Autonomous restricted orifice for annular safety in gas lift operations

Abstract

System and method related to a gas lift system in a well having a wellhead. The system includes tubing disposed in casing in the well defining a tubing-casing annulus (TCA), a TCA valve installed on the wellhead coupled to the tubing and casing configured to control a fluid flow from the TCA to the tubing, a line coupled to the TCA valve configured to inject fluid into the TCA, and a restrictive orifice hydraulically connecting a cavity in the TCA valve to the line. The restrictive orifice includes an aperture configured to restrict the flow of the fluid through the line. The method includes running tubing inside casing in the well, installing the TCA valve to the wellhead to the line, opening the TCA valve to flow the fluid from the line to the TCA and into the tubing, and restricting the fluid flow via the restrictive orifice.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.