.
- -,
s% 29!541
Transient Aspects of Unloading Oil and Gas Wells With Coiled Tubing
H. Gu*, Schlumberger Dowell
*Member SPE
-~ 1*, - of Petdeum Englnaera,km
This papar wee praparadto+preaamationat the ProduotlonOparatbns Synpalum bald In OklahomaCHy,OK, U.S.A., 24 A@ 1S95
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. PE p- @rnrnlt@ -9
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MY-~ ~ * M Of Patrokum EwX-, M oftkara, or membara. pawn w’eaanted at SPE rnaathw are aubjaotto @Uoatkm ravkw by EditorialOommittaaaof tha-soolety
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of wham and by whomtha pegmrb praaentd Wrfta Ubrarlen, SPE, P.O. Sox SS2SS6,Rlchardacm,TX 7EQs2.SSSS,U.S.A. Telax, 1S2245 SPEU7.
ABSTRACT
Unloading oil and gas wells with coiled tubing (CT)
conveyed nitrogen circulation is a transient process in
which the original heavier fluid in a wellbore is displaced by
nitrogen and lighter reservoir fluid. The transient aspects
need to be mnsidered when determining nitrogen volume
and operation time for unloading a well. A computer
wellbore simulator has been developed and used to study
the transient effects. The simulator includes transient
multiphase mass transport and takes into account the
different fluids in the wellbore and from the reservoir. The
simulator also includes the gas rise in the wellbore liquid
below the CT and can be used for gas weii unioading.The
transient results of oil and gas well unloading are
presented. The effects of CT size and depth, workover
fluid, and nitrogen rate and volume on unloading are
discussed. Unlike continuous gas lift, the total gas volume
needed and the operation time in an unloading process
car?only be de?e.rrninedand optimized based on a transient
analysis.
References and illustrationsat end of paper.
Sochtyof Petrokfml Englnwm
review of informationcontainedin an abatraotsubmittedby tha auth@a). Cuntantaot tha papar,
q~b~, ~~stiMdn~kw~-M
INTRODUCTION
Cded tubing (CT) is often used in unloading oil and gas
wells after a workover or after a well is loaded. In many
workover operations, the wellbore is filled with workover
fluid. The hydrostatic pressure of the workover fluid may
prevent well production.Also, when a well has been shut in
for a period of time, the well maybe loaded with produced
liquid in the wellbore. In both cases, if the reservoir
pressure is high enough to produce the well when the
heavier fluid is removed from the well, a temporary lift
process can unload or kickoff the well and restore
production. Otherwise, if the reservoir pressure is too low
to achieie a steady production rate a permanent
continuousartificialI“tiis needed.
The CT conveyed nitrogen is a commonly used method to
unload a well.’ The CT can be run into or out of a well at a
speed of 100 to 200 ft/min. Nitrogen can be circulated at
different depths to achieve a smooth and efficient
unloading.
An unloading process is transient. Unlike continuous gas
lift, the fluid composition in the well changes during the
entire unloadingprocess. During an unloading process, the
heavier fluid left in the wellbore from a stimulation or
workover is aerated and displaced by the injected nitrogen
gas. The downhole pressure is reduced. When the
downhole pressure is lower than the reservoir pressure,
the reservoir fluid statts to flow into the wellbore. Usually
the reservoir fluid has a lower density than the original
wellbore fluid. The wellbore fluid is further displaced by the
927

