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high-paraffin oil
04/20/2009
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Several fields in Russia have installed a downhole cable that heats high viscosity and
high-paraffin crude, according to Nefteservis-NN LLC.
Nefteservis-NN developed and sells the cable and associated equipment. Development
of the well heating unit, called Fontan, started 5 years ago.
Benefits
Nefteservis-NN says the cable heats fluid flowing in the tubing to a temperature
exceeding the wax dropout point. Some benefits of the system include:
Ensures walls inside the wellbore, x-mas tree, and adjacent flowlines remain clean at all times.
Prevents hydrate, asphaltine, and paraffin buildup.
Increases well production rate, especially for high-viscosity crude oil.
Improves electric submersible pump (ESP) performance and service life, because of a lower fluid viscosity.
Reduces well downtime by increasing time between well repairs.
Eliminates the use of other paraffin removal methods.
Liquefies hydrate accumulations in gas wells.
Heats water wells located in permafrost regions.
Heats pipelines.
The company says operators can adjust the unit for the best temperature and power-
saving operations, as well as for intermittent use.
Installations
Companies in Russia that have installed the cable include RN-Stavropolneftegas LLC
(Rosneft), NGDU Buguruslanneft (TNK-BP), Lukoil JSC, TPP Lukoil-Usinskneftegas,
TPP Lukoil-Ukhtaneftegas, TPP Lukoil-Severneftegas, NGDU Nurlatneft (Tatneft JSC),
Naryanmarneftegas LLC, NGDU Talakanneft (Surgutneftegas JSC), Kyrgyzneftegas
JSC (Kirgisia), and Kazmunaineftegas JSC (Kazakhstan).
Operators have placed the heating cable inside or outside of tubing and inside hollow
sucker rods. In these wells, the cable is within the interval of wax crystallization.
Nefteservis-NN says production in wells equipped with the cable increased from 10-30%
and uptime of wells with ESPs has increased to 700 or more days from 365 days.
It estimates that for wells producing 150-220 bo/d with continuous operation of the cable
at 50 kw, the unit will pay out in about 60 days.
The heating system includes the cable in the well and
associated control equipment (Fig. 1; photo from Nefteservis-
NN).
Click here to enlarge image
The standard set of equipment for the unit includes heating cable, control desk with
spare parts, wellhead packer, connection terminal, wellhead wired temperature gauge,
flash memory (MMS-card), and software. Fig. 1 shows one installation on a well in
Russia.
Additional equipment includes wellhead running in hole and pulling out of hole device,
step-up transformer (if cable length is greater than 1,150 m), and drawworks.