Natural-flow and Gas-lift Experiments and Apparatus

Abstract

Petroleum engineers generally are of the opinion that the flow conditionand, therefore, the formulas that apply to the flow of oil and gas in long pipelines differ in many ways from flow conditions in oil wells. One of the reasonswhy the formulas in common use for pipe-line flow do not correctly apply to oilwells is that t he flow lines arc vertical and not horizontal. Another factorto be considered is that the fluid is a mixture of oil and gas and that thephysical characteristics of these two components are affected differently bychanging conditions of pressure and temperature during upward flow. Realizing the need for accurate data on flow in vertical pipes under conditionscaused both by natural flow and the gas-lift, the U. S. Bureau of Mines hasinstalled equipment at the Petroleum Experiment Station, Bartlesville, Okla., for the purpose of studying this problem. In addition a study will be made ofthe comparative effects of different natural-flow and gas-lift methods ofproducing oil on ultimate production from reservoir sands. Experimental Equipment The experimental equipment consists of a regular oil-field steel derrick, alarge pressure tank installed in a concrete pit beneath the derrick floor, compressors and pumps, gas separators and absorbers, metering and controldevices, and the necessary pipe connections. The crown-block level representsthe derrick floor at an oil well, and the "producing sand? is the pressuretank below the derrick floor. The difference in elevation between thecrown-block level and the tank is 90 ft. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the constructionand exterior arrangement of the equipment. The success of the experiment will of course depend largely upon the accuracyof the oil and gas measurements and the temperature and pressuredeterminations.