SPE 80900

Coal Bed Methane Production

David A. Simpson, SPE, BP America; James F. Lea, SPE, Texas Tech University; J. C. Cox, Texas Tech University

Copyright 2003, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc. 2 2 n

(i.e., q = c p ( P − PBH ) ) as being anything but constant
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Production and Operations Symposium
held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A., 22–25 March 2003. (in the San Juan Basin of Northern New Mexico and Southern
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of Colorado you see the cp term changing by 3% to 15% per
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to month). The non-linearity (n) term is generally used as a
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any posi- fudge factor without any real physical explanation for select-
tion of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE
meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum ing a value or for justifying changing the value.
Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for com-
mercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohib-
The primary offshoot of the odd behavior of CBM is that
ited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; the wells retain a significant portion of their peak rates down
illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of
where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, to very low reservoir pressures. For example, one well pro-
Richardson, TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
duced 10 MMCF/d when reservoir pressure was 1,200 psia
and flowing bottom-hole pressure was 125 psia—if “n” is 1.0,
Abstract then cp is 0.007 MCF/(psi)2. Recently the well was making
Provided that certain conditions are met, Coalbed Methane over 2 MMCF/d with 110 psia reservoir pressure and 30 psia
(CBM) wells have demonstrated the capacity to continue to flowing bottom-hole pressure (which would make the current
produce a significant proportion of their peak production rates cp equal to 0.179 or 25 times the peak value). The arguments
at very low reservoir pressures. Low reservoir producing around trying to describe a reason for this behavior have been
pressures require low bottom-hole and surface pressures. much more spirited than enlightening.
Chief among the conditions for high production rates is being Most CBM fields start with low reservoir pressure, so it is
able to manage water at low surface pressure. Minimum-net- important that wells in these fields see very low producing
positive-suction-head considerations limit artificial-lift op- bottom-hole pressures from first production onward. There
tions. The dew point at low pressures allows large volumes of has to be a staged approach to achieving these pressures. Sur-
water to move as vapor—rendering mechanical separation face compression is used either on the gathering system or on
equipment ineffective and leaving solids behind at inconven- the wellhead (or both) to pull wellhead pressures to the lowest
ient places. Temperature changes in buried piping condense possible values. The choice of wellbore tubulars must include
water vapor and create both corrosion and pipe-efficiency minimizing the friction drop up the wellbore. A water lift-
problems. Low separator pressures preclude easy methods to ing/handling strategy must be developed to keep hydrostatic
remove liquid water. This paper addresses the design consid- head off the coalface. One strategy that has worked in several
erations for these low-pressure operations and related artificial fields has been to assign the wellbore tubing to the task of
lift systems water management and the tubing/casing annulus to the task of
Background gas production. This strategy makes selection of tubing size
Methane adsorbed to the surface of coal is a very old issue easier and has been effective for a considerable range of indi-
with some new commercial ramifications. This methane has vidual-well production.
made underground coalmines dangerous both from the risk of Every CBM field produces some water. The water pro-
explosion and from the possibility of an oxygen-poor atmos- duction ranges from over 300 bbl/MMCF in the northern end
phere. The miner’s main concern with CBM has been how to of the San Juan Basin to 2-6 bbl/MMCF in many other fields.
get rid of it. Production and lift strategies need to be constructed around
With the advent of active drilling for CBM in the 1980’s, the requirements of a particular field. For high-water volume
the problems for CBM producers have ranged from the possi- wells, many options are available. For more normal water
ble inapplicability of D’Arcy’s equations to having to develop rates, the need for lift is at least as great, but the options are
techniques to remove solids from piping and surface equip- significantly curtailed. A well that has inflow rates of 1
ment. Coal has most of the characteristics of both source rock bbl/day above its evaporation-rate will collect over 20 feet of
and cap rock [3], but few of the required characteristics of water per day in 7-inch casing—exerting almost 10 psi on the
reservoir rock. Consequently, we talk about “cleat porosity” formation. A very few days of adding this kind of pressure to
and “fracture permeability” and assign largely meaningless the formation will log a well off, but finding a lift method to
values to force the coal to fit our mathematical and numeric move 1 bbl/day is difficult.
models. We talk about the flow constant in the Bureau of Coal is a fairly weak substance. Friability values range
Mines Method of Gauging Gas Well Capacity [1] equation upward from 15 psi, so fairly small pressure drops cause the
2 SPE 80900

