Author : Isah Yakub Mohammed

Modeling and simulation of crude oil-gas production well was carried out with WellfloR software using designated parameters. Effect of tubing diameter on the operating point was investigated. 3.42 inch tubing gave optimum operating point. The tubing was further evaluated for minimum flowing bottom hole pressure (FBHP) and depth-pressure gradient using different correlations. The result revealed that the production was carried out at 2503.51psia close to the minimum FBHP. Performance all the correlation used showed good agreement. However, Gregory correlation seems to be the best. The bottom well pressure predicted by this model gave the FBHP value of 2374psia, the closest to minimum FBHP (2475psia) required for stable production. Effect of artificial lift was also evaluated and the result compared with the natural drive. The use of artificial lift enhanced more production under the same pipe condition with the natural drive. Finally, the mechanistic models have shown capability of given realistic predictions of multiphase flow in pipes.

Keywords: Modeling; Simulation; oil and gas; Production well; WellFloR

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.4, No.6 (Dec-2014)