2 TRANSIENT ASPECTS OF UNLOADING OIL AND GAS WELLS WITH COILED TUBING
incoming resewoir fluid, and a larger drawdown is created
at the resetvoir. When there is enough drawdown for a
steady inflow, the nitrogen circulation stops and the CT is
pulled out of the well. The well continues to produce
unassisted. A steady-state condition is reached when the
unloading process is mmpleted.
The design of an unloading operation involves the
determination of the nitrogen rate, CT depth, total volume
of nitrogen needed and operation time. Informationneeded
when planning the operation includes reservoir pressure,
production capability, property of the produced fluid,
property of the original wellbore fluid, and wellbore
conditions. A successful and optimal unloading opemtion
should be able to bring the well to productionin a minimum
time and minimum nitrogen consumption.
A computer simulato~3 developed for CT operations has
been used to study the unloading process. Unique features
of this simulator include the tracking of different wellbore
and reservoir fluids, CT movement and return of workover
fluid from the formation. The tmnsient behavior of the
unloadingprocess is clearly demonstrated by the computer
simulation results. The effects of the CT size and depth,
nitrogen mte and volume, workover fluid, and well
condtiions on the unloading outcome are presented and
discussed.
SIMULATOR FEATURES
The simulator has seveml unique features that allow it to
be suitable for transient oil and gas well unloading study
and design. The simulator solves tmnsient mass
consenfation equations for multiphase flow and keeps
track of different fluids. The fluids that ffow in the wellbore
can be the original wellbore liquid, produced oil, msetvoir
n%, f!% ,,.-..”, , wa?~~ and ~njectetj nitrogen gas. Dtierent
rmatinn
;;d density and rheology for these fluids are used in the
simulation. The CT movement and depth can be entered
as the function of time in an injection schedule. The fluid
leaking into the formation and the workover fluid lost in the
formation are tmcked, and the reproductionof lost fluid is
simulated. The flow mtes out of the wellbore plotted
against the time from the simulation runs can clearly show
whether an unloading process is successful after the
nitrogen injection stops. More details on the simulator can
be found in Gu et aL2and Gu and Walton.3
DISCUSSION OF SIMULATION RESULTS
Different Wellbore and Reservoir Fiuids
The density of the workover fluid left in a wellbore is often
higher than the resewoir fluid. Dflerent workover fluids
may also have different densities. A fiuid with a higher
density usually requires a longer unioading time. Two
simulation examples for dtierent workover fluids show the
928
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SPE 29541
density effect on the unloading results. The wellbore,
reservoir and CT conditions used in the simulation
examples are listed below.
We//bore
Well depth = 12,200 ft
Casing iD = 4 in., OD = 4.5 in.
No tubing
Oil Resemoir
Resenmir height= 50 ft (12,100 to 12,150 ft)
Reservoir pressure = 4,700 psi
Productivityindex = 1.5 B/D/psi
WOR = 0.2
GLR = 100 scf/bbl
Coiled Tubing
CT length= 15,000 ft
ID= 1.08 in., OD= 1.25 in.
The nitrogen injectionmte is 300 scfm, while the CT is run
into wellbore at 100 ft/min. When the CT reaches 12,000 ft,
the nitrogen mte is increased to 800 scfm and the injection
continuesfor 90 min. The injectionstops at 210 min. For a
workover fluid of specific gravity (SG) = 1, the well can be
unloaded by this injection schedule. The flow mtes out of
the well from the simulation are shown in Fig. 1. After
nitrogeninjectionstops at 210 rein, the well can maintain a
steady flow on its own and the unloading is successful. For
a workover fluid of SG = 1.15, the same nitrogen mte and
injection time cannot remove all of the heavier workover
fluid. The fiow mtes out of the well (Fig. 2) show that the
well cannot produce after the nitrogen gas leaves the
wellbore. A heavier wotkover fluid has a iarger slip from the
gas and flows at a lower velocity.Also, a heavier workover
fluid creates a higher downhoie pressure, and iess
resenfoir fluid can flow into the welibore. Hence, less
workover fluid is removed from the wellbore during the
same period of time. For a successful unloading, more
nitrogen with a longer injection time is needed to remove
ali of the workoverfluid.
.
When an unloading operation is designed, the density of
the workover fluid should be considered. When using
relations genemted from steady-state computer models,
the density of the workover fluid in a wellbore should be
used instead of the reservoirfluid property.
Cieanup of the Workover Fiuid
During a workover, fluid is often injected or lost in the
formation. When the well is bdng unloaded and starts to
flow, the fluid that returnsfirst is not the resetvoir fluid, but
is the workover fluid reproduced from the formation. This
workoverfluid cleanup is importantfor later well production
and is aiso important during the unloading process.
Simulation examples with and without the reproduced
workover fluid show a big dflerence in the unloading time
. .

