Gas Lift Equipment

Gas lift is a method of artificial lift that uses an external source of high-pressure gas for supplementing formation gas to lift the well fluids. The principle of gas lift is that gas injected into the tubing reduces the density of the fluids in the tubing, and the bubbles have a “scrubbing” action on the liquids. Both factors act to lower the flowing bottomhole pressure (BHP) at the bottom of the tubing. There are two basic types of gas lift in use today—continuous and intermittent flow.

Continuous-flow gas lift is recommended for high-volume and high-static BHP wells in which major pumping problems could occur with other artificial lift methods. It is an excellent application for offshore formations that have a strong waterdrive, or in waterflood reservoirs with good PIs and high gas/oil ratios (GORs). When high-pressure gas is available without compression or when gas cost is low, gas lift is especially attractive. Continuous-flow gas lift supplements the produced gas with additional gas injection to lower the intake pressure to the tubing, resulting in lower formation pressure as well..

As the name implies, intermittent flow is the periodic displacement of liquid from the tubing by the injection of high-pressure gas. The action is similar to that observed when a bullet is fired from a gun. The liquid slug that has accumulated in the tubing represents the bullet. When the trigger is pulled (gas lift valve opens), high-pressure injection gas enters the chamber (tubing) and rapidly expands. This action forces the liquid slug from the tubing in the same way that expanding gas forces the bullet from the gun. The disadvantage of intermittent-flow gas lift is the “on/off” need for high-pressure gas, which presents a gas-handling problem at the surface and causes surging in the flowing bottomhole pressure that cannot be tolerated in many wells producing sand. Because of the intermittent production of the well, intermittent-flow gas lift is not capable of producing at as high a rate as continuous-flow gas lift. Intermittent flow should not be considered unless the flowing bottomhole pressure is low, and the well is gas lifting from the bottom valve.

Downhole gas lift equipment consists mainly of the gas lift valves and the mandrels in which the valves are placed. Our company offer all kind of related equipment on the Gas Lift process.