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PE 7003
Artificial Lift Systems

Dr. Holden Zhang

McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering
The University of Tulsa

Chapter 2
Continuous Gas Lift

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Gas Lift
 Continuous gas lift Christmas tree Injection Choke

 Production rate ranges

from 200 to 20,000 B/D
 Can exceed 80,000 B/D on
casing flow Unloading Valve
Gas Lift Mandrel
 Can efficiently produce 25
B/D with “macaroni” Tubing

tubing (1 in.)
 Intermittent gas lift
 Used for low PI or low Operating Valve
bottomhole pressure Packer
TU PE 3073 Production
Engineering I, Chapter 7

Continuous Gas Lift…

 Gas is injected continuously into

produced fluid stream
 Reduces backpressure on formation by
reducing density – and therefore
hydrostatic pressure – of produced fluid
 Typically used in high productivity wells
to handle rates from 100 to 30,000 B/D.
 In wells with very high productivity
indexes, even higher rates can be
attained by injecting gas into tubing and
producing fluids through casing-tubing
annulus.

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Intermittent Gas Lift

 Similar as continuous lift, but its
operating principle is different
 Rather than lowering density of
produced fluid, it works by displacing
liquid “slugs” to surface
 When a certain volume of fluid
accumulates in wellbore, gas is injected
into tubing, where it lifts column of fluid
to surface as a slug.
 After liquid slug is produced, gas
injection is stopped to allow liquid to
build up again.
 Surface timer or adjustable choke is
used to control gas injection.
 Generally used in wells with limited
inflow potential

Continuous Gas Lift

 Continuous flow of
high-pressure gas
introduced into tubing
close to bottom of well
 Reduces density of
flowing fluids
 Decreases pressure
drop in tubing
 Lower bottomhole
flowing pressure
TU PE 3073 Production
Engineering I, Chapter 7

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Continuous Gas Lift…

 Is the form of artificial lift that most closely
resembles the natural flow process
 It can be considered an extension of the
natural flow process
 Natural Flow
In a naturally flowing well, as the fluid travels upward
toward the surface, the pressure is reduced and gas may
come out of solution
The free gas, being lighter than the oil and water it
displaces, reduces the density of the fluid column
 Gas Lift
What gas lift does is supplement the formation gas with a
certain amount of injected gas to further reduce the
density of the produced mixture

Gas Injection into Reservoir

 Gas lift different from gas injection to reservoir

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Gas Lift System

Surface Components

Sub-Surface Components

Gas Lift Animation

Reservoir Components

Typical Gas Lift System

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Gas Lift Surface Operation…

Res. Injected
Fluid + Gas
Inj. Gas

Surface Equipment
 Source of high pressure injection gas
 Injection pressure flowline
 Surface choke installed in the injection line
 Used to adjust the amount of gas flowing into the
casing
 Surface choke installed in the production line
 Use carefully since a production choke may induce
heading in a gas lift well

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Subsurface Equipment
 Tubing string
 Packer
 Mandrels
 Special tubing sections with an
enlarged cross section that houses
the gas lift valves. The mandrel
design allows the gas lift valves to be
installed sideways, leaving an
unobstructed passage through the
tubing string

Subsurface Equipment…
 Gas lift valves
 Allow gas to flow from the casing into the tubing
string. There are several types and all of them
should have a check valve to prevent backflow.
Can be installed and removed with a wire line or
coil tubing operation
Unloading valves are used to remove completion liquid
from the casing. They are usually used only once during
kick-off of the well. They are pressure operated valves
that “open” and “close” at certain pressure conditions
Operating valve is usually the deepest one and is used to
continuously inject gas into the tubing string. It is usually
just an orifice with a check valve and its main function is
to control the amount of gas being injected into the
tubing

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Equipment Considerations
 Initial cost for down-hole equipment is usually
low if high pressure gas is already available
 Unavailable space for compressors on off-shore
platforms may be a drawback
 The surface equipment for injection gas control
is simple and requires little maintenance and
practically no space installation
 Wide well spacing may limit the use of a centrally
located source of high pressure gas
 Casing and lines must withstand gas pressure.
Old casing, sour gas, and long, small-ID flow
lines can rule out gas lift operations

Gas Lift Surface Operation

 Natural gas is compressed and routed to individual wells
 “Lift gas” is injected downhole into produced fluid stream
through one or more valves set at specified depths (commonly
gas is injected from casing-tubing annulus)
 Lift gas and formation fluids are produced to surface
 Gas and liquids are separated; gas is then treated and sent
either to compression or to sales

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Maintenance and Workover

 Adaptable to crooked holes and also not
affected by deviated holes but high deviation
angles may require intervention with coil
tubing instead of wireline
 Wire-line retrievable gas lift valves can be
replaced without killing a well or pulling the
tubing. Major well workovers occur
infrequently and are usually not due to lifting
problems
 The normal design leaves the tubing fully
opened, thus permitting use of bottomhole
surveys, sand sounding and bailing,
production logging, paraffin cutting, etc

Lift Gas
 Increase in gas handled by the system may
require resizing of separators and
compressors
 Adequate gas supply is needed throughout the
life of the field. There must be enough gas for
the start-up of the system.
 Produced gas rate must be at least 10% of the
total circulated gas rate to replace losses in
the system
 In very rare cases air is used to lift the fluids
by first removing the oxygen, leaving mostly
nitrogen and carbon dioxide

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Operational Issues
 When lifting highly paraffinic oils, the cooling
effect due to the gas injection may increase
the deposition of wax in the tubing requiring
the use of paraffin cutters
 Gas lift can intensify the problems associated
with production of viscous crude, a super-
saturated brine, or emulsions
 Sand or solid materials in the liquid do not
affect gas lift equipment. Sand, solids or even
liquid droplets in the gas injection system can
damage the valves.

