SPE 138672

Gas Well Deliquification

William Hearn, SPE, Weatherford

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 1–4 November 2010.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
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Abstract
Many gas wells cease producing economically long before their reservoirs have depleted and artificial lift applications for
removing liquids from gas wells around the world are becoming more and more important.

Proper application of artificial lift technology to a loaded up gas well can be one of the most profitable ventures that a
company undertakes in its overall investment opportunity portfolio. The dollars invested relative to the dollars returned, the
rapid payout, and the generally low risk to reward nature of their spend is expected to continue to propel rapid expansion of
Gas Well Deliquification Technologies into the fore seeable future.

This presentation will illuminate the importance of gas well deliquification technologies for the future. It will cover the basic
fundamentals of the gas well liquid loading phenomena and provide a brief introduction to the Turner and Coleman equations
used for critical velocity calculations. With these basic concepts covered, the presentation will then present a brief overview
of the four most commonly applied artificial lift techniques used for deliquifying a gas well; reciprocating rod lift, foamer
injection, plunger lift and gas lift. In conclusion, a logical artificial lift application selection process for gas well deliquification
called the “Unloading Selector” will be introduced.

Introduction
Liquid loading of as gas well has been described as the inability of the produced gas to remove the Produce Liquids from the
wellbore.1 Liquid loading occurs when the velocity of the produced gas decreases to a velocity below what is necessary for the
fluids to be lifted. The velocity at which liquids would have the tendency to fall instead of rise is described as the “Critical
Velocity” of a well. There have been numerous studies completed including those done by Turner, R.G., Hubbard, M.G and
Dukler A.E. in their Journal of Petroleum Technology Paper “Analysis and Prediction of Minimum Flow Rate for the
Continuous Removal of Liquids from Gas Wells” and by Coleman, S. B., Clay, H.B. and McCurdy D.G. in follow up papers
including “A New Look at Predicting Gas-Well Load Up” also in the Journal of Petroleum Technology and more recently
some very effective modeling has been done in Europe in conjunction with NAM in establishing predictable Liquid Loading
rates. Generally there is an agreement that a critical velocity is tied to the pressure, along with the gas quality, and surface
tensions of the fluids to be lifted and although there is some disagreement as to the mechanism that defines the way that the
fluid is lifted near the critical rate, the resulting critical velocities predictions appear to be relatively accurate.

The typical result of production below the “critical velocity” is unstable slugging production leading to decreased daily rate
and possibly leading to the well dyeing completely (see figure 1). The production decrease requires solutions in order to fully
realize the value of the well. The rates that these occur at can generally be estimated by the above mentioned research and
then displayed by graph (Figure 2). There is a very large list of potential solutions to improve and unload liquid loaded gas
wells. Of these solutions the most commonly supplied are Compression (reduction in surface pressure), Reduced ID of tubing,
and addition of foamers through continuous injection of liquid foam or by surfactant sticks, plunger lift, gas lift, hydraulic jet
pump, and rod pump. Compression is generally determined on a field wide decision with economics considered for
optimizing multiple wells by reducing flowing bottom hole pressure and realizing the increase in production. There have been
numerous papers on implementation and the impact of Compression so it is not the focus of this paper. The other applications
will be considered as well as the introduction of the Unloading Selector™ which can be used as a simple tool to help with
determining the best lift for the application.
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Signs of Liquid Loading

Typically the condition of liquid loading can be identified by numerous commons signs of liquid loading.
• Tubing and Casing pressure differential – In wells with open ended completions when the wells begin to liquid load
we will see a decrease in tubing pressure and an increase in casing pressure. The increase in casing pressure is in
indication of the increased FBHP due to the accumulated fluids in the tubing.
• Orifice Pressure Spikes – If the gas measurement device shows increases and decreases in differential pressure across
the orifice indicating unstable flow.
• Liquid Slugging – Liquid production does not arrive to surface in a steady continuous flow but instead in slugs of
fluid or heading.
• Fluctuating Gas Production – Daily gas production is dramatically different with no changes to the flowline pressure.
• Variance from Decline Curve – Typical Gas Production wells will follow an exponential type curve, as the liquid
loading occurs there will generally be deviation from the curve with a lower than predicted production rate.
• Liquid Production Stops all together
• Pressure Survey reveals a heavier gradient in the tubing pressure.

Solutions for Deliquifying Gas Wells High GLR (above 1000 scf/bbl/1000 feet)

Plunger Lift
Plunger Lift is the introduction of an interface to optimize the production of fluid to the surface using the wells own natural
energy. (Figure 3 and 4) It is normally comprised of a simple Piston/Plunger which travels from the end of the tubing up to
the surface. The OD of the plunger and the interface with the tubing wall is varied based on application. Some typical
plungers available on the market today include a Padded plunger with spring loaded expandable blades which provide an
interface with the tubing walls, solid spiral plungers which have an OD near the drift of the tubing in order to provide a seal,
flexible brush plungers, and wobble washer plungers. There are also different types of applications for plungers depending on
the wells capacity to produce once unloaded. Continuous flow plungers rise to the surface using only the energy from the
produced gas and not from a shut in period, they require velocity of over 10 ft/s in order to continually arrive to surface.
Conventional plungers use pressure stored in the well and in the annulus if available in order to establish the velocity
necessary to cause the differential to bring the plunger to surface, staged plunger systems where multiple plunger system are
used in the same wells and a transfer of fluid from stage to stage is completed optimizing the lift cycle. There are also many
different ways of using Gas Lift to assist in a plunger cycle, this may include injection of gas below the plunger to lift it to
surface in either a continuous or conventional application or a chamber lift application where the gas is used to push the fluid
into the tubing from the annulus. Each will have its own primary application.

