Artificial Lift Design Optimization

Artificial Lift
Artificial Lift Design
The only way in which the inflow can be kept high, once the well has
been stimulated to reduce reservoir pressure drop to a minimum, is by
pressure maintenance or secondary recovery.
This will eventually be initiated in most oil reservoirs, but methods are
available to reduce the flowing wellbore pressure by artificial means, that
is, to modify the outflow performance of the well.
The four most commonly used artificial lift methods are :

• Sucker rod or beam pumping,
• Gas lift
• Submersible pumping and
• Hydraulic pumping.
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Production Optimization – Artificial Lift Selection
CONTINUOUS FLOW GAS LIFT
The operation of a continuous gas lift well is very similar to that of a

naturally flowing well. Gas is continuously injected into the tubing
through a gas lift valve at a fixed depth and the increased gas/liquid
ratio from the valve to the surface decreases the hydrostatic pressure
gradient in the tubing, thus decreasing pwf.
A simplified schematic and pressure traverse for a gas lift well is

shown in Figure.
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4
The design of a continuous flow gas lift system consists of essentially

two parts:
(1) determination of the performance of the well once it is unloaded
and in stabilized operation, and
(2) spacing and pressure setting of the upper gas lift valves used in
unloading the well.
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A. Well Performance
The performance of a gas lift well can be analyzed using system

nodal analysis in the same manner as was discussed in a flowing
well. Any convenient node may be selected depending on which
parameter is being analyzed.
If the effect of the injected gas volume is being analyzed, it may be
convenient to select the working valve as the node, particularly if
wellhead pressure remains constant. In this case, the node pressure
would be the pressure in the tubing at the valve pV and the inflow
and outflow expressions would be:
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A general procedure for determining the optimum gas rate will be

outlined and illustrated graphically. The node will be selected at the
reservoir.
The inflow and outflow expressions are:
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The formation GLR must be used to calculate Op (tubing below valve),
and the total GLR must be used above the valve. As the injected GLR
becomes too large, the increase in piping system pressure drop due to
friction will exceed the decrease in the hydrostatic pressure in the
tubing above the valve. This is illustrated in Figure bellow.
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The intersections of the inflow and outflow curves give the liquid
production rate corresponding to each injected GLR. The required
volume of gas to be injected can then be calculated, and a plot of liquid
production rate versus gas injection rate can be constructed. This is
illustrated in Figure bellow.
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The effect of injection depth and, therefore, injection pressure required
on liquid production rate can be determined by repeating the procedure
illustrated in Figure 5-3 for various injection depths. This would result in
a different plot of qL, versus qinj, for each injection depth, as illustrated
in Figure bellow.
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Once the liquid production rate and gas injection rate are determined,
the pressure existing in the tubing at the injection depth can be
determined. The required surface operating pressure for the injected
gas can then be estimated from:
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CASE STUDY CONTINUOUS FLOW GAS LIFT
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B. Valve Spacing
There are at least three distinct types of valve spacing problems

encountered in the design of continuous flow installations.
1. One case is that in which the valves are to be spaced and

pressure charged and run with the tubing in an existing well.
2. A second case involves running side pocket mandrels in a well
that may not be placed on gas lift until some later time.
3. A third case is one in which the opening and closing conditions
must be calculated for valves to be run in existing mandrels.
Only the first case will be discussed in detail in course.
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The spacing and pressure settings must be such as to accomplish the

following:
1. It must be possible to displace liquid from the casing into the

tubing down to the desired operating depth with the
available gas pressure, and
2. It must be possible to open any valve under producing
conditions without opening the valve above it.
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The procedure is illustrated graphically by making a plot of pressure versus
depth, such as in Figure bellow.
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1. Gas Lift Valve Performance
As was discussed earlier, one of the requirements for gas lift valve
design is that one must be able to open any valve without opening
the valve above it in the well.
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Most gas lift valves can be placed into one of two broad
categories for anlysis.
These categories are called Injection Pressure or casing
pressure operated valves and Production Pressure or fluid
operated valves.
The two types are shown in Figures bellow 5-14 and 5-15.
Only one type of valve will be considered in Course, the
unbalanced pressure charged valve that is primarily
responsive to injection or casing pressure, Figure 5.14.
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ELECTRIC SUBMERSIBLE PUMP
SUBMERSIBLE PUMP SELECTION
Many high volume wells are equipped with electric