SPE 29541 H. GU 3

and the amount of nitrogen needed. The data used in the hydrostatic pressure and friiion pressure determines the
simulationare listed below. drawdown created at the formation, A plot of the downhole
pressure fCii stea*f&ate, gsd!iquic!,two-phase flow often
Wellbm shows a minimum for a certain combination of gas and
Well depth = 9030 ft liquidrates.
Tubing ID= 2.441 in., OD= 2.875 in. (Oto 6500 ft)
Casing ID= 4 in., OD = 4.5 in. (8500 to 9030 ft] .. . . .,-I,
The to’fil nitlvwelt VWIU,,,ms ---- and the operation time
m~# - ___
are also affected by the injection rate. The total nitrogen
Oil Reservoir volume and injectiontime represent the operation cost the
Resewoir height= 30 ft (9000 to 9030 ft) cost can be reduced by minimizhg the volume and time. In
Reservoir pressure = 3500 psi the following, a transient simulation is used to determine
Productivityindex = 0.8 B/D/psi the optimum injection rate for a fixed amount of nitrogen
WOR = O gas. The conditionsused in the simulationare listed below.
GLR = 200 scf/bbl
Wellbore
Coiled Tubing Well depth =11 ,050 ft
CT length= 15,000 ft Tubing ID= 2.44 in., OD= 2.875 in. (Oto 10,500 ft)
ID= 1.06 in., OD= 1.25 in. Casing ID= 4.5 in., OD= 5 in. (10,500 to 11,050 ft)

The CT is run to a depth of 8800 ft, and the nitrogen Gas Reservoir
injection rate is 300 scfm during the entire operation. The Reswoir height=50ft(11,000 to 11,050 ft)
well can be unloaded in 150 rein, if there is no lost Reservoir pressure =2800 psi
workover fluid in the formation. When there is 50 bbl of C (coefficientin empirical gas equation)
workover fluid to be cleaned up, nitrogen injection up to = 0.15 Mscf/D/psiw
240 min is needed for a successful unloading. Figure 3 n (exponent in empiricalgas equation)= 0.6
shows the flow rates out of the well for the example with 50 Reproduced workoverfluid = 100 bbl
bbl workover fluid to be cleaned up. The extended nitrogen
circulation keeps workover fluid flow until there is enough Coiled Tubing
reservoir oil and gas in the wellbore to reduce the CT length= 13,000 ft
downhole pressure. ID= 1.25 in., OD= 1.5 in.

The unloading operation time and the amount of nitrogen The CT running-in-hole(RIH) speed is 100 ft/min, and the
naaded depend on !!!s amount of workover fluid lost in the nitrogen injection begks at 45 min when the CT end is
formation. The amount of fluid injected or lost in the below the iiquid ievei at 4500 ft. The injeccionrate % 300
formation during a workover is often accurately known. scfm during CT RIH. After the CT reaches 11,000 ft at 110
However, some of the fluid may become immobile in the rein, the nitrogen rate is increased to the rate given in
formation. An accurate account of how much fluid will Table 1 below. The total nitrogenvolume injected is 91,500
return is dtiiuft to determine. The amount of fluid that can scf for all of the cases. The time when the injection stops
be cleaned up and flowed back can only be estimated from for each rate is also given in Table 1.
previous field experience for similar conditions. When
designing an unloading after a workover, an estimate of I TABLE 1 — UNLOADING RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT NITROGEN I
I
the amount of return fluid should be obtained. The upper 1
and lower bounds of the estimated amount can be used in (CT OD= 1.5 IN., Na V&lQ = 91#00 @l
Na Rate Stop Time Unloadlng
simulations to determine the minimum and maximum (rein)
volumes of the nitrogen and circulation time. Required WC SW Succeasml
resources in the actual operation can then be planned Succeaaful
accomlhgly. m 190 Uneuccaaaful
1200 17C Unaucceaaful
Gas Rate and Volume
One of the fundamental operation parameters in unloading For the given total nitrogen volume, the well can be
a well is the nitrogen injection rate. A iow injectionrate has unloaded by injection at 300 and 600 scfm; whereas, the
less gas flowing in the annulus, and the hydrostatic well cannot be unloaded if the injection rate is 900 or f 200
pressure of the gas/liquid mixture is higher. At the same scfm. At these higher rates, the friction pressure in the
time, the flow velocity is low and the frictiin pressure is not annulus creates higher downhole pressure and less
high. A high injection rate has more gas and high velocity drawdown. A longer injection time and more nitrogen at
in the annulus. The hydrostatic pressure is lower but the these rates can unload the well. In terms of operation cost,
ftilon pressure is higher. The combination of the however, these rates are not optimal. The injection at 300
 .

