When dealing with a single well placed on continuous flow gas lift, there may be several typical

cases requiring different treatments for finding the wells optimum producing conditions. The
wells liquid rate may be prescribed by reservoir considerations, or the capacity of the well can be
fully utilized. A compressor delivering lift gas at a given discharge pressure may be available in
the field or one has to be selected by the designer. If available, compressor capacity may be
unlimited or only a limited amount of lift gas can be used. Many times, reservoir engineering or
other considerations limit the liquid rate to be lifted from the well. The general criteria for
optimum gas lift conditions has to be modified to that of securing the least amount of
production costs. Since cash inflow is determined by the given liquid rate, maximum profit is
ensured by the minimum of costs. In the following, for simplicity, production costs will be
defined by the operating costs and in particular by compression costs, the largest operating cost
component in gas lifting. This approach is fully justified for cases when a compressor is available/
but for more detailed analyses, considerations for capital expenditures may also be required.
Basically, the operating cost of gas compression can be found from the cost of power and the
required brake horsepower of the unit. Brake horsepower calculations, however, may differ for
the different compressor types, compression ratios (CR), numbers of stages, etc. (Tacaks, 2005)
This is the reason why, in the following sections, compressor power is approximated by the
required adiabatic power. Although this is usually lower than actually observed power, many
investigators rely on its use in comparative studies. The adiabatic power requirement (in HPs) for
the compression of an ideal gas is found from

K = ratio of specific heats of the injected gas

Ti = suction temperature of the compressor, R
Q^ = gas volumetric rate at standard conditions, scf/d
pi = suction pressure of the compressor, psia
p2 = discharge pressure of the compressor, psia
Existing compressor. For an existing compressor, the suction and discharge pressures are given,
and these must be taken into account in gas lift calculations. Gas injection pressure at the wellsite
is always less than compressor discharge pressure/ the difference depends on the magnitude of
pressure losses in the gas distribution lines. Similarly, WHP is always higher than suction
pressure, allowing for pressure losses in the gathering line. Injection and WHPs thus being set,
only the tubing and flowline sizes remain to be selected for an optimum operation. The calculation
model resulting in the minimum of compression costs is very similar to a systems analysis
performed with the wellhead as the solution node. It is described in conjunction with Figure 2.21
in the following:
1. Appropriate values for tubing and flowline sizes are selected.
2. Based on the prescribed liquid production rate ^, the well's FBHP is calculated from the IPR
equation.
3. The distribution of injection pressure in the annulus is determined from the given surface
injection pressure.
4. The first tubing size is selected and a pressure traverse valid for the given liquid rate, tubing
diameter, and formation GLR, is extended up the hole from the FBHP at the depth of perforations.
5. The depth of gas injection is found at the intersection of the pressure traverse and a parallel
drawn to the annulus gas pressure using a pressure differential of Ap = 100 psi.
6. Assume an injection gas-liquid ratio GLR. and, starting from the injection point found in the
previous step, calculate the pressure traverse above the point of gas injection using the total GLR.
7. Find the WHP from the pressure traverse just calculated. 8. Repeat Steps 6-7 for the other
assumed GLRs and determine the WHPs achieved (see Fig. 2.21).
8. Repeat Steps 4-8 for the remaining tubing sizes.
9. Plot the flowing WHP and gas-liquid ratio GLRin- pairs in a wellhead pressure-GLR.
coordinate system to establish the tubing performance curves.
10. Next, calculate the performance curves for the flowline sizes. For this, take the first flowline
size.
11. Using the same GLRtota^ values as before, find the pressures at the intake end of the flowline
by adding the pressure drop in the flowline to the separator pressure.
12. Repeat Step 12 for all assumed flowline sizes. The calculated intake pressures, plotted in the
function of the Gift for the different flowline sizes (using the
coordinate system described before), define the performance curves for the separator + flowline
subsystem.
13. Intersections of the two performance curve sets determine the wells possible operating points
for which the required injection GLRs are determined.
14. Injection gas requirements for the operating points are calculated from the GLR. values and
the well's prescribed liquid flow rate.
15. power requirement is selected. This defines the tubing and flowline sizes to be used to reach
optimum conditions.