Petroleum Production

Engineering Equipment
Lecture -8-
Y-3
Prof. Atef Abdelhady
Lecture Outline
-
• Production/ Bean Choke Performance

• Sand Control Methods

• Workover Operations
Definitions
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE THEORY BEHIND USING A BEAN OR A
CHOKE IN CRUDE OIL FLOWING WELLS?? WHY DO WE NEED TO USE A
CHOKE AFTER THE WING VALVE FOR PRODUCING CRUDE OIL. ?
DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE 'GOR' OF THE WELL.

OR Bean
choke

SECONDLY, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN

THE PRESSURE OF WELLS FOR OPTIMUM PRODUCTION
 What is Wellhead Choke?
Wellhead chokes are used to regulate
production rates , protect surface equipment
from slugging, avoid sand problems due to
high drawdown, and control flow rate to
avoid water or gas coning.
Two types of wellhead chokes are used.
(1) Fixed chokes
(2) Adjustable chokes.
Placing a choke at the wellhead means fixing the
wellhead pressure and, thus, the flowing bottom-hole
pressure and production rate.
Graphical Representation of a Choke in Production System
 A sonic flow exists at a choke
depends on a
downstream-to-upstream
pressure ratio. If this
pressure ratio is less than a
critical pressure ratio, sonic
(critical) flow exists. If this
pressure ratio is greater than
or equal to the critical
pressure ratio, subsonic
(subcritical) flow exists. The
critical pressure ratio through
chokes is expressed as

Choke Performance curve

 Production Choke Selection
• Based On:
• Application (lift, well, erosion control,
solids production prevention, etc.)
• Rate or flow and range of flow rate
• Presence of solids
• Maximum velocity
• Total pressure drop
• Fluid –liquid, gas, or GOR of mix.
• Temperature –range of acceptable
• Scale and organic deposit potential
 Wellhead Production Choke Uses

• Control Flow
• Protect equipment –corrosion and erosion
• Best use of backflow energy
• Control circulation –holds a back pressure
• Control pressures at surface (during flow)
• Control injection –on injection line
Tubing head pressure can be determine by below empirical equation

Where
Ptf = tubing head pressure in Psia
R = gas liquid ratio MCF/BBL
q = gross liquid rate BPD
S = BEAN SIZE 1/64 INCH
Example showing how choke size affect production rate at different choke
sizes

Production rate bpd

A well is producing 100 bpd gross with a
GLR of 700 cubic ft/bbl. If the bean size is ¼
inch calculate the tubing head pressure.

Also if the tubing head pressure known we can

calculate bean size
Sand Production Control
-
• Causes of Sand Production
• Effects of Sand Production
• Why sand control
• Methods of sand control
Causes of Sand Production
Effects of Sand Production
WHY SAND CONTROL?
Consequences of Sand Production
• Sand plugging the casing, tubing, flowlines
and separators.
• Casing collapse can be caused by changes in
overburden pressures and stresses in the
formation.
• Downhole and surface equipment can be
destroyed, downtime and replacement costs,
spills and in extreme cases a blowout.
• Disposal of produced sands is costly.
 Methods of Sand Control
• Restricting the production rate of the well.
This reduces the drag forces on the sand
grains.
• Gravel packing is the oldest and simplest
method of sand control. Works in both on and
off shore wells.
• Sand consolidation; resins are injected into
the formation binding the grains of sand while
leaving pore spaces open.
 Mechanical Sand Control Techniques

• Screens
• Gravel Packing
• Open Hole Gravel Packs (OHGP)
• Cased-Hole Gravel Packs (CHGP)
 Screens
Screens are used for sand control in four
different ways:
Set in open hole, extending below casing
Set in the casing opposite the perforations
Suspended in the lower end of the tubing
Set as a permanent part of the lower end
of the casing
Screen
What is Gravel Packing?
• Is the oldest and most widely used
sand control technique
• Gravel pack is the key to controlling
formation movement
• The ability of the gravel packing to
screen formation particles successfully
is dependent primarily on gravel size
and the uniformity of the formation
GRAVAL PACK
 Cased-Hole Gravel Packing
• Gravel is squeezed through the
perforations into the producing zone
• It is important that gravel be placed
through all perforations to prevent
formation fines from filling perforations
and reducing well productivity
Other Solutions of sand control
What is Work-Over?
 Work over Operations
• Objectives
• Work over are operations are that involve:-
1- Downhole repair and service of production equipment
2- Deepening
3- Under reaming
4- Milling
5- Recompletion
6- Cementing, squeeze
7- Repair gravel pack
8- Reperforation
Workover
Reasons for workover