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GB2371817A - Method of providing artificial lift in a well - Google Patents

Method of providing artificial lift in a well Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2371817A
GB2371817A GB0013128A GB0013128A GB2371817A GB 2371817 A GB2371817 A GB 2371817A GB 0013128 A GB0013128 A GB 0013128A GB 0013128 A GB0013128 A GB 0013128A GB 2371817 A GB2371817 A GB 2371817A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
well bore
well
liquid
fluids
gas
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB0013128A
Other versions
GB0013128D0 (en
Inventor
Paul William Gayton
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ingen Process Ltd
Original Assignee
Ingen Process Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ingen Process Ltd filed Critical Ingen Process Ltd
Priority to GB0013128A priority Critical patent/GB2371817A/en
Publication of GB0013128D0 publication Critical patent/GB0013128D0/en
Publication of GB2371817A publication Critical patent/GB2371817A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/16Enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/12Methods or apparatus for controlling the flow of the obtained fluid to or in wells
    • E21B43/121Lifting well fluids
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/34Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well
    • E21B43/40Separation associated with re-injection of separated materials

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Jet Pumps And Other Pumps (AREA)
  • Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)

Abstract

Artificial lift within a well is provided by injecting a volatile or miscible liquid into the well bore to mix with the fluids therein and so reduce the hydrostatic pressure within the well bore. Well fluids pass through a separator 5 and are split into liquid and gas components. The gas stream is cooled in a cooler 6 and the condensed liquids which are produced are separated off from the gas flow in a liquid gas scrubber 7. The liquid condensate is then injected into the production fluids within the well bore by pump 8.

