PTRT2323 Chapter 3-6
PTRT2323 Chapter 3-6
Chapter 3:
Gas Reservoir Deliverability
(Well Inflow Performance)
Gas production rate
Gas Well Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)
Analytical method (based on theory)
Empirical Method (based on experience/experiment)
Production System
Understanding the principles of fluid flow through the production system is
important in estimating the performance of wells and optimizing well and reservoir
productivity. In the most general sense, the production system is the system that
transports reservoir fluids from the subsurface reservoir to the surface, processes
and treats the fluids, and prepares the fluids for storage and transfer to a purchaser.
The basic elements of the production system include the reservoir; wellbore;
tubular goods and associated equipment; surface wellhead, flowlines, and
processing equipment; and artificial lift equipment.
The reservoir is the source of fluids for the production system. It furnishes the
primary energy for the production system.
The wellbore serves as the conduit for access to the reservoir from the surface.
The cased wellbore houses the tubing and associated subsurface production
equipment, such as packers.
The tubing serves as the primary conduit for fluid flow from the reservoir to the
surface; fluids may also be transported through the tubing-casing annulus.
The wellhead, flowlines, and processing equipment represent the surface
mechanical equipment required to control and process reservoir fluids at the
surface and prepare them for transfer to a purchaser. Surface equipment includes
the wellhead equipment and associated valving, chokes, manifolds, flowlines,
separators, treatment equipment, metering devices, and storage vessels.
Deliverability Testing
Reducing the size of the well bore or increasing the pressure of the system into
which the well must produce, increases the resistance to flow and therefore
reduces the Deliverability of the well. The Deliverability Test allows prediction of
flow rates for different line and reservoir pressures.
Deliverability testing goes under several names such as "Back-Pressure Testing",
"4-Point Testing" , "Open Flow Potential Testing", and "AOF Testing". The terms
"Open Flow Potential" and "Absolute Open Flow" refer to the theoretical
maximum flow rate from the reservoir. A "Deliverability Test" usually requires the
well to be produced at several rates.
Gas Deliverability - Analytical
At pressures < 2000 psia
Pressure approach
Example Problem 3.1
Forchheimer model
Backpressure model
Rawlins and Schellhardt
Empirical Deliverability.xls
Inflow Performance Relationship(IPR) Curve
Theoretical
5000
4500
Flowing Bottom Hole Pressure
p - Approach
4000
p2 - Approach
3500
3000
(psia)
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Gas Production Rate (Mscf/d)
Empirical
5000
Flowing Bottom Hole Pressure 4500 Forchheimer
4000 Backpressure
3500
(psia)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
pwf (psia) q (Mscf/d)
Forchheimer Backpressure Gas Production Rate (Mscf/d)
15 1704 1709
239 1701 1706
464 1693 1698
688 1679 1683
913 1660 1663
1137 1634 1637
1362 1603 1605
Absolute Open Flow
Early estimates of gas well performance were conducted by opening the
well to the atmosphere and then measuring the flow rate. Such “open
flow” practices were wasteful of gas, sometimes dangerous to
personnel and equipment, and possibly damaging to the reservoir. They
also provided limited information to estimate productive capacity under
varying flow conditions. The idea, however, did leave the industry with
the concept of absolute open flow (AOF). AOF is a common indicator of
well productivity and refers to the maximum rate at which a well could
flow against a theoretical atmospheric backpressure at the reservoir.
PTRT 2323- Natural Gas Production
Chapter 4:
Wellbore Performance
(Well Outflow Performance)
Single-Phase Liquid Flow
Multiphase Flow
Intro
The pressure drop experienced in lifting reservoir fluids to the surface is one of the
main factors affecting well deliverability. As much as 80% of the total pressure loss in
a flowing well may occur in lifting the reservoir fluid to the surface. Wellbore flow
performance relates to estimating the pressure-rate relationship in the wellbore as
the reservoir fluids move to the surface through the tubulars.
