SPE 166291

Smart Gas Lift Valves Enhance Operational Efficiency of Offshore Wells

Zhiyue Xu, Bennett M. Richard, and J ames H. Kritzler, Baker Hughes
Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 30 September2 October 2013.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract

In a conventional gas lift system, dummy valves are loaded in side pocket mandrels to isolate the annulus from the tubing
where pressurization is required to test the tubing, test the annulus, set a hydraulic packer or activate an isolation device.
Then for gas lift, wireline intervention would be required to remove the dummy valves and install the live gas lift string. This
can be a long, cumbersome process that can damage existing infrastructure and delay production while new live valves are
installed. This paper presents a smart gas lift valve with disintegrable nanostructured composite material technology. The
valve is installed in the well to function as a dummy valve during completion operations and then convert from a dummy
valve to a live valve through in-situ disintegration of a nanostructured composite plug in brine during cleanup process. This
eliminates multiple slickline trips or well intervention costs to replace dummy valves with live valves and significantly
increases completion operation efficiency of offshore wells. The nanostructured composite plug is high strength, is
chemically resistant to drilling mud, is slightly reactive with fresh water and disintegrates within 12 to 50 hours in salt water.
The smart gas lift valves were successfully installed in 42 new wells that were artificially producing with gas lift offshore
Southeast Asia. The nanostructured material, the valve design, the lab test data and results from successful field tests will be
presented.

Introduction

Gas lift is one of most common forms of artificial lift, particularly for offshore wells
because of its relative downhole simplicity, flexibility, reliability, and ability to operate
over a large range of rates and occupy very little space at the well head. For wells with
marginal economics and life expectancies of 3-5 years, such as harvest or disposable
wells in the Gulf of Thailand and other regions throughout Asia Pacific and the world, gas
lift has gradually become a preferred choice of artificial lift to improve well productivity
and economics [1]. It is believed that gas lift adds about 250,000 oil barrel (bbl) to the
total production of an average well during its life, a significant added asset value at the
current crude oil price above $90. In Platong field located in Gulf of Thailand, 245
kilometers east of mainland Thailand [Fig. 1], gas lifted production has been gradually
increased from 10% in June 2008 to 50% of total field production in J une 2011.
Economics of a disposable well can be further improved by new efficiency improvement
technologies during completion operations. For example, mono-trip cement-through
completion with slickline run gas lift assemblies in the Platong field in 2010 reduced cost
2/3 since the installation unit is changed from coiled tubing to slickline unit [2]. Installing
live gas lift valves rather than dummy valves during initial completion has also proven efficient in reduction of operation
time and cost, and risk of the gas lift valve change out job by a slickline unit. However, live gas lift valves cannot hold
pressure compared to dummy valves while the system is pressurized to test the tubing, test the annulus, set a hydraulic
packer, or activate an isolation device. This results in costly well completion failures [2]. This paper presents a smart solution
of gas lift valve with time-controlled disintegration material technology.

The ideal depth for injecting gas may change with time as the wells pressures, fluid type, and productivity change. Multiple
gas lift valves are usually installed in a well to ensure optimal production during these changing conditions. In many gas lift
Fig.1 Map of Gulf of
Thailand. Platong field is
located in Blocks 10-13.
2 SPE 166291
systems, dummy valves are loaded in side pocket mandrels (SPM) to isolate the annulus from tubing where pressurization is
required to test the pressure integrity of tubing or annulus, or set a hydraulic packer. If the well then requires gas lift to
unload the completion fluid or to assist the well to flow, wireline intervention is required to change out the dummy valves
with the live gas lift string. This can be time-consuming and can pose risks to existing infrastructures. Production is also
delayed while a new live valve unit is installed. In addition, slickline crews are a finite resource and sometime cannot be
scheduled on a gas lift valve change out project for many weeks leading to a platforms production going unoptimized. It is
estimated that one month waiting on a change out for 1 x 20 well platform can result in as much as 100,000bbl in lost
production. This paper presents a smart gas lift valve with disintegrable nanostructured composite material technology. The
valve is installed in the well to function as a smart dummy valve during completion operations and then convert from a
dummy valve to a live valve through in-situ disintegration of the nanostructured composite plug in brine during cleanup
process. This approach completely eliminates multiple slickline trips or well intervention to replace dummy valves with live
valves and significantly increases completion operation efficiency of offshore wells. The nanostructured composite plug is
high strength, chemically resistant to drilling mud, slightly reactive with fresh water, and disintegrates within 12 to 50 hours
in salt water. The nanostructured material, the smart valve design, the lab test data, and a successful case study will be
presented.

