PETE 625

Well Control
Lesson 2
Gas Behavior and
Hydrostatics
Contents
Why Study Well Control?
Ideal Gases
Real Gases
Critical Temperature & Pressure
Pseudo-Critical Temp. and Press.
Gas Compressibility
Problems
Assignments
Homework #1:
Ch 1, Problems 1.1-1.10
due
Homework #2:
Ch 1, Problems 1.11-1.21
Read: All of Chapter 1
4
5
Why study well control?
Well control fundamentals are quite
well known and understood
Individuals involved in drilling
operations have, in general, received
well control training
6
Why study well control?
Yet, well control problems, and
blowouts occur
with casualties
with environmental damage
at high cost (often in $millions/occurrence)
7
Why study well control?
Most blowouts result from human
failure
Perhaps advanced well control training
and education can further improve
the statistics
8
Why study well control?
At times unconventional well control
procedures are necessary in order to
avoid blowouts
We can all learn from the mistakes
made in the past to help avoid
problems in the future
9
Why study well control?
Well owners, oil field workers, and
regulatory authorities are becoming
increasingly intolerant of human
error relative to well operations
10
Why study well control?
The way to prevent failures:
proper training
responsible engineering and planning
adequate equipment
prudently executed operations
11
Why study well control?
Advanced well control can offer the
largest impact in the following areas:
proper engineering design of wells, such
as proper casing setting depths and
proper materials
operational planning, and
the execution of the drilling process
12
Why study well control?
Costs may be higher in the short term,
but future profits will not be spent
cleaning up and litigating past
mistakes
13
Why study well control?
Influx into wellbore may be gas, oil,
and/or water
All well control methods:
maintain a constant BHP
consider the behavior of gas under
changing wellbore conditions
are designed to move gas up a wellbore to
the surface whenever possible
must allow gas, if present, to expand
14
Why study well control?
Different well control methods may
result in different wellbore pressures
Accurate pressure predictions require
knowledge of the influx composition,
temperature, and pressure
Influx phase changes can and do occur
in the process of killing a well
15
Pressure-temperature phase
diagram for a pure substance
Temperature
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
Solid Liquid
Gas
C
T
c
P
c
Melting Point Curve
Vapor Pressure Curve
Critical
Temperature
16
Some Definitions
The reduced pressure of a pure gas is the ratio of the
gas pressure to the critical pressure of the gas, p/p
c
The reduced temperature of a pure gas is the ratio of the
gas temperature to its critical temperature, T/T
c
The critical temperature of a gas is the highest
temperature at which a fluid can exist as a liquid or vapor.
Above this temperature the fluid is a gas, at any pressure.
The critical pressure is the pressure needed to
condense a vapor at its critical temperature
Use absolute units, e.g.,
o
R and psia
17
Physical Properties of
Natural Gas Constituents
18
Universal Gas Constant
Values
p V T n R
psia ft
3 o
R lbm mole 10.732
psia gal
o
R lbm mole 80.275
psia bbl
o
R lbm mole 1.911
kPa m
3 o
K g mole 0.0083145
kPa m
3 o
K kg mole 8.3145
pV=ZnRT
19
Typical phase diagram for mixtures
Bubble point curve
Dew point curve
20
Ideal Gases
Boyles Law:
Charles Law:
Ideal Gas Law:
or
t tan cons
T
V p
T
V p
2
2 2
1
1 1
= =
t tan cons
T
p
T
p
2
2
1
1
= =
t tan cons V p V p
2 2 1 1
= =
nRT pV =
) constant = T
) constant = V
21
Problem 1
A 20 bbl gas influx has entered a well at
bottomhole pressure of 3,500 psia.
Determine the gas volume when the
kick exits the well.
(a) Assume atmospheric pressure of 14.4
psia and no change in the gas
temperature.
(b) Assume initial gas temperature of 150
o
F and surface temperature of 65
o
F.
22
Solution
(a) Using Boyles law:
2 2 1 1
V p V p =
psia 4 . 14
bbl 20 * psia 3,500
V
2
=
2
1 1
2
p
V p
V =
V
2
= 4,861 bbl
(243x expansion!)
23
Solution
(b) Using the Ideal Gas law:
V
2
= 4,148 bbl
Note: If a real change in temperature is ignored (in this
example) the predicted volume is high by approx. 17%
2
2 2
1
1 1
T
V p
T
V p
=
460) (150 * 14.4
) 460 65 ( * 20 * 500 , 3
T p
T V p
V
1 2
2 1 1
2
+
+
= =
(207x expansion!)
24
Problem 2
What is the density of the gas from the
previous example if it contains 90%
methane and 10% ethane.
(a) Under bottomhole conditions?
(b) Under the specified atmospheric
conditions?
25
Solution
Weighted molecular weight:
MW
gas
= 0.9 * 16.0 + 0.1 * 30.1 (Eq. 1.1)
= 17.41
Gas Specific gravity:
a
g
g
MW
MW
=
600 . 0
29
41 . 17
= =
g
26
Solution
(a) Under bottomhole conditions the gas
density (assume Z = 1):
) 460 150 ( 28 . 80 * 1
) 500 , 3 )( 600 . 0 ( 29
29
,
+
=