Flexibility
 Can be designed to operate over a wide range of
production rates without changing the subsurface
equipment
 Flexibility cannot be matched by any other form of
artificial lift
 Gas lift tolerates errors and bad design
assumptions and still works
 Good data as in any other method is required for a
good design but data uncertainty can be handled
very easily in the design
 Since the method is very forgiving an inefficient
design may sometimes be overlooked

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Gas Lift Advantages

 Flexibility in handling a wide range of production rates; can
convert from continuous to intermittent lift as reservoir
pressure or well productivity declines.
 Relatively good solids-handling capabilities
 Suitability for producing high-GLR wells
 Can be used in deviated wells
 Valves can be wireline installed and retrieved without
pulling out tubing string
 Relatively low-profile surface wellhead equipment, takes up
minimal surface space
 Multi-well production using single compressor
 Can manage high bottomhole temperatures or corrosive
environments
 Most installations provide full-bore tubing strings, which
facilitate downhole surveys, well monitoring and workover

Gas Lift Limitations

 Obtaining sufficient amounts of lift gas
 Need to provide compression and gas
treatment facilities
 Generally lower energy efficiency than
other lift methods
 Cannot reduce bottomhole pressure to
the low levels attainable by pump-
assisted lift
 One well may not be economical

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Factors to Consider
 Sand production  System optimization
 Produced water  Well stability
 Paraffin  Fluctuations in gas
 Annular safety system pressure and volume
 Corrosion effects  Well start up
 Hydrates  Plant considerations
 Chemical injection  Gas quality
 Scale  Freezing
 Gas handling capacity  Wireline difficulties
 Casing integrity  Dual lift
 Reservoir  Training
performance

Gas Lift Application Considerations

Typical Range Maximum
Operating Depth 5000-10,000’ TVD 15,000’ TVD
Operating Volume 100-10,000 BPD 30,000 BPD
Operating Temperature 100-250°F 400°F
Wellbore Deviation 0-50° 70°
Corrosion Handling Good to Excellent w/ Upgraded Materials
Gas Handling Excellent
Solids Handling Good
Fluid Gravity Best for >15°API
Servicing Wireline or Workover Rig
Prime Mover Type Compressor
Offshore Application Excellent
System Efficiency Low

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Dead Well

 Regardless of
producing condition,
reservoir cannot
provide enough Highest liquid level
energy to overcome
tubing pressure losses
 Injecting gas can
decrease tubing
pressure losses

Total Pressure Gradient and Components

dp 2 fv 2 dv
  g sin  v
dz d dz

Total Friction Elevation Acceleration

(Fanning) (negligible)

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Total Pressure Gradient and Components…

10000
Total
8000 Gravitation
Friction
dP/dZ, Pa/m

6000

4000

2000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
vSG

Gas Lift Well

 Increasing gas reduces
pressure gradient until a
minimum gradient is
attained
 Further injection increases
pressure gradient
 Many possible injection
depths/flowing pressures
 For fixed rate, deepest
injection minimizes
required gas

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Placement of Injection Valve

 Valve depth
restrictions
Packer depth
Available gas
injection pressure
 Depth optimizes
Gas injected
Oil rate (present and
future)
Profit

Nodal Analysis
 Nodal Analysis can determine the equilibrium
flowrate once gas is injected into the tubing string
 In order to inject gas we must model the flow of gas
through the gas lift valve, down the annulus,
through the surface choke and gas distribution
system
 A solid knowledge of gas lift technology requires
knowledge of
 Inflow performance relationship
 Two phase flow in pipes and outflow performance
relationship
 Gas passage through orifice
 Single phase gas flow in wells and flowlines

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Gas Lift Mechanism

 For a certain flowrate
the bottom hole
flowing pressure can
be determined based
on the IPR
 Then, pressure
profile in the tubing
string can be
obtained using the
reservoir gas liquid
ratio and fluid
properties

Gas Lift Mechanism…

 In order to increase the equilibrium
flowrate, the bottom hole flowing
pressure must be reduced
 This can only be accomplished if the
pressure gradient in the tubing is
modified
 In continuous gas lift this is
accomplished by changing the gas
liquid ratio in the tubing by a
systematic continuous gas injection
 The total gas liquid ratio in the
tubing is the sum of the reservoir
gas liquid ratio plus the injection gas
liquid ratio
 Only gas is injected in gas lift, but
the gas injection flowrate is usually
reported in terms of a injection gas
liquid ratio which is the ratio of the
gas injection flowrate over the liquid
production flowrate 𝑞𝑔𝑖
𝐺𝐿𝑅𝑖 =
𝑞𝑙

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Gas Lift Mechanism…

 The injection gas arrives at
the well location through a
surface flowline at a certain
surface pressure
 The gas flows through a
surface choke and down the
annulus space
 At the bottom of the well, a
gas lift valve is installed in a
location where the gas
injection pressure in the
annulus is higher than the
tubing production pressure
 Pressure difference between
annulus tubing with the
valve orifice size controls
the amount of gas flowing
into the tubing string

Gas Lift Mechanism…

 Gas lift requires well
to have a minimum
“energy” in the
reservoir
 If the reservoir is
depleted beyond a
certain limit or if it
has too much skin
gas lift may not work
 This is also affected
by depth since
deeper well will result
in higher required
bottom hole flowing
pressures

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Gas Lift Mechanism…

 Injection of too much gas may result in
pressure gradient increase with the
consequent production loss
 In order to reduce “casing heading”, it is
advisable to use an adequate orifice size that
regulates the gas injection. However, if the
orifice is too small it may reduce the
equilibrium flowrate. If it is too large, casing
heading may occur.

Gas Lift Mechanism…

 Operating valve should be the device used to
control the amount of gas being injected. This is
done by properly selecting an appropriate orifice
size
 Still small adjustments in gas injection are
possible by using the surface gas injection choke.
However, this must be done carefully since the
pressure level in the casing controls the opening
and closing of unloading valves.
 During normal operation, the unloading valves
should be closed or should have been substituted
by dummy valves. Also having an injection choke
that has an opening smaller than the injection
valve may lead to instabilities due to the
inevitable reductions in casing pressure

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Gas Lift Mechanism…

 The main parameters to be monitored besides
the production and injection flowrates are
 Pressures
 Temperatures
 This can be done by proper surface
instrumentation and by pressure/temperature
surveys or by continuous monitoring of
pressure and temperature distributions

Operating Point
 Let's examine the behavior of a well assuming that we can do gas
lift at the very bottom of the tubing string
 The following data are used:
 Casing 5 1/2”
 Tubing 2 7/8 “
 Well depth 9000 ft
 Injection at 8850 ft
 Delta P through the valve = -200 psi
 GORp 600 scf/stb
 API 25
 Gas gravity 0.65
 Water Cut 0 %
 Wellhead pressure 100 psig
 Beggs and Brill correlation
 Wellhead temperature 60°F
 Reservoir pressure 3400 psig (saturated reservoir)
 Reservoir temperature 140°F
 AOF 1000 bpd

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Operating Point…

Operating Point…

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Operating Point…

Operation Cost
 The daily variable cost is associated with the
daily oil or gas production
 It is also important to isolate the cost of
energy used to lift the fluids