coal to fail. Even a clean break in the coal matrix results in a

 666  q gas (bbl / d ) 
release of fines. Fines are very small (on average less than 0.5 ϕ =    .................................Eq 4
 
micron cross section) and very light (they are buoyant in pres-  Pin  qliquid (bbl / d ) 
surized natural gas and nearly buoyant in atmospheric air) and
can migrate great distances and easily pass through filters. When ϕ > 1.0, an ESP will not perform on the head curve
Coal fines are not a problem as long as they are unconsoli- any longer. For the above example at 99% gas, ϕ= 503 which
dated, but a CBM well produces a lot of fines that can clump is not close to a value of a gas/liquid mixure that could be
in the presence of a static charge or hydrocarbon liquids. pumped according to the published head curve. For an ESP to
Clumps of coal fines 4-8 inches in diameter are common and be predicted to pump on the head curve at these conditions
can clog downhole and surface piping and equipment. Tail there would have to be a tremendous increase in either water
pipes on rod pumps and jet pumps are especially susceptible to rate or downhole pressure. However if the vapor to liquid ratio
clogging with fines below the standing valve. at the pump intake could be reduced to Pin/666=150/666=.23
The CBM operator that is successful at getting the appro- by a high degree of gas separation such as using a sumped
priate pressure to each portion of the system is then faced with pump or other high gas separation technique, only then would
several additional problems. If separator pressures are much the ESP predicted to pump on the head curve. Typically at low
below 15 psig, the separator won’t empty into an above- pressures, an ESP can tolerate 10-15% gas but can tolerate
ground tank or a water system. The nature of water at low more free gas if the pressure is higher. Discussions in this pa-
pressures causes frequent phase changes that allow water (as per will show field estimates of intake conditions needed for
vapor) to pass through mechanical separation equipment un- an ESP pumping system and other systems to operate.
touched, only to condense back to liquid in the next process. For an ESP, an NPSHr < NPSHa allows the stages to per-
Formation water flashing to vapor will leave dissolved solids form on the published head curve and reduce the risk of cavi-
in inconvenient locations. tation. For a beam pump, low gas volumes at the pump intake
Minimum Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) are needed so the pump fill rate will be high enough to prevent
Net positive suction head (NPSH) is the condition at the intake damaging fluid pound and low efficiency. For a PCP, condi-
of a pumping system that compares supplied pressure (head) tions are needed such that the volumetric efficiency is high so
and friction drops in the suction piping to vapor pressure of that high-volume gas slugs will not pass through the pump
the pumped fluid. A minimum value (NPSHr) is required so
the system can function without excessive gas-related prob-
lems (the pump manufacturer may suggest a value for NPSHr 40,000

but varied field conditions with free gas may require field tri-
als to establish workable values). 30,000

Net positive suction head available (NPSHa) is a function Gas Lift

of the fluid being pumped and pump inlet pressure:

B/D

20,000
ESP

Pin ( psi) 10,000

NPSHa( ft ) = − hvp ( ft ) ........... Eq 1
0.433( psi / ft )γ liquid Beam
Je t Pump

0
Most pumping systems suffer when the intake fluid has too 0 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000
De pth, ft
much gas compared to the liquid (which acts to increase the
apparent vapor pressure).
The gas volume factor is Figure 1: An approximate depth-rate application chart for
systems used for CBM applications
Bg=5.04 ZT/P ............................................................Eq 2
(which is in bbl/MSCF at downhole conditions). For instance, generating heat to damage the stator and also low efficiency.
consider a well making 100 MSCF/d of gas (through the A hydraulic jet pump needs sufficient intake pressure (head) to
pump) and 10 bbl/d of water with downhole T=100°F, P=150 avoid cavitation in the jet diffuser. A gaslift system works
psia, and Z=0.9. Then Bg = 17 bbl/MSCF and qgas is: better with some of the required gas from the formation, but if
the gas produced is very high, then additional gaslift gas will
rsvr bbls rsvr bbls ..... Eq 3 not benefit the system, as the system would already be “natu-
q gas = 17 (100 MSCF/d ) = 1700
MSCF d rally” gas-lifted.
The gas content is 1700/1710 x100 = 99% gas. This will Figure 1 shows approximate depth-rate capabilities for
cause gas problems for any pumping system and the gas must some methods of lift commonly used for CBM applications.
be separated from the liquids before a pumping system can lift Although some of the methods show very high capabilities in
this small amount of liquids. rate, the usual rates for lifting CBM wells are a less than 25
The following correlation [23] describes the conditions bbl/d with some a few hundred bbl/d. Many CBM wells are
where an ESP will/will-not be effective where the gas and shallow as well, so the depth-rate figure for these methods
liquid flow rates are in-situ bbl/d at intake conditions. presented shows that most CBM requirements are will under
the physical capabilities of these methods, neglecting particu-
lar production problems.
SPE 80900 3