The flow path through the wellbore may include flow through perforations, a
screen and liner, and packers before entering the tubing for flow to the surface. The
tubing may contain completion equipment that acts as flow restrictions, such as
•Profile nipples
•Sliding sleeves
•Subsurface flow-control devices
In addition, the tubing string may be composed of multiple tubing diameters or
allow for tubing/annulus flow to the surface. At the surface, the fluid must pass
through wellhead valves, surface chokes, and through the flowline consisting of
surface piping, valves, and fittings to the surface-processing equipment. The
pressure drop experienced as the fluid moves from the reservoir sandface to the
surface is a function of the mechanical configuration of the wellbore, the properties
of the fluids, and the producing rate.
Well Outflow Performance
• The achievable oil production rate from a well is determined by wellhead
pressure and the flow performance of production string, that is, tubing, casing.
• The flow performance of production string depends on geometries of the
production string and properties of fluids being produced. The fluids in oil wells
include oil, water, gas, and sand.
• Wellbore performance analysis involves establishing a relationship between
tubular size, wellhead and bottom-hole pressure, fluid properties, and fluid
production rate.
• Understanding wellbore flow performance is vitally important to production
engineers for designing oil well equipment and optimizing well production
conditions.
• Petroleum can be produced through tubing, casing, or both in a well depending
on which flow path has better performance. Producing through tubing is a
better option in most cases. The traditional term outflow performance
relationship (OPR) or tubing performance relationship (TPR) is used (other
terms such as vertical lift performance (VLP) or vertical flow performance (VFP)
have been used). However, the mathematical models are also valid for casing
flow and casing-tubing annular flow as long as hydraulic diameter is used.
Pressure loss through the wellbore
The flow path through the wellbore may include flow through perforations, a
screen and liner, and packers before entering the tubing for flow to the
surface. The tubing may contain completion equipment that acts as flow
restrictions. In addition, the tubing string may be composed of multiple
tubing diameters or allow for tubing/annulus flow to the surface. At the
surface, the fluid must pass through wellhead valves, surface chokes, and
through the flowline consisting of surface piping, valves, and fittings to the
surface-processing equipment. The pressure drop experienced as the fluid
moves from the reservoir sandface to the surface is a function of the
mechanical configuration of the wellbore, the properties of the fluids, and the
producing rate.
Relationships to estimate this pressure drop in the wellbore are based on the
mechanical energy equation for flow between two points in a system as
The effect of kinetic energy change is negligible due to the fact that
the variation in tubing diameter is insignificant in most gas wells. With
no shaft work device installed along the tubing string, the first law of
thermodynamics yields the following mechanical balance equation:
Average Temperature and Compressibility Factor Method
AverageTZ.xls
Cullender and Smith Method
4-2 Solve Problem 4-1 for gas production through a K-55, 17 lb/ft, 5 1/2-in casing.
4-3 Suppose 2 MMscf/d of 0.65 specific gravity gas are produced through a 2
7/8-in (2.259-in ID) tubing string set to the top of a gas reservoir at a depth of
5,000 ft. Tubing head pressure is 300 psia and the temperature is 100 0F; the
bottom hole temperature is 150 0F. The relative roughness of the tubing is about
0.0006. Calculate the flowing bottom pressure with the average temperature and
compressibility factor method.
PTRT 2323- Natural Gas Production
Chapter 5:
Choke Performance
k = Cp/Cv
Subsonic Flow
Sonic Flow
Ideal gas
Temperature at Choke
(a)
(b)
(c)
DryGasUpChoke.xls
Assignment 6
PTRT 2323- Natural Gas Production
Chapter 6:
Well Deliverability
Nodal Analysis with bottom hole
Nodal Analysis with well head
Nodal Analysis
• Fluid properties change with the location-dependent pressure and
temperature in the gas production system. To simulate the fluid flow in the
system, it is necessary to "break“ the system into discrete nodes that separate
system elements. Fluid properties at the elements are evaluated locally.
