SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS OF AIME

7 P
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THIS IS A PRIPRINT --- SLE3JECTTO CORRECTION

Steady and Unsteady State Two-Phase

Flow Through Vertical Flow Strings

By

T. L. Gould and M. R. Tek, Member AIME, U. of Michigan

.. .,,-,.
~ ~Opyrlghl lYLU

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the Second Symposium on Numerical Simulation of Reservoir
Performance of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME,to be held in Dallas, Tex., Feb. 5-6,
1970. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations
may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom
the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM
TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the
Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the
Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and,
with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

A numerical simulation for vertical The occurrence of two-phase flow in

multiphase systems has been developed, vertical flow systems is common to many
based on the original concepts presented engineering applications. Problems
by J. Orkiszewski. The rather marked ranging from oil field technology to
variability for different flow regimes boiler design, from nuclear reactors to
in a given well and the simultaneous fluidized beds, from special heat ex-
co-existence of these various regimes changers to thermosiphon reboilers
at different depths are properly frequently encounter conditions of multi
accounted for in the interative calcu- phase flow.
lation of the pressure distributions.
The method features the most reliable The main problem of engineering
and proven correlations available for interest in vertical two-phase flow may
each of the flow regimes encountered. be defined as follows: Knowing the
A programmed data package in support physical properties of each phase,
of the above correlations is described. geometry of the flow system and condi-
tions prevailing at one terminus to
The concept of Lifting Potential predict the pressure distribution along
introduced in an earlier paper has been the pipe.
programmed, permitting applications in
a variety of multiphase flow problems. The literature available on vertical
These include both steady and unsteady two-phase flow includes a large variety
state applications. In general, the of correlations, analytical and empirics
applications involve the study of head- methods developed for prediction of
ing, loading, unloading, and energy losses as well as the flow
dying of gas wells subject to liquid regimes. (l,2,3,4, 5r6,7t8t9,10tll~12 Ilsr
production, as well as different well 14,15) It is significant to note that
engineering and design optimization the references quoted above belong to
problems encountered in gas-lift and two notably different schools of thought
c~nden~a~e pr-duc5-QP.. mL-,
L-Ile fiESL
*-.-- Of -----
$:Luup pdp=LSI refererlces 1

through 7, correlate friction losses by

References and illustrations at end. a unique energy loss factor without any
particular regard to slippage. The
 STEADY AND UNSTEADY STATE TWO-PHASE
) FLOW THROUGH VERT: AL FLOW STRINGS SPE-2804

second group, references 8 through 15, Equation (1) relates the in-situ value
include the effect of slippage or of the pressure gradient to its two
hold-up on the pressure distribution major com~onents, namely, the hold-up
along with thermodynamic considerations gradient P Z and friction gradient T .
of energy balance. The effect 9c of acceleration gradien { ,
usually a minor one, has been put in
In considering mathematical modelin~ the form of a correction factor in the
of two-phase flow systems, one notes that denominator. The form of Eq. 1 suggests
numerical simulation would be particular- that the mathematical modeling would
ly useful. The reason for this is due involve a correction for each flow
to the large number of correlations regime at each location for both the
offered for various flow regimes and the mixture density and friction gradients.
iiversity of various flow regimes which
nay be present. The simultaneous occur- The Pressure Drop Algorithm
rence of various flow regimes along
~ifferent levels of a given flow system The common and fundamental aspect
nakes the numerical simulation not only of practically all two-phase flow design
iesirabl~
.. ~u~ almost imperative
-.. -...
with or =-- nerfnrmanc~
----------- ~p.~~ys~s mrohlem.s
r--------- ilI-
respect to practical limitations on volves step by step calculation of the
tedious longhand trial and error calcu- pressure drop. The usual sequence of
lations. Moreover, numerical modeling calculations starts at the wellhead and
is particularly well suited to such proceeds incrementally down hole, cal-
;>roblems as initial design and economic culating in-situ properties, checking
optimization. the flow regime,and determining the
hold-up,friction and total pressure
Recognizing the value of proved gradients every step of the way. The
~orrelations for each flow regime which details, sequence and logic of the
nay occur, the authors developed a algorithm are given in Fig. 1 which
~eneral algorithm incorporating the in- depicts the bottom hole pressure calcu-
s.i
tu detection of prevailing flow lation as the SUBROUTINE BHP. It
regimes and the prediction of correspond- may be noted that the pressure drops
ing pressure drops by finite difference are not calculated explicitly but
techniques. The specific description of rather preset, permitting the calcula-
the developed algorithm, its evaluation tion of the incremental pipe length
based on field data, and its application over which that pressure drop is occur-
to steady and unsteady state problems ring. This approach permits the flexi-
are included in this paper. Of particu- bility of pre-determining the extent of
lar interest is the concept Qf Lifting the Dressure
~.__._ drop so that the mixture
Potential introduced earlier (8) , which density does indeed represent the con-
uses the capability of the pressure drop ditions prevailing over the considered
model in relating the performance of the increment to any desired degree of
two-phase flow system to the character- accuracy. The iterative cycle indicated
istic gas rate entering the system. The on Fig. 1 permits the repeated calcula-
need for reliable and general flow tions of AD. increments until the
regime detection and analysis of stabil running sum: ? AD, equals or exceeds
ity modes of two-phase flow systems i~l 1
subject to unsteady state operation are the total verticai depth. A direct
also discussed. accounting of pressures therefore yields
the bottom hole pressure desired. The
VERTICAL TWO-PHASE FLOW MODEL subroutine REGCHK determines the
.na,-i.i
.yGb...w
+=;- b.
-fi~val .+inmc
A-==A.U.4....=
~- ~~ lu~~~ f~~ ~

