Production Engineering

Fundamental of petroleum Engineering course

Wellhead facilities

Understanding the principles of fluid flow through the production system is important
in estimating the performance of individual wells and optimizing well and reservoir
productivity.

In the most general sense, the production system is the system that transports reservoir
fluids from the subsurface reservoir to the surface, processes and treats the fluids, and
prepares the fluids for storage and transfer to a purchaser.

The basic elements of the production
system consists of:
A reservoir
Well
Tubular goods and associated equipment
Flow line
Separators
Pumps
Transportation pipelines.
Other processing equipment
artificial lift equipment

Wellhead facilities

The reservoir is the source of fluids for the production system.

It is the porous, permeable media in which the reservoir fluids are stored and through
which the fluids will flow to the wellbore. It also furnishes the primary energy for the
production system.

The wellbore serves as the conduit for access to the reservoir from the surface. It is
composed of the drilled wellbore, which normally has been cemented and cased.

Once the production casing has been cemented into the well, the production tubing is run
into the well. The cased wellbore houses the tubing and associated subsurface production
equipment, such as packers.

The tubing serves as the primary conduit for fluid flow from the reservoir to the surface,
although fluids also may be transported through the tubing-casing annulus.

The wellhead, flowlines, and processing equipment represent the surface mechanical
equipment required to control and process reservoir fluids at the surface and prepare
them for transfer to a purchaser.

Wellhead facilities
 Surface mechanical equipment includes:

the wellhead equipment and associated valving

Chokes

Manifolds

Flowlines

Separators

Treatment equipment

Metering devices

Storage vessels

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Wellhead facilities
 The Wellhead and Christmas tree

Wellhead and Christmas tree is used for well drilling and oil or gas production,
water injection and downhole operation.

wellhead and christmas tree is installed on the top of a well to seal the annular
space between casing and tubing, can control wellhead pressure and adjust well
flow rate and transport oil from well to pipe line.

Wellhead facilities
 Wellhead:

The equipment installed at the surface of the wellbore which is the mechanical
connection between the Christmas tree and production tubing (and casing).

The purpose of a wellhead is to provide the suspension point and pressure seals
for the casing strings that run from the bottom of the hole sections to the surface
pressure control equipment.

A wellhead includes such equipment as the casing head and tubing head.

Wellhead facilities
 Casing head:

A heavy flanged connection that is installed on top of a casing string.

The adapter between the first casing string and either the BOP stack (during drilling)
or the wellhead (after completion).

This flange may be threaded or welded onto the casing, and may have a flanged or
clamped connection to match the BOP stack or wellhead.

This is the primary interface for the surface pressure control equipment, for example
blowout preventers (for well drilling) or the Christmas tree (for well production).

Wellhead facilities
 Casing spool:
A wellhead component used in flanged wellhead assemblies to secure
the upper end of a casing string.

Wellhead facilities
 Casing hanger:

The casing hanger is that portion of a wellhead assembly which supports the
casing string when it is run into the wellbore.

The casing hanger provides a means of ensuring that the string is correctly located
and generally incorporates a sealing device or system to isolate the casing annulus
from upper wellhead components.

When the casing string has been run into the wellbore it is hung off, or suspended,
by a casing hanger, which rests on a landing shoulder inside the casing spool.

Casing hangers must be designed to take the full weight of the casing, and provide a
seal between the casing hanger and the spool.

Wellhead facilities
 Tubing head:

A flanged fitting or a body with two flange that can supports the tubing string
on a oil well, seals off the pressure between the casing the outside of the
tubing, and provides a means of attaching the Christmas tree to the wellhead.

 Tubing hanger:

A device attached to the topmost tubing joint in the wellhead to support the tubing
string.

It is set in the tree or the wellhead and suspends the production tubing and/or casing.

Sometimes it provides porting to allow the communication of hydraulic, electric and

Wellhead facilities
 Christmas tree:

An assembly of valves, spools, pressure gauges and chokes fitted to the wellhead
(at the top of wellhead) of a completed well to control production or flow.

Christmas trees are available in a wide range of sizes and configurations, such as
low- or high-pressure capacity and single- or multiple-completion capacity.

Wellhead facilities
 Master valve:

The master valve is installed below the tee or cross that controls all
flow from the wellbore.

A correctly functioning master valve is so important

The upper master valve is used on a routine basis

The lower master valve providing backup or

The lower master valve will normally be

Wellhead facilities
 Wing valves (flow line valves):
A valve on the wing of a Christmas tree. Two wing valves are generally fitted to
a Christmas tree:
1) The right hand valve is often called the flow wing valve or the production wing valve,
because it is in the flowpath the hydrocarbons take to production facilities (or the path
water or gas will take from production to the well in the case of injection wells).
2) The left hand valve is often called the kill wing valve. It is primarily used for injection
of fluids such as corrosion inhibitors or methanol to prevent hydrate formation.
.