4 TRANSIENT ASPECTS OF UNLOADING OIL AND GAS WELLS WITH COILED TUBING SPE 29541

scfm can unload the well, but it takes longer than the On the other hand. for a aiven depth, there is an optimal
injectionat 600 scfm. In this example, the optimal injection gas rate which gives the fighest &turn rate. For example,
rate is 600 scfm. The flow rates out of the well for the at a depth of 6000 ft, the injection rate of 600 scfm gives
unloading with a nitrogen rate of 600 scfm are shown in the highest return rate. For a depth of 8000 ft, an injection
e. A
rig. w. rate of 900 scfm gives the highest return rate. At a greater
depth, a higher injectionrate gives a higher return rate; at a
.- —---
Coiled Tubing Size lower depth, a iOVVerinjectionrate is more effecctw.
The CT size also affects the efficiency of unloading. For
the same example as in the previous section, if a 1.25-in. The reason for the rate/depth relation shown in Fig. 5 is a
CT is used, the unloadingoutcome is shown in Table 2. balance between hydrostaticand ftilon pressures. For a
lower depth, the pressure at the injection point is low gas
TABLE 2 — UNLOADING RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT NITROGEN exitingfrom the CT expands and has a large volume. A low
RATES gas rate can create a large gadliquid ratio, and effectively
(CT OD= 1.25 IN., N2 VOhJTIW-91,500 ecf) reduce the hydrostatic pressure. A high gas rate only
N2 Rate StopTime Unloading
increasesthe frictionpressure.
(rein) Outcome
m 350 Succeswul
successw For CT at a greater depth, the downhole pressure at the
I Soo

1200
~
220
190
.—-
170
I
Succemrul
Lkwm3sSfii
injection point is high, and gas exiting from the CT is
greatiy compressed and occupies a Srn~ii W3itime. A bVV
Gas ~te “-.cannot rveata
s!. . “. -....- i~r~~ bubbles tO redu~ the
The well can be unloaded by injection at 900 scfm with a hydrostatii pressure as long as the pressure is high. Thus,
1.25-in. CT. In a wider annulus, the frictionpressure is less the cu?veslevel off for the lower gas rate in Fig. 5.
and the higher gas rate reduces the downhole pressure
more effect-wely.The injection pressure is higher for the Annulus Size
smaller size CT because of the high velocity and friction The relation between the return rate and depth also
pressure inside the CT. The injection pressure should not depends on the annulus size. The above example is for
exceed the pressure limit of the CT to ensure a safe 1.5-in. CT in 2.875-in. tubing. For 1.25-in. CT in 2.875-in.
nnnqt!~~o
“p! ~d~ng, the ~ia?~onis ~irniiar(fig. 6), For 1X-h. CT in 5-in
casing, the annulus is wider and the friction is less
Coiled Tubing Depth important. Figure 7 shows the return rate versus the CT
-— -- :
The CT unioaaing can have a gas mjeccionpoint at a~~ depth. in this case, a high gas rate can reduce the
desired depth. The effect of the injection point depth is hydrostaticpressure more effectively, without creating too
studied using a steady-state gas-lift example. The data much frictionpressure.
used in the example are listed below.