Mathematical description of pressur( and Tf for each of the five possible

drops occurring in two-phase flow system: flow regimes. These are:
usually starts with the consideration of
thermodynamic energy balance. As shown 1. Mist flow
by many authors previously (15),the 2. Transition
energy balance can be rearranged and cast 3. slug flow
into finite difference form to express tk 4. Bubble flow
?ressure drop occurring over an incremen- 5. Single-phase flow.
tal pipe length as follows:

r (1)
1 UU.L.
The physical
il.+= &u=s.A.--
vanl~+~=ii ---
fnr
properties
+hs
and other
...- calmllatinns
------------- ~r~

1
Yc ADi provided by a generalized data package
Api = &
1- wtqG/4637A P2 ~A~ consisting of the following functions:
1i
 1. Surface tension
2. Critical temperature
3. Critical pressure
4. Viscosity of the gas
5. Viscosity of water
6. Viscosity of oil
7. Viscosity of dead-oil
Moody friction factor
;: Solution gas ratio
10. Formation volume factor
11. Bubble rise velocity
12. Z-factor.
The algorithm described above has
the ad(litional capability to include 3-
phase pressure drop calculations when
two immiscible liquid phases are flowin
simultaneously with the gas phase. The
prediction of bottom hole pressure by
this algorithm is found to be accurate
within 10%.
The Lifting Potential Algorithm
The Lifting Potential was defined
(8) as the quantity of liquid that can
be potentially lifted for a given well
geometry, pressure distribution and gas
throughput. In an earlier paper (8) it
was pointed out that the lifting poten-
tial relates the characteristics of two
phase flow in the well to the mechanics
of flow through adjacent porous media.
In applications on wells producing
single phase liquids lifted to surface
by injected gas, the lifting potential
relates the two-phase flow above injec-
tion point to the available gas rate at
the point of injection.
Figure 2 presents the logical flow
diagram for the mainline program
developed for the calculation of the
lifting potentials. The mainline pro-
gram calls on SUBROUTINE BHP, tests
the calculated bottom hole pressure vs
the specified value and modifies g
L~FT
by Regula-Falsi convergence metho .
A typical calculation of a lifting
potential value involving roughly 20
depth increments and 5 iterations for
convergence takes 2 to 3 seconds
~~lFT CPU time on an IBM 360/67 system.
FLOW REGIMES
It can be seen from the preceding
that the pressure drop and lifting
potential calculations critically depen
upon reliable detection of the flow
regimes prevailing at each step.
Figure 3 maps out areas correspond-
ing to various flow regimes encountered
in vertical two-phase flow. The solid
lines correspond to flow regime correla-
tions recommended by Orkiszewski (15)
and based in part on Duns and Ros (14)
and in part on the work of Griffith and
Wallis (9). The practical experience
the authors had in areas of widely rang-
ing applications suggests that the flow
regime map can be logically extended to
delineate additional areas of vertical
two-phase flow. These extensions,
however, are speculative and are pre-
sented in the form of dotted lines. It
is hoped that in the near future with
more data the location of these lines
will be finalized.
UNSTEADY STATE EFFECTS
Unsteady state effects are observe<
in two-phase flow when wells are subject
to loading, unloading, heading,
or dying. When conditions are chang-
ing gradually but somewhat continuously
with time, the use of correlations
originally developed from steady state
data for two-phase flow was suggested
in an earlier paper. (8) The computa-
tional and field experience on these
unsteady state problems have shown that
one can indeed take into account the
variation of lifting potential with
time through a succession of steady
states.
APPLICATIONS
Whether a well is producing gas,
oil, or condensate it may be subject to
two-phase vertical flow according to
the place and condition of entry of each
phase into the production tubing. Some
wells are subject to two-phase flow at
the bottom, while others may be pro-
ducing undersaturated crude at the
bottom with gas evolving out of solutio]
some distance from the bottom. In wells
producing by gas-lift, the flow is
usually single-phase at the bottom but
two-phase above the point where the gas
is injected. Specific designs encoun-
tered in bottom hole completions and the
diversity of the manner in which two or
even three-phase flows occur are quite
numerous. For the scope and intent of
applications entertained in this paper,
however, the well considered will con-