Rod pump tion. They can also screen solids (as originally designed for)
Beam pumps are likely the most common method used to but can be defeated with paraffin or scale as can other meth-
remove liquids from CBM wells. They can be used to pump ods. Typically screening devices have not worked well with
liquids up the tubing and allow gas production to flow up the CBM production [24] since they can quickly plug with solids
casing. Their ready availability and ease of operation have and starve the pump.
promoted their use in a variety of applications. Beam pump If separation is not effective, there are down-hole pump
installations do have problems with gassy and solids laden modifications and options. Pumps are available for high com-
production. pression ratio[8] (≈50:1 or better) Shown in Figure 3, is an
CBM wells will always be “gassy” in rod pump terminol- example pump that has a downstroke and an upstroke com-
ogy (i.e., there will frequently be gas mixed with the water pression ratio resulting in a several 100’s total compression
being pumped and the commercial product is gas so you try to ratio. There is some additional clearance around the hollow
maintain liquid levels as low as possible). Gas in the pump is valve rod so sand or solids can be washed out.
in general managed through: (1) natural separation; (2) poor- Beam pumps have many features that recommend them for
boy separators; (3) packer separators; (4) screening devices; CBM operations. The NPSH for a beam pump is not zero.
(5) devices to mechanically open the traveling valve to prevent Beam pumps will not pull a vacuum if liquids are present that
gas-lock, and other devices to alleviate effects of fluid pound- can flash to vapor. Very-low flowing bottom-hole pressure is
ing; and (6) by building pumps for a high downstroke com- often a factor in pumps gas-locking in CBM wells. There is
pression ratio. considerable disagreement around exactly how much NPSH is
Natural separation with the pump (or a diptube) set below required, but a value often quoted is 75-100 ft.
the perforations is the preferred method of gas separation for In general for coal bed methane applications, use a top
beam pumping and other methods of lift. For beam systems hold-down pump for shallow wells, a full opening cage for gas
there is no need for liquids to pass a motor for cooling, so if and solids, a tungsten carbide seat and alloy ball for gas inter-
the well is drilled below the perforations, it serves well for gas ference abuse, a “rag” or Martin-ring plunger for early solids-
separation during production. One such technique[4] is shown laden production and later a spray metal plunger with chrome
in Figure 2. plated barrel, a gas anchor with solids-purge valve if not set-
ting below production, rod guides and some weight bars above
pump. Do not continuously “bump” the pump for compres-
sion ratio, but instead space closely and build the pump with a
long pull rod for compression ratio, such that the TV assembly
can be within ½” of the SV assembly on the downstroke.

Figure 2: Poor-boy gas separator

“Poor boy” separators[5] and variations thereof rely on try-

ing to make the fluids travel downward at less than ≈1/2 ft/sec
so bubbles can rise up the annulus at a higher velocity and not
enter the pump. Solids can fill the bottom of the separator, but Figure 3: Dual traveling valve pump
a relief valve is available to expel solids on each stroke. These
separators are typically limited to production values less than Pump-off controllers have been very controversial in
150 -200 bpd due to a high gas concentration building in and CBM. Many operators do not use pump-off controllers be-
around the separator. cause the “off” cycles allow solids to settle onto the pump. On
A packer separator[6] lets the production rise above a the other hand, some operators have very sophisticated pump-
packer and exhaust upwardly, and then allows the liquids to off control (based on installed polished-rod load sensors or
fall back on the intake and gas to migrate up the casing. How- pump rate-of-revolution). In general, by the time you see a
ever solids can fall back on the packer and make it difficult to pumped-off status in a CBM well, the pump is gas locked.
remove. The most effective techniques have been to either run rod
“Screening” devices[7] bring the gas-laden fluid though a pumps continuously (expecting to repair them every 6-9
fine mesh and are said to “screen” bubbles from the produc- months) or simple stop-clock methods that are set to maximize
 4 SPE 80900

