Petroleum & Coal

ISSN 1337-7027

Available online at www.vurup.sk/petroleum-coal

Petroleum & Coal 54 (4) 327-334, 2012

ESTIMATION OF MINIMUM REQUIRED GAS LIQUID RATIO (GLR) TO

SUPPORT PLUNGER LIFT INSTALLATION IN WELLS USING A SIMPLE METHOD
Alireza Bahadori1, Gholamreza Zahedi2, Sohrab Zendehboudi3, Ahmad Jamili4
1
Southern Cross University, School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Lismore, NSW,
2480, Australia, 2Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT), Faculty of Chemical
Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Johor, Malaysia. 3Department of Chemical
Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 4Mewbourne School of
Petroleum and Geological Engineering, the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK USA

Received June 14, 2012, Accepted December 15 2012

Abstract
Field testing of various artificial lift methods to determine their applicability can be costly. To alleviate
these costs, it is necessary to develop a simple method to predict plunger lift applicability in advance
of the installation under particular well operational conditions. In this work a simple-to-use approach
has been developed to provide an accurate way to determine the applicability of plunger lift for wells.
This method examines the feasibility of plunger lift for different tubing size, as a function of operating
pressure and the well depth. The method is useful to obtain the minimum produced gas liquid ratio
(GLR) required to support plunger lift installation in a well. If the well's measured producing GLR is
greater than or equal to that given by this method, then plunger lift will likely work for the well. If the
measured GLR of the well is close to the value given by the method, the well may or may not be a
candidate for plunger lift. The predictive tool developed in this study can be of immense practical value
for petroleum engineers to have a quick check on the applicability of plunger lift at various wells
without opting for any expensive field trials. In particular, petroleum and production engineers would
find the proposed method to be user-friendly with transparent calculations involving no complex expressions.
Key words: Plunger lift; artificial lift; gas liquid ratio; oil production; Vandermonde matrix; predictive tool .

1. Introduction
Plunger lift is an intermittent artificial lift method that usually uses only the energy of the
reservoir to produce the liquids [12] . A plunger is a free-travelling piston that fits within the
production tubing and depends on well pressure to rise and solely on gravity to return to the
bottom of the well. Plunger lift operates in a cyclic process with the well alternately flowing
and shut-in [6]. Many low-volume gas wells produce at suboptimum rates because of liquid
loading caused by an accumulation of liquids in the wellbore that creates additional backpressure
on the reservoir and reduces production, therefore plunger lift can use reservoir energy to
remove these accumulated liquids from the wellbore and improve production. Lacking a thorough
understanding of plunger lift systems leads to disappointing results in many applications [8,9]
One type of a typical installation of plunger lift is shown in figure 1. Plunger-lift operations
are difficult to optimize owing to a lack of knowledge concerning tubing, casing, and bottom
hole pressures; liquid accumulation in the tubing; and the location of the plunger [14,15].
Because expense is involved in trying out some method of lift in a well, it is desirable to
be able to predict in advance if plunger lift will work or not in a well. Even though plunger lift
is not too expensive, additional equipment options can increase the initial costs [9,10]. Also,
downtime for installation, adjustments to see if the plunger installation will perform, and
adjustments to optimize production well all add to the costs [5], therefore it worthwhile to
be able to predict in advance if plunger lift will work for a candidate well or not.
In view of the above mentioned issues and the importance of plunger lift in petroleum
engineering, it is necessary to develop an accurate and simple correlation to permit mathematical
solution of the problem of plunger lift performance for a given well. In this wrok, the operation
of the 2-in. and 2 1/2-in. expanding cycle-controlled plungers has been placed on a quantitative
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 328

basis by means of simple equations obtained from correlations of field data.

This paper discusses the formulation of such a predictive tool in a systematic manner along
with an example to show the simplicity of the model and usefulness of such a tool. The proposed
method is exponential function which leads to well-behaved (i.e. smooth and non-oscillatory)
equations enabling more accurate and non-oscillatory predictions and this is the distinct
advantage of the proposed method.