= p
ZRT
p
g
bottom g
ppg 24 . 1
bottom , g
= p
27
Solution
(b) Under the specified
atmospheric conditions:
) 460 65 ( 28 . 80 * 1
) 4 . 14 )( 600 . 0 ( 29
,
+
= p
surface g
ppg 00594 . 0
surface , g
= p
ZRT
p
g
g

= p
29
28
Properties of H-C gases
Mol. Specific Critical Critical
Wt. gravity Temp Press
o
R psia
Methane, CH
4
16.0 0.55 343 668
Ethane, C
2
H
6
30.1 1.04 550 708
Propane, C
3
H
8
44.1 1.52 666 616
n-Butane, C
4
H
10
58.1 2.00 765 551
Nitrogen, N
2
28.0 0.97 227 493
Carbon Dioxide, CO
4
44.0 1.52 548 1,071
Hydrogen Sulfide, H
2
S 34.1 1.18 673 1,306
Water, H
2
O 18.0 0.62 1,166 3,208
29
Real Gases
The Equation of State, EOS
for a non-ideal gas is:
pV = ZnRT
The Z-factor, or compressibility factor,
is an empirical adjustment for the
non-ideal behavior of a real gas
30
Real Gases
Z, the compressibility factor, is 1 at atmospheric
conditions, decreases as the pressure
increases (min. value ~ 0.25) and then
increases again, reaching a value of 1 or
more at pseudo reduced pressures in excess
of 9.
At low temperatures and a pseudo-reduced
pressure in excess of 25, the value of Z can
be as high as 2.0, or even higher (Fig. 1.7).
31
Problem 3
Repeat Problem 2 taking into consideration
the variation in Z-factor with changes in
temperature and pressure.
From Problem 2,
g
= 0.600
From Fig. 1.5, the Pseudo-critical pressure,
P
pc
= 671 psig
and the pseudo-critical temperature
T
pc
= 358
o
R
32
Fig. 1.5-Gas Specific Gravity (air = 1)
T
p
c

(
o
R
)
p
p
c


(
p
s
i
a
)
671
358
33
Problem 3
The psuedo-reduced pressure,
p
pr
= p / p
pc
At Bottomhole conditions,
p
pr
= 3,500 / 671 = 5.22
At the surface,
p
pr
= 14.7 / 671 = .022
The pseudo-reduced pressure of a gas mixture is the ratio p/p
pc
34
Problem 3
The psuedo-reduced Temperature,
T
pr
= T / T
pc
At Bottomhole conditions,
T
pr
= 610 / 358 = 1.70
At the surface,
T
pr
= 525 / 358 = 1.47
The pseudo-reduced temperature is the ratio T/T
pc
35
Problem 3
From Fig. 2.6, the Z-factors can now be
determined.
Under bottomhole conditions,
Z = 0.886
Under surface conditions,
Z = .995 ~ 1
36
Bottomhole
Surface
0.995
0.886
37
Determination of Z-factor
If a computer is available, Z factors can
be calculated:
p
pr
= 756.8 - 131
g
- 3.6
g
2
T
pr
= 169.2 + 349.5
g
74
g
2
Z can be taken from chart or calculated
on spreadsheet
38
Determination of Z-factor
39
Problem 3
) 610 )( 28 . 80 )( 886 . 0 (
) 500 , 3 )( 6 . 0 ( 29
29
,
=

