ENPE 533/622

PETROLEUM PRODUCTION ENGINEERING/SUBSURFACE PRODUCTION

OPERATIONS

ASSIGNMENT 8: GAS LIFT

DUE: 12 noon W 22 Mar 2023
SOLUTIONS

You will find spreadsheets OptimumGLR.xls, HagedornBrownCorrelation.xls,

CompressorPressure.xls, and CentrifugalCompressorPower-US-
FieldUnits.xls convenient.

1) Book Problem 13.1a

Generate IPR and then IPC:

IPR
single phase flow
J 0.5 stb/d/psi
avg res P 2000 psia
reservoir depth 5200 ft
q P_wf, psia
0 2000
500 1000
900 200
1000 0

IPC
oil gravity 30 API
specific gravity 0.876
gas injection depth 5000 ft
liquid column height in
annulus 200 ft
P_wf - P_vf 76 psi

q P_vf
0 1924
500 924
900 124
1000 -76

Now generate OPC using OptimumGLR.xls at several flow rates:

Typical input for the GLRopt calculation:
 INPUT DATA FOR OPTIMUMGLR.XLS
Input
Data
Depth (D): 5000 ft Use gas injection depth
Tubing inner diameter (dti): 1.995 in.
Oil gravity (API): 30 oAPI
Oil viscosity (cp): 2 cp
Minimum GLR (GLR): 500 scf/bbl
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.709 air =1
Flowing tubing head pressure (phf): 200 psia
Flowing tubing head temperature (thf): 100 oF
Flowing temperature at tubing shoe (twf): 160 oF
this value is one of several used
Liquid production rate (qL): 600 stb/day to generate OPC
Water cut (WC): 10 %
Interfacial tension (s): 30 dynes/cm
Specific gravity of water (gw): 1.076
Maximum GLR (GLR): 4500 scf/bbl

OPC
run OptimumGLR at several flow rates
GLR opt,
q, stb/d SCF/STB Pvf, psia
400 3500 667
600 2500 773
800 2000 880

Obtain production rate from operating point:

 2500
tubing pressure at gas injection depth,

2000

1500
psia

1000

500

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
liquids production rate, STB/D

production rate 580 stb/d

P_vf 760 psia

INTERPOLATE FOR GLR_opt AT q_operating

q operating GLR_opt
580 2580 see plot

GLR opt, SCF/STB vs liquids rate, STB/D

3600

3400

3200

3000

2800

2600

2400

2200

2000
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850

gas injection requirement at operating flow rate

q_operating 580 stb/d
total GLR 2580 scf/stb
total gas production rate 1496 MSCF/D
GLR from formation 500 SCF/stb
gas production from formation 290 MSCF/D
gas required from compression 1206 MSCF/D
 2) Book Problem 13.1b except the limit is 0.75 MMSCF/D gas available for the well.

IPR and IPC are same as in Problem 13.1a.

Generate OPC by choosing several liquids flow rates, then computing GLRtot from available gas
(),+,-
rate (750 MSCF/D) and GLRfm: GLR = 𝐺𝐿𝑅%& + ( . Then use
.+/
HagedornBrownCorrelation.xls to compute flowing tubing pressure at gas injection depth.

q, stb/d GLR tot Pvf, psia

400 2375 870
600 1750 781
800 1438 885

INPUT DATA FOR HagedornBrown.xls

Input
Data
Use gas injection
Depth (D): 5000 ft depth
Tubing inner diameter
(dti): 1.995 in.
Oil gravity (API): 30 oAPI
Oil viscosity (cp): 2 cp
Production GLR (GLR): 1750 scf/bbl
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.7 air =1
Flowing tubing head pressure (phf): 200 psia
Flowing tubing head temperature (thf): 100 oF
Flowing temperature at tubing shoe (twf): 160 oF
this value is one of
Liquid production rate several used to
(qL): 600 stb/day generate OPC
Water cut (WC): 10 %
Interfacial tension (s): 30 dynes/cm
Specific gravity of water
(gw): 1.076