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Operation Cost…
 The daily income comes from the sales of oil
and gas

 The maximum daily net income occurs when

Operating Point…
 Then the maximum profit occurs for a flowrate
that satisfies the following equation:

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Operating Point…

Gas Injection Pressure

 In order to deliver gas at the bottom of the well, the
gas injection pressure profile must be determined

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Gas Injection Pressure…

 High pressure gas for injection can be supplied by:
 Gas compressor
 High pressure gas well
 High pressure gas reservoir in the same well (auto gas lift)

Gas Injection Pressure…

 Gas pressure and flowrate should be measured and
calculated for good design, control and
troubleshooting
 Gas pressure increases with depth due to the
gravitational component
 In certain conditions friction losses are important and
change gas pressure traverse compared to a static
pressure profile
 Two conditions when friction is important:
 Gas injection through small annular space
 Coil tubing
 Gas injection through tubing
 High well production through the annulus and gas injection through the
tubing

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Gas Injection Pressure…

 For the case of vertical flow of gas when friction losses can be
neglected we have:

 We can use Sutton’s correlation for pseudo critical pressure and

temperature

Gas Injection Pressure – Example

 Calculate the gravitational pressure gradient for the following
vertical upward gas flow
 Associated gas specific gravity 0.85
 Pipe length 1000 ft
 Inlet pressure 900 psig
 Temperature 80 F

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Isothermal Gas Hydrostatic Pressure

 This procedure can be used to get an estimate of the
gravitational pressure gradient
 It is a useful relationship to be used whenever friction
losses can be neglected for gas vertical flow
 Applications include the determination of bottom hole
flowing pressures through surface casing pressure
readings and gas injection pressure at depth for gas
lift wells based on surface casing injection pressure
 In both cases the pressure inside the well can be
estimated from the conditions at the surface

Isothermal Gas Hydrostatic Pressure…

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Isothermal Gas Hydrostatic Pressure…

Isothermal Gas Hydrostatic Pressure…

 For pure methane (SGg=0.56), the gravitational pressure gradient
at 60°F can be approximated by:

 For associated gas (SGg=0.7), the gravitational pressure gradient

at 60°F can be approximated by:

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Gas Flow in Annulus

 When friction is negligible the pressure of the injected gas
increases with depth due to weight of the gas

Gas Flow in Annulus…

 In some conditions for small annulus space, friction losses
become important and pressure traverse depends on gas flowrate

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Gas Injection Pressure at Valve

pio
Gas
 Usually casing-tubing
annulus is large
Negligible friction
pressure losses D

Static pressure gradients

 D – true vertical depth
(TVD) Gas Lift
Valve

Gas Injection Pressure at Valve…

 Static pressure gradient

dp g

dl 144 gc

 Real Gas Law

pM 29p
 
ZRT ZRT

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Gas Injection Pressure at Valve…

 Substitute and we can get

dp 0.20139p

dl ZRT

 Separate variables and use average Z

and T
dp 0.20139
pioD D


pio
p

Z RT  dl
0

Gas Injection Pressure at Valve…

 Integrate

 p  0.20139D
ln ioD  
 pio  Z RT
 0.20139D 
pioD  pio exp 
 Z RT 

 Bar quantities at “average” conditions

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Example
 Gas specific gravity g = 0.70
 Atmospheric pressure = 14.7 psia
 Injection gas pressure at surface pio = 1000
psig = 1014.7 psia
 True vertical depth of gas column, D = 8000 ft
 Wellhead temperature = 80°F
 Bottomhole temperature = 200°F

 Calculate static gas pressure at 8000 ft

Solution
 Average temperature in well = (80 + 200)/2.0 =
140°F = 600°R
 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

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Solution…
 From charts for hydrocarbon gases
 Pseudocritical Pressure = 670 psia
 Pseudocritical Temperature = 380 °R
 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 

Pseudocritical Pressure

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Pseudocritical Temperature

Compressibility
Factor Z

TU PE 3073 Production
Engineering I, Chapter 7

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Solution…

 Update average pressure =

(1014.7+1238)/2.0=1126.35
 Reduced pressure = 1126.35 / 670 = 1.68
 Z-Factor = 0.87

 0.175 
pioD  1014.7 exp   1241 psia
 0.87 

Gas Flow through Choke

 For gas to flow through the gas
lift valve, the upstream injection
pressure must be higher than
the downstream production
pressure
 The flowrate flowing through the
valve depends on the upstream
and downstream pressure as
well as the gas properties and
valve orifice size

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Gas Flow through Choke…

 Bernoulli effect for frictionless flow

Ai A Ao Avc

Pu Pd

Pvc

Gas Flow through Choke…

 Bernoulli effect with frictionless

Ai A Ao Avc
Ad

P
Frictionless Profile

Pu
Pd

Actual Profile

Pvc

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Gas Flow through Choke…

 Gas velocity increases with decrease of cross sectional
area of choke. The smaller the choke, the higher the flow
velocity.
 The pressure drop through the choke is a function of the
gas flowrate as well as the choke size. Then usually for a
certain choke size the gas flowrate is a function of both the
upstream as well as the downstream pressures.
 At a certain flowrate though, the flow velocity reaches the
sound velocity in the gas and the pressure waves can not
propagate upstream. In this condition, the flowrate through
the choke is only function of the upstream pressure and
the flow is called critical
 Flow through chokes
 Sub-critical flow
 Flowrate is function of both upstream and downstream pressure
 Critical flow
 Flowrate is function only of upstream pressure

Gas Flow through Choke…

 Critical flow conditions occur for adiabatic flow when:

 The equation used to calculate gas flowrate through

an orifice valve is

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Gas Flow through Choke…

 Thornhill-Craver Co. Suggested a value of 0.865 for
the discharge coefficient Cd
 Then we have:

Gas Flow through Choke…

 Gas flowrate vs. downstream pressure

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Installation Types
 Installation type is determined by
 Well conditions
 Type of completion (open hole, etc…)
 Sand production
 Water coning
 Gas coning
 Future well performance
 Offshore applications

Installation Types…
 Continuous gas lift installations can be
classified according to the type of production
flow
 Tubing flow
 Annular flow
 In tubing flow installations the production
flows through the tubing and gas is injected
from the annular space.
 In annular flow installations the production
flows through the annular space and the gas is
injected from the internal tubing
 When gas lift is used with a coil tubing we can
also have “coil tubing flow” (production
through the coil tubing and gas injection
through the tubing) or “annular tubing/coil”
flow (production through the annular space
between the coil tubing and the tubing and
injection through the coil tubing)

