Dual String Gas Injection Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gas lift systems with dedicated injection lines require complex bypass systems, leading to inefficiencies and challenges in gas distribution to lower injection points, necessitating an improved system for enhanced petroleum fluid recovery.
Innovation Solution
A gas lift system featuring a packer and lower injection mandrel connected to production tubing, with an injection line carrying pressurized gas from the surface, and an injection line gas lift valve assembly including a seating module and flow metering device, which facilitates controlled gas injection and improved fluid recovery by regulating gas flow through the system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a dedicated injection line is used to carry pressurized gas from the surface to the gas lift mandrels, then gas flow control is improved and annulus pressure monitoring requirements are reduced, but the injection line must be connected to side pocket mandrels with a complicated bypass system
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the flow control function from the complex bypass system and concentrates it in a single removable flow control device located in the injection line above the packer. This eliminates the need for complicated bypass connections to side pocket mandrels while maintaining precise gas flow control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow control device serves multiple functions: it controls gas flow to the lower injection mandrel, provides isolation capability, and enables easy maintenance through removal and replacement. This multi-functional design replaces the need for separate bypass systems and flow control mechanisms at multiple locations.
2Productivity
If gas lift valves are housed within side pocket mandrels with lateral offset valve pockets, then unimpeded production of wellbore fluids is permitted, but tools deployment and retrieval becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of offsetting the valve pocket laterally from the production tubing, the invention positions the flow control device in the injection line above the packer, inverting the conventional approach. This allows tools to be deployed through the open primary passage of the side pocket mandrel without interfering with valve operation, while still enabling unimpeded fluid production.
3Ease of operation
If pressure in the annular space above the packer is increased to force gas lift valves to open, then gas injection into production tubing is achieved, but monitoring of annulus pressure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a flow control device as an intermediary between the surface gas source and the injection points. This device provides direct control over gas flow to the lower injection mandrel, eliminating the need to monitor and control annulus pressure to achieve gas injection, thereby simplifying the overall system control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient recovery of petroleum fluids by allowing controlled pressurized gas injection into the production tubing, reducing fluid density and improving throughput, while simplifying the installation and removal of flow control devices, and eliminating the need for complex bypass systems.
Implementation Method 1
The flow metering device is a gas lift valve that opens in response to a pressure gradient across the device
Implementation Method 2
an injection line that carries pressurized gas from the surface to the lower injection mandrel
Implementation Method 3
Gas lift is a technique in which gaseous fluids are injected into the tubing string to reduce the density of the produced fluids to allow the formation pressure to push the less dense mixture to the surface
Data Source
AI summary
A gas lift system improves the recovery of petroleum fluids from a well to the surface through production tubing. The gas lift system has a packer and a lower injection mandrel connected to the production tubing below the packer. The gas lift system further includes a gas lift module connected to the production tubing above the packer, and an injection line that carries pressurized gas from the surface to both the lower injection mandrel and the gas lift module. An upper injection line valve assembly is configured to provide a source of pressurized gas from the injection line to the gas lift module, while an injection line gas lift valve assembly is configured to provide a source of pressurized gas from the injection line to the lower injection mandrel.