• The system analysis for determination of fluid production rate and pressure at
a specified node is called Nodal analysis.
• Nodal analysis is performed on the principle of pressure continuity, that is,
there is only one unique pressure value at a given node no matter whether the
pressure is evaluated from the performance of upstream equipment or
downstream equipment.
• The performance curve (pressure rate relation) of upstream equipment is
called inflow performance curve; the performance curve of downstream
equipment is called outflow performance curve. The intersection of the two
performance curves defines the operating point, i.e., operating flow rate and
pressure, at the specified node.
• For the convenience of using pressure data measured normally at either
bottom hole or wellhead, Nodal analysis is usually conducted using the bottom
hole or wellhead as the solution node.
Bottom hole Node
When the bottom hole is used as a solution node in Nodal analysis,
• inflow performance is the well IPR
• outflow performance is the TPR
the tubing shoe is set to the top of the pay zone.
then the operating flow rate qsc and pressure pwf at the bottom hole node can be
determined graphically by plotting the equations and finding the intersection point.
The operating point can also be solved numerically by combining the
equations. The intersection can be calculated from
Nodal analysis with wellhead being a solution node is carried out by plotting the WPR
and CPR curves and finding the solution at the intersection point of the two curves.
The operating point can also be solved numerically by combining the equations.
The intersection can be calculated from
which can be solved with a numerical technique for gas flow rate qsc.
Example Problem 6.2
Use the following given data to estimate gas production rate of the well:
Gas-specific gravity: 0.71
Tubing inside diameter: 2.259 in
Tubing wall relative roughness: 0.0006
Measured depth at tubing shoe: 10,000 ft
Inclination angle: 0°
Wellhead choke size: 16 1/64 in
Flowline diameter: 2 in
Gas-specific heat ratio: 1.3
Gas viscosity at wellhead: 0.01 cp
Wellhead temperature: 150 oF
Bottom hole temperature: 200 0F
Reservoir pressure: 2,000 psia
C-constant in backpressure IPR model: 0.01 Mscf/dpsi2n
n-exponent in backpressure IPR model: 0.8
Solution:
This example problem is solved with the spreadsheet program WellheadNodal.xls. The
spreadsheet for the data input and result sections indicates that the expected gas flow
rate is 1,478 Mscf/d at a bottom hole pressure of 1,050 psia. The inflow and outflow
performance curves plotted in to confirm this operating point.
Problem
I have a flowing vertical gas well. Is it worth my while to change the tubing from
2 3/8" to 2 7/8"? How much increased production will I get?
Data
Unit system: Field units (ft, lb, degrees F, etc)
Gas gravity: 0.65 (0% N2, CO2, H2S)
Tubing A : 2.375 in OD (1.995 in ID, 4.7lb/ft)
Tubing B : 2.875 in OD (2.441 in ID, 6.5lb/ft)
Tubing depth: 6350 ft
Flow path: Tubing
Casing: 5.250 in OD, 4.886 in ID
PBTD: 6500ft
Perforations: Top 3445ft, bottom 3543 ft (MPP = 3494ft)
Temperature: 77F (wellhead), 158F (sandface)
Reservoir pressure: 5000 psi
Reservoir parameters: C = 4.0e-7, n = 1)
Flowing Wellhead Pressure: 500 psi
Well Deliverability
Both the IPR and the TPR or VFP (vertical flow performance) relate the
wellbore flowing pressure to the surface production rate.
The IPR represents what the reservoir can deliver to the bottomhole and the
TPR (or VFP) represents what the well can deliver to the surface.
Combined, the intersection of the IPR with the VFP yields the well
deliverability, an expression of what a well will actually produce for a given
operating condition. The role of a petroleum production engineer is to
maximize the well deliverability in a cost-effective manner. Understanding
and measuring the variables that control these relationships (well diagnosis)
becomes imperative.