total water production (e.g., run the pump 1 hour on and 2 PCP’s can handle solids, but they perform better with soft
hours off for a week, 2 hours on and 3 hours off for the next coal fines than with abrasive frac sands. The sand can become
week and compare the total water produced—the experiments imbedded in the stator and can then cause accelerated wear to
can take several months and monitoring should continue for the pumping system or seize the rotor. Sand is more of a prob-
the life of the well). lem in CBM as operators more frequently use fractured well
Progressive Cavity Pump completions instead of the cavitation completions that were
Introduced in 1936, the progressive cavity pump (PCP) is widely used in the mid-1990’s.
of simple design, and it’s abilities to handle solids and viscous The actual wear in most applications occurs in the stators
fluids are useful for many applications. with 2 to 3 stators wearing before one rotor has to be replaced.
The system is commonly used for viscous and sandy pro- Also even though well fluids for CBM applications are usually
duction primarily in Canada and Venezuela and also for lifting mild for the rotor, additives for scale inhibition, corrosion con-
water off coal bed methane fields. Figure 1 shows one depth- trol, or bacteria treatments should be tested for compatibility
rate envelope for PCP operation (with other lift methods) but to the stator elastomer materials.
specific conditions can alter this drastically. The presence of CO2 has been the cause of many PCP fail-
The pump has only one moving part downhole, with no ures in CBM operations. As a general rule, CO2 levels above
valves. The pump will not gas lock but can overheat handling 8-10% will be incompatible with PCP use. Levels below 8%
gas. It can produce sandy and abrasive formation fluids and is might work with the proper elastomers, but success has been
not usually plugged by solids. PCPs do have limitations. The very limited above 4%.
rubber stator may be susceptible to chemical attack, the pump For wells making high volumes of gas (1, 2, even 4
stator elastomers can’t handle high temperature, and is it gen- MMSCF/d) with small amounts of liquid production (~30
erally limited to depths less than ≈4000-5000 ft due to fluid bbl/d), it becomes difficult to control a fluid level over the
slippage between the rotor/stator. A cross section of the pump pump and in these applications PCP’s have not performed
is shown in Fig. 4, illustrating the cavities containing fluid well.
while pumping. The pumping rate can be easily adjusted to Gas separators should be considered in any application
well conditions by changing the pump RPM. where the gas may be produced through the pump. The
The PCP unit consists of two main parts: 1) a moving sin- amount of gas passing through the pump has a direct effect on
gle helical steel rotor, and 2) a stationary double-threaded the pump’s volumetric efficiency. There are several gas sepa-
helical elastomer stator. With the rotor in the stator, a series of rator designs currently available, each having specific advan-
sealed cavities are formed. As the rotor turns, the cavities pro- tages and disadvantages. Although the conventional “poor
gress in an upward direction. There are two main variables to boy” style separator is one of the most common in the field, it
consider when matching the pump to well conditions. The first is among the least efficient. The best separation technique is
to set the pump intake as far below the perforations as possi-
ble. This allows for the gas to rise into the casing annulus
before reaching the pump intake.
If the pump is allowed to produce gas, the adiabatic com-
pression (Equation 5) can quickly generate enough heat to
damage the rotor elastomer. Since lubrication is reduced, fric-
tion plays a role in stator heating, but may be small compared
to instantaneous compressed gas heating. See Table 1 below
for the calculated PCP outlet temperatures for various condi-
tions. The discharge temperatures predicted are very harmful
Figure 4: Progressive Cavity Pump: Large & Small Cavities [9] to the PCP stator elastomer. If little or no liquids are being
pumped to carry away the heat, the high gas compression tem-
is pump capacity, which is determined by the size of the cavi- peratures will damage the stator in a short time.
ties formed between the rotor and stator. Larger cavities pro- k −1
duce higher flow rates at a given well depth and rate of P  k
rotation. The second is depth capability, which is determined Tout = Tin  out  .....................................................Eq 5
by the number of seal lines controlled by the length of the ro-  Pin 
tor and stator. A longer rotor and stator will allow a PCP to Pump-off control should be avoided with PCP’s in CBM
pump from greater depths at higher given capacity rating. operations. The pumps have a very poor ability to cold-start
PCP’s are used to lift water from coal bed methane fields with solids piled above the pump and wedged between the
because they can handle solids. The main application prob- rotor/stator and stator damage is very likely It is common to
lems are gas interference, chemical compatibility, and solids. have to unseat the pump and add soap lubricant to get the
Most operators set PCPs high initially to avoid solids pump to restart.
plugging and later lower them to below production for lower Gas Lift
BHP and better gas separation. Gas separation is critical. Of all artificial lift methods, gas lift most closely resem-
Field operational practice has shown that about a 50-50 mix of bles natural flow and has long been recognized as one of the
gas and liquid can be pumped with no damage to the rotor. most versatile artificial lift methods. Because of its versatility,
Also practice shows that about 60 feet of hydrostatic head
over the pump is required to keep the pump charged.
SPE 80900 5

