A production choke is essential in regulating the pressure and flow rate of the produced hydrocarbon stream from a well in a field production system. Regulating the pressure and flow rate is necessary to achieve the production objectives of a field, which are to meet customer demand and optimally manage the reservoir over its life cycle. It is therefore important to have a means of effectively monitoring production choke performance to identify the onset of choke wear. Choke wear results from erosion of the choke due to impingement of particles carried in the produced hydrocarbon stream as it passes through the choke body. Choke wear increases the production rate and downstream pressure of a producing well, thereby upsetting the balance of the production system and resulting in ineffective field pressure management. Taking immediate action to replace a worn choke is therefore necessary to restore the production balance and achieve optimal pressure conservation of the production system. Choke performance monitoring is more critical for gas producing wells than oil producing wells because the velocity of gas is typically much higher than the velocity of oil, and consequently the risk and frequency of choke wear is much higher. Physical inspection of the production chokes to confirm wear for offshore gas wells is more laborious and time consuming due to the need to interrupt production, depressurize the flowline, decouple the choke body from the flowline, and ship the choke body onshore to the manufacturer's workshop for component inspections to confirm choke wear and, if necessary, choke replacement. A way to remotely monitor production choke performance and correctly detect choke wear for offshore gas wells without interrupting production is therefore operationally expedient, reduces exposure of personnel to unsafe rough sea conditions, and saves the cost of unnecessary physical choke inspections. The authors present a graphical method of monitoring the production rate and flowing tubing head pressure trends, with the choke size, of offshore high rate dry gas wells to detect choke wear using real-time production data. Examples of successful application of the method, which demonstrates that innovation can be simplification of processes, to detect choke wear and perform timely choke replacement are highlighted.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.