Experimental and modeling studies on the prediction of liquid loading onset in gas wells

Liu, Yonghui; Luo, Chengcheng; Zhang, Liehui; Liu, Zhongbo; Xie, Chunyu; Wu, Pengbo

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2018.07.023

Cited by 36 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…inner diamete (ID) transparent acrylic pipe. One end of the flow loop was attached to a vertically mova ble platform, while the other was connected to a trolley, which enabled the experimenta operator to obtain any desired inclination angle between 4° to 90° from vertical [34][35][36][37] Air as the gas phase was provided from an in-house air compressor (working capacity 0 125 psi, maximum 825 scfm capacity) to a buffer accumulator, through a regulator valve which filled the buffer accumulator with air at a fixed pressure. There were four air valve corresponding to four injection ports at different locations (Figure 2).…”

Section: Experimental Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Single Taylor Bubble Rising in Stagnant and Downward Flowing Non-Newtonian Fluids in Inclined Pipes

2021

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An experimental investigation of single Taylor bubbles rising in stagnant and downward flowing non-Newtonian fluids was carried out in an 80 ft long inclined pipe (4°, 15°, 30°, 45° from vertical) of 6 in. inner diameter. Water and four concentrations of bentonite–water mixtures were applied as the liquid phase, with Reynolds numbers in the range 118 < Re < 105,227 in countercurrent flow conditions. The velocity and length of Taylor bubbles were determined by differential pressure measurements. The experimental results indicate that for all fluids tested, the bubble velocity increases as the inclination angle increases, and decreases as liquid viscosity increases. The length of Taylor bubbles decreases as the downward flow liquid velocity and viscosity increase. The bubble velocity was found to be independent of the bubble length. A new drift velocity correlation that incorporates inclination angle and apparent viscosity was developed, which is applicable for non-Newtonian fluids with the Eötvös numbers (E0) ranging from 3212 to 3405 and apparent viscosity (μapp) ranging from 0.001 Pa∙s to 129 Pa∙s. The proposed correlation exhibits good performance for predicting drift velocity from both the present study (mean absolute relative difference is 0.0702) and a database of previous investigator’s results (mean absolute relative difference is 0.09614).

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Section: Experimental Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Single Taylor Bubble Rising in Stagnant and Downward Flowing Non-Newtonian Fluids in Inclined Pipes

2021

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“…The superficial gas velocity is low at first, and the total pressure gradient is mainly affected by gravity; as the superficial gas velocity becomes higher, the slug flow shifted to the annular flow pattern, and friction becomes the dominant factor. Like the inclined pipe pressure gradient curve, the critical gas velocity appears slightly earlier than the minimum pressure-gradient point (Liu et al, 2018).…”

Section: Test Results For the Curved Pipe With 1m Curvaturementioning

confidence: 89%

An experimental study of liquid unloading in the curve section of horizontal gas wells

Shi

Han

et al. 2021

Oil Gas Sci. Technol. – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles

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Liquid unloading is a very common and important issue in horizontal gas wells, and the presence of curve sections increases the complexity of the phenomenon and its study. Liquid loading in a gas well will sharply reduce production, therefore, the liquid-unloading onset of different curved pipes is essential to gas production. In this work, liquid-unloading onset experiments were conducted in curved pipes with different curvatures. Then, the critical gas velocity VsgCR can be determined according to the measured pressure gradients, liquid holdup, and liquid film reversal. This work analyzes the factors which will lead to the liquid unloading and explores the trend of the pipe curvature’s influence on the liquid unloading under laboratory conditions. The experimental results show that the critical gas velocity rises with the increase of pipe curvature, the increase is mainly due to the centrifugal force. The present work also compares the predicted results of the OLGA model and Beggs–Brill model with experimental data. The comparison results indicate that both models fit relatively well to the experimental data at the low superficial gas velocity, and both models have poor performance at high superficial gas velocity. The OLGA model fits the experimental data better than the Beggs–Brill model at high superficial gas velocity. The error analysis shows that most of the predicted data is not in good agreement with experimental data. Some errors between experimental data and calculation results are out of the range of 50%.

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“…Although liquid loading Fig. 1 Life history and the process of liquid loading in a gas well (Liu et al 2017) is a serious problem, there is still not yet a common consensus how previous researchers have predicted and determine liquid loading problem over time. Therefore, models from previous works are referenced here as prediction of liquid loading by Turner et al (1969), Coleman et al (1991a, b, c), Nosseir et al (2000, Li et al (2016), Dousi et al (2006, Yuan (2013), Guner (2012, Makinde et al (2013), Tan et al (2014, Li et al (2014), Vieiro et al (2016 just to name a few published article reported to progress in the research work on liquid loading.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…,Li et al (2001), andIkpeka et al (2019),Chen et al (2016),Liu et al (2018). Statistical summary of the 106 data set and Xinjiang North-West gas field data are presented in appendix.…”

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confidence: 99%

Modelling of liquid loading in gas wells using a software-based approach

Abhulimen

Oladipupo

2022

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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Liquid loading is the most common operational problem influencing gas well productivity for the petroleum operator. Liquid loading is defined as an operational constraint that is associated with gas wells where the major driving mechanism for hydrocarbon production is by the associated gas-driven mechanisms. Liquid loading occurs when liquid accumulated in the tubing or casing results in the gas velocity lower than the critical value (the minimum velocity required for gas to push the liquid out of the gas well), which overtime leads to a hydrostatic back pressure greater than the formation pressure of the well, thereby limiting the flow of gas into the well. The continuous build-up of pressure from liquid loading eventually minimizes well productivity and expensive work over operations. However, current mathematical models to predict liquid loading are flawed with varying inaccuracies and depending on the models deployed will ultimately lead to loss of production time and well productivity. In our work we present prediction of liquid loading using a software-based model incorporating the particle swarm optimization algorithm, genetic algorithm, and artificial neural network and Bayesian neural network algorithms applications. The results of our research findings show that artificial neural network software-based model with a simulated accuracy of 93% and 92% for test and trained data, respectively, outperformed the particle swarm optimization data-driven model with a simulated sensitivity accuracy of 92% and 83%, and genetic algorithm data-driven models with a simulated accuracy of 89% and 83%. The Bayesian neural network was postulated as a robust model because of its simplicity shown to have simulated accuracy of 77% and 73% for train and test data, respectively. Thus software-based code environment and data-driven model developed and presented in this paper may resolve many of current deficiencies and gaps in the current technical literature to predict liquid loading with high precision offering saving in millions of dollars to the operators.

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Experimental and modeling studies on the prediction of liquid loading onset in gas wells

Cited by 36 publications

References 16 publications

Experimental Study of Single Taylor Bubble Rising in Stagnant and Downward Flowing Non-Newtonian Fluids in Inclined Pipes

Experimental Study of Single Taylor Bubble Rising in Stagnant and Downward Flowing Non-Newtonian Fluids in Inclined Pipes

An experimental study of liquid unloading in the curve section of horizontal gas wells

Modelling of liquid loading in gas wells using a software-based approach

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