gas lift is a good candidate for removing liquids from gas Gas lift is a flexible method of lift that is not troubled with
wells under certain conditions. gas interference or solids for the most part. However it will
not bring the producing pressure down as far as a pump sys-
BHP (psia) 1,000 ft 2,000 ft 3,000 ft 5,000 ft tem can. It is not troubled with solids wear and gas interfer-
50 495°F 653°F 760°F 913°F ence to a great degree. The NPSHr for gas lift can be
estimated using Nodal Analysis (TM of Schlumberger). For
75 408°F 551°F 649°F 787°F instance with water from 2,000’ in 2” tubing, the lowest pro-
100 351°F 485°F 576°F 705°F ducing bottom hole pressure using gaslift is around 350 psi for
Table 1: Compression temperatures for k=1.31, 15 psia at- 1000 bwpd and around 275 psi for 500 bwpd.
mospheric, T=100°F, and 30 psia wellhead pressure Jet Pumps
Downhole jet pumps have been used in oil fields since the
Advantages of gas lift include flexibility in design rates, 1950’s, but successful use in gas wells is very recent. Jet
wireline retrievable, handling solids, the full tubing area is pumps use a high-pressure liquid pumped through set of con-
open, low profile at the wellhead, one compressor can service vergent/divergent nozzles (Figure 5) to transfer momentum to
several wells, and it can be used with multiple or slimhole formation liquids. The power fluid in oil fields is stock-tank
wells. Disadvantages include the need for a high-pressure gas oil, and in gas fields it is produced water.
source, poor performance with high viscosity liquids, and it Traditional jet pumps are seated in a packer. Power liquid
will not bring the wellbore producing pressure to as low a is pumped down the tubing/casing annulus and the combined
value as most artificial lift and pumping systems. Gaslift will stream is returned up the tubing. These pumps are rarely ef-
significantly lighten the gradient in the tubing by primarily fective in gas wells because the internal ports are too small for
reducing the average density of the water/gas mixture and by a low-density compressible flow. There have been attempts to
velocity effect of the bubbles “scrubbing” the liquids. How- use gas as power fluid with large-capacity pumps in CBM
ever, no matter how well designed for oil wells, or CBM fields, which have been unsuccessful largely due to solids
wells, the producing bottom hole pressure typically cannot be plugging.
lowered to values achievable for most other pumping systems. Tubing pumps are more suited to gas fields. With these
Therefore for CBM wells handling solids is a plus, but the pumps, two tubing strings are run (either dual or concentric
inability to bring the formation to a low pressure is a negative. strings) without a packer. This allows gas production up the
Before considering gas lift, the achievable producing bottom tubing/casing annulus and liquid production through the jet
hole pressure must be evaluated to see if it will be low enough pump. Tubing pumps can be configured to move up to about
to produce at the rates desired. 75 bbl/day. Liquid production less than about 15 bbl/day is
Gas lift of gas wells can be thought of in the conventional difficult to configure because of cavitation concerns.
manner of adding gas to establish a minimum or economical
gradient in the tubing. However it can also be thought of as
adding enough gas to the tubing to keep the velocity above a
“critical rate” so liquid loading will not occur [10]. Stephen-
son[11] et al., present a study of gas lift compared to other lift
methods to de-water gas wells with results of the final gas lift
installation.
Johnson[12] et al., present a study of using gas lift for de-
watering a CBM field. Johnson points out that single-point
injection down the tubing with returns up the annulus is a
common clean-up method in the Black Warrior Basin as it is
in other CBM fields. A conventional gas lift system is de-
scribed with gas lift valves in 1 ¼” tubing, with liquid and Figure 5: Jet pump schematic (courtesy, Weatherford)
gaslift gas returns up 4 ½” tubing and reservoir gas production Surface pressures over 3,000 psig plus hydrostatic pressure
up 7” casing. A system of reeled tubing to inject gas into man- (0.433 psi/ft for water) are required for power fluid. Wellhead
drels in tubing, with gas production up the tubing/casing annu- pressure plus hydrostatic head determines exhaust pressure.
lus is described and thought to be a successful operation. This The pressure drop across the nozzle provides motive power.
system was at times operated intermittently and brought on Total head developed is the difference between flowing
when pressures increased. Thrash[13], in an older paper, de- bottom-hole pressure and exhaust pressure. A “compression
scribes gas lift with gas down a small string inside tubing, and ratio” (i.e., exhaust pressure divided by bottom-hole pressure)
the completions described would seem possible for CBM pro- more than 5-7 will starve the throat and cause cavitation.
duction if gas were allowed to flow the tubing/casing annulus. Cavitation damage to the throat disrupts the power-fluid flow
Boswell[14] et al., describes a system of gas lift bringing and quickly destroys the pump’s ability to move suction fluid.
injection gas down the annulus and returns up the tubing. This Six ratios in a 1,200 ft well sets the minimum NPSHr at 200 ft
is a simple de-watering completion, but it would, again have (86 psig) plus the wellhead pressure. An NPSHr this high is
to be evaluated to see what producing pressures could be ob- inconsistent with required bottom-hole pressure in most CBM
tained. For fairly high produced-liquid rates, the producing wells, and jet pumps have only been successful early in the
pressure at the bottom of the tubing could be too high for life of the wells when there were still significant pressures.
CBM applications.
6 SPE 80900