= p
ZRT
P
g
bottom g
At bottomhole conditions, the density of
the gas is:
This is 13% above the value obtained
for an ideal gas
ppg
bottom g
4 . 1
,
= p
40
Problem 3
Under surface conditions, with a
Z - factor near 1, the
density is still ~ 0.0059 ppg.
Note: At a pressure of 10,000 psia and
temperature of 200
O
F
p
pr
= 10,000 / 671 = 14.9
T
pr
= 660 / 358 = 1.84
Z = 1.41 and p
g
= 2.33 ppg
41
Problem 4
A 12,000 vertical well is shut in
with a single-phase, 0.6 gravity
gas influx on bottom. SICP =
500 psia. The initial influx height
is determined to be 400 ft. Mud
density = 11.5 ppg.
Determine the BHP
if BHT = 205 deg F
500 psi
400 ft
42
Solution
The pressure at the top of the kick is:
p = SICP + HSP
mud
= 500 + 0.052*11.5*(12,000-400)
p = 7,437 psia
p
r
= p/p
pr
= 7,437/671 = 11.08, and
T
r
= T/T
pr
= 665/358 = 1.86
Z = 1.195 from Fig. 2
43
Solution
) 665 ( ) 27 . 80 ( ) 195 . 1 (
) 437 , 7 ( ) 6 . 0 ( 29
ZRT
p 29
g
g
=

= p
BHP = 7,437 + 0.052 * 2.03 * 400
= 7,479 psia
ppg
bottom g
03 . 2
,
= p
44
Problem 5
Consider the same well. What would the
SICP be if all the drilling fluid had been
unloaded from the hole prior to shut-in?
Assume BHP = 7,479 psia as calculated
in problem 4. Also assume that the
average wellbore temperature is 160
deg F.
45
Solution
Solve by trial and error.
First assume that Z = 1
73 . 1 358 / 620 T
05 . 10 671 /
2
009 , 6 479 , 7
p
psia 009 , 6 p
p 243 . 1 e p 479 , 7
e p p
pr
pr
o
o
) 620 )( 0 . 1 ( 3 . 53
) 0 000 , 12 ( 6 . 0
o
ZT 3 . 53
) D D (
o
0 g
= =
=

'
+

'

+
=
=
= =
=

46
Solution
Thus, Z = 1.132 Then:
73 . 1 358 / 620 T
17 . 10 671 /
2
164 , 6 479 , 7
p
psia 164 , 6 p
e p 479 , 7
pr
pr
o
) 620 )( 132 . 1 ( 3 . 53
) 0 000 , 12 ( 6 . 0
o
= =
=

'
+

'

+
=
=
=

47
Solution
Now, Z = 1.140 Then:
) 620 )( 14 . 1 ( 3 . 53
) 0 000 , 12 ( 6 . 0
o
e p 479 , 7

=
Close enough
psia 173 , 6 p
o
=
48
6,173 psia
12,000 7,472 psia
49
Problem 6
For the same well, determine the
equivalent density at depths of 6,000
and 12,000.
Assume the average temperature from
the surface to 6,000 is 120
o
F for the
case where the hole is filled with gas.
50
Solution
At TD,
p
equiv
= (7,479-14.4) / (0.052*12,000)
= 12.0 ppg
Recall that: p = 0.052 * MW * Depth
so, MW = p / (0.052 * Depth)
51
Solution
At 6,000
p = 500 + 0.052*11.5*6,000 = 4,048 psia
p
equiv
= (4,048-14.4)/(0.052*6,000)
= 13.0 ppg
52
Solution
What is the equivalent density at 1,000?
p = 500 + 0.052*11.5*1,000 = 1,098 psia
p
equiv
= (1,098-14.4)/(0.052*1,000)
= 20.8 ppg
Note how the equivalent density
increases as depth decreases.
53
Equivalent Mud Weight
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
0 5 10 15 20 25
EMW, ppg
D
e
p
t
h
,


f
t