Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2016) 7, 847–853

Ain Shams University

Ain Shams Engineering Journal

www.elsevier.com/locate/asej
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ENGINEERING PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

A case study to optimum selection of deliquification

method for gas condensate well design: South Pars
gas field
Ehsan Khamehchi a,*, Mahdi Khishvand b, Hassan Abdolhosseini a

a
Faculty of Petroleum Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
b
Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States

Received 9 August 2015; revised 24 November 2015; accepted 9 December 2015

Available online 20 February 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract Optimum decision making is an ongoing problem in production engineering. Dynamic
Artificial lift; well characteristics during the project life, different reservoir and well conditions, and policies of
ELECTRE method; the companies lead to complex problems.
Deliquification method; Today, the most effective liquid-removal devices are pumping, the combination of liquid-diverter
TOPSIS method; with gas lift and velocity string. Considering mentioned complexities, the most efficient method of
User defined weight; liquid removal is different from one well to the others. This paper discusses a multi-criteria decision
Shannon’s Entropy making (MCDM) strategy for ranking these methods based on ELECTRE and TOPSIS techniques
calculation in a gas condensate reservoir. The most efficient model in this case, regarding its high efficiency and
level of reliability is continuous gas lift. These procedures can be extended to other cases easily by
changing the comparison matrix and user defined weights.
Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction and shape of the droplets mainly determine the minimum

