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Size Limits and Concerns. Size is not really an issue with gas-lift.
Typically for gas wells, the production tubing will be 2-inch or 2.5inch. Typically this can support use of KB or MM mandrels that
can accommodate 1-inch or 1.5-inch gas-lift valves.
There may be some wells with small casing that only support use of
small tubing or coiled tubing. There are gas-lift systems that can
use small gas-lift valves that can work with these small tubing
sizes.
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Rate Limits and Concerns. For gas wells, the rate of gas injection
should be controlled to be equal the amount of gas that is needed
to be added to the produced gas to achieve and maintain critical
flow. This can be a dynamic, changing amount as the native
production rate of the well changes.
To determine the amount of gas to inject, it is necessary to
determine the critical velocity so enough gas can be injected to
keep above the critical velocity. There are other sections in this
document (and on this web site) that describe how to calculate the
critical velocity. The critical velocity needs to be determined at the
depth where the flow area is greatest. If this is below the packer,
then this area must be used. And the pressure and temperature of
the gas at that depth must be used to determine the required critical
velocity.
Once the required critical velocity is determined, the rate of gas
injection can be controlled to assure that the actual velocity is
maintained slightly above the critical value to assure that the well is
being continuously deliquified.
The rate of gas that can be injected into a gas-lift well is a function
of a number of factors:
- The available surface injection pressure.
- The size of the injection flow path, either down the casing/tubing
annulus or down an injection tube.
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- The size of the gas-lift valve or orifice port size or choke size
through which the gas is injected.
There are accurate computer programs that can determine the
injection pressure profile in a well if the surface injection pressure
and temperature are known, the size and length (depth) of the
injection flow path(s) is/are known, and the characteristics of the
gas-lift valve or orifice are known.
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Cost Guidelines
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manifolds and from there to individual wells, the piping cost may
be more than if the system brings gas from well to well.
However, there are advantages of the manifold design. The
primary advantage is the injection pressure for a well is
essentially independent of the injection pressure in other wells;
there is no interference between wells. If a manifold type
distribution system is already in place, the cost to add another
well to the system is the cost to add an injection line from the
manifold to the new well.
If wellhead or well site compression is used, the cost of the
distribution system is only the cost to bring the gas from the
compressor discharge to the wellhead, which may only be a few
feet.
Gas-lift on an offshore platform may be similar. Here a
compressor is installed on a platform. The cost to bring gas to
the gas-lift wells on the platform is small. If wells on another
platform or platforms in the field are served by the same
compressor(s), there must be a line (normally a subsea line) to
bring gas to the other platform(s). Here, the gas will be brought
to a manifold on the remote platform(s) and distributed from the
manifold to the individual wells.
- Wellhead Equipment. If a manifold system is used, typically
the lift gas for each well served by the manifold will be
measured and controlled at the manifold. There will be one
upstream pressure measurement, one upstream temperature
measurement, and a control valve to control the rate of gas
injection into each well.
If there is no manifold the gas pressure and temperature must
be measured at each well and the control must occur at each
well.
In either case, the injection pressure should be measured at
each well directly on the casing, downstream of any pressure
drop devices. And the production pressure should be measured
at each well directly on the wellhead, upstream of any pressure
drop devices. Further, if a production rate estimate is being
made, this should be made at each well.
- Downhole Equipment. The primary gas-lift costs in the well
are for gas-lift mandrels and valves. Enough mandrels and
valves need to be installed to permit the well to be unloaded to
the bottom. The bottom will depend on whether gas is being
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injected from the casing into the tubing above the packer, or is
being injected beneath the packer and below the perforations.
Since many gas well artificial lift systems dont use a packer, the
cost of the packer should be included with the downhole
equipment needed for gas-lift.
- Surveillance (Production Automation) Equipment.
Surveillance, monitoring, and control of gas-lift may be
performed manually, with a semi-automatic system, or with a
comprehensive production automation system. If an automation
system is used, it will entail the following cost components:
o Automation Host System. An automation host system
will normally consist of a personal computer with associated
hardware peripherals, software, database, etc. Typically, a
field will have a system to monitor and control production
facility equipment, well test systems, etc. The incremental
cost to add gas-lift to this system will be for the specific
software and database(s) required.
o Facility Remote Terminal Unit. Typically a remote terminal
unit (RTU) will be used to monitor and control the gas
compression plant and its associated equipment. The
incremental cost for gas-lift is to measure the gas-lift system
pressure.
o Injection Manifold RTU. The injection manifold will be used
to support measurement and control of the gas for each well.
This is a cost of gas-lift.
o Wellhead RTU. The wellhead RTU will be used to support
measurement of the wellhead injection and production
parameters pressure, temperature, etc. This is a cost of
gas-lift.
o Ancillary Costs. There will be additional costs for
communicating information between the automation host
system and the RTUs, and to supply power to the RTUs,
which may be solar power if electrical power isnt available.
- Other Equipment. Most of the rest of the equipment including
the wellhead, flowline, production manifold, well test separator,
bulk production separator, etc. must exist anyway so it not part
of the capital cost of the gas-lift system.
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Normal Operating Life. There are many things that can go wrong
in a gas-lift well, and thus the need for close surveillance of the
operation. However, the gas-lift equipment should, for the most
part, have a long operating life of many years. This will almost
certainly be true if the equipment is properly maintained. The
component most likely to fail or need replacement is the operating
gas-lift valve or orifice. There are two reasons for this.
- Operating Depth. As the well ages and production proceeds,
the reservoir pressure may change and/or the wells inflow
performance may change. When either of these occur, it may
become necessary to operate from a different (usually deeper)
valve. This may require that the valves in the well be pulled and
redesigned to allow the well to lift from a different depth.
- Operating Valve or Orifice. If the necessary gas-lift injection
rate changes, it may be necessary to change the design of the
operating gas-lift valve or orifice. This can usually be
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