Obtain production rate from operating point:

production rate 560 stb/d
P_vf 800 psia
 2500
tubing pressure at gas injection depth,

2000

1500
psia

1000

500

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
liquids production rate, STB/D

INTERPOLATE FOR GLR AT q_operating

q operating GLR_opt
560 1850 see plot

GLR_tot, SCF/STB vs liquids rate, STB/D

2400

2200

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000
400 500 600 700 800 900

Check that GLRtot is consistent with GLRfm, qg,inj and qoperating:

gas injection requirement at operating flow rate
q_operating 560 stb/d
total GLR 1850 scf/stb
total gas production rate 1036 MSCF/D
GLR from formation 500 SCF/stb
gas production from formation 280 MSCF/D
gas required from compression 756 MSCF/D
gas available 750 MSCF/D
good
difference -6 MSCF/D agreement
 3) Book Problem 13.3. Calculate compressor pressure for both situations in Problem 13.1,
i.e. unlimited gas and when gas is limited to 0.75 MMSCF/D per well. How much does
the compressor pressure change?

Note the number, diameter and flow rate in the distribution system changes between
compressor and wellhead: from compressor outlet to injection manifold there are 3 @ 6 inch
each with a flow rate of 8qg,inj; from injection manifold to wellhead there are 8 @ 4 inch each
with a flow rate of qg,inj downstream of the injection manifold, where qg,inj is determined in
Problem 13.1 Thus you should use the Weymouth equation twice. First, to compute pressure
between injection manifold through an individual 4 inch flow line to a wellhead;
CompressorPressure.xls is set up for this. Second, use the equation directly
compute the pressure PL at the inlet to the 6 inch distribution line that connects compressor
outlet to an injection manifold.

a) From problem 1 we have 1200 MSCF/D gas injection into each well at a tubing pressure
of 760 psia at the gas injection point. Running CompressorPressure.xls with the following
input data,

Depth of operating valve (Dv): 5000 ft

Length of the mail distribution line (Lg): 0.5 miles
I.D. of the mail distribution line (D): 4 in.
Gas flow rate in main distribution line (qg,l): 1.2 MMscf/d
Surface temperature (Ts): 70 oF
Temperature at valve depth (Tv): 160 oF
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.75 air=1
Gas specific heat ratio (k): 1.25
Tubing pressure at valve depth (pt,v): 760 psia
Valve pressure differential (Dpv): 100 psia
Base temperature (Tb): 60 oF
Base pressure (pb): 14.7 psia

yields the pressure at the injection manifold of 1355 psia.

Applying Weymouth equation from the compressor outlet to the injection manifold with the
following input data
Gas rate into each line to wellhead 1200 MSCF/D
total wells 24
number of distbn lines 3
numbe of wells fed by each distbn
line 8
gas rate in each distbn line 9600 MSCF/D
length of distbn line 2 miles
 Pressure at end of distbn line =
pressure at injection manifold 1355 psia
average T at surface 70 F
average z at surface 0.6913 --
D 6 in
base P 14.7
base T 60
P_L 1361
Safety factor 1.10

yields

Pr4ssure from compressor 1497 psia

b) From problem 2 we have 750 MSCF/D gas injection into each well at a tubing pressure
of 800 psia at the gas injection point. Running CompressorPressure.xls with the following
input data

Depth of operating valve (Dv): 5000 ft

Length of the mail distribution line (Lg): 0.5 miles
I.D. of the mail distribution line (D): 4 in.
Gas flow rate in main distribution line
(qg,l): 0.75 MMscf/d
Surface temperature (Ts): 70 oF
Temperature at valve depth (Tv): 160 oF
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.75 air=1
Gas specific heat ratio (k): 1.25
Tubing pressure at valve depth (pt,v): 800 psia
Valve pressure differential (Dpv): 100 psia
Base temperature (Tb): 60 oF
Base pressure (pb): 14.7 psia

yields the pressure at the injection manifold of 1418 psia.