Material and Design of the Smart Gas Lift Valve

The integrated design process began with establishing the statement of requirement (SOR) for a smart gas lift valve. Smart
GLVs should be easy to adoptand install in the current side pocket mandrels during initial installation, function as a strong
dummy valve with high pressure and temperature ratings to prevent flow of cement from the tubing into the annulus during
the cementing phase of completion or isolate the annulus from tubing during other pressurization phase of completion, and
finally in-situ disintegrate when contacted with brine or sea water during cleanup process to reestablish annulus to tubing
communication for gas lift without slickline intervention. Based on these SORs, material scientists developed a high
strength, time-controlled disintegratable material for installation into the valves. Multiple generation valve designs and

Disintegratable Reverse flow check dart
Fig.2 The Generation II design of smart gas lift valve showing the time-controlled disintegratable plug
assembled in a standard side pocket mandrel.

Fig. 3Scanning electron micrograph (left) of a NCM material showing cellular
nanomatrix (white network) and metallic grains dispersed in the nanomatrix and
transmission electron micrograph and TEM image of the nanomatrix boundary (right)
SPE 166291 3
functional tests were then carried out to verify the material and valve performance. Finally, the optimized material and valve
design were made into final product for field tests. Fig. 2 shows a design of the smart gas lift valve. The design has a time-
controlled disintegrable plug assembled in the nose section of the valve to replace the two nose holes in the standard valve
design while keeping the same geometry, cone-shaped nose tip, and the reverse flow check dart design of a standard gas lift
valve. The smart gas lift valves with the time-controlled disintegrable plugs are installed in the side pocket mandrels (SPM)
prior to running the SPMs downhole. The disintegrable plug initially functions as a dummy plug to isolate the annulus from
tubing during completion. The plug then disintegrates in brine during the cleanup process and turns the temporary dummy
valve back to a live valve for gas lift, eliminating multiple slickline trip or well intervention after the completion.

The key to the success of the smart
gas lift valve is the innovative
nanostructured composite
materials (NCM) that are used to
make the time-controlled
disintegrable plugs. The NCM
material has a unique
microstructure. The image on the
left of Fig. 3 is a typical scanning
electron micrograph of the NCM
material, which includes a
substantially continuous, cellular
nanomatrix (networked white
grain boundary phase) and
metallic grains dispersed in the
nanomatrix [3]. The nanomatrix
consists of nanoscale metallic
and/or ceramic layers/coatings that
act as reinforcements for high
strength as well as to provide the unique chemical property that gives the time-controlled disintegration property that
conventional engineering materials normally do not have. The image on right of Fig. 3 is a transmission electron microscope
(TEM) bright field image of the nanomatrix showing the magnified view of the grain boundary filled with precipitates of 200
nm or less that were formed from the nanoscale metallic and/or ceramic coatings reacting with matrix grains during full-
density compaction at high temperature and pressure [4]. Design of the composition and structure of the nanoscale coatings
can be changed to produce high strength along with time-controlled disintegration. A family of NCM materials with different
ranges of strengths and disintegrating rates have been developed to suit different field well conditions and customer operation
needs on temperatures, pressures, and time. Fig. 4 shows the NCM family property map of rate of disintegration and
compressive strength. The test data on the map are generated from NCM materials with different nanomatrix compositions
and/or layer structures. Compressive strength was tested in accordance with ASTM E9. Rate of disintegration (ROD) was
measured in 3% KCl at 200F. Compared to reference material without nanomatrix (red solid circle), compressive strength of
nanomatrix-reinforced NCM material could be increased 3 to 6 times and disintegrating rate could be enhanced by several
hundred times. Such unique properties benefit from the innovative nanoscale coatings which are the primary constituents of
the nanomatrix. Specific coating compositions are selected to work with matrix grain composition and to provide
fundamental material strengthening mechanisms such as solid solution strengthening, precipitation strengthening, strain
hardening, and grain boundary
strengthening. Besides the high strength,
the NCM materials also show good
ductility with elongation at failure from
8 to 12%. Recently, a new breakthrough
has been on NCM material development.
A new group of NCM materials (green
solid diamonds in Fig. 4) with ultra-high
strength (>100 ksi) combined with fast
ROD up to 450 mg/cm
2
/hour in 3% KCl
were developed, further increasing NCM
materials pressure and temperature
ratings and widening NCM material use
to many other downhole products.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
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M
g
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Compressivestrength,ksi
Fig.4 Property map of NCM family
Reference material
(No nano coatings)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Brine(3%KCl) Seawater Freshwater Cement Oilbasedmud
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Differentfluids Fig.5 Rate of disintegration of NCM material in different fluids
4 SPE 166291


