Plunger Enhanced Chamber Lift (PECL™)

T e c h n i c a l Pap e r
PO Box 130158
Tyler, TX 75713-0158
(903) 561-4851
FAX (903) 561-6567
Abstract
Many forms of artificial lift have been designed to deliquify or backpressure against the producing formation.
gas wells. Plunger lift is one form, utilizing the wells natural Gas is injected into the annulus and displaces the fluid in
reservoir pressure as the prime energy source for removing the chamber into the production tubing. This process is
the liquids from the bottom of the well bore. Intermittent intermittent and cyclical in nature and has a relatively high
operation of a motor valve installed on the tubing, allows slippage of gas through the fluid slug. This inefficiency allows
fluid to be lifted to the surface, utilizing the free running for liquid to “fallback” down the tubing and not be removed
plunger as an interface between liquids accumulated in the from the wellbore and produced at the surface. Liquid
bottom of the well and the stored gas in the annulus. There fallback is 5% per 1000 feet of vertical lift for chamber lift
are many variations of plunger lift employing multiple motor systems.
valves and many different sub-surface mechanical tubular
arrangements. Chamber lift is another form of artificial lift Concentric Application
extending from gas lift. Combinations of gas lift and plunger With PECL™, a plunger is added to chamber lift to improve
lift have been used in the past and the technique described the efficiency of removing liquids and significantly reduce the
within is an extension of those methods. liquid fallback from the intermittent cycle. Plunger lift does
this by creating a solid interface between the liquid slug above
Introduction the plunger and gas energy below, effectively sweeping the
Gas wells cease efficient operations once the gas flow rate tubing clean on the ascent to the surface of the well.
reaches critical velocity. At or below critical velocity, the gas Employing the idea of the concentric design mechanically
flow rate cannot effectively remove the produced liquids from isolates the down-hole tubing from the producing formation.
the wellbore. Liquids collect in the wellbore and add Multiple motor valves arranged at the surface, control the
additional backpressure by virtue of the vertical liquid head. complete operation and create the opportunity to produce the
This liquid accumulation can amass and eventually shut down gas well at much lower pressures. Combining the technologies
all flow from the formation. of intermittent plunger lift and chamber lift significantly
improves the operating economics for well operations. The
The addition of an artificial lift method is an effort to remove
strategic advantage is the control of the surface motor valves
the liquids and return the well to an improved producing
and facility management. Redeploying the discharge gas from
state. Gas lift is a method whereby gas is injected into the
a compressor and utilizing this energy source as the prime
annulus of the well bore, and through a series of valves in the
mover of the plunger enhances operating performance of the
tubing string, liquid is lifted to the surface, increasing the gas
complete system. Well inflow is maximized and energy
flow rate above critical velocity. This is accomplished by the
management is completely utilized, all with low operating
use of high-pressure gas and can require the use of a
expenses.
compressor at the surface. Some field applications utilize a
common pressure source from a centralized compression The chamber can be created and incorporated in many
facility supplying multiple well applications. different ways limited only by the well bore configuration and
ingenuity. One such arrangement uses a concentric tubing
General Discussion design, incorporating coiled tubing as the inner production
Chamber lift is a form of gas lift that can be used in string and standard tubing as the outer string. By sealing off
conjunction with long perforated interval reservoirs. In the two strings of tubing at the bottom of the well a secondary
addition, low-pressure reservoirs can benefit from this type of annulus or chamber is created. This conduit allows the
lift. The wellbore annulus typically requires a packer or transfer of injection gas to the bottom of the tubing and
packers to be set for zonal isolation. Using a larger size pipe provides the necessary lift pressure for the plunger to ascend
than the production tubing creates a chamber, typically to the surface and remove the liquids from the wellbore.
located below the packer arrangement and through the
Production is improved by cycling the well more frequently
perforated section. The chamber located at the bottom of the
by not having to wait on natural pressure build-up from the
tubing string creates a larger void or chamber for the liquid to
reservoir. Managing the fluid slug size is important. Frequent
accumulate during the producing cycle. The liquid is
cycles will ensure the lowest fluid level in the production
dispersed over a larger cross-sectional area, creating less head