Wellhead facilities
 Wellhead chokes
Wellhead chokes are used to limit production rates for regulations, protect
surface equipment from slugging, avoid sand problems due to high drawdown,
and control flow rate to avoid water or gas coning.

Two types of wellhead chokes are used.

Placing a choke at the wellhead means fixing the wellhead pressure and, thus, the
flowing bottom-hole pressure and production rate

Wellhead facilities
 Swab valve:

The topmost valve on a Christmas tree that provides vertical access to
the wellbore.

Wellhead facilities
 Separator:
The fluids produced from oil wells are normally complex mixtures of hundreds of
different compounds.
A typical oil well stream is a high-velocity, turbulent, constantly expanding mixture of
gases and hydrocarbon liquids, intimately mixed with water vapor, free water, and
sometimes solids.
The well stream should be processed as soon as possible after bringing them to the
surface. Separators are used for the purpose.
A separator for petroleum production is a cylindrical or spherical vessel used to separate
oil, gas and water from production fluids which produced by a well.

Wellhead facilities
 Accordingly, oil-field separators can be classified into two types based on the
number of phases to separate:
1) Two-phase separators, which are used to separate gas from oil in oil fields,
or gas from water for gas fields.
2) Three-phase separators, which are used to separate the gas from the liquid
phase, and water from oil.

Seprators
 Based on the configuration, the most common types of separator are
generally available from manufacturers:
1) horizontal
2) Vertical
3) spherical

Separators
 Horizontal Separators:

Horizontal separators are usually the first choice because of their low costs.

Horizontal separators are almost widely used for high-GOR well streams, foaming
well streams, or liquid-from-liquid separation.

They have much greater gasliquid interface because of a large, long, baffled gasseparation section.

Separators

Horizontal separators are easier to skid-mount and service and require less piping for
field connections. Individual separators can be stacked easily into stage-separation
assemblies to minimize space requirements..

Separators
 Vertical Separators:

Vertical separators are often used to treat low to intermediate GOR well streams and
streams with relatively large slugs of liquid.

They handle greater slugs of liquid without carry over to the gas outlet, and the
action of the liquid-level control is not as critical.

Vertical separators occupy less floor space, which is important for facility sites such
as those on offshore platforms where space is limited.

Separators

Because of the large vertical distance between the liquid level and the gas outlet, the
chance for liquid to re-vaporize into the gas phase is limited.

However, because of the natural upward flow of gas in a vertical separator against the
falling droplets of liquid, adequate separator diameter is required.

Vertical separators are more costly to fabricate

Separators
 Spherical separators

Spherical separators offer an inexpensive and compact means of separation
arrangement.

Because of their compact configurations, these types of separators have a very limited
surge space and liquid-settling section.

Also, the placement and action of the liquid-level control in this type of separator is
more critical.

Sand Control

Fundamental of petroleum Engineering course

Sand Control

Sand production is one of the oldest problems of the oilfield.

Conventional well completions in soft formations commonly produce formation sand
or fines with fluids. These formations are usually geologically young (Tertiary age)
and shallow, and they have little or no natural cementation.

In considering sand control, or formation solids control, it is necessary to differentiate
between load bearing solids and fine solids associated with formation fluids which
are not part of the mechanical structure of the formation.

Sand Control

Some fines are probably always produced. This is, in fact, beneficial since if fines
are free to move, and if they are not produced, they, along with other fines moving
in behind, must eventually block the flow channel.

Thus in defining sand control we mean control of the load bearing solids.

Sand Control
 Causes of sand production are related to:

Drag forces of flowing fluid which increase with higher flow rates and higher
fluid viscosity.

Reduction in formation "strength" often associated with water production due
to dissolving or dispersion of cementing materials, or a reduction in capillary
forces with increasing water saturation.

Reduced relative permeability to oil, due to increased saturation, which increases
pressure drawdown for a given oil production rate.

Declining reservoir pressure which increases compaction forces and may
disturb cementation between grains.

Sand Control
 Sand Control Mechanisms
Basically sand production can be controlled by three mechanisms:
1)

Reducing Drag Forces-This is often the cheapest and most effective. It should
be considered along with any other method of control. It often is the natural
outcome of proper well completion practices.

2) Bridging Sand Mechanically-This is the "old standby" and properly done, has
wide application. It is more difficult to apply in multiple zones or small
diameter casing.
3) Increasing Formation Strength-Sand consolidation has specialized applicationit leaves a full open wellbore and can be used in small diameter casing.