A R T I F I C I A L L I F T

A DYNAMIC PLUNGER-LIFT MODEL

FOR GAS WELLS
A free piston or plunger traveling up and Plunger-lift installations are used to pro- Dynamic models also have been pub-
down the tubing has been used for different duce high gas/liquid ratio (GLR) oil wells lished to describe the phenomenon of a
applications in oil and gas production for or for unloading liquids in gas wells. Their plunger-lift cycle. The dynamic model
decades. Its most widespread use is in con- major advantages over other artificial-lift developed in the full-length paper over-
ventional plunger lift, which is an artificial- methods for lifting liquids are the relatively comes some of the assumptions used in
lift technique characterized by use of reser- small investment required and reasonable previous models. It includes reservoir
voir energy stored in the gas phase to lift flu- operating costs. Their main disadvantages performance, gas expansion with friction
ids to the surface. Fig. 1 shows a schematic are the complexity of the lifting process and effects, and the transient behavior of the
of a typical plunger-lift installation. The the lack of a thorough understanding of gas above the liquid slug when the surface
plunger acts as an interface between the liq- plunger-lift systems. valve is opened. It also includes a blow-
uid slug and the gas to keep the ballistic- Several authors have modeled plunger- down or afterflow period for production
shaped flow pattern of the higher-velocity lift installations. Static models have been after the liquid slug surfaces. The
gas phase from breaking through the liquid proposed and are widely accepted. upstroke model includes a transition
phase during production.
With appropriate installation and well-
production characteristics, gas produced by
the reservoir is stored in the tubing/casing
annulus while a liquid slug accumulates in
the tubing. During this buildup stage, the
flowline valve at the surface is closed and
some gas also accumulates in the tubing
above the liquid slug. When the casing
pressure at the wellhead reaches a predeter-
mined value, the flowline valve opens and
production begins. The gas at the top of the
liquid slug expands, and the plunger with
the accumulated liquid above it begins trav-
eling up the tubing in a period called the
upstroke stage. The gas stored in the tub-
ing/casing annulus expands and provides
the energy required to lift the liquid slug.
As the plunger approaches the surface, the
liquid slug is produced into the flowline. In
some cases, especially for gas wells, addi-
tional production occurs after the plunger
has surfaced. Such a period is called after-
flow in oil wells and blowdown for gas
wells. After this period of flow, the flowline
valve is closed; the plunger falls to the bot-
tom of the well; and the buildup stage starts
again, beginning a new cycle.

This article is a synopsis of paper SPE

37422, “A Dynamic Plunger-Lift Model
for Gas Wells,” by Sandro Gasbarri,
SPE, and Michael L. Wiggins, SPE, U.
of Oklahoma, originally presented at
the 1997 SPE Production Operations
Symposium, Oklahoma City, Okla- Fig. 1—Schematic of a conventional plunger-lift installation.
homa, 9–11 March.

70 JULY 1998 •

Fig. 2—Schematic of the three elements in the upstroke component.
phase that describes the production of the
slug into the flowline.
PLUNGER-LIFT MODEL
Fundamental conservation equations were
used to analyze the dynamics of the
plunger-lift system. Multiple adjacent con-
trol volumes, including flowline, tubing,
and annulus, were used. The model is
divided into four components; upstroke,
blowdown, buildup, and reservoir perfor-
mance. The upstroke component separates
the dynamics of the plunger and liquid
upstroke from the boundary conditions
given by the gas system both above the slug
and behind the plunger. The blowdown
component produces the slug to the sepa-
rator and accounts for additional gas pro-
duction after the plunger surfaces. The
buildup component describes the increase
in system pressure, accumulation of fluids
in the system during shut-in, and down-
stroke behavior of the plunger. The reser-
voir-performance component describes
influx of fluids into the wellbore through-
out the plunger cycle.
• JULY 1998
A R T I F I C I A L L I F T
Upstroke Component. Three different ele-
ments are used to model the dynamics of
the system during the upstroke. Fig. 2
shows a schematic of the system being
modeled. The liquid slug traveling from the
bottom of the well to the surface is analyzed
as a separate element with boundary condi-
tions of pressures at the top of the slug and
at the bottom of the plunger. The pressure
at the top of the slug is determined by gas
expansion above the slug when the valve is
opened. The pressure at the bottom of the
plunger is determined by analyzing the gas
expansion in the tubing below the plunger
and in the tubing/casing annulus.
Plunger and Liquid-Slug Dynamics. A
control volume with average properties is
used to model the liquid slug traveling
through the tubing. Assuming the liquid
density is constant and no liquid is gained
or lost from the control volume, the equa-
tion of momentum can be solved for accel-
eration of the slug in the tubing. The full-
length paper presents equations for accel-
eration of the slug in the tubing and as it
surfaces. It also contains equations for
pressure at the top of the liquid slug. The
time required to travel a predefined dis-
tance can be calculated to determine the
time when the slug arrives at the wellhead
so the appropriate acceleration equation
can be used.
Gas Expansion Above the Liquid Slug.
At the end of the buildup stage, the valve at
the flowline opens. The pressure at the
wellhead is considerably higher than the
pressure in the flowline. This large pressure
differential causes large instantaneous gas
flow rates at the wellhead. Pressure in the
flowline increases, while the pressure in the
tubing decreases. After a period of time, the
pressure at the top of the liquid slug
decreases so that the slug starts to move.
This gas expansion is analyzed by use of
multiple control volumes with constant
average properties at a given timestep. Gas
velocity is assumed to be lower than the
local sonic velocity so no shock waves
occur in the system. Gas velocity at the
boundary between two adjacent control
volumes can be determined by integrating
the momentum equation for a control vol-
ume in the vertical direction over a small
time increment and assuming that the
acceleration term is negligible. The full-
length paper presents equations for veloci-
ty of the gas between two consecutive con-
trol volumes, pressure in the control vol-
ume for a given time, and pressure differen-
tial between control volumes. To analyze
the system, the continuity equation for a
control volume is integrated over a small
increment of time. Specific boundary con-
ditions apply above the liquid slug, where it
is assumed no gas influx occurs, and at the
end of the flowline, where there is no mass
accumulation. Special control volumes
must be created for these conditions.
Instantaneous mass flow rate between
each control volume is calculated for a
given time interval. Values are determined
for each timestep and control volume from
the separator to the wellhead and down the
tubing to the top of the liquid slug. The
conditions calculated are used as initial
conditions for the next timestep until the
required time is reached.
Gas Expansion Behind the Plunger.
During the upstroke stage, energy required
to carry the liquid slug to the surface is sup-
plied below the plunger by the pressure
resulting from expansion of the gas origi-
nally in the tubing/casing annulus. While
the slug is moving to the surface, fluids are
produced from the reservoir. The pressure
at the lower boundary in the tubing/casing
annulus is the bottomhole flowing pressure
(BHFP). Special conditions apply at the
71