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Installation Types…
 Tubing flow and Annular flow
 Normally for a certain flowrate, the
multiphase flow in the tubing requires
smaller GLRi than the annulus case.
Exception only for very high flowrate
wells.
 When corrosion is a problem,
producing through the annulus will
present problems for the external
tubing surface as well as internal
casing wall.
 Paraffin can not be easily controlled or
removed in case of annulus flow
 Special downhole safety valves are
necessary for annulus flow

Installation Types…
 Continuous tubing flow gas lift
installations can also be classified
according to the type of seal between
the injection annular space and
produced tubing as:
 Open
 Semi-closed
 In an open installation there is no
packer sealing the injection annular
space from the tubing.
 In a semi-closed installation there is a
packer sealing the annular space from
the tubing

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Open Installation
 Open installation is not recommended but may be
required if a packer can not be installed
 This installation should be used only when the well
can provide a good “fluid seal”
 If the tubing can be optimally positioned we can
allow the gas to blow around the bottom of the
tubing string
 Disadvantages
 When well is shut down fluid level raises in the gas injection
space. The well must be unloaded every time it is put back
into production.
 Cutting of the gas lift valves may occur due to the frequent
unloading procedures
 Varying injection gas pressure also allows the liquid level to
fluctuate inducing “casing heading” and slugging
 Each time the fluid level is lowered some fluid must be
unloaded through the gas lift valves below the fluid level and
eventually those valves will be fluid cut

Semi-closed Installation
 In a semi-closed installation a packer
is installed below the lower valve
isolating the injection annulus from
the tubing
 The main advantage is that once the
well is unloaded there is no re-entry
of fluids into the annulus space and a
stabilized level is maintained

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Gas Lift Unloading

 Usually the well, after being completed, is left
with completion fluid
 The annulus may be completely filled with
the completion fluid above the packer
 The tubing and casing space below the
packer may be filled with completion fluid all
the way up to the static liquid level or above
it depending on the formation injectivity
 We need to bring the well from this condition
to a condition where we can inject gas
through the annulus space into the tubing
string and the completion fluid is left only
below the operating valve and above the
packer
 This process is known as kick-off or
unloading process

Gas Lift Unloading…

 We start to unload the well by opening the gas
injection choke
 This will allow gas to flow into the casing
 The gas pressure upstream of the choke is reduced
to the value of the casing surface injection pressure
 Before examining the unloading process, let’s
examine the pressure profile in the tubing and
annulus space just before the gas injection
 The fluid left in the annulus and tubing has a known
specific gravity
 Then the tubing and annulus pressure are given by:

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Gas Lift Unloading…

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Gas Lift Unloading…

Valve Spacing
 There are many spacing procedures available. Most of
them will result in an adequate valve spacing.
 The main purpose of valve spacing is to reach the
operating valve and maintain single point injection at
that depth
 The flow conditions change with time and one
advantage of gas lift is to be able to adapt to those
changes
 In order to take full advantage of this, the spacing
must be adequate so that the operating point can
change in the future if necessary
 For instance, reduction in reservoir pressure,
productivity index or increase in water cut may make
it necessary to deepen the gas injection point

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Valve Spacing…
 The final objectives of the spacing design
are:
 To inject gas as deep as possible at any
time
 To conserve casing operating pressure if
possible
 To ensure all the upper unloading valve are
closed after the final injection point is
reached
 To be able to open a valve from the surface
regardless of the liquid level in the
injection space

Gas Lift Valve

 Gas lift valves are basically down hole pressure (or flowrate)
regulators
 The functional elements of a pressure regulator and gas lift valves
are very similar
 In a pressure regulator a spring forces the stem tip against a seat
 In a gas lift valve a spring and/or the pressure of a bellows forces
the stem tip against a seat

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Gas Lift Valve…

 The diaphragm of a pressure regulator provides an area where the
upstream (or downstream) pressure can act on
 In a gas lift valve the bellows base provides an area where the
upstream (or downstream) pressure can act on
 The downstream (or upstream) pressure acts on the port area both
on the pressure regulator as well as in the gas lift valve
 The resulting force from the upstream and downstream pressure
is opposite to the spring force

Gas Lift Valve…

 When the resulting force is greater than the spring closing force,
the stem tip moves away from the seat opening the valve
 The valve is controlling the upstream (or downstream) pressure
 The upstream pressure (or downstream) is a function of the spring
force, bellows and port area and the downstream (or upstream)
pressure

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Gas Lift Valve Close and Open

Gas
Injection

Tubing
Pressure

Close condition Open condition

Closing Force
 Many gas lift valves have a dome
that is pressurized with gas
 This pressure creates a force that is
applied to the stem, forcing it into
contact with the upper edge of the
seat
 The stem tip and the seat portion of
the port are finely matched to form a
seal
 The dome pressure creates a
closing force Gas
Injection

Tubing
Pressure

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Opening Force
 A valve will start to open when the stem tip moves out
of contact with the valve seat
 This starts to occur when the opening forces are equal
to the closing force
 The two opening forces are the result of the pressure
applied through the side opening and the pressure
applied through the port

Opening Pressure
 The opening starts when the closing and
opening forces are equal:

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Opening Pressure…
 The ratio of the port area to the bellows area is
obtained from the manufacturer and depends
on valve construction

Other Closing Mechanisms

 All the discussion so far concentrated
on the unbalanced pressure charged
gas lift valve
 In this valve the mechanism closing
the valve is the pressure of Nitrogen in
the dome
 The main disadvantage of this is that
the pressure inside the dome will
depend on the actual dome
temperature at the valve depth which is
not always known!
 Also the Nitrogen may leak!

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Other Closing Mechanisms…

 Another type of valve is the unbalance
spring valve
 In this valve the dome does not contain
any charged gas
 For this reason temperature effects are
negligible in the valve behavior
 Springs are used to provide the closing
mechanism
 The spring force divided by the dome
area yields a “Spring Pressure Effect”
which is a fictitious bellows pressure
that would cause the same closing
force as the spring

Valve Types
 In a well, a valve is exposed to two pressure sources that
control the operation
 One is the produced fluid pressure and the other is the
injection gas pressure
 Both pressures are acting to open the valve and working
against the dome pressure or spring force
 The bellows has a larger influence than the port on the
opening of the valve
 Valves can be classified according to the application by
defining which fluid is in contact with the bellows area
controlling the opening of the valve:
 Injection Pressure Operated Valve (Pressure Operated Valve)
 Gas is in contact with the bellows (IPO Valve)
 Production Pressure Operated Valve (Fluid Operated Valve)
 Production fluid in contact with the bellows (PPO Valve)

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Valve Types…

Valve Types…

56
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Injection Pressure-Operated (IPO) Valves

 Dome is charged to specified pressure
with nitrogen
 Bellows serve as a flexible or
responsive element
 When port is open, annulus and tubing
are in communication
 Because area of bellows is much
larger than port area and bellows are
exposed to casing pressure, casing
pressure controls valve operation.
 Buildup in injection pressure opens
valve, and reduction in injection
pressure closes it.

