Automatic regulation and control device and method for preventing sand production of gas recovery well

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of petroleum and natural gas development and gathering and transportation, and discloses an automatic regulation and control device and method for preventing sand production of a gas recovery well, and the automatic regulation and control device comprises an ultrasonic sensor, a signal transmission line, an anti-explosion connector, a monitoring host and a central control room monitoring regulation and control system. The ultrasonic sensor is arranged on the downstream outer side of a gas production wellhead pipeline elbow and connected with the central control room monitoring and regulating system through a signal transmission line, and the gas production regulating valve is arranged on a gas production wellhead pipeline and electrically connected with the central control room monitoring and regulating system. Ultrasonic signals generated when sand impacts the elbow can be collected, the effect of monitoring sand production is achieved, then the gas production amount of a single well is linearly reduced through real-time instructions of a computer in a central control room, and the sand production amount is gradually reduced till sand production signals completely disappear. The ultrasonic sensor can also be detached and installed in other gas recovery wells, sand production conditions of different gas recovery wells are regularly monitored and regulated in turn, it is ensured that no sand is produced in the monitored gas recovery wells, and therefore the whole gas recovery system is protected against impact abrasion of produced sand.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of oil and gas development and gathering and transportation technology, and more specifically, to an automatic control device and method for preventing sand production in gas wells. Background Technology

[0002] Natural gas fields and storage facilities contain various types of sandy components in their geological reservoirs. While increasing the production pressure differential during gas production can improve the gas yield per well, it can also lead to sand production in the formation and wells. Sand production causes impact wear on injection and production tubing, wellheads and accessories, valves and elbows in gathering and transmission pipelines, and gas production equipment, particularly at points where flow direction changes, such as elbows. Elbows are used extensively in the gas production surface process, and the high-speed flow of sand gradually thins the walls of these elbows. Therefore, the impact wear caused by sand production on elbows during gas production is widespread and significant.

[0003] In addition, sand production in gas wells can cause pipeline corrosion and failure of surface equipment, which can eventually lead to leakage of natural gas and other well fluids, posing a significant risk to gas production. Furthermore, emergency repairs are extremely difficult and costly. Therefore, ensuring that gas wells do not produce sand is of paramount importance.

[0004] CN209261543U discloses a monitoring device for sand production in oil and gas wells, comprising a sensor array consisting of at least two ultrasonic signal sensors, a signal amplification circuit, an analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion circuit, a data acquisition and storage circuit, and a data processing circuit. The output of the data processing circuit is used to output the sand production rate caused by sand particles impacting the oil and gas pipeline. During sand production monitoring of oil and gas well pipelines, the sand production rate can be accurately determined, thereby improving the accuracy of sand production monitoring. However, the circuit is overly complex, prone to damage, has low safety, and is difficult to repair after a malfunction. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To reduce the impact and wear of sand from gas wells in natural gas fields and storage facilities on the gas production system, this invention proposes a device and method for monitoring and automatically controlling sand production in gas wells. An ultrasonic sand sensor, externally mounted on the downstream side of the wellhead pipeline bend, monitors whether sand particles are mixed in the produced gas. The collected ultrasonic signals are transmitted to the central control room monitoring and control system. Once an ultrasonic signal generated by sand particles colliding with the inner wall of the bend is detected, the central control room monitoring and control system issues a linear adjustment command to the gas production regulating valve, reducing the valve opening by 5‰ of the instantaneous gas production rate each time. This continues until the ultrasonic sand production signal completely disappears, ensuring that no more sand particles are produced from the monitored gas well. This protects the injection and production tubing, wellhead and accessories, valves and bends of the gathering and transmission pipeline, and gas production equipment from the impact and wear of sand production.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is:

[0007] An automatic control device for preventing sand production in gas wells includes an ultrasonic sensor, a signal transmission line, an explosion-proof connector, a monitoring host, and a central control room monitoring and control system.

[0008] Furthermore, the ultrasonic sensor is connected to the explosion-proof connector, the monitoring host, and the central control room monitoring and control system via a signal transmission line.

[0009] Furthermore, the ultrasonic sensor is located on the outer downstream side of the bend in the gas wellhead pipeline. In order to ensure that the ultrasonic sensor can collect signals from all sand particles passing through the bend, all debris on the contact surface between the bend and the ultrasonic sensor must be cleaned and industrial grease must be applied to ensure that the bend and the ultrasonic sensor fit tightly and make good contact.

[0010] Furthermore, the gas production regulating valve is located on the gas production wellhead pipeline and is connected to the central control room monitoring and control system via a signal transmission line.

[0011] Furthermore, the gas extraction pipeline is equipped with a gas extraction flow meter.

[0012] Furthermore, the ultrasonic sensor, which is externally clamped and fastened to the downstream of the bend in the gas wellhead pipeline, can be disassembled and installed downstream of the bends in other gas wells. It can periodically monitor and control the sand production of different gas wells in turn, ensuring that the controlled gas wells do not produce sand at the bottom of the well during the gas production process, thereby protecting the entire gas production system from sand impact and wear.