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Plunger Enhanced Chamber Lift (PECL™)

tubing and minimize the lift gas pressure requirements. The casing annulus offers the path
application can require very little lift pressure as can be seen in of least resistance to flow and
Figure 1 below: will result in the lowest
operating pressure at the sand
face. Tubing pressure (tubp
psig) is the pressure of the
coiled tubing string recorded
at the wellhead during the lift
cycles and can be seen to have
no effect on the casing
pressure during the cycle. As
can be seen from Figure 3
below, the casing and tubing
are commingled at the
wellhead and piped to the
surface production
equipment. Small liquid slugs Figure 2
are removed frequently (approximately 25 cycles shown for the
Figure 1 10 hour period in Figure 1) without disturbing the system
pressure. The plunger offers several significant features: 1)
Figure 1 is a 10-hour trend of operating performance on an
directly indicates overall system performance from the
actual PECL™ installation. Notice in figure 2 that the injection
formation to the sales line 2) controls the surface motor valve
pressure (InjP PSIG) is approximately 90 psig, and casing
sequencing and thus minimizing injection gas volume 3) cleans
pressure (CasP PSIG) is approximately 11 PSIG. CasP is a direct
the tubing 4) acts as a solid interface between the liquid slug
measurement of the wellhead casing pressure that is piped and
and the lift gas.
connected to the surface production equipment. The primary

Figure 3

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©2007 Ferguson Beauregard, Inc.
 Plunger Enhanced Chamber Lift (PECL™)

PECL™ Operating Technique

The following steps indicate the general operating principle behind PECL™.

STEP 1 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 2 STEP 3

TUBING OPEN TUBING OPEN TUBING OPEN (E.G. 1 MINUTE) TUBING OPEN TUBING
(E.G. CLOSED
1 MINUTE) (E.G. 5 MINUTES) TUBING CLOSED

EQUALIZING CLOSED EQUALIZING

INJECTION OPEN CLOSED EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION OPEN EQUALIZING
INJECTION CLOSED CLOSED EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING
INJECTION CLOSED CLOSED EQUA

CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING
1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4”
COIL COIL COIL COIL COIL
TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING

2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8”

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING

5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2”

CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING

CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TU
PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS
PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. P
500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT
STANDING OVERALL
STANDING STANDING OVERALL OVERALL
STANDING STANDING OVERALL OVERALL
STANDING STAN
VALVE INTERVAL
VALVE VALVE INTERVAL INTERVAL
VALVE VALVE INTERVAL INTERVAL
VALVE V

Step 1: Precharge Cycle: Step 2: Purge On Cycle:

Permits the gas to be removed from the primary annulus and The tubing motor valve is opened and allowed to relieve
injected into the secondary annulus (between the concentric pressure for a short period of time (i.e. 1 Minute) to completely
tubing strings). Some of the fluid will be transferred from the displace all fluid from the secondary annulus into the coiled
secondary annulus to the coiled tubing during this operation. string. The tubing motor valve is closed after this step is 5
STEP
The tubing motor valve is closed during this process. The complete. TUBING OPEN TUBING OPEN

injection motor valve is closed after this step is complete.

EQUALIZING OPEN INJECTIONEQUALIZING
CLOSED OPEN EQU

STEP 2 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 4

CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING
(E.G. 1 MINUTE) TUBING OPEN TUBING
(E.G. 1CLOSED
MINUTE) (E.G. 5 MINUTES) TUBING CLOSED TUBING
(E.G. 5OPEN
MINUTES) TUBING OPEN 1 3/4”
COIL
TUBING

2 7/8”
EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZINGINJECTION
CLOSED CLOSED EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING CLOSED
INJECTION OPEN INJECTION OPEN TUBING

CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN 5 1/2”
1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” CASING
COIL COIL COIL COIL COIL COIL
TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING

2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8”

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING CASING
TUBING TUBING TU
PERFS
PERFS. PERFS. PE
500 FT
STANDING OVERALL
STANDING STAN
VALVE INTERVAL
VALVE V
5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2”
CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING

CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING CASING

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING
PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS
PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS.
500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT
OVERALL
STANDING STANDING OVERALL OVERALL
STANDING STANDING OVERALL OVERALL
STANDING OVERALL
INTERVAL
VALVE VALVE INTERVAL INTERVAL
VALVE VALVE INTERVAL INTERVAL
VALVE INTERVAL

Step 3: Purge Off Cycle: Step 4: On Cycle:

The plunger falls back through the fluid to reestablish position The tubing motor valve is opened concurrently with the
under the complete fluid slug. injection motor valve. The plunger is lifted to the surface
removing the fluid slug from the tubing. The standing valve
STEP 5 STEPdoes 5 notSTEP 6 pressure to be transmitted
permit STEP 6to the casing
TUBING OPEN TUBING OPEN TUBING CLOSED TUBING CLOSED
perforations.
EQUALIZING OPEN EQUALIZING OPEN
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING INJECTION
OPEN CLOSED EQUALIZING OPEN
INJECTION CLOSED INJECTION CLOSED

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CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN
1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4”
COIL COIL COIL COIL
TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING
 PERFSPERFS. PERFSPERFS. PERFSPERFS.
FT PERFS. 500 FT PERFS. 500 FT 500 FT
500 FT 500 FT 500 FT
RALL STANDING
OVERALL STANDING OVERALL STANDING
OVERALL STANDING OVERALL STANDING
OVERALL OVERALL
ERVAL VALVE
INTERVAL VALVE INTERVAL VALVE
INTERVAL VALVE INTERVAL VALVE
INTERVAL INTERVAL