velocity required to lift the droplets. In the other hand water
Production of gas condensate wells reduces the reservoir pres- production may cause similar issue. High gas production rate
sure gradually which consequently leads to lower pressure near carries the liquid to surface facility equipment with a annular
the wellbore during production life. As the local pressures fall or mist flow regime as Fig. 1 [1]. By reservoir pressure deple-
below the dew point pressure, liquid starts forming as conden- tion and consequent gas velocity drop below the critical veloc-
sate droplets and moves toward the wellbore. The density, size ity, required lifting the liquid up to the surface facilities, liquid
begins to accumulate near the wellbore region and the well
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 2164545154. loses its capability to produce gas and the production may
E-mail address: khamehchi@aut.ac.ir (E. Khamehchi).
be discontinued or completely shut down. Fig. 2 describes this
mechanism, known as ‘‘Liquid Loading”, in a gas well and
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.
Fig. 3 shows the change in gas flow rate during the liquid load-
ing occurrence [2,3]. Use of chemicals as foaming agents and
corrosion inhibitors has had great application in gas wells with
Production and hosting by Elsevier excessive water holdup [3,4].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2015.12.011
2090-4479 Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
848
Figure 1 Annular flow regime in a gas condensate well (a):
Actual situation (b): Ideal situation [1].
Figure 2 The liquid loading mechanism in a gas well (yellow
spots are liquid droplet) [2].
Different artificial lift methods have been applied to con-
quer this challenge. The main operations for controlling and
handling liquid loading are as follows. A: Velocity String: A
small internal diameter (ID) tubing string connected to the
bottom of the main production string to decrease required crit-
ical velocity for liquid removal. Fig. 4 shows a schematic of
this technique [5]. B: Pumps (Electrical Submersible Pumps,
Rod Pumps, and Hydraulic Pumps): The mechanism is
E. Khamehchi et al.
Figure 3 Gas flow rate variation during the liquid loading (gas:
blue, liquid: yellow) [3].
Figure 4 A schematic of the velocity string equipment [4].
pumping liquid out of the well and through coiled or slim tub-
ing to the surface unit. The hydraulic pump allows for a signif-
icant flexibility of production rates. The problem of high GOR
in cases of pump application and particularly in ESP such as
gas locking or fluid pound is usually best addressed by ‘‘sump-
ing” the pump below the perforations or by using a separator.
The use of a pump for deliquification is shown in Fig. 5 [6]. C:
Gas Lift: High pressure gas is injected into the production
string to obtain desired gas velocity higher than the critical liq-
uid lift rate. Unlike the pumps, gas lift system does not face
Optimum selection of deliquification method for well design
Figure 5 Application of down hole pumps below the perforated
zone for deliquification [6].
any issues with the presence of high gas liquid ratio. Applica-
tion of gas lift in a liquid loaded well is shown in Fig. 6 [5]. The
main challenge in application of gas lift for oil or gas wells is
related to allocation of gas to groups of wells [7–9]. This chal-
lenge is considered as an optimization problem and has been
solved by many different tools such as genetic programming
[10–12] and particle swarm optimization [13]. Many other
methods such as soap injection, foam injection, plunger lift
and intermittent production have been recommended for deli-
quification in different conditions [14].
There have been numerous studies completed including
those done by Turner et al. [15] that analyzed and predicted
Figure 6 Gas lift installation in a liquid loaded well [4].
849
the minimum flow rate for the continuous removal of liquids
from gas wells. Coleman et al. [16] presented a new look at pre-
dicting gas-well load up and more recently some very effective
modeling has been carried out in Europe for establishing pre-
dictable Liquid Loading rates. The prediction results from the
new model are better than those from Turner’s model and are
consistent with the Coleman et al. data and conclusion. The
new models are simple and can be used easily to predict liquid
loading in gas wells [17].
The history of efforts to remove liquid from gas wells can
be illustrated by tracing the various devices in the Hugoton
field in Kansas. The installation of a time-clock intermittent
to open the siphon string automatically at predetermined time
intervals was the next step in the history of liquid removal [18].
Alipour kivi et al. [19] presented a comprehensive simulation
study about automatic intermittent for reducing back pressure
in low pressure gas wells. Park et al. [2] described a newly
developed decision matrix to screen the possible remedial
options available to the operator.
There are few studies that describe the decision making in
artificial lift selection and some of them are in the area of del-
iquification, such as the developed quantitative method which
couples integrated production simulations, economic analysis
and a distance-based optimization model for a given well
[20–22]. However, none of them follow up a multi-criteria deci-
sion making procedure for ranking the alternatives. Also, the
investigated criteria in those studies are less than the real
options and more technical criteria should be considered for
precise decision making.
The main goal of the present study was to develop a com-
putational technique to couple integrated production model-
ing, cost analysis and technical aspects with alternative
ranking and multi-criteria decision making methods. In the
present study, the main concerns in the selection of a deliquifi-
cation method in gas wells are described. Then, by the use of
expert knowledge, previous studies and economical estimation,
all alternatives are ranked based on TOPSIS (The Technique
for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and
ELECTRE (Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality)
techniques.
850
2. Case study
The current problem is one of the challenges in South Pars
condensate field. The probability of liquid loading in this field
due to its high condensate to gas ratio (CGR), specific reser-
voir conditions and large production 7” ID string is one of
the most serious research prospectives. The plan is to prevent
or remove liquid loading in gas wells to obtain or maintain a
production rate of 100 MMSCF/Day with liquid production
of about 4000 bbl/Day in each well. Different procedures are
selected and investigated to handle liquid and water in these
wells.
The South Pars–North Dome field is a gas condensate field
located in the Persian Gulf. It is the world’s largest gas field,
shared between Iran and Qatar. The field holds an estimated
1800 trillion cubic feet (51 trillion cubic meters) of in-situ nat-
ural gas and 50 billion barrels (7.9 billion cubic meters) of nat-
ural gas condensates.
This gas field covers an area of 9700 square kilometers, of
which 3700 square kilometers belongs to Iran. The Iranian
portion (South Pars) is estimated to contain 14 TCM of gas
reserves and some 18 billion bbl of condensates. This amounts
to roughly 7.5% of the world gas reserves and approximately
half of Iran’s gas reserves. This largest non-associated gas
reserve of the world is hosted by the Upper Dalan–Kangan
Permo-Triassic carbonate. Table 1 describes the reservoir
and production conditions of this field.
3. TOPSIS and ELECTRE techniques
In oil industry, different decision-making processes have been
implemented normally based on economic parameters. Neely
et al. [23] mentioned some economic factors such as revenue,
operational and investment costs as a basis for artificial lift
selection. He believed that the selected artificial lift method
could have the best production rate with the least value of
operational costs. Clegg et al. [24] studied some of the opera-
tional and designing characteristics of artificial lift methods
which are categorized into 3 types based on the artificial lift
methods’ overall capability comparison and design.
MCDM is an approach employed to solve problems related
to selecting between the alternatives. An MCDM method spec-
ifies how attribute information is to be processed in order to
arrive at a choice. There exist many different ranking methods
for decision making in data envelopment analysis among
Table 1 Description of reservoir and production conditions
of this field.
CGR STB/MMSCF 32.1
Pd, psia 4727 @ 210°F 5019
@ 140°F 5133 @ 77°F
Latest static pressure, psia 4902
Bottom hole temperature, (°F) 212
Reservoir depth (ft) 10,499
Well head pressure, psia 3427
Well head temperature, (°F) 128
Separator pressure, psia 512
Separator temperature, (°F) 62
Separator liquid GCR, SCF/STB 340
Well inclination @ target 55°
E. Khamehchi et al.
which TOPSIS method proposed by Hwang and Yoon [25] is
an easy and useful method to help a decision maker select
the best choice according to both the minimal distance from
the positive-ideal solution and the maximal distance from the
negative-ideal solution [26].
Another ranking method is the ELECTRE which is a tech-
nique of preference aggregation and gives the possibility to
model a decision making process using the concordance and
discordance indexes and the outranking relations. The concor-
dance index measures the degree of dominance of one action
over another, based on relative weightings of the decision cri-
teria. Conversely, the discordance index measures the degree to
which an action is worse than another. Outranking relations
are obtained with a combination of a high level of concordance
and a low level of discordance. The ELECTRE model also
uses the same weighted normalized value calculated in the
TOPSIS model. In the present study, these two methods are
used and compared for optimum deliquification selection
methods. The final weight values for a combination of the
Shannon’s Entropy calculation and user defined value. Fig. 7
shows the user defined values, weights of Shannon’s Entropy
calculation and final weights.
4. Information gathering
Many remedial techniques have been developed and proven in
the field to reduce the loss of gas production when the liquid
loading begins to occur. Each method has different character-
istics in terms of accessibility and cost; therefore, a choice is
always required whenever faced with a liquid loading problem.
In this study, the remedial options have been investigated from
various aspects including well depth, deviation, production
rate, corrosion conditions, installation cost, operational costs,
maintenance, infrastructure accessibility, geographical condi-
tions, design simplicity, rate instability control, surface infras-
tructure, hydrate control and number of wells that can be
controlled for each specific deliquification system type. The
comparison matrix is obtained by using different information
gathering methods listed below:

