Abstract

An experimental study on the multiphase flow of heavy oil gas lift was conducted on 18.25 m high vertical tube. Based on the experimental results and the wellbore heat transfer mechanism, a coupling model of wellbore pressure–temperature gradients was presented for the gas lift with light oil injected from the annulus. Moreover, the solution of coupling annulus flow with tubing flow was also established through cyclic iteration. Experimental results showed that gas injection enables heavy oil and light oil to mix rapidly and completely. Evaluation of pressure drop models shows that the error of the Ansari model is approximately 12.12%, by comparison it is the least. A novel method of gas lift assisted with light oil from the annulus was proposed to solve the actual situation wherein heavy oil cannot be easily lifted from the wellbore at Tuyuke Block in Tuha Oilfield. An instance design based on the sensitivity analysis of the gas injection rate and diluting rate was also completed. The instance design shows that the productivity of heavy oil well can be significantly improved using gas lift and blending diluting oil technology. In order to verify the feasibility and effect of gas lift assisted with light oil in heavy oil well, a pilot test was implemented in Tahe Oilfield, Xinjiang, China. The results of pilot test show clearly that the daily production rate increased from 11.6 to 38 t/day, and the ratio of light oil with heavy oil decreased from 11:1 to 4:1. From the above, gas injection can significantly reduce the usage of light oil needed, and gas lift assisted with light oil injected from the bottom hole can significantly enhance the productivity of heavy oil wells.

Details

Title
Research on heavy oil gas lift assisted with light oil injected from the annulus
Author
Zhong, H Q 1 ; Zhu, S 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zeng, W G 2 ; Wang, X L 3 ; Zhang, F 3 

 State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China 
 Engineering Technology Institute of Sinopec Northwest Company, Urumchi, China 
 Xinjiang Oilfield Company, CNPC, Karamay, China 
Pages
1465-1471
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Dec 2018
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
21900558
e-ISSN
21900566
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2020249361
Copyright
Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology is a copyright of Springer, (2018). All Rights Reserved., © 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.