sist of a single zone completion with no
packer separating the casing-tubing
annulus from the sand-face.
 STEADY AND UNSTEADY
Effect of Casinq-Tubing Annulus on the
Performance of a Well
The performance of a well subject to
two-phase flow may be described in terms
of its general time dependent behavior
and its mode of stability with respect
to perturbations imposed upon operating
conditions. Figure 4 represents a
typical lifting potential curve inter-
secting the line giving g as a
function of bottom hole p~!?$ure. The
significance of this figure is perhaps
best appreciated by observing the mean-
ing of points indicated as A, B, C, D,
E, and F. Of these, the points C and D
at the intersection of the two curves
represent steady-state operation. When
the rate of production into the well is
exactly equal to the lifting potential
of the well the system operates at
steady state. In addition, consideration
of stability suggests that the point C
represents metastable mode of opera-
tion. If the system operating at point
C is perturbed so that the bottom hole
pressure moves to pc,at the left of p
to a small extent, the lifting abill$y
at C becomes less than the actual rate
of production (C) into the well bore.
This would indeed cause accumulation of
liquid in the casing-tubing annulus
which would soon reflect in an increase
of bottom hole pressure causing the
point C to move back toward C. If, on
the other hand, a similar perturbation
moves the operating point C to the
right, two possible cases must be con-
sidered. If there eXiStS s~rne Iiuuid
~_-_.
already present in the annulus, the
operating point becomes CIV where the
well begins to lift at a rate more than
the flow incoming from the formation.
This is surely a stabilizing effect sine
the depletion of the liquid in the
annulus would soon reflect in a decrease
in bottom hole pressure causing the
point CIV to move back to ~fal~~gt~e
lifting potential curve.
other hand, at the time of t;e pertur-
bation the annulus was dr , then the
point C would move to C ll; where the
lifting potential is greater than pro-
duction into the well bore. Under this
condition there would be no accumulation
into or depletion from the annulus and
accordingly there would be no induced
effect ~ return the operating point
from C1 f back to C. Because of this,
the mode of operation at C is called
meta-stable.
By a similar analysis one can con-
clude that point D represents also a
STATE TWO-PHASE
PT. FT.(3W ~TRT~! SPE-2804
steady-state but unstable mode of
operation. Any perturbation causing
the operating point to move either to
the right or left of point D can be
shown to cause further displacement of
the original perturbation. If the
operating point starts at A, it can be
seen by similar considerations that the
formation produces more than the well
can lift, the difference accumulating
in the annulus, thereby increasing the
bottom hole pressure and causing the
point A to move toward C. In this case
the well is said to be loading up
until steady state conditions are even-
tually reached. If the bottom hole
pressure is such that one begins to
operate at point F with a dry annulus,
the operation is steady state but
stable indeterminate. Ifa perturba-
tion moves the operating point around
F on the line CD, the operating point
neither returns to F nor does it move
farther away.
With bottom hole pressure at p
starting with a wet annulus, the 5P:::-
tion starts at point B, the well
unloading more than the rate of pro-
duction from the formation. As soon
as the liquid level in the annulus
begins to drop, so does the bottom hole
pressure causing the point B to move
toward C. If the annulus becomes dry
sometime during this process then the
operating point would immediately and
vertically shift to the corresponding
position on the line CD, the produc-
tivity curve.
It is believed that, when the liftin~
potential curve is at least nearly
tangent to the productivity line, under
certain conditions, perturbations may
set up fluctuations of increasing ampli-
tude and definite periodicity until
instabilities are encountered which leac
to dying. This is called heading.
It can clearly be seen from the fore-
going that any operating point right of
D is unsteady and unstable and leads
to dying at point E. Table I sum-
marizes the stability of two-phase
operations as affected by the condition
of casing-tubing annulus at the start,
and also indicating the point at which
the system would be wound-up at the
end.
. ----
5PE-ZUU4 T. L. GOULD ~d M. R. TEK c