Applying Weymouth equation from the compressor outlet to the injection manifold with the
following input data
Gas rate into each line to wellhead 750 MSCF/D
total wells 24
number of distbn lines 3
numbe of wells fed by each distbn
line 8
gas rate in each distbn line 6000 MSCF/D
length of distbn line 2 miles

Pressure at end of distbn line =

pressure at injection manifold 1418 psia
average T at surface 70 F
average z at surface 0.6806 --
D 6 in
base P 14.7
base T 60
yields

P_L 1420
Safety factor 1.10
Pr4ssure from compressor 1562 psia
 4) Determine the power requirement for the compression station in both cases of Problem 3.
The gas pressure at the compressor inlet is 150 psia. Use a centrifugal compressor. The
number of stages of compression is up to you, but you must ensure the outlet temperature
from every stage is less than 300 F.
How much does the power requirement change between the two situations of Problem 3?

a) Input data for CentrifugalCompressorPower-US-Field-Units.xls are

Centrifugal compressor
inlet pressure 150 psia given
inlet temperature 70 F given
from Problem13.3a
outlet presssure 1497 psia solution
gas properties
gravity 0.75
ratio of specific heats 1.25
base T 60 F
base P 14.7 psia

Gas flow rate

per wellhead 1.2 MMSCF/D from Problem 13.1a
number wells 24 from Problem 13.3
total flow rate 28.8 MMSCF/D

For a single stage compressor, we impose Pin = 150 psia and Pout = 1497 psia. This yields an
unacceptably large outlet temperature:
brake hp required 6046 hp
outlet T 552 F
If instead we use two compression stages with same compression ratio, we have Pin = 150 psia
and Pout = 474 psia for the first stage, and Pin = 474 psia and Pout = 1497 psia for the second
stage. The compression ratio r = 3.1 for both stages. With the following input

Gas flow rate (qg): 28.8 MMscf/day

Inlet temperature (T1): 70 oF
Inlet pressure (p1): 150 psia
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.75 air=1
Discharge pressure
(p2): 474 psia
Gas specific heat ratio
(k): 1.25

Base temperature (Tb): 60 oF

Base pressure (pb): 14.7 psia
the first stage yields an acceptable outlet temperature < 300 F:
brake hp required 2579 hp
outlet T 272 F

Assuming that interstage cooling has reduced the inlet temperature to 70 F, the following input
for the second stage

Gas flow rate (qg): 28.8 MMscf/day

Inlet temperature (T1): 70 oF
Inlet pressure (p1): 474 psia
Gas specific gravity (gg): 0.75 air=1
Discharge pressure
(p2): 1497 psia
Gas specific heat ratio
(k): 1.25

Base temperature (Tb): 60 oF

Base pressure (pb): 14.7 psia
also yields an acceptable outlet temperature,:
brake hp required 2586 hp
outlet T 277 F

The power requirement is the sum of the two stages:

Total power
required 5165 hp
3852 kW
b) The difference with part (a) is the smaller gas flow rate and the slightly larger outlet
pressure. The calculations are as follows:
Centrifugal compressor
inlet pressure 150 psia given
inlet temperature 70 F given
outlet presssure 1562 psia from Problem13.3b solution
gas properties
gravity 0.75
ratio of specific heats 1.25
base T 60 F
base P 14.7 psia

Gas flow rate

per wellhead 0.75 MMSCF/D from Problem 13.1b
number wells 24 from Problem 13.3
 total flow rate 18 MMSCF/D

Single stage compression

P_in 150 psia
P_out 1562 psia
brake hp required 3893 hp
outlet T 569 F unacceptably large T; try two stages

Two stage compression

Stage 1
P_in 150 psia
try two stages of equal compression
P_out 484 psia ratio
brake hp required 1670 hp desired ratio
outlet T 279 F below limit of 300 F

Stage 2
P_in 484 psia
P_out 1562 psia
brake hp required 1685 hp
outlet T 284 F below limit of 300 F

Total power required 3355 hp

2502 kW