when compared to others.

Similarly, one artificial lift system will usually have at least one advantage over all others for a given set of operating conditions.

GAS LIFT SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Gas lift is a four-step process (Figure 1: Gas lift system):

Figure 1

1. 2. 3. 4.

Natural gas is compressed at the surface and routed to individual wells. This lift gas is injected downhole and into the produced fluid stream through one or more valves set at specified depths (most commonly, the gas is injected into the production tubing from the casing-tubing annulus). The lift gas and formation fluids are produced to the surface. The gas and liquids are separated; the gas is then treated and sent either to compression or to sales.

In most wells, gas is injected continuously into the produced fluid stream. This continuous gas lift process reduces the backpressure on the formation by reducing the densityand therefore the hydrostatic pressureof the produced fluid (Figure 2: Continuous gas lift).

Figure 2

Continuous gas lift is typically used in higher productivity wells to handle rates ranging from 100 up to 30,000 B/D. In wells with very high productivity indexes, even higher rates can be attained by injecting gas into the tubing and producing fluids through the casing-tubing annulus. Intermittent gas lift employs much of the same equipment as continuous lift, but its operating principle is completely different. Rather than lowering the density of the produced fluid so that it can produce in a continuous flow stream, intermittent lift works by physically displacing slugs of liquid to the surface (Figure 3: Intermittent gas lift):

Figure 3

When a certain volume of fluid accumulates in the wellbore, gas is injected into the tubing, where it lifts the column of fluid to the surface as a slug. As each liquid slug is produced, gas injection is interrupted to allow the fluid volume to build up again. Intermittent injection uses a timer or an adjustable choke located on the surface to control the gas injection. Cycling of gas injection is regulated to coincide with the accumulation of wellbore fluids.

Intermittent lift is generally used in wells with limited inflow potential (i.e., high productivity index with low average reservoir pressure or, alternatively, low productivity index with high reservoir pressure).