#@,~,q fmum I lmfiN~

Wumvubw”m-.. ”

Well depth = 10,000 ft The transient behavior of oil and gas well unloading is
Tubing ID= 2.44 in., OD= 2.875 in. (Oto 10,000 ft) studied using a computer wellbore simulator developed for
CT operations. The following conclusions are obtained
Reservoir from this study
Resetvoir height= 10 ft (9,990 to 10,000 ft)
Reservoir pressure = 4330 psi 1. For unloading with workover fluid in the wellbore, the
Productivityindex = 0.5 Wrlqxi density of the ‘wmlmwr fiuki MW& W UfiiGX!iRfj
results and should be taken into account. When using
Coiled Tubing relations generated from steady-state computer
CT length= 15,000 ft models, the density of the workover fluid in the
ID= 1.25 in., OD= 1.5 in. wellbore should be used if the workover fluid density is
dfierent from the resewoir fluid density.
The produced liquid is water and the injection gas is
nitrogen.The liquid productionrate is plottedversus the CT 2. More nitrogen and a longer time are required for a
depth for the different nitrogen injectionrates (Fig. 5). For a successful unloading when there is workover fluid to
nitrogen rate of 300 scfm, the liquid return rate only be cleaned up from the formation. The informationon
increases slightly for a CT depth greater than 4000 ft. the workover fluid lost in the formation should be
similarly, the cutve for 600 scfm levels off at about 7500 ft. obtained when planning an unloadingoperation.
Th~mfer~j f~r a given II ‘-;-iAn
IJUULIW1 I rate, ~ rnq ~Q! be

necessary to run the CT to a greater depth.

930
 ,*
‘SPE 29541 H. GU 5

3. For a given mount A ,,,.,-=-.., there

WI nitrmman -. o@imUm
.----- is. an I
injection rate to unload a well in the shortest time. The
operation time and nitrogen volume cm be minimized
using computer simulations to increase th efficiane;
and reduce the cost in an unloadingoperation.

4. The optimum gas injection rate to maximize production

depends on the depth of ihe “mji%xiwl
“ ~’-- pij
--”-4. mm
IL, V,t tha
.,t-
other hand, the optmm! depth of the iniection
am
dapend~ on the inj~ion rate. The dependenoy”isdue
to the oombined effeot of the hydrostatic and friction 140

pressures in the ga~lquid two-phase flow.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Schlumberger Dowell for
Fig. 2 — Flow rates out of well during unloading for
permissionto publishthis paper.
wellborefluid with SG = 1.15.

1. Sas-Jaworsky, A. Il.: “CoiledTubing ... Operations and

Sewioes, Part 5, Unloading Wells With Lighter Fluids,” am.
Won’d0// (April 1992) 59.
w

2. Gu, H., Walton, I.C., and Brady, B.H.G.: ‘A Computer

weIlbore simulator for Coiled Tubing Cleanout
Operations,’ Computer Methods and Advances in .. . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... =.=.

Geomeohwks, H.J. Skiwardarie and M.?4. Zama!?

(ads.) Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands (1994) 3,
2059-64.

3. Gu. H. and Walton. I.C.: “Development of a Comlwter

..,m,m 4mm K9
Wellbore Simulator for Ceiled “Tubing Operations,” lmma=

paper SPE 28222 presented at the 1994 SPE

Petroleum Computer Conference, Dallas, July 31 -
Aug. 1. Fig. 3 — Flow rates out of well during unloading
with reproducedworkoverfluid.

m
“1
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Td
... . .
... ;
1’

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-m
.!: :
Ia ,’ ‘u= /“
4m ,..
j:[:[-
+---
.“ /m”--<t ‘ I

~_-L
:

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+ .../..
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
... Ii
: .
.;. .. . .
------
..-.. .. .... . ......... /“” -U
.+_-J..<..
1 ..
t. —M

am
Osotmlm ‘lm W=w an B

Fig. 1 — Flow rates out of well during unloadingfor Fig. 4 — Flow rates out of well in gas well unloading
wellbore fluid with SG = 1.0. with nitrogen rate of 600 scfm.

931
 . . .

TRANSIENT ASPECTS OF UNLOADING OIL AND GAS WELLS WITH COILED TUBING SPE 29541

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1A . ..#=.>------------ : ..-” ......---””’””’
.. ...a”
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Fig. 5 — Liquid return rate in gas liftwith 1.5-in. CT Fig. 7 — Liquid return rate in gas liftwith 1.25-in. CT
in 2.875-in. tubing (ID= 2.41 in.). in 5-in. casing (ID= 4.5 in.).

;V

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M
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kG2&.J

Fig. 6 — Liquid return rate in gas liftwith 1.25-in. CT

in 2.875-in. tubing (ID= 2.441 in.).