Plunger lift is typically considered the least expensive way to lift liquid loaded gas wells however there is an experience
component that is very important in order to be able to operate the wells which requires adequate support either through
internal company experience or from a vendor. Some operational limitations are shown in Figure 5

Surfactants
The use of surfactants or foam for de-watering liquid loaded gas wells is by changing the liquid into a bubble film the surface
area exposure is increased, the density is decreased, the surface tension is decreased and the net impact on the critical velocity
calculations is usually a reduction by a factor of 2.5 to 3 and in some cases even higher. The best applications for this
technology usually occur in higher GLR applications where the agitation necessary exists and in higher water cut applications
where the surfactant acts mostly on water. Normally GLR of 1000 to 10000 scf/bbl will allow for the agitation necessary and
the higher the water cut the more likely suitable foam will be determined. A lower limit of 50% water cut is usually a practical
limitation, below this the chemical costs can get quite high and foaming may be impossible. A high condensate production
particularly can be an issue as the condensate can act as a natural defoamer. In the case the other produced fluid is oil then
many times it can be lifted in conjunction with the foamed water however in limited quantities.

There are numerous ways to apply surfactants to a liquid loaded gas well. Soap sticks are pre-packaged sticks of the foamer
treatment which will dissolve in well conditions. They can be applied through a single stick dropped into the wellhead or
timed using soap stick launchers. They are usually used for wells that load very rarely and only require an occasional kick off,
wells where a continuous treatment is being considered and a test is required, and wells where continuous treatment is not
possible due to wellbore configuration. Batch treatment occurs when a large volume of surfactant is pumped into the well and
then produced back; the typical application is similar to soap sticks in that it is normally used only on wells that require
occasional injection. Continuous treatments occur either into the annulus on wells with a communicated tubing casing
annulus, down a banded capillary line and into an injection valve or mandrel or down a Capillary Line which is installed into a
well as a means to transport the chemical (Figure 6). Any continuous method will require a chemical injection package
consisting of a surface pump and tank (Figure 7) The process of evaluation for a foamer candidate is a combination of system
production evaluation using multiphase software (Figure 8), combined with the actual foam tests of the produced fluids. Both
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pieces are very important the establishment of the right foamer for the fluids that it must react with and establishing if the
conditions exist in the application in order to develop the foam are both extremely important in understanding if the well will
be capable of lifting in a foamer application.

Critical Velocity Reduction Systems

The combination of a system which encompasses optimizing flow area, surfactant injection, and plunger lift is very beneficial
especially in applications where the perforated interval is greater than 100 feet and the positioning of the end of tubing can
lead to unnecessary back pressure either from the back pressure of the U-Tube effect or due to water being left on the
formation. The need for a reliable system to effectively unload sections of larger diameter casing in long completion interval
wells is recognized. Mechanical Lift intervention in these wells is often unpractical for various reasons and foaming these
wells with simple capillary string intervention can be mechanically risky due to the possibilities of them becoming stuck and
their “dainty” workability characteristics when trying to pull them. The CVR systems are designed to specifically address
application concerns with other lift forms in long completion interval loaded wells and combines many forms of lift into one
system to maximize and provide the most versatility for liquid removal (Figure 8)

Solutions for Deliquifying Gas Wells Lower GLR’s (Below 1000 scf/bbl/1000 feet)

Gas Lift
Gas lift is a means of injecting high pressure gas into the production at as deep as possible injection point. Typically in Gas
Wells the goal is to inject sufficient volume to increase the rate above the injection point to above critical velocity. The gas lift
system does not have the issues that many pumping systems to in the presence of high GLR production and as has been noted
by many it is the closest system to natural flow. If a high pressure gas source is present the economics can be very difficult to
beat.
There are many different types of Gas Lift systems that work well in a gas production environment including the extended
perforation systems which allows for gas lift in extended perforation zones effectively unloading the entire perforated interval
rather than only optimizing the production above the packer

Hydraulic Jet Pump

The use of Hydraulic system applications is becoming more common in delquifying gas wells especially due to initial
production requirements of the shale fields where the high volume slick water fracs must be recovered. One of the most
common ways to produce by the use of a Hydraulic Jet Pump. A hydraulic jet pump operates by pumping a high pressure
power fluid produced by a surface unit (Figure 10) into the tubing then down to the bottom of the well where it is passed
through a nozzle and finally through a diffuser when this occurs the result is a low pressure point where the formation can
provide inflow and the production and power fluids can be returned together up the annulus (Figure 11).