Description

METHOD OF ARTIFICIAL LIFT
This invention relates to the extraction of fluids, particularly hydrocarbons from within a well bore. The invention finds particular application in the petrochemical industry for the extraction of oil and gas from a reservoir.
Commercial exploitation of natural reservoirs of hydrocarbon deposits such as oil or gas has taken place since the mid to late nineteenth century. During the last century, the petrochemical industry has steadily developed and this has led to the depletion of readily accessible land based reservoirs. The majority of such petrochemical production has now therefore moved to off-shore facilities which are often centered around deep water sites. In these cases, the production fluids have to travel a significantly greater distance from the reservoir to the surface for collection and the rate of production from the well bore is therefore dependent upon the natural drive of the site.
The natural flow of liquid from the well may cease for example when the hydrostatic pressure within the well is greater than the reservoir pressure which is detectable as a fluid pressure in a well whenever an oil or gas reservoir has been intercepted by that well. Production of hydrocarbons from the well is controlled, in part by the pumping of drilling fluids"mud"into the well bore to form a column of liquid which is maintained above the reservoir.
The hydrostatic head in a well is the pressure exerted by the column of liquid, having a given density, above a point a given distance below. If the hydrostatic pressure is
greater than the reservoir pressure this prevents hydrocarbons being produced into the well bore.
Where the natural flow of liquid from a well has ceased or decreased to such a point where the rate of flow is too slow for economical production, but deposits of hydrocarbons remain in the reservoir, artificial lift devices such as gas lift apparatus and downhole pumps are occasionally employed to stimulate movement of fluid uphole and therefore prolong the production life of the well.
In one known process, dry gas consisting mainly of methane and ethane is forced down the annulus between the tubing and the casing and into the liquid in the tubing.
The gas is injected through the well annulus space at a point downhole where an orifice and/or a valve is provided for the introduction of the gas into the well tubing.
As the production liquid in the tubing becomes mixed with the injected gas, the density of the liquid decreases.
This has the consequence of reducing the hydrostatic pressure in the wellbore above the point where the gas is injected. As the weight of the column of the gasified liquid in the tubing becomes less than the pressure exerted on the body of liquid in the well from the reservoir below, then flow of liquid occurs at the surface. By using such an artificial lift process, the well can be produced at a greater rate.
Gas lift systems for liquid hydrocarbon production are quite expensive as it is generally necessary to provide the gas for injection into the well bore at a high pressure.
The compression of gas prior to injection requires both a relatively high capital and operating expenditure.
Furthermore, the production wells where such gas lift systems are employed are often located in offshore fields where platforms are built over the field to allow for production to occur. In such locations space and power are at a premium and the requirement to provide and operate high-pressure gas equipment can present a serious risk to safety of both operating personnel and the production platform itself.
Downhole pumping systems are similarly disadvantaged.
These systems require high maintenance, are relatively expensive and unreliable. The use of downhole pumps also requires an external energy source.
The present invention aims to overcome or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages to provide an improved method and apparatus for artificial lift in a well.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing artificial lift within a well bore to encourage production of well fluids by injecting a volatile or miscible liquid into the well bore to mix with the fluids therein, said liquid being volatilisable or miscible when mixed with said fluids in the well bore, whereby the hydrostatic pressure within the well bore is reduced thereby forcing production fluids within the well bore to the surface.
This allows for the extraction of production fluids to be more economically carried out as the volatile or miscible liquids are provided at low pressure in place of high pressure gas which is generally used to establish such artificial lift conditions within the well bore. The volatile or miscible liquids may be injected using liquid pumping equipment in place of high pressure gas compression equipment.
This is particularly relevant in the area of deep water reservoirs where the high cost of production must be set against the potential revenue available from exploiting the hydrocarbon deposits in the area.
Advantageously, upon extraction, the production fluids are separated and processed on site to provide volatile liquids for re-injection into the well bore. As the volatile liquids are recycled from the well bore during production, this also assists in reducing the overall production costs. In the case of heavy oils the mixing of miscible liquids with heavy oil assists oil/water separation by promoting gravity separation.
Conveniently, following separation, the gas phase is cooled to produce condensates which are collected to form the volatile liquids. The condensates may be collected using a gas scrubbing operation.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for aiding artificial lift in a well bore comprising means for separating well fluids extracted from the well into liquid and gas phases, cooling
means to encourage the gas phase to form condensates, means for recovering the condensates for reintroduction as a volatile liquid back into the well bore and means for injecting said volatile liquid into the well bore.
One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the enclosed schematic figure which illustrates a single stage separation. The Figure illustrates a well bore 1 from which well fluids F such as a mixture of oil and gas are recovered. A production tubing string 2 is run down the well bore, through which the well fluids flow to reach the surface for processing.
A choke valve 3 is located adjacent the surface of the well bore to control the velocity of the fluids flowing from the well. The fluids are transported via a flow line 4 to a separation unit 5.
The well fluids are passed through the separation unit 5 and are split into separate liquid and gas components.
The liquid recovered at this point is exported from the recovery system.
The gas stream is then cooled in a cooler 6 and the condensed liquids which are produced are separated off from the gas flow in a liquid gas scrubber 7. Any gas remaining in the stream is taken off for export or disposal.
The liquid condensate produced after the cooling process is pumped 8 through either the annulus or a relatively small bore conduit 9, such as coiled tubing, into the annulus or direct to the well bore 1. A valve 10 is provided at the end of the coiled tubing through which
the injection of the condensate into the production fluids within the well is controlled. The condensate is injected into the well bore at a point below the annulus between the well bore 1 and the production tubing string 2. This allows the annulus to be held at a low pressure (as is normal with non-gas lifted wells).
Well production fluid flowing into the production tubing comes into contact with the injected liquid condensate as it passed through the valve. As the two liquid streams mix, the density of the combined stream will be lower than the density of the well production fluid alone. As the combined fluid flows to the surface and the combined stream reaches thermal equilibrium, a quantity of gas will be formed depending on the vapor liquid equilibrium. The reduced density and gas breakout will both have the effect of reducing the hydrostatic pressure within the well which will have the effect of increasing the flow of well fluids though the production tubing and therefor increases the potential production of the well.
The above described example refers to a single separation process, however further separation process may be carried out to produce further condensates if required.
The above described condensate lift is advantageous for use in oil and gas processing systems where compressed gas for gas lift systems is at a premium and where oil production requires an artificial lift process to be applied. A typical example of the benefit of this system could be seen in its application on floating production vessels, hydrocarbon equilibria and well production
conditions permitting. Such a system would give a gas lift effect without the cost, space and operating expenditure penalties of having to install dedicated gas lift compression equipment.
Another example of the benefit of this system is its application to heavy oil production where pumped artificial lift systems are often employed and where gravity separation is difficult. In these cases, the formation of emulsions by pumps can reduce separation efficiencies.
Volatile or miscible liquid injection also helps to air separation and minimise emulsion production. If there are no pumps required then it can allow the use of unmanned or subsea facilities to produce the well fluids.
The other advantages of this inventions are that it combines known technologies and methods in a simple way to give a low risk alternative artificial lift. In all cases the artificial lift effect can be easily assessed using industry standard well and process simulation tools.
It is to be understood that there are several possible methods of injection of condensate downhole, for example:a) either through the annulus, or b) through coiled tubing; c) through a dual completion; d) through a sleeve inserted into production tubing.
Furthermore, there are several possible methods of supply of the condensate, such as for example : a) either through a simple recycle as shown and described by fig 1; or b) from export condensate recovery; c) from cold plant condensate recovery, d) from adjacent gas condensate fields and condensate separation facilities.

