Open Access

ARTICLE

Improving Existing Drainage and Gas Recovery Technologies: An Experimental Study on the Wellbore Flow in a Horizontal Well

Shan Jin^1,2,3, Xiaohong Bai⁴, Wei Luo^1,2,3,*, Li Li⁴, Ruiquan Liao^1,2,3

1 School of Petroleum Engineering, Yangtze University, Wuhan, 430100, China
2 Laboratory of Multiphase Pipe Flow of Gas Lift Innovation Center, CNPC (Yangtze University), Wuhan, China
3 The Branch of Key Laboratory of CNPC for Oil and Gas Production, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
4 Oil & Gas Technology Research Institute, Changqing Oilfield Branch Company, PetroChina, Xi’an, China

* Corresponding Author: Wei Luo. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2020, 16(6), 1229-1242. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2020.011051

Received 16 April 2020; Accepted 24 August 2020; Issue published 17 December 2020

Abstract

With the increasing number of horizontal wells with low pressure, low yield, and water production, the phenomenon of water and liquid accumulation in gas wells is becoming progressively more serious. In order to fix these issues, it is necessary to improve existing drainage and gas recovery technologies, increase the fluid carrying capacity of these wells, and ensure that the bottom-hole airflow has enough energy to transport the liquid to the wellhead. Among the many techniques of drainage and gas recovery, the gas lift has recently become a popular method. In the present study, through the simulation of the entire horizontal well, the flow regularity of the whole wellbore during the lift of low-pressure gas has been analyzed. The pressure distribution, liquid holdup rate, flow pattern, and energy loss (including gravity loss and friction loss) have been determined using the Beggs-brill approach. It has been found that the total pressure drop of the wellbore decreases first and increases gradually after reaching a minimum value when gas extraction is carried out via gas lift. Based on the analysis of the influence of the injection volume on wellbore pressure drop and the influence of flow pattern on the lifting efficiency, the optimal gas-lift injection parameters have been determined by taking the minimum pressure loss of wellbore as the judgment criterion.

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Keywords

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