Figure 1. Installation of Plunger lift in a well

2. Methodology for the development of novel correlation
The primary purpose of the present study is to accurately correlate the minimum required
gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift as a function of net operating pressure
and the depth of well. In this work, the net operating pressure is the difference in the operating
casing build-up pressure and the separator or line pressure to which the well flows when opened.
Vandermonde matrix is a matrix with the terms of a geometric progression in each row,
i.e., an m × n matrix [4]

(1)

Or
V i, j = α i j −1
(2)

For all indices i and j. The determinant of a square Vandermonde matrix (where m=n)
[4]
can be expressed as

det(V)= ∏ (α
1≤i < j ≤ n
j − αi ) (3)

The Vandermonde matrix evaluates a polynomial at a set of points; formally, it transforms

coefficients of a polynomial a 0 + a1 x + a 2 x 2 + ... + a n −1 x n −1 to the values the polynomial takes
at the point’s αi. The non-vanishing of the Vandermonde determinant for distinct points αi
shows that, for distinct points, the map from coefficients to values at those points is a one-
to-one correspondence, and thus that the polynomial interpolation problem is solvable with
[7]
unique solution; this result is called the unisolvence theorem . They are thus useful in
polynomial interpolation, since solving the system of linear equations Vu = y for u with V an
[4]
m × n Vandermonde matrix is equivalent to finding the coefficients uj of the polynomial(s) .
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 329

n −1
P(x ) = ∑ u j x j (4)
j =0

For degree ≤ n−1 which has (have) the property:

P(α i ) = y i for i=1,…,m. (5)
The Vandermonde matrix can easily be inverted in terms of Lagrange basis polynomials:
each column is the coefficients of the Lagrange basis polynomial, with terms in increasing
order going down. The resulting solution to the interpolation problem is called the Lagrange
[4,7]
polynomial suppose that the interpolation polynomial is in the form :
P( x) = a n x n + a n −1 x n −1 + ... + a 2 x 2 + a1 x + a 0 (6)
The statement that p interpolates the data points means that
P (x i ) = y i for all i ∈ {0 ,1,..., n } . (7)
If we substitute equation (6) in here, we get a system of linear equations in the coefficients
ak. The system in matrix-vector form reads (Bair et al, 2006)

(8)
We have to solve this system for ak to construct the interpolant p(x). The matrix on the
left is commonly referred to as a Vandermonde matrix [1].
2.1. Development of correlation
The required data to develop this correlation includes minimum required gas liquid ratio
to support the applicability of plunger lift as a function of net operating pressure and the
depth of well. The following methodology has been applied to develop this correlation. Firstly
the required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift data are correlated as
a function of net operating pressure for several depth of well data, then, the calculated coefficients
for these equations are correlated as a function of depth of well. The derived equations are
applied to calculate new coefficients for equation (9) to predict required gas liquid ratio to
support the applicability of plunger lift. Table 1 shows the tuned coefficients for equations
(10) to (13) for predicting the required minimum gas liquid ratio to support the applicability
of plunger lift. In brief, the following steps are repeated to tune the correlation's coefficients
using Matlab [13].
1. Correlate required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift as a function
of net operating pressure for a given swell depth.
2. Repeat step 1 for other well depth data.
3. Correlate corresponding polynomial coefficients, which were obtained for different depth
of well dara versus depth of well data. a= f (L), b = f (L), c = f (L), d = f (L) [see
equations (10)-(13)].
Equation 9 represents the proposed governing equation in which four coefficients are used
to correlate minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift in a
well as a function of net operating pressure and the depth of well, where the relevant coefficients
have been reported in Table 1.
b c d
ln(GLR ) = a + + 2 + 3 (9)
Pn Pn Pn
Where:
a = A1 + B1 L + C1 L2 + D1 L3 (10)
b = A2 + B2 L + C 2 L2 + D2 L3 (11)
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 330

c = A3 + B3 L + C 3 L2 + D3 L3 (12)
d = A4 + B4 L + C 4 L2 + D4 L3 (13)

These optimum tuned coefficients help to cover well depth up to 12000 ft and the net operating
pressure up to 15000 psi. The optimum tuned coefficients given in Table 1 can be further
retuned quickly according to proposed approach if more data become available in the future.
In this work, our efforts directed at formulating a correlation which can be expected to assist
engineers for rapid calculation of minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of
plunger lift in a well as a function of well depth and net operating pressure using an exponential
function. The proposed novel tool developed in the present work is simple and unique expression
which is non-existent in the literature. Furthermore, the selected exponential function to
develop the tool leads to well-behaved (i.e. smooth and non-oscillatory) equations enabling
reliable and more accurate predictions.
Table 1 Tuned coefficients used in Equations 10-13
Coefficient Valued for 2”Plunger lift Valued for 2.5”Plunger lift
A1 6.1340508065759 2.8901972428
−4 −3
B1 -5.635988843297 × 10 1.550399631357 × 10
−7 −7
C1 1.660794605719 × 10 -1.788697600954 × 10
D1 -9.037508192989 × 10 −12 6.8210391450598 × 10
−12

