Simulation and Optimization
of Continuous Gas Lift
A gas lift system for a horizontal
well is optimized by use of pres-
sure/volume/temperature data
combined with fluid and multi-
phase-flow correlations. After
selecting the appropriate correla-
tions, multiphase-flow calcula-
tions are made at various injection
depths. A gas lift performance
curve is constructed for the well by
use of pressure- and temperature-
survey data for the deepest point
of injection. Solution nodal analy-
sis is used to determine the opti-
mum injection depth, valve spac-
ing, wellhead pressure, and pro-
duction rate as well as the mini-
mum injection-gas volume.
Introduction
Gas lift systems can have a signifi-
cant effect on the facility process.
Artificial Lift
High-pressure gas is injected into a
well to lighten the fluid column,
allowing the reservoir pressure to
move the fluid to the surface. The
injected gas is produced with the
reservoir fluid through the low-pres-
sure separation system. Therefore,
the low-pressure separator must
have sufficient gas-separation capac-
ity to handle lift gas in addition to
the formation gas. When lift gas is
used, it is important from a produc-
tion standpoint that the low-pres-
sure separator be operated at the
lowest practical pressure.
For horizontal wells, the main con-
cern for lifting is in the vertical-flow
portion of the well. This simulation
has two stages. In the horizontal-
flow stage, pressure drop is calculat-
ed by use of appropriate correlations
for fluid properties and multiphase
flow on the basis of pressure/vol-
ume/temperature data.
In the vertical-flow stage, deter-
mining the expected production
rates for injected gas rates at various
injection points requires the appro-
priate fluid-property correlations
and the appropriate vertical multi-
phase-flow correlations. After deter-
mining the injection points for the
60
well on the basis of pressure and
temperature surveys, a gas lift per-
formance curve is constructed for
the well. To optimize the gas lift sys-
tem, a comparison is made between
the actual and optimum operating
conditions for the progressive itera-
tions of the simulation.
Mathematical Material
This model, which is detailed in the
full-length paper, is based on an
energy balance between two points.
Pressure drop in the system is the
combination of friction loss, acceler-
ation loss, and hydrostatic pressure
from the height of the column.
Industry accepted correlations are
used to calculate fluid properties
such as solution gas/oil ratio, oil
formation volume factor, oil vis-
cosity, gas compressibility factor, and
gas viscosity.
Software that uses the fluid-prop-
erty correlations was developed to
perform the production system
analyses and determine the vertical
multiphase-flow pressure drop in the
well. The vertical multiphase-flow
correlation requires the well profile,
production rate data, and surveys of
bottomhole pressure and tempera-
ture. After these data were entered
into the modeling program, pres-
sures were calculated as a function of
depth. The optimum wellhead pres-
sure and the oil flow rate are deter-
mined by the intersection of the hor-
izontal and vertical flow profiles.
Optimization Procedure
Two pressures remain fixed in the
model without regard to flow rate.
One is the average reservoir pressure
or bottomhole pressure, and the
other is the separator pressure. The
well profile, production rate data,
bottomhole flowing pressure, aver-
age reservoir pressure at the perfora-
tion midpoint, and surface lift-gas
pressure are needed by the software
to optimize the gas lift system.
Production rates, as a function of
lift-gas injection rates, are calculated
This article, written by Technology
Editor Dennis Denney, contains high-
lights of paper SPE 72169,
“Simulation and Optimization of a
Continuous Gas Lift System in the
Aghajari Oil Field,” by Alireza
Bahadori, Natl. Iranian South Oil
Co., and Shahaboddin Ayatollahi
and M. Moshfeghian, Shiraz U.,
originally presented at the 2001
SPE Asia Pacific Improved Oil Re-
covery Conference, Kuala Lumpur,
8–9 October.
For a limited time, the full-length
paper is available free to SPE mem-
bers at www.spe.org/jpt. The paper
has not been peer reviewed.
by use of the appropriate fluid prop-
erties and the vertical multiphase-
flow correlation. Optimum well per-
formance provides the maximum oil
production rate using the minimum
injected lift-gas volume. This opti-
mum performance can be shown
with a graph of the oil-production
rate as a function of the lift-gas injec-
tion rate. Well performance depends
on production tubing size and inject-
ed lift-gas rate. The production tub-
ing size is not changed from that
existing in the well before installing
the gas lift system, and its size is used
in the optimization procedure. The
only parameter available for opti-
mization is the injected lift-gas rate.
Results
In the example Aghajari oil field, the
optimum lift-gas injection rate and
valve placement were determined
with the simulation system. It was
shown that increasing the injection
gas rate from the calculated opti-
mum, such that the produced gas/liq-
uid ratio increased by 76%, the oil
production rate decreased by 6%.
Use of the model indicated that the
oil production from the well could be
doubled by use of continuous gas
lift operation. JPT
MAY 2002