently altered from liquid-wetting to intermediate gas-wetting at high reservoir temperatures,wettability alteration has a substantial effect on increasing liquid mobility at reservoir conditions,wettability alteration results in improved gas productivity, andwettability alteration does not have a measurable effect on the absolute permeability of the rock for some chemicals. We also find the reservoir rock, unlike Berea, is not strongly water-wet in the gas/water/rock system. Introduction A sharp reduction in gas well deliverability is often observed in many low-permeability gas-condensate reservoirs even at very high reservoir pressure. The decrease in well deliverability is attributed to condensate accumulation (Hinchman and Barree 1985; Afidick et al. 1994) and water blocking (Engineer 1985; Cimolai et al. 1983). As the pressure drops below the dewpoint, liquid accumulates around the wellbore in high saturations, reducing gas relative permeability (Barnum et al. 1995; El-Banbi et al. 2000); the result is a decrease in the gas production rate. Several techniques have been used to increase gas well deliverability after the initial decline. Hydraulic fracturing is used to increase absolute permeability (Haimson and Fairhurst 1969). Solvent injection is implemented in order to remove the accumulated liquid (Al-Anazi et al. 2005). Gas deliverability often increases after the reduction of the condensate saturation around the wellbore. In a successful methanol treatment in Hatter's Pond field in Alabama (Al-Anazi et al. 2005), after the initial decline in well deliverability by a factor of three to five owing to condensate blocking, gas deliverability increased by a factor of two after the removal of water and condensate liquids from the near-wellbore region. The increased rates were, however, sustained for a period of 4 months only. The approach is not a permanent solution to the problem, because the condensate bank will form again. On the other hand, when hydraulic fracturing is used by injecting aqueous fluids, the cleanup of water accumulation from the formation after fracturing is essential to obtain an increased productivity. Water is removed in two phases: immiscible displacement by gas, followed by vaporization by the expanding gas flow (Mahadevan and Sharma 2003). Because of the low permeability and the wettability characteristics, it may take a long time to perform the cleanup; in some cases, as little as 10 to 15% of the water load could be recovered (Mahadevan and Sharma 2003; Penny et al. 1983). Even when the problem of water blocking is not significant, the accumulation of condensate around the fracture face when the pressure falls below dewpoint pressure could result in a reduction in the gas production rate (Economides et al. 1989; Sognesand 1991; Baig et al. 2005).

Numerical Investigation on Multiphase Erosion-Corrosion Problem of Steel of Apparatus at a Well Outlet in Natural Gas Production

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Jianwen ◽  
Jiang Aiguo ◽  
Xin Yanan ◽  
He Jianyun
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Production Rate ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Chemical Corrosion ◽  
High Production Rate ◽  
Erosion Corrosion ◽  
Corrosion Problem

The erosion-corrosion problem of gas well pipeline under gas–liquid two-phase fluid flow is crucial for the natural gas well production, where multiphase transport phenomena expose great influences on the feature of erosion-corrosion. A Eulerian–Eulerian two-fluid flow model is applied to deal with the three-dimensional gas–liquid two-phase erosion-corrosion problem and the chemical corrosion effects of the liquid droplets dissolved with CO2 on the wall are taken into consideration. The amount of erosion and chemical corrosion is predicted. The erosion-corrosion feature at different parts including expansion, contraction, step, screw sections, and bends along the well pipeline is numerically studied in detail. For dilute droplet flow, the interaction between flexible water droplets and pipeline walls under different operations is treated by different correlations according to the liquid droplet Reynolds numbers. An erosion-corrosion model is set up to address the local corrosion and erosion induced by the droplets impinging on the pipe surfaces. Three typical cases are studied and the mechanism of erosion-corrosion for different positions is investigated. It is explored by the numerical simulation that the erosion-corrosion changes with the practical production conditions: Under lower production rate, chemical corrosion is the main cause for erosion-corrosion; under higher production rate, erosion predominates greatly; and under very high production rate, erosion becomes the main cause. It is clarified that the parts including connection site of oil pipe, oil pipe set, and valve are the places where erosion-corrosion origins and becomes serious. The failure mechanism is explored and good comparison with field measurement is achieved.

