Kholle Magnolia 2015, LLC

Weatherford Technology Holdings, LLC

Libert Lift Solutions, LLC

Weatherford/lamb, Inc.

Michael S Juenke

E Lee Colley, Iii

Stephen W Turk

Ross E Moffett

Stephen E Cannon

Stephen D Long

Ashish David Rakhit

Stephen Andrew Long

Toby S Pugh

Osman Nunez

Toby Pugh

Ashish Rakhit

Lawrence Rzeznik

Ross Moffett

Stephen Long

A gas control valve has a bellows, a sealed upper chamber, a lower chamber open to ambient pressure, and upper and lower seals. The valve is placed in its open and closed states as the bellows expands and collapses in response to the difference in effective fluid pressure in the sealed and open chambers. The sealed chamber is filled with liquid and compressed gas. The liquid fills a lower portion of the sealed chamber that extends either around the exterior of the bellows or into the interior of the bellows. Gas fills an upper portion of the sealed chamber. The upper seal provides a seal to isolate liquid in the lower portion of the sealed chamber from fluid pressure in the upper portion of the sealed chamber. The lower seal isolates the bellows from ambient fluid pressure.

Gas injection valve with pressure-isolated bellows

A gas pump system for producing a well has production tubing, a chamber to collect liquid from the well, a check valve to allow well liquids to flow into the chamber and to check flow out of the chamber, a dip tube in communication with the production tubing and the chamber, a check valve to allow liquid to flow up the dip tube into the production tubing and to check liquid flowing down the dip tube, a gas supply line to convey gas into the chamber, a hydraulic valve controlling flow through the gas supply line, a gas vent line to vent gas from the chamber, a hydraulic valve controlling flow through the gas vent line, a control line communicating with one or both of the gas supply valve and the gas vent valve, and a shut-off valve in the well controlling flow through the control line.

Gas pump system

A gas lift system for oil and gas wells has a gas pump. The gas pump comprises production tubing, a chamber, a dip tube, check valves, a gas supply line and control valve, a gas vent line and control valve, and a fluid control line. Liquid is pumped to the surface by allowing it to collect in the chamber and then forcing it out of the chamber with high-pressure gas. The gas supply and vent valves preferably are controlled by a single pressure control line. The system preferably included retrievable valves that may be installed through the production tubing to provide a life-of-the-well gas lift system.

Life-of-well gas lift systems for producing a well and gas pump systems having pump control valves with belleville washers

A method of unloading and producing liquids from a well uses a plurality of gas injection valves installed on a production tubing. The injection valves are controlled by pressure signals transmitted through a single fluid control line. A first pressure signal is applied to the control line to open the plurality of injection valves. Gas is pumped into the annulus at an injection pressure until a first pressure drop occurs in the injection pressure, the first pressure drop being indicative of gas flowing through a first, upper one of the injection valves. Pumping of gas is continued until a second pressure drop occurs in the injection pressure, the second pressure drop being indicative of gas flowing through a second, lower one of the injection valves. A second, lower pressure signal then is applied to close the first injection valve while leaving the second injection valve open.

Gas lift systems and methods for producing liquids from a well

A gas control valve has a valve housing, a gas flowpath, a piston, a valve seat, a valve body, an actuating chamber, and a stack of Belleville washers. The valve housing has a gas inlet, a gas outlet, and a control fluid inlet. The gas flowpath runs from the gas inlet to the gas outlet. The piston reciprocates away from and towards a normal position. The valve body is coupled to the piston and is adapted to selectively seat on the valve seat to open and shut the gas flowpath. The actuating chamber communicates with the control fluid inlet. The washer stack is under compression to bias the piston in the normal position. The piston is responsive to fluid pressure in the actuating chamber and the washer stack so that the valve may be selectively opened and closed by sequentially increasing and decreasing pressure in the actuating chamber.

Downhole gas control valve having belleville washers

An exemplary method of the present disclosure includes causing, by a processing system proximate to the wellbore, injection of the lift gas into the wellbore at a first gas injection rate; obtaining, by the processing system, a first indication of a parameter associated with the wellbore, an arrival of a first fluid at a wellhead associated with the wellbore, or a composition of the first fluid; determining, by the processing system and based on the first indication, at least one of: a second gas injection rate of the intermittent gas lift system, a first period to inject the lift gas with the intermittent gas lift system, or a second period, subsequent to the first period, with no injection of the lift gas by the intermittent gas lift system; and operating, by the processing system, the intermittent gas lift system according to the determination.

Apparatus and methods for operating gas lift wells

A jet pump of a downhole tool in a wellbore, wherein the jet pump has a nozzle in fluid communication with a throat and wherein the throat is further in fluid communication with a diffuser, the jet pump further having a central channel located towards an uphole end of the downhole tool, wherein the central channel is configured to house a volume of power fluid; a first annular channel defined in the downhole tool, wherein the first annular channel is arranged around the nozzle and in fluid communication with the central channel; a volume of production fluid located towards a downhole end of the downhole tool; a second annular channel defined in the downhole tool configured to house the volume of production fluid; and a reverse channel in fluid connection with the second annular channel, wherein the reverse channel is in fluid communication with the nozzle.

Reverse flow jet pump

A gas lift system has mandrels deploying downhole and has gas lift valves deploying on the mandrels. In general, the mandrel can have an interior and can have at least one port communicating outside the mandrel. To achieve higher gas injection while maintaining component sizes in desirable ranges, the gas lift valve of the present disclosure has multiple injection outlets, and a common opening pressure can control the opening of each of the injection outlets in the valve. The valve can open in two places, allowing gas to flow through the nose of the valve as well as through a ported latch at the top of the valve. In this way, that valve can offer larger injection capabilities while keeping a suitable outside diameter.

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Spring, TX, United States of America

Michael S Juenke