Production Pressure-Operated (PPO)

Valves
 In PPO valve, port is exposed to
injection pressure and bellows
exposed to production pressure.
Production pressure controls
Valve operation.
 PPO valves are double element
valves, having both a spring and
dome (that may or may not be
charged) to supply the valve
closing force.
 Dome charged only when high
valve-setting pressures require a
supplement to the spring force.

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Mandrel and Valve Porting

 There are basically 2 types of mandrels and 4 types of
valves
 Mandrel types
 Type 1 (Standard Mandrel)
 Has holes in the pocket drilled from the casing side and the bottom
pocket is in communication with the tubing
 Type2
 Has holes in the pocket drilled from the tubing side and the bottom
pocket is in communication with the casing

Mandrel and Valve Porting…

 There are basically 4 types of gas lift valves. This is a
result of the operation of the valve (injection pressure
or production pressure operation) and the direction of
the gas flow (from the side orifice to the nose or from
the nose to the side orifice)
 The gas flow direction requires different arrangement
for the check valves

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Mandrel and Valve Porting…

 The combination of the 4 valve types with the 2
mandrel types yields 8 types of continuous gas lift
completions

Ideal Continuous Gas Lift Valve

Performance
 Opening mechanism
 The opening mechanism is not very important for continuous
gas lift installations
 The valve must open under some combination of gas injection
and produced fluid pressures
 Gas passage
 The valve should be sensitive to the produced fluids pressure
when open
 The valve should respond proportionally to increase and
decrease in the fluid pressure
 If the fluid pressure decreases, the valve should begin to throttle
closed to decrease the gas injection
 If the fluid pressure increases, the valve should begin to throttle
open to increase the gas injection
 This proportional response mechanism is essential to keep a
constant pressure and constant gas injection and avoid unstable
operation

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Continuous Gas Lift Valves

 This operating valve for continuous gas lift
can be:
 orifice valve
 a special pressure operated throttling valve
(modified to have a stronger fluid pressure effect
by choking the gas entrance to the valve)
 large ported pressure operated valves also may
work (have a throttling response do to the higher
fluid pressure effect)
 or with a fluid operated valve
 Venturi valve

Continuous Gas Lift Valves…

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IPO Valves Opening Pressure

 IPO Valves (with or without springs and
charged or uncharged bellows)
𝐴𝑝
R=
𝐴𝑏

𝑃𝑖𝑣𝑜 𝐴𝑏 − 𝐴𝑝 + 𝑃𝑓𝐴𝑝 = 𝑃𝑏 + 𝑃𝑠𝑝 𝐴𝑏

Small Ported IPO Valves Closing

Pressure
 Small ported regular IPO Valves (with or
without springs and charged or
uncharged bellows)
 For those valves the effect of the
pressures acting at the stem can be
neglected and they close almost
independent of the fluid pressure

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Opening and Closing Pressures at Depth

and Surface
 The injection pressures calculated for opening and
closing of the valves refer to the pressure acting in the
injection space in front of the valve or at the valve depth
 Those pressures are related to the values of the
injection pressure at the wellhead
 This is done with the aid of the gas annulus pressure
gradient

Pressure Profiles in Tubing and Annulus

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Valve Calibration
 Once the opening and closing pressures are determined
during the pressure design, the valve must be properly
set with an appropriate dome pressure and/or spring
force which corresponds to the desired opening
pressure in the well
 Using the opening pressure equations, the required
combination of spring force and dome pressure can be
calculated

Valve Calibration…
 The dome is assumed to have a constant volume and the
nitrogen charged pressure increases as the temperature
increases
 Nitrogen presents the following advantages
 Availability
 Non-explosive
 Non-corrosive
 Predictable compressibility
 Predictable temperature effect
 The pressure at the dome is known at the valve temperature
at depth. It is not practical to heat the valve to the operating
temperature so that it can be calibrated. This is one of the
advantages of spring valves since temperature does not
affect the calibration.
 For dome pressure valves, the valves must be cooled to a
constant temperature (60°F) prior to being set
 This is done by submerging the valves in a water bath for a
long period of time at a well controlled temperature of 60°F

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Valve Calibration…
 The dome must then be charged with pressure
 The pressure required to set the dome at 60°F is given by:

 Nitrogen is used to calibrate the dome since it has well known

compressibility factors and is safe to handle
 The pressure at the dome at 60°F can be calculated with the aid of
correction factors tabulated for Nitrogen

Valve Calibration…

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Valve Calibration…

Valve Calibration…
 In order to verify the behavior,
the valve is tested on a test rack
 The test involves determining
the opening pressure of the
valve at 60F
 This is the pressure pressurizing
the bellows valve when the port
valve is discharging to the
atmosphere in the test rack

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Valve Calibration…
 The valves are manufactured in 1” and 1 ½” OD diameter
 The manufacturer will provide the dimensional data for charged
bellows valves

 Bellows area for 1”OD valves is 0.32 in2 and for 1 1/2”OD valves is 0.77 in2

Gas Lift Instabilities

 Gas lift instabilities
 Casing heading
 Density wave
 Production
fluctuations
 Instabilities cause
equipment, operation,
energy and
production losses

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Casing Heading
 Gas injection reduces
mixture density and
pressure in tubing
 Lower tubing pressure
allows more gas injection
 Gas in casing-tubing
annulus expands with
pressure drop
 Injection slow down with gas
depletion in casing-tubing
annulus
 Tubing pressure increases
and injection may even stop
 A new circle starts

Orifice or Venturi Valve

PT Orifice valve Tubing

performance pressure

Unstable

QI

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(B29ST1 ) WELL IMPERIAL TREND

1900 Hz 0.00 200.00 400.00 600.00 800.00 1,000.00 1,200.00 1,400.00 1,600.00 1,800.00 2,000.00
0
Pwh 38

1800

1700
Pd
Casing Heading 200

400

600

1600 800 36

4. End Point=Start point for next cycle 1000

1500
• Just finished bleeding off.
• GLV just closed.
1200
ESP Packer
1400 1400
• Pump efficiency is highest
1600 PCGLV PTGLV
Pressure(psig) Pressure(psi)