-2.707056387596 × 10 4.085389769897 × 10
3 3
A2
B2 1.708621693483 -1.853610034690
−4 −4
C2 -2.752949187354 × 10 2.425650325517 × 10
−8 −9
D2 1.3037391566689 × 10 -9.326821757908 × 10
A3 1.150510090267 × 10
6
-1.471631721753 × 10
6

B3 -6.099678702746 × 10
2
6.593881677239 × 10
2

C3 9.580947504835 × 10
−2
-8.361608445292 × 10
−2

D3 -4.460605573734 × 10
−6
3.192632562117 × 10
−6

-1.250867973493 × 10 1.623874342937 × 10
8 8
A4
6.3665690829 × 10 -7.151843665702 × 10
4 4
B4
C4 -9.813975537575 9.210337231763
−4 −4
D4 4.545726647733 × 10 -3.562320116296 × 10

3. Results
Figure 2 and 2 show the proposed method results for 2-in. and 2 1/2-in. expanding cycle-
controlled plungers respectively in comparison with data ([2,3]. Figures 4 and 5 show the
smooth performance of predictive tool in the prediction of minimum required gas liquid ratio
to support the applicability of plunger lift in a well as a function of well depth and net
operating pressure for 2-in. and 2 1/2-in. expanding cycle-controlled plungers respectively.
It is expected that our efforts in formulating a simple tool will pave the way for arriving at an
accurate prediction of minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of
plunger lift in a well as a function of well depth and net operating pressure which can be used
by petroleum and production engineers for monitoring the key parameters periodically.
Typical example is given below to illustrate the simplicity associated with the use of
proposed method for rapid estimation of minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the
applicability of plunger lift in a well as a function of well depth and net operating pressure.
The tool developed in this study can be of immense practical value for experts and engineers
to have a quick check on minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of
plunger lift in a well at various conditions without opting for any experimental trials. In
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 331

particular, petroleum engineers would find the approach to be user-friendly with transparent
calculations involving no complex expressions.

Figure 2. The results of predictive tool for the estimation of minimum gas liquid ration for 2”
plunger lift in comparison with Beeson et al. [3] data.

Figure 3. The results of predictive tool for the estimation of minimum gas liquid ration for
2.5” plunger lift in comparison with Beeson et al. [3] data.
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 332

Figure 4. The performance of predictive tool for the estimation of minimum gas liquid ration
for 2” plunger lift.

Figure 5. The performance of predictive tool for the estimation of minimum gas liquid ration
for 2.5” plunger lift
3.1 Example
A well is equipped with 2 3/8-inch tubing (a 2-inch plunger approximately). Is this well a
good candidate for plunger lift?
Operational data:
Casing build-up pressure 350 psi
Line or separator pressure 110 psi
Well GLR 8500 scf/bbl
Well depth 8000 ft
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 333

Use the predictive tool to determine whether plunger lift will work for this well.
Solution:
Net operating pressure = (Casing build-up operating pressure -Line pressure)=350-110= 240 psi.
Calculations using new predictive tool show that at a depth of 8000 ft, the well is required
the following minimum gas liquid ratio:
a= 7.627141 (from equation 10)

b= 1.8186843 × 10
1
(from equation 11)

c= 1.18743477 × 10
5
(from equation 12)

