Development of Intermittent Gas Lift Optimum Time Module Using Automatic Pneumatic System

Abstract

Artificial lift technique is used to bring hydrocarbons to the surface when they cannot come to the surface on their own. Gas lift is an artificial lift technique which is classified into continuous and intermittent gas lifts. Continuous gas lift is used when the hydrocarbon fills into the wellbore continuously but is not able to come to the surface while intermittent gas lift is used when the fluid flow into the wellbore is not continuous and the operating valve is not always submerged. At the heart of the latter system lies the time interval for the liquid to submerge the operating valve which in turn dictates the injection time module of the gas. This paper presents the studies done till date on gas lift techniques and specifically deals with the time control module of intermittent gas lift. The purpose of this paper is to present a robust system of time control that uses pneumatic test rig and develop automatic actuator using the pressure of the injected gas. The pressure, which is the only factor responsible for the opening and closing of the valve, controls the injection time interval and eliminates the monitoring of any other parameter. The expected pattern of produced fluid with frequency of injection matches with the experimental data which concludes the veracity of this system as an effective time module controller.

Keywords: Intermittent, gas lift, production, time module, injection gas, valves