Gas-Lift = average temperature of gas

AV
injection line, R abs.
The gas-lift is a pumping technique
whereby the liquid production into the = the average Z factor on gas
AV
well bore is lifted to the surface by s = 0.0375 gDi , dimensionless
induced two-phase flow due to injection z
of gas into the producing string. papers AV AV
articles, and books on gas-lift, details % = injection depth, ft.
of design features, performance char- f = Moody friction factor,
acteristics and other data are available dimensionless
in the literature. (17,18) The appli-
cation of the lifting potential concept = injection pressure, psia
INJ
to design and economic optimization of = p~~~~lu~~ ~~ ~~.~ ~Qp of -..
y a.
gas-lift systems will be entertained ~s
injection line, psia
L---
IleLel. It may be
--. ._-,
appruprlace -L
at this
point to recall that the lifting poten- = gas injection rate, MCF/day
G
tial concept was proposed as the con-
necting link between the performance of
hw~-~hase
=..--- f~~w in ~~~ w~~~ ~Q~~ ~~~ Figure 5 shows the effect of diameter
~~e
producing capability of the formation on lifting potential and formation pro-
adjacent to it. (8) ductivity for gas-lift wells. It must
be noted that the lifting potential curve
If the well is producing its own are presented here vs the injection
gas to lift the liquid production, it pressure and not the bottom hole pressure
has been shown that the lifting capabil- The bottom hole pressure can, however,
ity depends critically on the gas be readily calculated from the injection
producing capability of the formation. pressure using single phase flow equa-
This gas producing capability is usually tions and the characteristics of the flow
related to the back pressure behavior system below the injection point. The
of the formation tested at the field lifting potential curve for each diameter
and expressed by the back pressure has a distinct maximum and two zeros.
equation: The lower zero corresponds to too little
overall pressure drop available between
n the injection point and the surface
qG = Cp(pfz - PB2) (2) gathering line pressure. The other zero
is due to having too small an injection
where qG is the bottom hole gas produc- gas rate due to high pressure at injec-
tion ra e, pf is the static formation tion point. Additionally it can be seen
and pB is the flowing bQttQrn.b-QIe that as one ~oes from 2-1~2 inches to
pressure. The coefficient c is called 3, 4, and 6 inches in two-phase tubing
the performance coefficient while (n) diameter, the entire lifting potential
is the slope of the back pressure curve curves become spectacularly larger and
determined by Isochronal Testing (19). higher. Too large a diameter d, however,
results also in zero liftinq potential
If the well is a single-phase liquidldue 0 00 little
_. ._ momentum ir>nsfer from
producer at the bottom but subject to the gas to liquid. The apparent kink on
artificially induced gas lift, then its some of the lifting potential curves is
.,..-,. ~.de ~~ ~y,e A1l
:----...--&-l
GLelllell ...-&..--
LaL lla Cl ---
nrclng performance above the point of LuLe of LJ. VW

injection becomes a function of the regime predictions.

availability of gas at the injection
point. If the compressor discharge Figure 6 shows the effect of injectio
pressure available at the surface is pS depth on lifting potentials plotted vs
then the rate of eras injection mav be the injection pressure. The oblique line
computed from the-follo~ing equation. (2o intersecting the lifting Potential curves
like those in Fig. 5 indicates the true
1/2
d5/f (esp: - p$N~ liquid productivity of the well as a
1 function of p While the curves
qG=~ 2 (3)
-1 0.000667 T;V ZAV clearly show t~~~ lifting potential curve
1 11 ecome larger for shallower injection
A
epths, the gas injection rate becomes
In Eq.L (3), d is the inside diameter
of gas injection tubing in inches; also increasingly higher at shallower
[ epths. Since the compression horse-
power varies linearly with the rate of
gas but only logarithmically with the
5 FLOW THROUG H VF@ ~AL FT,OW STRINGS SPE-2804
compression ratio the above set of > = depth, ft.
>urves must be considered along with !D = increment of depth, ft.
compression and other aspects before = injection depth, ft.
31
:rue optimization of gas-lift can be
cealized. F = Moody friction factor, dimensionless