Claims (8)

1. A method of providing artificial lift within a well bore to encourage production of well fluids by injecting a volatile or miscible liquid into the well bore to mix with the fluids therein, said liquid being volatilisable or miscible when mixed with said fluids in the well bore, whereby the hydrostatic pressure within the well bore is reduced thereby forcing production fluids within the well bore to the surface.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the volatile or miscible liquids is injected using liquid pumping equipment or high pressure gas compression equipment.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the production fluids are separated and processed on site to provide volatile liquids for re-injection into the well bore.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein following separation, the gas phase is cooled to produce condensates which are collected to form the volatile liquids.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the condensates are collected using a gas scrubbing operation.
6. A method of providing artificial lift within a well bore substantially as hereinbefore described.
7. An apparatus for aiding artificial lift in a well bore comprising means for separating well fluids extracted from the well into liquid and gas phases, cooling means to encourage the gas phase to form condensates, means for recovering the condensates for reintroduction as a volatile liquid back into the well bore and means for injecting said volatile liquid into the well bore.
8. Apparatus for aiding artificial lift in a well bore substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 1.
GB0013128A 2000-05-31 2000-05-31 Method of providing artificial lift in a well Withdrawn GB2371817A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0013128A GB2371817A (en) 2000-05-31 2000-05-31 Method of providing artificial lift in a well

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0013128A GB2371817A (en) 2000-05-31 2000-05-31 Method of providing artificial lift in a well

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0013128D0 GB0013128D0 (en) 2000-07-19
GB2371817A true GB2371817A (en) 2002-08-07

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB0013128A Withdrawn GB2371817A (en) 2000-05-31 2000-05-31 Method of providing artificial lift in a well

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2371817A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7389684B2 (en) 2005-11-03 2008-06-24 Roy Jude B Gas lift flow surveillance device

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1983001273A1 (en) * 1981-10-06 1983-04-14 Chaudot, Gérard Extraction from oil fields with reinjection of separated materials
US4919207A (en) * 1986-06-25 1990-04-24 Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method for drawing up special crude oil
US5351756A (en) * 1992-05-20 1994-10-04 Institut Francais Du Petrole Process for the treatment and transportation of a natural gas from a gas well
US5655895A (en) * 1992-12-19 1997-08-12 Ksb Aktiengesellschaft Turbopump for conveying highly viscous substances
WO2001038594A1 (en) * 1999-11-25 2001-05-31 Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd. Fe-Ni BASED ALLOY FOR SEMI-TENSION MASK EXCELLENT IN MAGNETIC CHARACTERISTICS, AND SEMI-TENSION MASK AND COLOR CATHODE-RAY TUBE USING THE SAME

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1983001273A1 (en) * 1981-10-06 1983-04-14 Chaudot, Gérard Extraction from oil fields with reinjection of separated materials
US4919207A (en) * 1986-06-25 1990-04-24 Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method for drawing up special crude oil
US5351756A (en) * 1992-05-20 1994-10-04 Institut Francais Du Petrole Process for the treatment and transportation of a natural gas from a gas well
US5655895A (en) * 1992-12-19 1997-08-12 Ksb Aktiengesellschaft Turbopump for conveying highly viscous substances
WO2001038594A1 (en) * 1999-11-25 2001-05-31 Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd. Fe-Ni BASED ALLOY FOR SEMI-TENSION MASK EXCELLENT IN MAGNETIC CHARACTERISTICS, AND SEMI-TENSION MASK AND COLOR CATHODE-RAY TUBE USING THE SAME

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7389684B2 (en) 2005-11-03 2008-06-24 Roy Jude B Gas lift flow surveillance device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0013128D0 (en) 2000-07-19

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710B Request of alter time limits

Free format text: APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF THE PERIOD(S) PRESCRIBED BY RULE(S) 25(2) FILED ON 10 JUL 2001.

WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)