Function Tests of Smart Gas Lift Valve

The temperature and pressure ratings of the smart gas lift valve, time at temperature and pressure rating, the disintegrating
rate of the NCM plug in different operation fluids encountered in an offshore gas lift well completion including cement, fresh
water, brine and sea water, and the total disintegrating time for the dummy valve to convert into a live valve, were all tested
for the final delivery of a smart gas lift valve product for field use. The rates of disintegration of NCM material in different
operation or wellbore fluids are presented in Fig. 5. The NCM material is resistant to oil based drilling mud, slightly reactive
with fresh water or cement, and rapidly disintegrates in 3% KCl brine or sea water, making it an ideal designer material for
offshore gas lift valve application. The time-controlled NCM disintegrable plug was assembled in a test fixture duplicating
the standard gas lift valve nose design and submerged in sea water at 275
0
F and 500 psi pressure for disintegration test. The
mass loss of the plug due to the disintegration reaction with sea water was measured at different time intervals. The result is
plotted in Fig. 6. Images of the plug at different time were recorded and are also shown in Fig. 6. The test was stopped at 31.6
hour time point when the plug lost most of its fluid sealing dimension. The pictures show that the plug disintegrated pretty
uniformly through the entire test period of 31.6 hours at an average rate of disintegration of 0.18 g/hour. The test verified that
the plug design can meet the disintegrating or converting time requirement of 12 50 hours for the dummy valve to become a
live valve for gas lift.



Successful Case History

In a mono-trip cement through completion in Thailand, to save completion operation time and cost, SPMs with the
conventional live orifice or gas lift valves were installed in the production tubing to prepare the wells for gas lift. Multiple
slickline trips were required. Costly completion failures occurred, including flow cutting of reverse flow check valve during
unplanned pressure reversal and failure to bump cement plug due to fluid bypass through cut or non-checked reverse flow
check valve in the nose of the valve. It is believed that the failures are due to the fact that live gas lift valves cannot hold the
pressure as well as dummy valves while pumping cement through the SPM and activating the hydraulic packer [2]. The
operator asked for a solution.

The disintegrable plugs with nanostructured composite material technology were installed in the modified live gas lift valves
to construct time-controlled smart gas lift valves. The smart gas lift valves were then installed in the SPMs prior to running
the SPMs downhole. The live valves became temporary dummy valves to isolate the annulus from the tubing and provided
proper pressure seal time for completion operations to be completed. The plugs then disintegrated in brine during the cleanup
process and turned the temporary dummy valves back to live valves for gas lift. This eliminated multiple slickline trips or
Fig.6 Rate of disintegration of NCM material in different operation or wellbore fluids.
SPE 166291 5
well intervention after completion, saved service costs and reduced health, safety, and environment risks. Due to the success
of the smart gas lift valves with time-controlled disintegratable plugs, the operator has requested the smart gas lift valves for
all future projects in the Gulf of Thailand. The major benefit of this new gas lift technology is immediate oil recovery and
earlier return on investment since time queued for slickline service is eliminated.

Conclusions

1. The nanostructured composite material is resistant to oil based drilling mud, slightly reactive with fresh water or
cement, and rapidly disintegrates in brine or sea water, making it an ideal designer material for offshore gas lift
valve application.
2. The smart gas lift valve with a time-controlled disintegrable plug made of nanostructured composite material
functions as temporary dummy valve during completion operations and converts from a dummy valve to a live valve
for gas lift simulation through in-situ disintegration of the disintegrable plug in brine during the cleanup process.
3. The new smart gas lift valve technology eliminates multiple slickline trips or well intervention, reduces service costs
and risks, and results immediate oil recovery and earlier return on investment for operators.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Baker Hughes for permission to publish this work.

References

1. W. Chapman, Mono-trip cement-tolerant completions breathe new life into disposable wells, IADC Drilling
Contractor, November/December 2005, pp. 60-62.
2. C. Boonmeelapprasert, etc., Gas Lift Journey to Maximize the Asset Value in Platong Field, Gulf of Thailand,
IPTC 14807, SPE International Petroleum Technology Conference, 7-9 February 2012, Bangkok, Thailand.
3. Z. Xu, G. Agrawal, and B. Salinas, Smart Nanostructured Materials Deliver High Reliability Completion Tools for
Gas Shale Fracturing, SPE 146586, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, Colorado,
USA, 30 October2 November 2011.
4. Z. Xu, A disintegrable metal matrix composite, Proceedings of 2013 TMS Annual Meeting and Exhibition. 2/3 -
3/7, 2013, San Antonio, USA.