1300 • Pump diff. pres. is highest 34

• Liquid level is highest 1800

Frequency(Hz) Choke(inch/64)
1200
• Gas just starting to build up 2000

• PCGLV<PTGLV 2200
1100
Pd-Pi 2400

TVD (ft)
32
1000 2600

2800
Pressure (psia)

900
3000

800
Pi 3200
30

700
3400
Pi Pd
3600

600
GLV open 3800

500
Drawdown 4000 Pwf
28
4200

400 4400

300
Pwh 4600

4800

200
FLP 5000 26
09/01/12 10:46 AM 09/01/12 04:05 PM 09/01/12 09:25 PM 09/02/12 02:44 AM 09/02/12 08:04 AM 09/02/12 01:24 PM 09/02/12 06:43 PM 09/03/12 12:03 AM 09/03/12 05:22 AM 09/03/12 10:42 AM
Time Pressure (psig)
ESP Diff Pressure(psi) Draw Dow n(psi) ESP Intake Pressure(psia) ESP Discharge Pressure(psia)
Intake pressure Discharge pressure Wellhead pressure
Flow ing Tubing Pressure(psig) Flow Line Pressure(psig) VFD Frequency(Hz) Tubing Choke(inch/64)
(outflow ) (inflow )

*PTGLV: Pressure in tubing at GLV setting depth; PCGLV: Pressure in casing at GLV setting depth.
56th Advisory Board Meeting September 27, 2013
(Guo et al., 2013 SPE ESP Workshop, The Woodlands, TX)

Gas Lift Instability Control

 Surface choke and control valve
 High pressure (or energy) loss
 Orifice and Venturi gas lift valves
 Injection flow rate stabilizes when Vena
Contracta velocity reach sound speed
 High pressure losses

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Gas Lift Instability Control…

 Throttling valve
 Responds to both injection and production
pressures
 Not fully open

Proportional Response Valve

 Similar as throttling valve
 Flow and DP operated
 Pressure loss is too high
 Cannot be used for high
injection rate
 Spring and bellows are
together
 Dependent on injection
pressure

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Problems with Current GLV

 Not effective for stabilization
 High pressure drop
 Prone to damage during unloading if flow
rate is too high

New Gas Lift Valve Design

 Requires low differential pressure
 Suitable for high flow rate injection
 Responds to flow and differential
pressure
 Opening decreases with differential
pressure increase
 Operate within a DP window
 Simple
 Independent on injection pressure

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New Valve
 A moving part
 Backward plug as
check valve
 Forward cone-shape
plug to control flow
 Impinging disk
 Position controlled by
balance of flow/DP and
spring forces
 A nozzle to guide flow

September 27, 2013

Top View of Impinging Disk

 Ring holes with
sufficient flow area
distributed around the
impinging disk

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No Flow PA

QI

PT
PA-PT
September 27, 2013

Valve Opened PA

QI

PT
PA-PT
September 27, 2013

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Maximum Flow PA

QI

PT
PA-PT
September 27, 2013

Flow Restricted PA

QI

PT
PA-PT
September 27, 2013

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 1/13/2020

Valve Closed PA

QI

PT
PA-PT
September 27, 2013

Minimum Opening
 Cone plug slightly smaller
than host cup
 Minimum opening at high DP

Top view of impinging disk

September 27, 2013

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Self-Stabilizing Valve

PT SSGL valve Tubing

performance pressure

Unstable

Stable

QI

New GLV Design Advantages

 Self stabilizing (at stable injection point)
 Injection rate increases with tubing pressure
increase
 Injection rate decreases with tubing pressure
decrease
 Small pressure drop (from annulus to
tubing) needed
 Can be less than 50 psi
 Great compression energy saving
 Can avoid damage due to high pressure
drop and high shear

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Unloading Design
 The unloading process described before serves
to illustrate the problem and solution for
unloading a well
 It gives the basic ideas and concepts behind the
unloading valve positioning and valves opening
pressures (injection and tubing)
 It must be made more realistic. In the procedure
shown, all valves (with exception of the
operating valve) will open and close at the same
casing surface pressure
 Also safety factors must be used to ensure
proper operation in the field

Unloading Design…

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Unloading Design…
 As the valve depth increases, we want the valves to
close at smaller casing surface pressures
 This is the same to say that as the valve depth
increases, we want the valves to open at smaller
casing surface pressures
 This will ensure that the valves can be opened in
sequence without opening the valves above it
 For the last valve (operating) we must have between
100 to 200 psi pressure difference between the gas
injection pressure and the fluid pressure to inject
gas
 Also we must be realistic on selecting the surface
casing pressure since the maximum gas pressure
available on the surface may fluctuate or decrease

Unloading Design…
 Some of the possible design techniques:
 Reduce 50 to 100 psi from the maximum surface
gas pressure for design purposes (assure that the
gas pressure used in the design is always
achievable)
 Unload the well to a tank (lower the location of the
first unloading valve)
 Use the minimum pressure gradient for the spacing
of unloading valves (reduce the number of valves
but since the tubing pressures are smaller may
result in valve interference once the production is
resumed and the tubing pressures increase)
 Assume that the fluids in the tubing and casing are
at the static liquid level (lowers the location of the
first unloading valve)

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Unloading Design…
 The requirement that we must always have is a gradual reduction
in the opening pressure of the valves as the valve depth increases
 Usually a reduction of 20 psi per valve is used

Unloading Design…
 Once the valve are spaced we need to
determine for each valve:
 Depth
 Tubing pressure
 Casing pressure (valve opening pressure)
 Temperature
 With this we can obtain:
 Bellows pressure at temperature
 The temperature correction factor
 The dome pressure at 60F
 The test rack opening pressure

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Mandrels
 Gas lift valves are installed in mandrels
 There are basically two types of
mandrels
 Conventional mandrels
Used with conventional valves
The valves can not be wireline retrieved
 Sidepocket mandrels
Used with wireline retrievable valves

Conventional Gas Lift Valve

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Wireline
– Retrievable Valve