Plunger Enhanced Chamber Lift (PECL™)

STEP 5 STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 6

TUBING OPEN TUBING OPEN TUBING CLOSED TUBING CLOSED

EQUALIZING OPEN EQUALIZING OPEN

INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING OPEN
INJECTION CLOSED EQUALIZING OPEN
INJECTION CLOSED INJECTION CLOSED

CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN CASING OPEN

1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4” 1 3/4”
COIL COIL COIL COIL
TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING

2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8” 2 7/8”

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING

5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2” 5 1/2”

CASING CASING CASING CASING

CASING CASING CASING CASING

TUBING TUBING TUBING TUBING
PERFS PERFS PERFS PERFS
PERFS. PERFS. PERFS. PERFS.
500 FT 500 FT 500 FT 500 FT
STANDING STANDING
OVERALL STANDING OVERALL STANDING
OVERALL OVERALL
VALVE VALVE
INTERVAL VALVE INTERVAL VALVE
INTERVAL INTERVAL

Step 5: Afteflow Cycle: Step 6: Closed Cycle:

The plunger is detected at the surface switching the injection The tubing motor valve is closed and as a result the plunger is
motor valve to be closed. The secondary annulus is returned to the bottom of the tubing string. Notice that the
subsequently equalized with the tubing and casing at the secondary annulus is continually open during this period
wellhead to allow fluid entry into the down-hole tubing. Notice allowing fluid entry and equalization of surface pressure with
at this point that the fluid is displaced across the largest cross- the casing. Return to step 1 to repeat the process.
sectional area, thus minimizing the liquid head pressure.
The primary casing is open 24 hours per day therefore
permitting continuous flow through the path of least resistance
minimizing flowing bottom hole pressure.

Conclusions minimum amount of head pressure. Isolate injection gas from

Production enhancement and/or reservoir decline stabilization the formation by creating a closed chamber system. Reduce the
was achieved in all applications tested. Coal seam production pressure build-up time normally required by adding the
was especially challenging due to the coal fines encountered injection pressure source gas. Artificially creating this pressure
during the drawdown process. The application proved to be improves cycle frequency and accomplishes maximum
mechanically successful in maximizing the gas flow and drawdown on the reservoir.
redeploying energy at the surface facility.
3: Reduce Friction Through Annular Flow
Key benefits of PECL™ are as follows: Minimize the dynamic gas friction by producing through the
larger conduit (i.E. The primary annulus) as opposed to the
1: Achieve Continuous Flow smaller production tubing to improve inflow performance.
Maximize gas and liquid production from low bottom hole Maximize the pressure drawdown by removing the liquids from
pressure / high productivity index wells efficiently removing the wellbore and distributing across the largest cross-sectional
liquid and producing at the lowest possible bottom hole area (i.E. Casing/tubing annulus). The tubing can be set low in
pressure. Create the lowest sand-face pressure by producing the the well bore creating maximum draw down of pressure as
formation gas from the primary casing/tubing annulus 24 liquid is removed. Traditional plunger lift requires the tubing to
hours per day. be set higher in the well bore.
2: P
 roduce Long Perforated Intervals With Low 4: Reduce Formation And Compression Surge
Bottom Hole Pressure Compression surge is mitigated by continuous production from
The chamber allows long perforated pay intervals to be the casing/tubing annulus. Significantly improve the formation
produced at minimum pressure ensuring fluid storage with a pressure surge by producing the casing/tubing annulus 24

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©2007 Ferguson Beauregard, Inc.
 Plunger Enhanced Chamber Lift (PECL™)

hours per day. Reducing the pressure cycle on the formation and liquid production loss utilizing the concentric tubing
mitigates sand and solids production. Solids removal is better concept. Well equipment can be installed and implemented
accomplished by the high frequency of plunger cycles, thus without having to kill the well. This technique will minimize
not allowing solids to settle and accumulate in the bottom of the potential of damaging the reservoir and will improve
the tubing. the speed at which the application will be returned to a
producing status.
5: Total Gas System Management
Minimize the “make–up” gas requirements by utilizing a semi-
closed single well intermittent rotative system. Maximize the The author would like to thank Ferguson Beauregard for
use of injection gas when using a gas injection system (i.E. High permission to publish this paper. We are especially grateful to
pressure, clean dry gas). The control theory allows for bp operations and engineering personnel in Durango, Colorado
modification to the injection cycle time based on plunger for allowing the technique to be thoroughly tested and
performance and there fore adjusts the volume of gas injected evaluated. Operating assistance by FB personnel in the
for the amount of fluid that is being produced. Minimize gas Durango operations area was superb.

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