7.

1 Gas Lift Performance

Typical Gas Lift Installation
Christmas tree

Unloading Valve
Gas Lift Mandril

Tubing

Operating Valve
Packer
 Gas Lift
• Continuous flow of high-pressure gas
introduced into the tubing close to the
bottom of the well
– Reduces density of flowing fluids
– Decreased pressure drop in tubing
– Lower bottomhole flowing pressure
Conventional Valve
Wireline-retrievable Valve
 Valve Type
• Conventional
– Early design – part of tubing string
– Tubing pulled to replace valve
– Workover rig costs
• Retrievable Valves
– First appeared in 1950’s
– Simple wireline operation to pull or install valve
– “Kickover tool”
– Cheap, flexible
Theory
 Dead Well
• Regardless of
producing condition,
reservoir cannot provide
enough energy to
overcome tubing
pressure losses
• Try to decrease tubing
pressure losses by
injecting gas.
 Gas Lifted Well
• Increasing gas reduces
flowing gradient until a
minimum tubing
gradient is attained.
• Further injection
increases gradient
• Many possible injection
depths/ flowing
pressures possible.
• For fixed rate, deepest
injection minimizes
required gas.
 Placement of Injection Valve
• Valve depth
restrictions
– Packer depth
– Available gas
injection pressure
• Depth optimizes
– Gas injected
– Oil rate (present and
future)
– Profit
 Gas Injection Pressure at
Valve pio
Gas

• Usually casing-
tubing annulus is
large D
– Negligible friction
pressure losses
– Static pressure
gradients
• D – true vertical Gas Lift
Valve
depth
 Gas Injection Pressure at
Valve
• Static pressure gradient
dp g

dD 144 g c
• Real Gas Law
pM 29p
 
zRT zRT
 Gas Injection Pressure at
Valve
• Substitute
dp 0.20139p

dD zRT
• Separate variables and integrate

dp 0.20139
pioD D


pio
p

z RT 0  dD
 Gas Injection Pressure at
Valve
• Expand and simplify
 pioD  0.20139D
ln   
 pio  z RT
 0.20139D 
pioD  pio exp  
 z RT 

• Bar quantities at “average” conditions

 Example Problem
• Gas specific gravity. g =0.70
• Atmospheric pressure= 14.7 psia.
• Injection gas pressure at surface pio = I000
psig= 1014.7 psia.
• True vertical depth of gas column, D = 8000
ft.
• Wellhead temperature = 80 oF
• Bottomhole temperature = 200 oF
• Calculate the static gas pressure at 8000 ft.
 Solution
• Average temperature in well = 0.5(80 +
200) = 140 oF = 600 oR
• Constant exponent group
0.20139D 0.201390.7 8000
  0.175
RT 10.73600
• Iterative procedure: Guess pioD = 1114.7
psia; average pressure = 1064.7 psia
 Solution
• From charts for hydrocarbon gases
– Pseudocritical Pressure = 670 psia
– Pseudocritical Temperature = 380 oR
• Reduced temperature = 600/380 = 1.6
• Reduced pressure = 1064.7/ 670 = 1.6
• Z-factor = 0.88
 0.175 
pioD  1014.7 exp    1238 psia
 0.88 
 Solution
• Update average pressure =
0.5(1014.7+1238)=1126.35
• Reduced pressure = 1126.35 / 670 =
1.68
• Z-Factor = 0.87
 0.175 
pioD  1014.7 exp    1241 psia
 0.87 
 Injection Depth
• Injection pressure
at the gas lift
valve must
exceed the
pressure in the
tubing.
• Reservoir
depletion?
– IPR moves to left
– Maximize
injection depth
 Reservoir Depletion
• Valve must be set
deep enough to
offset declining
reservoir
performance.
– Choose maximum
depth possible
under operating
conditions.
 Fixed Valve Depth

• Can vary rate and

find required
injection Gas Liquid
Ratio (GLR)
 Operating Valve Pressure Drop

• Suppose:
– No pressure drop
across valve
– Fluctuations in
operating injection
pressure result in
insufficient pressure
for gas injection
– Well dies
• Unstable system
 Operating Valve Pressure Drop

• Need pressure drop of 50 – 150 psi

across valve for stability
– Provides flexibility in operations
– Need to size orifice.
 Injection Depth
• Select desired oil rate
– Determine bottomhole pressure (IPR)
• Starting at bottomhole pressure, calculate
pressure versus depth under natural flow.
• Starting at the surface at the operating
injection pressure, draw the gas casing
pressure versus depth curve.
• Draw a gas injection (tubing) pressure curve
parallel to the casing curve by subtracting off
the valve pressure drop (50-150 psi).
 Injection Depth
• Find the depth where the natural flow
curve and the gas injection pressure
curves intersect. That is your injection
depth.
Example Problem