[0013] Furthermore, the ultrasonic sensor is movably connected to the elbow and secured with iron hoops.

[0014] Furthermore, the monitoring host includes a charge amplifier, a filter circuit, and a data acquisition circuit.

[0015] Furthermore, the central control room monitoring and control system includes at least one computer host and monitor, which can collect real-time data from the flow meter.

[0016] Furthermore, the central control room monitoring and control system performs data processing and corresponding calculations to obtain data information such as sand output quality and sand output rate.

[0017] Furthermore, according to the formula (Where M is the sand output quality from time t1 to t2, Q is the instantaneous gas extraction rate, k is the proportional coefficient, and A is the inner diameter cross-sectional area of ​​the elbow), the sand output quality from time t1 to t2 is obtained. The central control room monitoring and control system processes the electrical signals containing acoustic information, generates curves, and displays them on the monitor for further viewing and analysis by monitoring personnel.

[0018] Furthermore, the graph is a time-sand output quality curve.

[0019] Furthermore, the central control room monitoring and control system 5 performs data processing and corresponding calculations, and obtains the sand output rate according to the formula m=M / (t2-t1) (m is the sand output rate during the time period from t1 to t2, and M is the sand output mass during the time period from t1 to t2).

[0020] An automatic control method for preventing sand production in gas production wells involves installing an ultrasonic sensor on the outer downstream side of the bend in the gas production wellhead pipeline. When the ultrasonic sensor detects ultrasonic signals generated by sand particles colliding with the inner wall of the bend, the signals are transmitted to the monitoring host via a signal transmission line. After preprocessing by a charge amplifier, filtering circuit, and acquisition circuit, the signals are transmitted to the central control room monitoring and control system for data processing and corresponding calculations to obtain data such as sand production quality and sand production rate. The central control room monitoring and control system then issues a linear adjustment command to the gas production regulating valve in the gas production pipeline to reduce the valve opening by 5‰ of the instantaneous gas production rate each time, thus reducing the instantaneous gas production rate.

[0021] Furthermore, after several rounds of ultrasonic monitoring, acquisition, preprocessing, processing, and calculation of sand production, as well as regulation by the gas production control valve, the ultrasonic signal of sand production from the gas well gradually weakens until it completely disappears.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are mainly as follows:

[0023] This invention is ingeniously conceived, with a simple system and high safety. It can collect ultrasonic signals from sand particles impacting bends, thus monitoring sand production. The central control room monitoring and control system then provides real-time commands to linearly reduce the gas production rate of a single well, decreasing it by 0.5% of the instantaneous value each time, until the ultrasonic signal from sand production completely disappears. The ultrasonic sensor can also be removed and installed downstream of bends in other gas production wellheads, periodically monitoring and controlling the sand production of different wells to ensure that no more sand particles are produced from the monitored well. This protects the injection and production tubing, wellhead and accessories, valves and bends in the gathering and transmission pipelines, and gas production equipment from the impact and wear of sand production. Attached Figure Description

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a gas well sand production monitoring and automatic control device.

[0026] 1-Gas wellhead, 2-Elbow, 3-Ultrasonic sensor, 4-Explosion-proof connector, 5-Central control room monitoring and control system, 6-Gas production regulating valve, 7-Signal transmission line, 8-Gas production flow meter. Detailed Implementation

[0027] To make the objectives, features, and advantages of this invention more readily understood, and to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Example 1

[0029] An automatic control device for preventing sand production in gas production wells includes an ultrasonic sensor 3, a signal transmission line 7, an explosion-proof connector 4, a monitoring host, and a central control room monitoring and control system 5. The ultrasonic sensor 3 is located on the outer side downstream of the bend in the gas production wellhead pipeline. The ultrasonic sensor 3 is connected to the monitoring host and the central control room monitoring and control system 5 via the signal transmission line 7. The gas production regulating valve 3 is located on the gas production wellhead pipeline and is connected to the central control room monitoring and control system 5 via the signal transmission line.

[0030] The signal transmission line 7 may also be equipped with an explosion-proof connector 4.

[0031] The central control room monitoring and control system 5 includes at least one computer host and a monitor, capable of collecting real-time data from the flow meter. The system processes and calculates the electrical signals containing acoustic information, generating a time-sand output quality curve, which is displayed on the monitor for further viewing and analysis by monitoring personnel. The system can also perform data processing and corresponding calculations to determine the sand output rate.

[0032] 1. An ultrasonic sensor 3 is fastened to the outer side of the downstream of the bend of the gas wellhead pipeline in the natural gas field or gas storage facility, and is equipped with an explosion-proof connector 4, a central control room monitoring and control system 5, and a signal transmission line 7. The gas production pipeline usually has a gas production flow meter 8 and a gas production regulating valve 6.

[0033] 2. Once the ultrasonic sensor 3 detects the ultrasonic signal generated by the collision of sand particles with the inner wall of the bend, it will be pre-processed by the charge amplifier, filter circuit, and acquisition circuit, and then transmitted to the monitoring host and the central control room monitoring and control system 5 for data processing and corresponding calculations to obtain data information such as sand output quality and sand output rate.