CONCLUSIONS gravity of the gas

The major conclusions resulting gravity of the liquid

from this work may be summarized as
follows: 2
acceleration of gravity, ft/sec

1. The mathematical modeling and gravitational constant2= 32.17 ft x

~urn.ericalsimulation in vertical two- lh(mass\/lh(force)
-- \-----,, - . r
(S~C )
Phase flow is shown to provide practical
reliable and effective results, useful height of standing liquid from the
emmirimmyinm
LP. e..=.b..----..-J c+lldie.s
- ------ ~~~ec&e~ &ow~~d ~Q&~Q~,, ft.
design or performance analysis of wells.
slope of the back pressure curve
2. The concept of Lifting Poten-
tial originally developed for gas wells absolute pressure, psia
subject to liquid production or accumu-
lation at the bottom is equally useful bottom hole pressure, psia
and applicable in gas-lifting of oil
wells. = calculated bottom hole pressure,
CALC
psia
3. Unsteady state behavior exhibite
in loading, unloading, heading, or Pf = formation pressure, psia
dying of gas or oil wells is better
understood and analyzed in terms of the = injection pressure, psia
INJ
lifting potential.
P5 = gas line pressure at surface, psia
4. The modes of stability of two-
phase flow operation may be related to pT = top hole pressure of the tubing,psi[
the observed performance through the
concept of lifting potential. Ap = pressure drop, psi

ACKNOWLEDGMENT PI = productivity index, bbls/day x psi

The authors wish to acknowledge the = lifting potential, bbls/day

support, guidance and encouragement they LIFT
received from Prof. D. L. Katz and the = liquid production rate of
Michigan Gas Association for the researc LBOT
formation, bbls/day
work which resulted in this paper. The
work was part of the M.G.A. Research = gas rate, MCF/day
Program for the year 1968-69.
time, minutes
NOMENCLATURE
temperature, Rabs
A= cross sectional area, sq. ft.
total mass flow rate, lb(mass)\sec
A= area of the pipe, sq. ft.
P compressibility factor, dimensionle!
performance coefficient, MCF/day x
CP = (Th. psia2)n liquid density, lb(mass)/cu.ft.

d= diameter of flow string, inches average density, lb(mass)/cu.ft.

dc = diameter of casing, inches friction loss gradient, lb(force)/

Cu.ft.
df = diameter of tubing below injection
point, inches surface tension, lb(mass)/sec2