These Jet pumps are considered inefficient however that is as a result of the way that power efficiency is calculated which is a
comparison of the power supplied to the fluids vs. the output power and does not accurately explain the systems actual value.
The Jet pump allows for a significant flexibility of production rates and is generally a very easy system to maintain due to the
pumps which can be circulated in or out of the hole without the use of a work over rig (Figure 12). A path for the return
produced fluids must be considered when designing this system however there is a definite application when the well is
incapable of producing with surfactant injection or plunger lift due to the lower GLR’s.

Solutions for Deliquifying Gas Wells to low pressure reservoirs

Typically once a low pressure reservoir has been depleted some of the steps will have included compression reducing the
surface pressures to as low as economically possible. As mentioned early in the paper compression is usually determined as a
field wide initiative. Assuming that the compression has occurred and the wells are no longer capable of lifting fluid using a
natural energy lift such as plunger or foamers the Rod Pump is usually applied to complete the depletion.

Rod Pump
Beam pump or rod pump is very common in unloading liquid loaded gas wells (Figure 13). Particularly once the well has
depleted and the pressure no longer exists to operate some of the less expensive forms of lift (Plunger, Capillary, and Gas Lift)
then Rod Pump becomes a very good way to complete the depletion of the well. Issues with gas interference such as gas
locking or fluid pound usually become issues but are best addressed by “sumping” the pump below the perforations or by
using separators. The use of pump-off control also becomes very important to ensure that the system does not continue to
pump once the fluid level has been pumped down reducing the flowing bottom hole pressure as low as possible. There are
many presentations and papers in the industry on the benefits to rod pumping gas wells and optimizing their use.
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Unloading Selector
The unloading selector is a logical artificial-lift application selection process for gas well deliquification. The unloading
selector works by assigning a high or low value to each of only four readily available surface-gathered data points; liquid
rate, flowing tubing pressure, water cut percentage and gas liquid ratio. Start in the middle of the selection tool and match
your high or low answers to these four variables. Then view inside the outer most ring of the tool to see an artificial-lift-type
selection has been made. Once the lift selection has been identified, move to the corresponding outer four quadrants of the tool
for further analysis of that lift selection. (Figure 14)

New Developments of Offshore Deliquification Systems

New systems have been developed to cope with liquid loading in applications where a SSSV is present and operation needs to
be maintained. Of these a family of tools has been developed that allows for chemical injection such as surfactant to occur or
the use of a plunger system.
The Capillary/SSSV system incorporates a new wireline surface controlled sub surface safetyvalve with a chemical injection
line, wellhead penetration system, and chemical injection valve (Figure 15) which is installed using slick line and a capillary
unit. Another member of the family of tools is a SSSV Plunger system which is a plunger system designed to operate between
the end of the tubing string and the SSSV lifting fluids near the surface so that critical flow at a lower pressure can be achieved
and the fluids can be delivered to surface (Figure 16). While both of these systems as well as all the members of this family of
tools are relatively new they are rapidly catching on and opening up opportunities to return liquid loaded gas wells to
production even in wells that had previously been dismissed due to the work over costs.
Reference
1) Lea, J. (2003). Gas Well Deliquification: Solution to Gas Well Liquid Loading Problems. (Lea, J, Nickens, H, and Wells, M).
Elsevier (USA), Gulf Professional Publishing
2) D. Klompsma (2010) The Development of a Complete System to Allow Continuous Downhole Chemical Injection Without
Affecting the Subsurface and Surface Safety Systems (D. Klompsma, B. Lugtmeier, R. Lacy, W. Hearn, S. Dennistoun, E.
Clazoncinth, J.L. Jacob)

Figures

Figure 1Decreasing Gas Rate with Decreasing Reservoir Pressure

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Figure 2 Critical rate Chart

Figure 3 Typical Surface Hookup of a Plunger System

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Figure 4 – Typical Plunger Lift Configuration

Low Pressure Wells Higher Pressure Wells

Flowing Wellhead Pressure: PFWH < 250 psi (1600 kPa) PFWH > 250 psi (1600 kPa)

Q > 500 scf/bbl/1000 ft Q > 1000 scf/bbl/1000 ft

No packer (0.5Emg3/ml3/day) (1E mg3/ml3/day)

Q > 1000 scf/bbl/1000 ft Q > 2000 scf/bbl/1000 ft

Packer (1E mg3/ml3/day)) (2E mg3/ml3/day))

Figure 5 – Plunger Lift Applications

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Figure 6 Capillary Installation Schematic

Figure 7 Capillary Injector Head and Chemical Injection Pump and Tank.
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Figures 8 Multiphase analysis

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Figure 9 WCVR, ICVR and XtraLift Gas Lift System

Figure 10 High Pressure Surface Unit for Hydraulic Jet Pump

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Figure 11- Hydraulic Jet Pump Nozzle and Diffuser

Figure 12 Pump In-Pump Out Jet Pump

Figure 13 Rod Pump Schematic

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Figure 14 Unloading Selector™

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Figure 15 WCS SSSV w/ Chemical Injection Bypass and Ren-Gate Wellhead Penetration
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Figure 16 SafetyLift™ Plunger