[0034] 3. The computer of the central control room monitoring and control system 5 sends a linear adjustment command to the gas sampling regulating valve 6 in the gas sampling pipeline to reduce the valve opening, thereby reducing the instantaneous gas sampling volume;

[0035] 4. As the gas extraction rate decreases, the ultrasonic sensor 3 may continue to monitor the ultrasonic signals generated by sand particles colliding with the inner wall of the bend. After preprocessing, data processing and corresponding calculations, new data information such as sand output quality and sand output rate are obtained.

[0036] 5. The computer of the central control room monitoring and control system 5 sends a linear adjustment command to the regulating valve 6 in the gas extraction pipeline to continue to reduce the instantaneous gas extraction volume, and the ultrasonic signal of sand discharge continues to weaken until the sand discharge signal disappears completely.

[0037] 6. An ultrasonic sensor 3 is installed on the outer side of the downstream of the bend in the pipeline of the gas field or gas storage wellhead. It can be detached and installed on the outer side of the downstream of other gas well bends. It can periodically monitor and control the sand production of different gas wells to ensure that no sand is produced at the bottom of any gas well during the gas production process, thereby protecting the entire gas production system from sand impact and wear.

[0038] exist Figure 1 The working principle of the automatic control method for preventing sand production in gas production wells is as follows: An ultrasonic sensor 3 is installed on the outer side downstream of the bend in the gas production wellhead pipeline. When ultrasonic signals generated by sand particles colliding with the inner wall of the bend are detected, they are pre-processed by a charge amplifier, filter circuit, and acquisition circuit, and then transmitted to the monitoring host and central control room monitoring and control system for data processing and corresponding calculations, obtaining data information such as sand production quality and sand production rate. The computer in the central control room monitoring and control system 5 sends a linear adjustment command to the gas production regulating valve to reduce the valve opening, thereby reducing the instantaneous gas production of a single well. The ultrasonic signal of sand production becomes weaker and weaker until the sand production signal disappears completely.

[0039] The method of this invention can also remove the ultrasonic sensor 3 and install it downstream of the bend of other gas production wells to periodically monitor and control the sand production of different gas production wells, thereby ensuring that no more sand particles are produced in the monitored gas production wells, thus protecting the injection and production tubing, gas production wellhead and accessories, valves, bends and gas production equipment of the gathering and transmission pipeline from the impact and wear of sand production.

[0040] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or to some of the technical features, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0041] In this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, without necessarily requiring or implying any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Claims

1. A device for automatically regulating sand production prevention in a gas production well, characterized in that It includes an ultrasonic sensor (3), a central control room monitoring and control system (5), and a gas production regulating valve (3). The ultrasonic sensor (3) is located on the outer side of the downstream bend of the gas production wellhead pipeline. The ultrasonic sensor (3) is connected to the central control room monitoring and control system (5) through a signal transmission line (7). The gas production regulating valve (6) is located on the gas production wellhead pipeline and is electrically connected to the central control room monitoring and control system (5).

2. The apparatus for automatic regulation and prevention of sand production in gas wells according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal transmission line (7) is equipped with an explosion-proof connector (4).

3. The apparatus for automatic regulation and prevention of sand production in gas wells according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ultrasonic sensor (3) is movably connected to the elbow (2).

4. The apparatus for automatic regulation and prevention of sand production in gas wells according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ultrasonic sensor (3) includes a charge amplifier, a filter circuit, and a data acquisition circuit.

5. The apparatus for automatic regulation of sand production prevention in gas wells according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central control room monitoring and control system (5) includes at least one computer host and a monitor.

6. The apparatus for automatic regulation of sand production prevention in gas production wells according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that, The central control room monitoring and control system (5) processes the electrical signals containing acoustic wave information, generates curves, and displays them on the monitor for further viewing and analysis by monitoring personnel.

7. The automatic control device for preventing sand production in gas wells according to claim 6, characterized in that, The curve is a time-sand output quality curve.

8. The automatic control device for preventing sand production in gas wells according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central control room monitoring and control system (5) performs data processing and corresponding calculations to obtain the sand output quality and sand output rate.

9. A method for automatically regulating sand production prevention in a gas production well, characterized by, An ultrasonic sensor (3) is installed on the outer side of the downstream bend of the gas wellhead pipeline. When the ultrasonic sensor (3) detects the ultrasonic signal generated by the collision of sand particles with the inner wall of the bend, it is preprocessed by the charge amplifier, filter circuit and acquisition circuit and then transmitted to the central control room monitoring and control system (5) for data processing and corresponding calculation to obtain the sand quality and sand rate. Then, the central control room monitoring and control system (5) sends a linear adjustment command to the gas production regulating valve (6) in the gas production pipeline to reduce the valve opening and reduce the instantaneous gas production.

10. The method of automatically regulating sand production prevention in a gas well of claim 9, wherein, After several rounds of ultrasonic monitoring, preprocessing, processing, and calculation of sand production, as well as regulation by the gas production control valve, the ultrasonic signal of sand production from the gas well gradually weakens until it completely disappears.

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