Operating Valve Location

 Given Information
• Depth = 8000 ft
• Desired Rate = 1000 B/D (100 % oil)
• Tubing Size = 2 3/8” O.D.
• Flowing Well head pressure = 100 psig
• Static Bottom hole pressure = 2650 psig
• PI = 2 (assume constant)
• Solution GOR = 200 scf/STB
• Specific gravity of injection gas = 0.7
• Surface operating Injection pressure = 900 psig
• API = 40o
• Bottomhole temperature = 200 oF
• Surface temperature = 120 oF
Determine bottomhole flowing
pressure
q  J  p  pwf 
q
pwf  p
J
1000
pwf  2650 
2
 2150 psi
 Compute Injection Gas
Gradient
• Assume Gas Bottomhole pressure =
1050 psig
• Average pressure = 975 psig = 989.7
• Pc = 665 psia; Pr = 1.49
• Tc= 378 oR; Tr = 660/378 = 1.75
• Z = 0.925
 Compute Injection Gas
Gradient
 0.20139D 
pioD  pio exp  
 z RT 
 
 
 0.201390.7 8000 
 914.7 exp
  120  200 
 0.92510.73  460  
  2 
 1098.7 psia  1084 psig
 Compute Injection Gas
Gradient
• Repeat with updated pressure
– Pavg = (914.7 + 1098.7)/2 = 1006.7 psia
– Pr = 1006.7/665 = 1.5
– Z = 0.925
• Bottomhole pressure = 1084 psig
• Allow 100 psi drop across valve
– Plot gas injection curve as line from 814.7
psia to 1098.7 psia
Pseudocritical Pressure
Pseudocritical Temperature
 Injection Depth
Gas Lift Design Injection Point
Pressure (psia)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
• Intercept Tubing pressure 0
curve under Natural flow and Pso

Gas injection line after 1000

considering DP across the

2000
valve
– Pressure = 1151.7 psia 3000

– Depth = 5200 ft

Depth (ft)
4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000
 Injection Depth
Gas Lift Design Injection Point
Pressure (psia)
• Intercept Tubing pressure 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0
curve under Natural flow and Pso
Gas injection line after 1000
considering DP across the
2000
valve
– Pressure = 1151.7 psia 3000

– Depth = 5200 ft

Depth (ft)
4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000
 Find Injection GLR
or Qg injected
• Trial and error
– Start at surface pressure and work toward
injection point
– Vary Gas rate
– Must have same pressure as natural flow
at the injection point
Iteration Sequence
Gas Lift Design Injection Point
Pressure (psia)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0
Pso

1000

2000

3000

GLR 2 GLR 1
Depth (ft)

4000

GLR 3
5000

6000

7000

8000

9000
 Injection Depth/ Gas Injection
Rate

• Injection Depth = 5200 ft

• Injection Rate = 2.0 MMscf/D
 Determination of Orifice Size
• Given
– Gas injection rate
– Casing pressure
– Tubing pressure
• Need size of orifice in valve
– Thornhill-Craver Charts
 Thornhill-Craver Equation
 R  R 
 k  2/ k ( k 1) / k
155.5 Cd A PC 2 g 
 k 1
Qg Mscf / D 
 gTC
Cd= Discharge Coefficient = 0.865
A = Opening Gas Flow Area (in2)
PC= Casing Pressure (psia)
Pt= Tubing pressure (psia)
K = Specific heat ratio = 1.31 for natural gas
R= Pt/PC 605.37 Cd A PC
Qg Mscf / D  if Pt  0.54 PC
k  g TC
 2  k 1
 d2 
2
Rcritical     0.54
 K 1 Qg 2 Mscf / D  Qg1 Mscf / D  
 d1 
 Thornhill-Craver Charts
• Constructed for
– Gas Gravity = 0.65
– Temperature = 60 oF
• Must correct for actual gas gravity and
temperature at gas lift valve (oR)
C  0.0544  gTC
• Chart gas injection volume = C  Qactual
 Example
• Given:
– Injection Volume = 100000 scf/D
– Temperature = 176 oF
– Specific Gravity = 0.7
– Upstream Pressure = 1000 psi
– Downstream Pressure = 900 psi
• Calculate the required orifice size
 Solution
• Correction Factor
C  0.0544 0.7176  460  1.148
• Chart Gas Injection Volume = 1.148
100000 = 114800 scf/D
• From Chart – 8/64 inch.