Method and apparatus for lifting liquids from gas wells
AssigneeSchlumberger Technology Corporation
InventorsJohn Sherwood, Ian Atkinson, Barry Nicholson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A downhole apparatus and method for maintaining or reducing the level of liquids at the bottom of a gas producing well is described including a constriction or throat section, such as a Venturi, in which a production gas flow from the well is used to generate a low pressure zone having a pressure less that the ambient formation gas pressure and at least one conduit providing a flow path from an liquids at the bottom of said well to said low pressure zone. The conduit may be adaptable in length to provide for maintaining the flow path as the level of the liquids changes.
Claims21
An apparatus for maintaining or reducing a level of liquids at the bottom of a gas producing well, the gas producing well being configured to flow gas from a sub-surface formation through a gas production pipe to a surface location, comprising:
- a constriction or throat section disposed within the gas production pipe and configured to provide that a production gas flow from the sub-surface formation generates a low pressure zone having a pressure less than an ambient formation gas pressure;
- and
- a contractable and expandable conduit disposed in fluid communication with the liquids at the bottom of the well and configured to provide a flow path between the liquids and said low pressure zone, wherein the contractable and expandable conduit is configured to expand or contract to maintain the fluid communication with the liquids.
A method for maintaining or reducing a level of liquids at the bottom of a gas producing well, the gas producing well being configured to flow gas from a sub-surface formation through a gas production pipe to a surface location, comprising the steps of:
- constricting the production gas flow at a location within the gas production pipe to generate a low pressure zone having a pressure less that an ambient formation gas pressure;
- providing a conduit to establish a flow path between the liquids in the bottom of said well and said low pressure zone;
- and
- maintaining fluid communication between said liquids and said low pressure zone through said conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.