Mitigation of Annulus Pressure Buildup in Offshore Gas Wells by Determination of Top of Cement

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex W. Mwang’ande ◽  
Hualin Liao ◽  
Long Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Field Data ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Pressure Buildup ◽  
Cheap Method ◽  
Calculation Results ◽  
Sustained Casing Pressure ◽  
Casing Pressure ◽  
Mitigation Methods

Annulus pressure buildup (APB) is still a serious problem in offshore gas wells, which threatens the safety of wells for the entire phases of drilling, completion, and production. The existing methods for mitigating APB are technically complex and highly costly. Setting top of cement (TOC) below the outer casing shoe to mitigate APB is easy to implement and can significantly reduce costs. However, there are no unified methods of determining TOC for this purpose. Nevertheless, existing petroleum standards give ambiguous regulations on the setting of TOC. This article brings a new and cheap method of mitigating APB by determining best TOC settings using a mathematical model for calculating APB from both annulus fluid expansion (AFE) and sustained casing pressure (SCP). Field data from gas well X are inputted to the model to describe how it serves this purpose. Calculation results for well X show that setting TOC's above and below the upper casing shoes for production and intermediate casings annuli, respectively, can greatly avoid the problem of APB and the costs associated with the existing mitigation methods. This technique can be used to other wells following the same procedures. The developed model reduced greatly the ambiguity of TOC determination as it helps to get the clear TOC combinations that control APB at the lowest cost of well construction while maintaining good and safe well operation.

Numerical Simulation Study on the Key Influencing Factors of Water-Invasion Performance for the Gas Wells with Bottom-Water

2014 ◽  
Vol 884-885 ◽  
pp. 104-107
Author(s):  
Zhi Jun Li ◽  
Ji Qiang Li ◽  
Wen De Yan
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Simulation Method ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Water Gas

For the water-sweeping gas reservoir, especially when the water-body is active, water invasion can play positive roles in maintaining formation pressure and keeping the gas well production. But when the water-cone break through and towards the well bottom, suffers from the influencing of gas-water two phase flows, permeability of gas phase decrease sharply and will have a serious impact on the production performance of the gas well. Moreover, the time when the water-cone breakthrough will directly affect the final recovery of the gas wells, therefore, the numerical simulation method is used to conduct the research on the key influencing factors of water-invasion performance for the gas wells with bottom-water, which is the basis of the mechanical model for the typical gas wells with bottom-water. It indicate that as followings: (1) the key influencing factors of water-invasion performance for the gas wells with bottom-water are those, such as the open degree of the gas beds, well gas production and the amount of Kv/Kh value; and (2) the barrier will be in charge of great significance on the water-controlling for the bottom water gas wells, and its radius is the key factor to affect water-invasion performance for the bottom water gas wells where the barriers exist nearby.

Acid Fracturing of Deep Gas Wells Using a Surfactant-Based Acid: Long-Term Effects on Gas Production Rate

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisham A. Nasr-El-Din ◽  
Saad M. Al-Driweesh ◽  
Kirk Michael Bartko ◽  
Hamed Hasan Al-Ghadhban ◽  
Venkateshwaran Ramanathan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Production Rate ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Acid Fracturing

scholarly journals Analysis of chemical volume and composition to overcome liquid loading in gas well

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 03009
Author(s):  
Abdul Wahid ◽  
Muhamad Taufiq Hidayat
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Production Rate ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Reservoir Pressure ◽  
Liquid Loading ◽  
Critical Rate ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Natural Gas Production ◽  
Drive Mechanism

Many problems often occur in producing natural gas from well. Due to the existence of water content in natural gas or water drive mechanism, liquid (especially water) is also produced from gas well, following natural gas production. When gas critical rate is higher than gas production rate due to reservoir pressure decline, it will cause liquid accumulation in the bottom of well, avoiding natural gas to be well lifted from well bottom to surface. It is liquid loading. Chemical injection of 0.4 liquid that consists of ethoxy sulphate, alkane sulphonate, and petroleum sulphonate is effective to overcome liquid loading in natural gas well thus causing an increase in natural gas production by 57%.

Analysis on Casing Size and Steel Grade and Application in High-Temperature High-Pressure Gas Wells

2013 ◽  
Vol 703 ◽  
pp. 143-146
Author(s):  
Ling Feng Li
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Steel Grade ◽  
Production Engineering ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Size Series ◽  
High Temperature High Pressure

Analysis on casing size and steel grade and application in high-temperature high-pressure gas wells are important in natural gas production engineering. This paper presents the standard casing size series, casing steel grade standard and code, types of casing steel grade, main problems in high-temperature high-pressure gas wells, using casing material suitable as solving means for high-temperature high-pressure gas well and application. For application, the study above is good and easy for on-the-spot application.