ds = diameter of injection tubing, inch~

SPE-2804 T. L. GOULD
REFERENCES
1. Baxendell, P.B. : The Calculation of
Pressure Gradients in High Rate Flow.
ing Wells, Jr. Pet. Tech. (Oct.
1961) 1023.
2. Fancher, G.H. ,Jr. and Brown, K.E.;
Prediction of Pressure Gradients
for Multiphase Flow in Tubing, Sot.
Pet. Eng. Jr. (March 1963) 59.
3. Gaither. O.D., Winkler, H.W. and
Kirkpatrick, C.F. ; Single and Two-
Phase Fluid Flow in Small Vertical
Conduits Including Annular Config-
urations, Jr. Pet. Tech. (March
1963) 308.
4. Govier, G.W. and Short, W.L. ; The
Upward Vertical Flow of Air-Water
Mixtures, The Canadian Jr. Chem.
Eng. (Oct. 1958) 36, 195.
5. Hagedorn, A.R. and Brown, K.E.; The
Effect of Liquid Viscosity in Verti-
cal Two-Phase Flow,:: Jr. Pet. Tech.
(Feb. 1964) 203.
6. Poettmann, F.H. and Carpenter, P.G. ;
The Multiphase Flow of Gas, Oil and
Water Through Vertical Flow Strings
with Application to the Gas-Lift
Installations, Drill. & Prod. Prac.
API (1952) 257.
7. Tek, M.R.; Multiphase Flow of Water
Oil and Natural Gas Through Vertical
Flow Strings, Jr. Pet. Tech. (Oct.
1961) 1029.
8. Tek, M.R., Gould, T.L., and Katz,
D.L. ; Steady and Unsteady-State
Lifting Performance of Gas Wells
Unloading Produced or Accumulated
Liquids, SPE-2552, 44th Annual Fall
Meeting of SPE, Denver, Colorado,
September 1969.
9. Griffith, P. and Wallis, G.B. ; Two-
Phase Siug Fiow,~ J. i-ieakTransfer,
Trans. ASME (Aug. 1961) 307-320.
,0. Hughmark, G.A. ; Holdup in Gas
Liquid Flow, Chem. Eng. (April 1962
58, 62.
.1. Hughmark, G.A. and Pressburg, B.S. ;
Holdup and Pressure Drop with Gas-
Liquid Flow in a Vertical Pipe,
AIChE Jour. (Dec. 1961) 7, 677.
.2. Moore, T.V. and Wilde, H.D.; Experi
mental Measurements of Slippage in
Flow Through Vertical Tubes, Petr.
Dev. and Tech. , AIME (Oct. 1930) 92,
296.
,3. Moore, T.V. and Schilthuis, R.J. ;
Calculation of Pressure Drops in
Flowing Wells, Petr. Dev. and Tech.
AIME (1933) 103, 170.
.4. Duns, H., Jr. and Ros, N.C.J.;
Vertical Flow of Gas and Liquid
Mixtures from Boreholes, Proc.
Sixth World Pet. Congress, Frankfort
(June 19-26, 1963) Section II, Paper
and M. R. TEK 7
22 - P.D. 6.
15. Orkiszewski, J. ; Predicting Two-
Phase Pressure Drop in Vertical
Pipe, Jr. Pet. Tech. (June 1967)
829.
16. Carnahan, B .,Luther, H.A. , and
Wilkes, J.O.; Applied Numerical
Methods, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ,
New York, 1969.
17. Brown, K.; Gas Lift Theory and
Practice, Prentice Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey, 1967.
18. Handbook of Gas Lift, Garrett Oil
Tools , Longview, Texas, 1959.
19. Cullender, M.H. ; The Isochronal
Performance Method of Determining
the Flow Characteristics of Gas
Wells, Trans. AIME, (1955) 204,137
20. Smith, R.V.; Determining Friction
Factors for Measuring Productivity
of Gas Wells, Trans. AIME (1950)
189:73.
APPENDIX
Exam~le Problem
IUI oil well is producing 40 deg.
A.P.I. crude using 0.60 gravity gas in
a gas lift operation. A saddle string
1-1/2 inches in diameter is used to
inject the gas into 4 inch tubing at a
depth of 3000 feet. The perforations
are located at a depth of 3500 feet and
there is no packer between the casing
and tubing. The well is opened to a
gathering line pressure of 200 psia with
a saddle string pressure of 600 psia at
the top. When the well is initially
opened, the liquid level in the casing-
tubing annulus is 820 feet from the
bottom and the reservoir formation
p~e~SUL~
..- i= ~~~~ ~~i~.
The operator wishes to unload the
accumulated oil from the annulus using
the gas supplied by the saddle string,
assuming no gas production from the
formation. How much will the liquid
level change and how long will it be
before the system reaches steady state
for the following conditions:
a) The annulus pressure is such that the
initial bottom hole pressure is 800
psia corresponding to an injection
pressure of 620 psia for an oil well
PI = 10 bbls/day x psi.
b) The same as part (a) except for an
oil well PI = 0.0 bbls/day x psi
(formation cemented off).
 STEADY AND UNSTEADY STATE TWO-PHASE
-. ... ,....
--.....----------
.- -..A...-...,
-T..n- .-R a,-.
n
~~uw IHJSUUbH VJ2JK1J.
CAL JfJJUW bllS~LX U@ arn-deuq

c) The annulus pressure is such that
the initial bottom hole pressure is
478.8 psia corresponding to an
injection pressure of 300 psia for
an oil well PI = 10 bbls/day x psi.
Solution
The solution to this problem is
based on the lifting potential curve
given in Fig. 5 for d = 4 inches. Havin<
the lifting potential and bottom hole
liquid production available, the liquid
level can be found incrementally over
small time steps by:
The computed results are shown in
Fig. A-1 for At = 2 min.
a) The effect of two different casing
diameters is shown. The steady
state results are, however, the same,
After a period of 50 min. the liquid
level has stabilized at h = 360 ft.
These results correspond to the
typical unloading case.
b) If liquid production by the formatiol
is halted, PI = 0.0, then the
results show that the annulus can be
completely unloaded in 30 min. for
~~ irldi ~a~irlq arid ~~ ~L~~L. +=fiwQ
.LU.