Expert knowledge: The evaluation and comparison of meth-
ods in different aspects, especially technical, are gathered
from specialists in the field of production engineering in dif-
ferent gas fields. Table 2 includes the data gathered from
expert personnel knowledge and documentations.

Economic analysis: Engineering target in many cases of
industrial projects is added value which is directly related
to costs including operational (OPEX) and capital
(CAPEX) costs. Economical evaluation for all choices is
performed and the results are analyzed and shown in
Table3. These costs are calculated for a 11-well group
located in a platform.

Using publications regarding other technical concerns, the
main parameters are listed in Table 4 and used in the
MCDM.
5. Results and discussion
The application of the proposed alternatives is investigated by
the TOPSIS and ELECTRE methods and the results are
Optimum selection of deliquification method for well design 851

Final Weights User Defined Weights Shannon's Entropy Calculated Weights

Usage in High Gas Rate

OPEX (MM$/Year)
Installation Cost
Maintenance Time (Year)
Number of Well
Liquid Rate Control
Hydrate Control
Corrosion Resistivity
Usage in Deviated Well
Usage in Deep Wells
Required Surface Infrastructure
Usage in Offshore Well
Rate Instability Control
Design Simplicity

0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50

Figure 7 User defined, Shannon’s Entropy and final weights for criteria.