d= -1.11145 × 10
7
(from equation 13)
GLR= 7788 scf/bbl (from equation 9)
In this example, the well must produce a GLR of approximately 7788 scf/bbl to maintain
plunger lift. The example well has a measured GLR of 8500 scf/bbl and is therefore a likely
plunger lift candidate. Note that pressure, gas rate, and depth are accounted for in this predictive
tool.
4. Conclusions
In this work, simple-to-use equations, which are easier than existing approaches less
complicated with fewer computations and suitable for engineers is presented here for the
estimation of minimum required gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift in
a well as a function of well depth and net operating pressure. Unlike complex mathematical
approaches the proposed correlation is simple-to-use and would be of immense help for
engineers especially those dealing with petroleum production and operations. Additionally,
the level of mathematical formulations associated with the estimation of minimum required
gas liquid ratio to support the applicability of plunger lift can be easily handled by an engineer or
practitioner without any in-depth mathematical abilities. Example shown for the benefit of
engineers clearly demonstrates the simplicity and usefulness of the proposed tool. The proposed
method has clear numerical background, wherein the relevant coefficients can be retuned quickly
if more data become available in the future.
Nomenclatures
A tuned coefficient GLR Gas liquid ratio, scf/bbl
B tuned coefficient I index
C tuned coefficient J index
D tuned coefficient L Well depth, ft
m matrix row index for m × n matrix V Vandermonde matrix
n matrix column index for m × n matrix X data point
P Polynomial Y data point
Pn Net operating pressure, psi α Matrix element
U coefficient of polynomial

References
[1] Bair, E., Hastie, T., Paul, D., Tibshirani, R.: 2006 Prediction by supervised principal
components. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 101, 119–137.
[2] Beeson, C. M.: Knox, D. G: and Stoddard, J. H:, 1955 “Part 1:, Plunger Lift Correlation
Equations And NomographsFall Meeting of the Petroleum Branch of AIME, 2-5 October
1955, New Orleans, Louisiana.
[3] Beeson, C. M.: Knox, D. G: and Stoddard, J. H:, 1956 “Part 1: The Plunger Lift Method of
Oil Production”, “Part 2: Constructing Nomographs to Simplify Calculations”, “Part 3:
How to User Nomographs to Estimate Performance”, “Part 4: Examles Demonstrate
Use of Nomographs”, and “Part 5: Well Selection and Applications”, Petroleum
Engineer, 1956.
 A. Bahadori, G. Zahedi, S. Zendehboudi, A. Jamili/Petroleum & Coal 54(4) 327-334, 2012 334

[4] Fulton, W. Harris, J.: Representation theory. A first course, Graduate Texts in
Mathematics, Readingsin Mathematics, 129, New York: Springer-Verlag, USA. 1991.
[5] Gardner, J.: 2009 Remote monitoring and control assist plunger lift, World Oil 230 (5)
87-89.
[6] Gasbarri S.; Wiggins M.L.: 2001 A dynamic plunger lift model for gas wells SPE
Production & Facilities, 16( 2) 89-96.
[7] Horn, R. A. and Johnson C. R.: Topics in matrix analysis, Cambridge University Press.
Section 6.1, UK. 1991.
[8] Lanchakov, G.A., Besprozvannyi, A.V., Kul'kov, A.N., Zavorykin, A.G., Dinkov, A.V.,
Kudrin, A.A., Tipugin, A.V.: 2000, Plunger-lift equipment for oil wells of the Urengoi
Field, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 36 (11-12) 643-647
[9] Lea, J.F.: 1999 Plunger lift versus velocity strings Journal of Energy Resources
Technology 121(4) 234-240.
[10] Lea ,J.F., Winkler, H.W., Snyder, R.E.: 1999 What's new in artificial lift - Part 1 -
Nineteen innovations for beam, progressing cavity and hydraulic pumping, plus gas
lift, plunger lift and related technologies, World Oil 220(3) 55.
[11] Lea, J.F., Winkler, H.W. Nickens, H.V. Snyder, R.E.: 2000 What's new in artificial lift
Part 1 - Twenty-two new systems for beam, progressing cavity, hydraulic pumping
and plunger lift, World Oil 221,( 3)71.
[12] McCoy, J., Rowlan, L., Podio, A.L.:(2003) Plunger-liff monitoring by analyzing
wellbore high-frequency acoustic signals and tubing and casing pressures SPE
Production & Facilities 18(2) 97-103.
[13] Matlab software, 2008, The MathWorks, Inc., Version 7.6.0.324, MA, USA.
[14] Pagano, T.A.; Eikenberg, C.L., 2006: Bypass plunger effectively lifts volatile oil, Oil &
Gas Journal 104 (23) 40-43.
[15] Pagano, T.A. :2006 Smarter clocks automate multiple well plunger lift, Oil & Gas Journal,
104 (31) 38-41.