(LIFT - LBOT ) At inch I.D. casing.

Ah = (A-1)
A
where h is measured from the bottom, ft. c) An injection pressure of 300 psia is
to the left of the stable steady
A= area of the annulus, sq. ft. state point for this case. Thus ,
(h = 500 ft.) the well will begin to load up until
= annulus area-saddle string it reaches this stable steady state
area, sq. ft. (h>500 ft.) point. The results show that this
point is reached in 40 min. at
At = time increment, min. h = 1250 ft.

Table 1 - Mode of operations on

tw~-phase vertical flow.

Condition Condition
of annulus of annulus
Start (initiaij End -
~Ilnal)

P=PA Dry (no Wet(liq.

operating
liq. leg) +C leg)
i
pt. A Wet(liq. More liq.
(Fig. 4) [ leg) +C leg

( Dry +C Dry
p=pc c
i Wet +C Wet

p=pF F Dry +F Dry

P=PF B Wet + Between Dry or

F and C wet

,Dry + Anywhere Dry

between
P=PD D D and C
or E Wet
Wet + Anywhere Dry or wet
~~~w~~p.
D and C
or E Wet
 SUBROUTINE
B. H. P o START

1
CALCULATE IN-SITU qG,qL,
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AT(pi,Ti).
i
J
CALL REGCHK

~IREG

GO TO
I REG
0

-6=)

i F
m
I

!F-
CALCULATE

From

n
T N3:.17FPTH
-,---
ADi

4
Eq. I
1

o
L-
NO
MODIFY
q~,FT
o
END

,,1

IT
2 - The lifting potential

o
Fig.

RETURN algorithm.

Fig. 1 - The pressure irop algorithm.

Mist Flow

CurrentMOp

---- Proposed
Exterrs/on

10- I

Fig. 3 Flow regime map including

proposed extensions.
 pT =200PSI0
d=6 PS =600 L)SIO

Ifi
8000 D, =3000ft
Me!o - 5toble Unstobte d~ = 11/2
PI =10 Bbls/Dayx PSI

7000 Note q~l~T=OOfor DIA=8

ootxc
/ LA
>
E
5000

a
~
2 3000
c

I 00 o

Pc, Pcm PF 0
400 500 600 700 800
200 300
PRESSURE, PSIO

Fig. 4 . Analysis Of Sta-bj.liiy

modeS.
Fig. 5 - The effect of diameter on i%fting
potential and formation productivity.

6000
pT=2oopslo
pS =600PsIa
06
5000 dS = I 1/2 inches
,~o
d = 41nCheS
PI=10 BbM3wxPsl
4000 (D-D1)=500ft
D1 :4000
$
a
\
g 3000

~[

:50
,[;-Y
300 350 400 450

INJ
500
psia
550 600 650 700

Fig. 6 - The effect of injection

depth on lifting potential.
 I P,= 2ooma (
dc= 10 Inches
PS = 6OOPS1O
1600 4000 PI: IO Bbls/Doy X PSI
PF= 1000psla
D1: 3500ft D1=3000ft
d =4tnches hO:820ft
t
1400 PINJ =300pslo 3000
t
h
E
1200 8 ; 200 0 -
Bbfs
Pf=/ao
.DqxPsI %
10 t=dc
L
1000 ; 100 o
z

\
1-
c- 0
. v m
Cii 0. 0----
!,
z
o
F
=620PsI0
/0 dc GNJ

k
2
-i PI=/ooD~s, 2
8
/ g -20 oo-
400

/0

8
200 ,Pr=oo = -30 00
DoyxpsI

00
L._.&+ -4000~~ 60
10 20 310 o
TIME, MIIN TIME, MIN

Fig. A-1 - Solution to problem Fig. A-2 - Solution to problem

in Appendix. in Appendix.