Table 2 Comparison matrix based on data gathered from expert personnel knowledge and documentations.
Alternative Gas lift Velocity string SRP ESP Hydraulic pump Range
Usage in deep wells 3 4 3 4 4 1–5
Usage in deviated well 4 5 1 3 3 1–5
Liquid rate control 3 5 2 4 3 1–5
Maintain gas Production rate 3 5 2 2 2 1–5
Corrosion resistivity 3 4 2 2 2 1–5
Usage in offshore well 3 5 2 3 2 1–5

versus other ones. Table 5 describes the preference of alterna-

Table 3 Economical analysis for alternatives.
tives to others. In this matrix, Aij is the preference of row I to
Alternative Installation cost (CAPEX) OPEX ($/year) column j. For example, the ESP is better than sucker rod pump
Velocity string 1,300,000 500,000 for deliquification. The preference of alternatives is as follows:
Continuous gas lift 5,000,000 1,000,000
Velocity String ¼ Continuous Gas Lift > ESP
Sucker rod pump 2,623,000 500,000
ESP 2,325,000 500,000 > Sucker Rod Pump ¼ Hydraulic Pump
Hydraulic pump 2,503,000 1,500,000
Although the ELECTRE model gives a preference of a
finite set of alternatives, it does not rank these alternatives.
Therefore, it is necessary to use TOPSIS for more accurate
prepared for decision making. The weights are a combination decision making through a simple program in visual basic
of Shannon’s Entropy and user defined weights that can be (VB). In this case, by using a TOPSIS technique, the ranking
varied by user in prepared spreadsheet. in Table 6 is proposed for deliquification in the South Pars
ELECTRE’s output is a comparison matrix between differ- gas field. The optimum selection is continuous gas lift. This
ent alternatives which shows the preference of each method procedure can be used for other fields by changing user defined

Table 4 Technical concerns about alternatives extracted from publications.

Alternative Design simplicity Rate instability Surface Hydrate Use for a Maintenance
control infrastructure group of wells time (year)
Velocity string 3 3 3 3 2 5
Continuous gas lift 1 3 3 3 3 3
Sucker rod pump 2 3 1 2 2 4
ESP 2 2 3 2 2 6
Hydraulic pump 2 3 1 2 2 6
Range 1–3 1–3 1–3 1–3 1–3 3–6
852 E. Khamehchi et al.

Table 5 Alternatives preference matrix (output of ELECTRE method).

Alternative Velocity string Continuous gas lift Sucker rod pump ESP Hydraulic pump
Velocity string – 0 1 1 1
Continuous gas lift 0 – 1 1 1
Sucker rod pump 0 0 – 0 0
ESP 0 0 1 – 1
Hydraulic pump 0 0 0 0 –

[8] Khishvand M, Khamehchi E, Nokandeh N. A nonlinear pro-

Table 6 Alternatives ranking (output of TOPSIS method).
Alternative Relative preference factor
Continuous gas lift 0.64
Velocity string 0.59
ESP 0.35
Hydraulic pump 0.30
Sucker rod pump 0.15
weight. These parameters vary from one field to other based on
reservoir and well characteristics, company and governmental
policies and the production objective.
6. Conclusion
Different analytical methods can be used in the decision mak-
ing problem, based on the type of problem and number of cri-
teria. Completion change, artificial lift and work over
operations are different methods of deliquification and evalu-
ated based on their economic and technical aspects. Although
completion methods are mainly evaluated with their CAPEX,
in artificial lift methods the OPEX should also be considered.
In our special case, continuous gas lift is selected as the best
method. The procedure and criteria can be used for any other
gas field.
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Optimum selection of deliquification method for well design 853

Ehsan Khamehchi is currently an assistant Hassan Abdolhosseini has a master degree in

professor at the petroleum engineering
department of Amirkabir University of tech-
nology. His research interests include artificial
lift methods, formation damage and produc-
tion optimization. He has a PhD in petroleum
engineering from Amirkabir University of
technology (AUT). His bachelor and master
degrees are in mining engineering and reser-
voir engineering respectively also from AUT.
reservoir engineering from Amirkabir
University of Technology. He also has a
bachelor degree in petroleum engineering
from Sharif University of Technology. His
research interests include artificial intelligence,
history matching and reservoir simulation.

Mahdi Khishvand is a petroleum engineering

PhD candidate in Wyoming University. His
research interests include artificial intelligence,
EOR and multiphase flow through porous
media. He obtained his master degree in dril-
ling and production engineering from
Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).
He has two bachelor degrees in petroleum and
industrial engineering also from AUT.