submersible pumps (ESP) to lift the liquid and decrease
the flowing bottomhole pressure. A submersible pump is a
multistage centrifugal pump that is driven by an electric
motor located in the well below the pump. Electric power
is supplied by means of a cable from the surface. A
schematic of a well equipped with a submersible pump is
given in Figure 5-25, along with the pressure traverse in
the well.
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An illustration of a typical pump assembly is presented in Figures bellow.
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To perform a nodal analysis on a submersible pumping well, the node is

selected at the pump. The pump can be handled as an independent
component in the system in a manner similar to that used in analyzing
gravelpacked completions. The node pressure is either the pump intake
pressure pp or the pump discharge pressure Pdn.
The pressure gain that the pump must generate for a particular
producing rate is Ap = Pdn - Pup.
The inflow and outflow expressions are:
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SUCKER ROD OR BEAM PUMPING
Although nodal systems analysis is not as widely applied to the

analysis of wells equipped with sucker rod pumps, the effects of pump
setting depth or liquid level can be determined using this method. Also,
if the casing annulus is tied into the well's flowline, the producing rate
will have a direct effect on casing pressure and thus bottomhole flowing
pressure.
Sucker rod pumping is the most widely used artificial lift method. That is,
more artificial lift wells are equipped with rod pumps than any other type
of artificial lift method. This does not mean that more oil is produced by
rod pumping, since many rod-pumped wells produce at very low rates.
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A schematic of a rod-pumped well and the corresponding traverse are
shown in Figures 5-29 and 5-30.
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35
A more detailed representation of the pump and the operating sequence
is shown in Figure 5-31.
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A method for measuring the fluid level in a well is illustrated and
described in Figures 5-32 and 5-33.
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HYDRAULIC PUMP
HYDRAULIC PUMPING
Another artificial lift method that employs a positive displacement

pump is the hydraulic pumping system. In this system, the power is
transmitted to a subsurface hydraulic motor that is coupled to a pump
similar to a sucker rod pump.
The power is transmitted by hydraulic or power fluid that is pumped
from the surface down an extra string of tubing. If the gas from a
hydraulically pumped well is vented, the systems analysis would be
identical to that for a rod-pumped well.
A schematic of the pump and motor assembly is illustrated in Figure 5-
35.
The power fluid system is shown in Figure 5-36 and the method used
for installing and retrieving the pump without the use of extra
equipment is illustrated in Figure 5-37.
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HYDRAULIC PUMP
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HYDRAULIC PUMP
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HYDRAULIC PUMP
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Production rate SCREENING CRITERIA
Gas Lift
The full range of production rates can be handled. An AOF production rate
cannot be achieved with gas lift because as much drawdown as for an ESP
cannot be achieved.
ESP
PCP
Rod Pump
Jet Pump
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Artificial Lift Design Optimization

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Artificial Lift

Artificial Lift Design

The four most commonly used artificial lift methods are :

The operation of a continuous gas lift well is very similar to that of a

A simplified schematic and pressure traverse for a gas lift well is

The design of a continuous flow gas lift system consists of essentially

The performance of a gas lift well can be analyzed using system

A general procedure for determining the optimum gas rate will be

There are at least three distinct types of valve spacing problems

1. One case is that in which the valves are to be spaced and

Only the first case will be discussed in detail in course.

The spacing and pressure settings must be such as to accomplish the

1. It must be possible to displace liquid from the casing into the

SUBMERSIBLE PUMP SELECTION

Many high volume wells are equipped with electric

An illustration of a typical pump assembly is presented in Figures bellow.

To perform a nodal analysis on a submersible pumping well, the node is

The inflow and outflow expressions are:

Although nodal systems analysis is not as widely applied to the

Another artificial lift method that employs a positive displacement

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