Transient Pressure and Temperature Analysis of a Deepwater Gas Well during a Blowout Test

Abstract

On one hand, a blowout test can clean the bottom of the well, and on the other, it can learn the productivity of the well, which is important work before putting the well into production and also the main basis for production allocation of the well. The accurate prediction of the blowout test process provides a theoretical basis for the design of a reasonable blowout test system and the determination of well cleaning time. During deepwater blowout tests, gas and liquid flows are unsteady in pipes, and flow parameters change over time. At present, accurately predicting changes in fluid temperature, pressure, liquid holdup, and other parameters in a wellbore during an actual blowout process using the commonly used steady-state prediction methods is difficult, and determining whether a test scheme is reasonable is impossible. Therefore, based on the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy during the blowout test process, in this study, formation, wellbore, and nozzle flows were coupled for the first time, and a time and space of unsteady pressure drop and a heat transfer differential equation system was established; furthermore, using the Newton–Raphson method, the equations were solved. Finally, the simulation of the transient flow of the blowout test was completed. Considering a measured deepwater gas well A as an example, the blowout test process was simulated, and the variations in the wellbore flow parameters were analyzed. Comparing the simulation result with the test data, we concluded the following. (1) During the blowout process, the wellbore temperature gradually increased; pressure at the bottom of the wellbore decreased; and pressure at the wellhead increased; and (2) the established model agreed well with the actual production data, and the average error of the wellhead pressure and temperature was less than 5%. Considering the high production capacity of deepwater gas wells, the use of large-sized tubing and nozzles to spray is recommended, which can improve the speed of clearing wells and prevent the formation of hydrate.