Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Sheraton Hotel, Denver, Colorado

February 20 – 22, 2017

Gas Well Deliquification Breakout Session

Compressors and Facilities – Ask the

“Experts”

Larry Harms
Breakout Session Details

Number of Attendees
– Operating Companies - 11
– Service/Supply Companies – 5

Duration of Session – 1.25 hrs.

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 2

 WHC
• Candidates
– Economics favor average or gathering pressure based
on average well, WHC on best wells
• Trials
– If you pick the right candidates, trials not needed and
may cause giving up on best wells because of time
limits
• Use to delay Artificial Lift
– Look at well life and determine if other artificial lift
needed and best order for economics

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 3

 WHC
• Reduce Decline
– Usually this is because well has been produced below critical rate
causing faster decline
– This has been seen regularly
• Liquids/Failures
– Wells that are loaded up must produce liquid slugs to unload, live
with them or pay for extra temp. equipment
– If you let well load up again by not shutting in when compressor
goes down/well falls below critical, liquid slugs will continue
– Problematic with horizontals
– Main failures are not unloading initially, WHC not big
enough/poorly designed for application, poor candidate selection

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 4

 WHC
• Plunger Lift
– Having controls to help compressor deal with varying rates very
helpful – Some vendors have automated for their units
– See Listiak-Phillips SWPSC 1996 presentation
– Conventional plunger lift may not be optimum for best wells
– Good backup for when compressor goes down

• Will it help ESP?

– With all types of pumps, lowering casing pressure will cause
higher fluid level (with higher % gas)
– Should be able to pump more liquid and increase production

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 5

 WHC

• Poor Boy Gas Lift

– Excess WHC capacity provides a good opportunity to put gas down
the annulus
– Works as long as it keeps well above critical rate – measure injection
gas/produced gas/casing pressure to ensure this happens
– Since not designed for this application may need equip. mods. and
different compressor or different suction pressure
– Suction pressure probably should be minimum before starting
• Continuous Gas Circulation
– Difference is that compressor/equipment designed to ensure that
well stays above critical throughout its life
– See J. Hacksma past presentations and B. Elmer 2017 presentation

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 6

 Facilities Modelling for Emissions
Regulatory Requirement

• No gas venting allowed so have to model to

prove no tank emissions when all wells dump
simultaneously (Pad Wells, Colorado)
– Hysis modelling needs to be adjusted with actual field
data
– Consider limiting dump rates
– Consider starting with a few wells/Smaller VRU units
with expansion via VRU header
– Consider Electric Driven Rotary Vane Compressors
• Cheap HC Leak detection
– Need help with this

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 7

What causes you the most loss of
production on Compression/Facilities?

• Compressors going down

– See Harms 2017 GWDW Presentations

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 8

 Copyright
Rights to this presentation are owned by the company(ies) and/or
author(s) listed on the title page. By submitting this presentation to
the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop, they grant to the Workshop,
the Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC), and
the Southwestern Petroleum Short Course (SWPSC), rights to:
– Display the presentation at the Workshop.
– Place it on the www.alrdc.com web site, with access to the site to be
as directed by the Workshop Steering Committee.
– Place it on a CD for distribution and/or sale as directed by the
Workshop Steering Committee.
Other uses of this presentation are prohibited without the expressed
written permission of the company(ies) and/or author(s) who own it
and the Workshop Steering Committee.

Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 9

Disclaimer
The following disclaimer shall be included as the last page of a Technical Presentation or
Continuing Education Course. A similar disclaimer is included on the front page of the Gas Well
Deliquification Web Site.
The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council and its officers and trustees, and the Gas
Well Deliquification Workshop Steering Committee members, and their supporting organizations
and companies (here-in-after referred to as the Sponsoring Organizations), and the author(s) of
this Technical Presentation or Continuing Education Training Course and their company(ies),
provide this presentation and/or training material at the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop "as is"
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The Sponsoring Organizations cannot and do not warrant the accuracy of these documents
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Feb. 22, 2017 2017 Gas Well Workshop 10