first control volume in the tubing and for
the control volume bordering the plunger.
A BHFP for the next timestep is assumed
for calculating the gas mass contained in
the system. Then, the equation of continu-
ity for the total system is checked.
Gas-Blowdown Component. The gas-
blowdown stage occurs after the liquid slug
above the plunger has surfaced and the
plunger arrives at the wellhead. The well-
head valve remains open for a predeter-
mined period of time called blowdown. At
the beginning of this period, the liquid pro-
duced from the slug is in the flowline and
the instantaneous liquid flow rate increases
because the liquid-slug weight is no longer
a force influencing dynamics.
From the equation of motion for single-
phase liquid flow and the same assump-
tions made in the analysis of the upstroke
stage, an equation for the instantaneous
acceleration of the slug in the flowline is
obtained. The slug is assumed to fill the
cross-sectional area of the flowline, while
its length is constant until it reaches the
separator. The same model for gas expan-
72
A R T I F I C I A L L I F T
sion behind the slug described in the
upstroke model is used for the blowdown
stage, with isothermal expansion in one
additional control volume for the flowline.
The pressure at the end of the flowline is
calculated numerically by modifying the
mass going to the separator over time. The
blowdown stage stops when either the pre-
determined blowdown time or minimum
tubing pressure is reached.
Buildup Component. The buildup stage
occurs after the wellhead valve is closed
and the plunger starts to fall. A method
similar to the gas expansion behind the
plunger in the upstroke component is used.
In this case, the BHFP increases with time.
A BHFP for the next timestep is assumed
for calculating the gas mass contained in
the system. Then, the equation of continu-
ity for the total system is checked as before.
The buildup stage stops when either the
predetermined buildup time or maximum
casing pressure is reached. The plunger
downstroke is also analyzed to verify that
the plunger arrives at the bottom before the
buildup stage ends and the wellhead valve
opens. The velocity of the plunger is
assumed to be 1,000 ft/min in the gas phase
and 172 ft/min in the liquid.
MODEL IMPLEMENTATION
A computer program was written to imple-
ment the dynamic model. With approxi-
mated initial BHFP and slug size, the
dynamic analysis begins with the buildup
stage until one of the parameters, time or
maximum casing pressure, controlling
buildup is obtained. The final buildup val-
ues of BHFP and slug size are used as initial
conditions for the upstroke model. After
analyzing the upstroke stage, if the plunger
arrives at the wellhead, the blowdown stage
continues until the blowdown time or min-
imum tubing pressure is reached. Then, the
buildup stage starts again with initial con-
ditions from the blowdown stage. The pro-
gram iterates to a solution on the basis of
convergence of the conditions for the vari-
ous components. The program checks for
undesired conditions during the simula-
tion, such as the well dying, the plunger not
reaching bottom during buildup, or the
plunger not arriving at the surface during
the upstroke.
FIELD COMPARISON
A published field case was used to test the
performance of the dynamic model. Three
main differences with the real data were
observed. The model predicted a higher
average upstroke velocity, lower minimum
casing pressure, and a longer elapsed time
for the buildup. However, the model
described the observed data reasonably well.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The proposed model was implement-
ed in a computer program and replicated
published field data with reasonable engi-
neering accuracy .
2. Plunger-lift systems can be studied by
use of the model, and the model provides a
useful tool for system design and analysis.
3. Transient behavior of gas expansion
above the liquid slug when the tubing valve
is opened has a substantial effect on
plunger velocity.
4. Modeling accuracy for the blowdown
stage is essential because it directly influ-
ences the casing pressure, slug size, and
upstoke velocity.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
JULY 1998 •