TU PE 3073 Production
Engineering I, Chapter 7

Retrievable Valve
 Running procedure
 In the running procedure, the valve, latch, and
kickover/selector tool are made up onto the slickline
tool string and lowered through the tubing until the
tool is below the selected mandrel (A)
 The kickover/selector tool is slowly raised through
the tubing until the finger on the tool contacts the
orienting sleeve slot and stops
 Tension is placed on the slickline tool string by
pulling until the tool releases and kicks over (B)
 The tools are then lowered until a loss of weight
indicates that the tool has located the side pocket of
the mandrel
 Downward jarring drives the valve and latch into the
side pocket mandrel (C)
 Upward jarring shears a pin in the latch and
releases running tool from valve and latch (D)
 The tool string can then be retrieved from the well

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Retrievable Valve…
 Pulling procedure
 In the pulling procedure, the kickover/selector tool
and pulling tool are made up onto the slickline tool
string and lowered through the tubing until the tool
is below the selected mandrel (A)
 The kickover/selector tool is slowly raised through
the tubing until the finger on the tool contacts the
orienting sleeve slot and stops
 Tension is placed on the slickline tool string by
pulling until the tool releases and kicks over (B)
 The tools are then lowered until a loss of weight
indicates that the tool has located the side pocket of
the mandrel
 Downward jarring securely connects the pulling tool
to the latch (C)
 Upward jarring shears a pin in the latch and
releases the valve from the mandrel (D)
 The tool string and valve can then be retrieved from
the well

Gas Lift Design

 Gas lift design starts by collecting data
 Inflow performance
 Well geometry and tubulars that can be used
 Surface gas availability (pressure and flowrates)
 Well production characteristics (WC, GOR, etc…)
 With this information a nodal analysis can be
conducted
 Must be careful to use a program that correctly
accounts for the gas injection
 After this construct the gas lift performance curve
(oil flowrate x horsepower consumption) and
determine the optimum flowrate

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Gas Lift Design…

Gas Lift Design…

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 1/13/2020

Gas Lift Design Example

 Design a gas lift installation for the following well
 Perforations @ 6030 ft
 Well head pressure 100 psig
 Optimum oil flowrate 650 bpd
 Water cut 0%
 Tubing 2 7/8” (2.441”)
 API 25
 Specific gravity of the produced and injected gas 0.65
 Production GLR 600 scf/stb
 Optimum injection GLR 900 scf/stb @ 6000 ft
 Packer will be installed just above the perforations
 Gas lift casing injection pressure (maximum) 1400 psig
 Specific gravity of the completion fluid 1.1
 Surface temperature 80 F. Temperature gradient 15 F per 1000 ft
(use this to calibrate valves and to determine the gas pressure at
depth)
 Use 1 ½” valves

Pressure Traverses
 Select the pressure
traverse curve with the
desired operational
conditions
 This should be consistent
with the data used to
conduct the nodal analysis
and determination of the
optimum flowrate

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Operating Valve
 Locate the operating valve
location and the tubing
operating pressure for the
operating gas lift valve

 Valve position: 6000 ft

 Tubing operating pressure:
1012 psig

Operating Valve…

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Operating Valve…
 Locate the maximum surface casing
pressure that will be used for unloading
valves spacing and determine the gas
pressure profile in the casing and the
casing pressure at the bottom

 Surface T = 80
 Bottom T = 80 + 15(6) = 170

 Average T = 125 F

 Maximum casing surface pressure 1400 psig

 Gas static pressure gradient 35.51 psi/1000 ft

 Maximum casing pressure at valve depth

1400+35.51(6)=1613 psig

Operating Valve…
 Determine the difference in the static gas
pressure and the operating tubing pressure at
the bottom of the well
 This is the “value” of gas pressure available to
inject gas through the orifice valve and space
the unloading valves

Casing and Tubing pressure differential 601 psi

 With this pressure differential we can not
design the operating valve to be under critical
flow since the ratio of downstream to upstream
pressure is

 Therefore the valve should be designed for a

certain pressure differential. Smaller orifices
require a bigger pressure differential for the
same conditions than a larger orifice and
therefore may limit future increases in the gas
and oil flowrates. However, they have the
benefit of increasing stability. Larger orifices
have the opposing effects. Usually CGL
operating valves are designed to have a
pressure drop across the valve between 50 and
150 psi

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Operating Valve…
 Determination of the operating valve orifice
size

 Operating Valve Temperature 170 F

 Valve will be under sub critical flow conditions

Operating Valve…

 Injection GLR 900 scf/stb, Oil Flowrate 650 bpd

 Desired gas injection 585,000 scf/d = 585 Mscf/d
 Downstream pressure = 1026.7 psig

 Two orifice sizes can be used (12/64” and 16/64”)

 We will use the 16/64” for the operating valve
 We will use unloading valves with port sizes smaller than ¼” (16/64”)

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First Unloading Valve

 Use the completion fluid gradient
to determine the location of the
first unloading valve

100+1.1(0.433)L=1400+0.03551L

 Location of 1st Valve 2950 ft

 Tubing Pressure at 1st Valve 343
psig

Second Unloading Valve

 Continue using the completion
fluid gradient to locate the
remaining unloading valves

343+1.1(0.433)(L-2950)=1400+0.03551L

 Location of 2nd Valve 5389 ft

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Gas Unloading Gradient

 The pressure drop across the operating
valve needed is only 49 psi. However, we
want to have flexibility to be able to inject
more gas in case it is needed
 So to design the unloading valves we will
use a pressure drop across the unloading
valve of 150 psi. This way if we need to
inject more gas through the operating
valve we will not run the risk of opening
upper unloading valves

Injection pressure differential: 150 psi

P = 1012 + 150

Operating valve upstream pressure for

unloading valves design: 1162 psig

Opening Pressure at Depth

 Now we want the valves to close at
declining surface pressures
 We want the valves to open in
increasing surface casing pressures
 The maximum operating pressure of
the orifice valve is 1162 psig
 We want the valves above it to open
at pressures higher than this value
 We can then connect this value of
pressure at the bottom of the well to
the surface maximum casing
pressure to determine the pressures
at each valve depth that we desire
the valves to open

Operating valve upstream pressure for

unloading valves design: 1162 psig

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Opening Pressure at Depth…

 Determine now for each valve what
is the casing opening pressure at
valve depth and the tubing pressure
at valve depth

Valve 1 casing opening pressure at

depth 1283 psig
Valve 1 tubing pressure 343 psig

Valve 2 casing opening pressure at

depth 1186 psig
Valve 2 tubing pressure 859 psig

Opening Pressure at Depth…

 Now we can determine the
temperature at each valve depth

Valve 1 temperature 124 F

Valve 2 temperature 161 F

Operating valve temperature 170 F

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Valves
 We can now proceed to design the unloading valves