Plug and Abandonment for Gas Wells: A Case Study from Baghjan Oilfield, India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishabh Bharadwaj ◽  
Bhavya Kumari ◽  
Astha Patel
Keyword(s):  
Capital Investment ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Sodium Formate ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Fluid Loss ◽  
Cement Slurry ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Gas Well ◽  
Casing Pressure

Abstract The economic end of the life-cycle of a well is dynamic and it varies with the oil & gas market conditions and advances in extraction technologies. If production declines or the need for a workover arises, plugging and abandonment operations are followed. In case the wellsite has encountered accidental releases, systematic abandonment and remediation becomes even more crucial to avoid further environmental damage and capital investment. This paper analyzes the Baghjan oilfield blowout of the Assam-Arakan basin and provides abandonment practices for gas wells. The mobile workover rig was stationed at the Baghjan Well-5 with the aim to plug the lower producing zone at 3871 m and complete the well in the upper Lakadong+Therria sand at a depth of 3739 m. Baghjan Gas Well No.5 blew during the temporary abandonment which was planned to mitigate the leakage in the wellhead. Improper depth for the placement of cement plug, failure to check the plug integrity, and shortcomings in the regular inspection of annular casing pressure led to the well control situation at the Baghjan gas well. While pulling out the tubing conveyed perforation gun after perforating the Lakadong+Therria I+II sand, Shut-In Tubing Pressure of 4400 psi and 3900 psi Shut-In Casing Pressure was observed which indicated a leak in the Tubing Seal Assembly. The well was killed with a 9.76 lbm/gal sodium formate brine and in the middle of pulling the tubing, leakage in the W.F. Spool was identified which changed the priority of the operations. Therefore, a temporary abandonment operation was planned to mitigate the leakage problem in the primary and secondary seals, during which the well started flowing gas profusely after nipple-down of the blowout preventer. The shortcomings of the abandonment process can be conquered by the selection of an appropriate isolation material such as resin-based sealants or bismuth and thermite, which shall act as a primary barrier and provide enhanced zonal isolation. The isolation material should mitigate micro-fractures, minimize treatment volume and fluid loss, provide ample pumping time, and not degrade in the presence of wellbore fluids. The study discusses resin-based sealants, cement slurry designs, advances in conventional, unconventional, and rigless abandonment techniques, and suggests the most efficient method for the temporary and permanent abandonment operations to avoid further such incidents in the oil and gas industry.

A Pumping System to Enhance Production From Gas Wells

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Rudolf ◽  
T. R. Heidrick ◽  
B. A. Fleck ◽  
R. K. Ridley ◽  
V. S. V. Rajan
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Gas Pressure ◽  
Reservoir Pressure ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Gas Well

A new pumping technology has been developed and patented by the Alberta Research Council [1–3] to address the problem of liquid loading in natural gas wells at low, depleted pressures. This technology consists of a pump installed at the bottom of the well bore that is driven by the reservoir gas pressure to bring the produced liquids to the surface as they accumulate thereby improving gas production from shallow gas wells. The above pump concept has been investigated in two stages of research. In the first stage, a mathematical model was developed to estimate the minimum reservoir pressure required to prevent liquid build up in a gas well with either: • the reservoir pressure (and flow) itself carrying the produced liquids to the surface in a two-phase flow, or • the reservoir gas pressure powering a pumping device to carry the produced liquids to the surface in the most efficient manner possible. The objective of the second stage of this investigation was to look at the feasibility of using a reciprocating pump powered by gas pressure. In particular, the effect of the pump Area Ratio (ratio of the area being pushed by the gas to the area pushing the liquid) on the use of reservoir gas pressure was investigated. There are approximately 70,000 flowing gas wells in Western Canada and these gas wells were categorized by depth and production rate. From this list of gas wells, a typical well was chosen and its production data and well characteristics were incorporated into the mathematical model. The model was tested in both the above-mentioned investigations and the results show that there is a significant increase in the operating range when the reservoir pressure is used more efficiently to produce gas from the well. It was determined that higher pump area ratios lead to a more efficient use of reservoir pressure and for the gas well investigated in this study, an optimum area ratio of 40 was identified as the best design. The concept of multistage pumping was also investigated. The results presented are the basis for experiments presently being designed that will validate the current model of the system and allow for possible improvements.

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