Valves…
 Since we are using an operating valve with a 1/4”
(16/64”) orifice we will use 3/16” port for the unloading
valves

Valve 1 casing opening pressure Valve 2 casing opening pressure

at depth 1283 psig at depth 1186 psig
Valve 1 tubing pressure 343 psig Valve 2 tubing pressure 859 psig
Valve 1 temperature 124 F Valve 2 temperature 161 F

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Valves…

Valves…
 Finally we need to do is to determine the surface
opening and closing pressures for each valve and the
surface injection pressure

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Unloading Startup Procedure

 DO NOT HURRY THE INITIAL START UP
 The chokes should be removed from the tubing and the
injection pressure applied to the casing slowly.
 All of the liquid above the top valve must pass through the top
valve. If we try to force this liquid through the top too fast, we
will cut out the valve and it will leak from there on.
 As the gas pressure builds up, the liquid is forced through the
top valve, up the tubing, and on to the separator.
 As a general rule of thumb the unloading rate through the gas
lift valve should be kept to below one barrel per minute
 With the well lined up to the separator into which it will
be unloaded, open up production choke fully. (Be
prepared to adjust this during kick-off and unloading)
 A surface tubing choke should only be used to reduce the
liquid rate during the start up procedure and then only rarely.

Unloading Startup Procedure…

 Slowly increase the casing pressure opening the injection
choke (never open suddenly valves to increase casing
pressure)
 Rule of thumb is that it should take approximately 10 minutes for
the casing (annulus) pressure to increase 50 - 100 psi (3.4 - 6.9
bar).
 What is happening at this point is that fluid is being forced from
the casing annulus through the gas lift valves, into the tubing
and then up into separator. It is important to keep this fluid flow
through the valve to a very low rate thus minimizing the risk of
flow cutting valve seat. Hence, do not be afraid to initially start
injecting gas at a very low rate of say 0.2 - 0.3 mmscf/d (5.7 - 8.5
m3/d ) and then tweak up rate (if required) to achieve the 50
psi/10min (3.4 bar/10min) casing pressure increase.
 Monitor the liquid being produced from the tubing.
 Keep the tubing pressure less than 150% the separator
pressure. Monitor the tubing and casing pressures.

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Unloading Startup Procedure…

 Use a choke, pressure regulator and flowmeter to control the circulated
lift gas to the casing.
 When the top valve is activated a large slug of gas can be observed to
blow around from the tubing. This may also occur as other valves are
activated. Adjust the tubing choke to reduce the fluid rate into the
separator protecting it from high volume and high rate surge.
 Gradually increase the rate of gas circulated to the well until the
designed rate is reached.
 If the well tends to flow after startup, use a high tubing pressure override
to stop gas injection into the well. This will save injection gas while the
well is flowing and will resume gas injection once the well dies.
 If the unloading sequence stalls increase gas injection rate in small
increments.
 Normally it would be advisable to hook in a chart recorder to accurately
monitor casing pressure and tubing pressure.
 If possible set up fluid sampling line to monitor what fluid (oil or water)
we're getting back from the well.

Unloading Startup Procedure…

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Injection Depth

 Injection pressure at
gas lift valve must
exceed pressure in
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

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Fixed Valve Depth

 Can vary rate and

find required
injection Gas
Liquid Ratio (GLR)

Operating Valve Pressure Drop

 Pressure drop 50 – 150 psi

across valve
 Fluctuations in
operating injection
pressure result in
insufficient pressure
for gas injection
 Unstable system

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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 bottom hole pressure (IPR)
 Starting at bottomhole pressure, calculate
pressure versus depth under natural flow
 Starting at surface at operating injection
pressure, draw gas casing pressure versus
depth curve
 Draw a gas injection (tubing) pressure curve
parallel to casing curve by subtracting off
valve pressure drop (50-150 psi)

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Injection Depth…

 Find depth where natural flow curve and

gas injection pressure curves intersect
 That is your injection depth

Example – Operating Valve Location

 Well depth = 8000 ft
 Desired rate = 1000 B/D (100% oil)
 Tubing size = 2-3/8” OD
 Flowing wellhead pressure = 100 psig
 Static bottomhole pressure = 2650 psig
 PI = 2 B/D/psi (assume constant)
 Solution GOR = 200 scf/STB
 Specific gravity of injection gas = 0.7
 Surface operating injection pressure = 1000 psig
 API = 40°
 Bottomhole temperature = 200 °F
 Surface temperature = 120 °F

 Find operating valve location

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Determine Bottomhole Flowing Pressure


q  J p  pwf 
q
pwf  p 
J
1000
pwf  2650 
2
 2150 psig

Compute Injection Gas Pressure

 Assume gas bottomhole pressure =

1150 psig
 Average pressure = 1075 psig = 1089.7
psia
 Pc = 665 psia; Pr = 1.64
 Tc= 378 °R; Tr = 660/378 = 1.75
 Z = 0.93

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Compute Injection Gas Pressure…

 0.20139D 
pioD  pio exp 
 Z R T 
 
 
 1014.7 exp
0 . 20139 0 . 7 8000 
  120  200 
 0.93 10.73   460  
  2 
 1217.7 psia  1203 psig

Compute Injection Gas Pressure…

 Repeat with updated pressure

 Pavg = (1014.7 + 1217.7)/2 = 1116.2 psia
 Pr = 1116.2/665 = 1.68
 Z = 0.925
 Gas bottomhole pressure = 1204 psig
 Allow 100 psi drop across valve
 Plot gas injection curve as line from 914.7
psia to 1118.7 psia

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Injection Depth
Gas Lift Design Injection Point
 Intercept tubing Pressure (psia)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
pressure curve under 0
Pso
natural flow and gas 1000
injection line after
considering DP
2000

3000
across valve

Depth (ft)
4000
 Pressure = 1118.7
psia 5000

 Depth = 5200 ft 6000

7000

8000

TU PE 3073 Production
9000
Engineering I, Chapter 7

Find Injection GLR or Qg

 Trial and error

 Start at surface pressure and work
toward injection point
 Vary gas rate
 Must have same pressure as natural flow
at injection point

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Injection Depth and Rate

Gas Lift Design Injection Point
Pressure (psia)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

 Injection Depth = 0
Pso

5200 ft 1000

2000
 Injection Rate =
113.5 Mscf/D 3000

GLR 2 GLR 1

Depth (ft)
4000

GLR 3
5000

6000

7000

8000

TU PE 3073 Production
9000
Engineering I, Chapter 7

101