Jet pumps have a poor ability to handle coal fines. Flow Compression can be used to move 4-6 bbl/day of water
over control surfaces in the pump can generate enough static depending on bottom-hole pressure (the lower the pressure,
electricity to start coal fines clumping. The ports are so small the more water you can move with a compressor).
that clumps rapidly stop formation-fluids from flowing into Pump-off control is not an issue with compression since
the pump and initiate cavitation. compressors do not have a minimum NPSHr and actually have
Pump-off control is quite easy with jet pumps—when the better success when they don’t have to deal with liquids. Too
surface-pump discharge pressure decreases, the jet-pump dis- much liquid above the formation can seal the formation-gas
charge has become gassy. The most effective pump-off con- away from the compressor suction and prevent inflow. Be-
trol is a “constant-pressure” valve that recycles a portion of cause of this, compression is the least effective lift technique
the surface-pump flow to maintain a constant power-gas pres- for recovering from excessive liquid inflow. Water transients
sure at the jet-pump. For surface pumps with auto-start abil- have been responsible for taking compressed CBM wells from
ity, a turbine meter can be used on the recycle volume to shut very high gas rates to no flow in very short periods of time
the process down when the recycle gets too high. A stop- (recovering from these transients generally requires installa-
clock can be used to restart the process. tion of other lift techniques).
Compression Eductors
Compression contributes to artificial lift in three ways: (1) Eductors are classified as thermocompressors and are in
lowering surface pressures lowers flowing bottom-hole pres- the same family as jet pumps, sand blasters, and air ejectors.
sure and increases inflow rate; (2) increasing gas velocity im- They use a high-pressure fluid (either gas or liquid) for motive
proves its ability to carry liquid water to surface; and (3) at power. Eductors using gas can impart up to two compression
lower pressures, natural gas can carry more water as water ratios, using liquid they can impart more ratios.
vapor. Every successful CBM operation includes a consider- One successful configuration has been to use a flooded
able amount of compression. screw compressor to pull the tubing/casing annulus down to 8-
The predominate compression technologies used in CBM 10 psig. A portion of the gas discharged by the compressor is
are reciprocating compressors and flooded screw compressors. used to drive an eductor to pull the tubing down to 1-5 psig.
Other technologies such as liquid-ring, centrifugal, and dry The exhaust of the eductor is combined with the casing gas
screws have found niches in various CBM fields, but their use and sent back to the compressor. An eductor sized to provide
is not widespread. adequate velocity in 2-3/8” tubing (to stay above the
Reciprocating compressors use a piston moving within a Turner[10] required critical gas unloading rate, Equation 5)
cylinder to pull gas into the compression chamber and then requires less than 20 hp. This configuration has maintained
raise the gas pressure to the required level when the piston nearly constant liquid levels for years without any additional
reverses. Recips are the most common compressors in oil & lift.
gas operations and operators are extremely familiar with their
operation and maintenance. They are limited to about 4-5
compression ratios per stage by acceptable forces on the piston 17.197 PA(67 − 0.0031P)1 / 4
qMMCF / d ,critical = .........Eq 5
rods and by allowable gas temperatures. Single-stage recips TZ (0.0031P )1 / 2
are the most efficient compression technology available. Two
and three stage machines are progressively less efficient. A Like compression, eductors don’t have a minimum NPSHr
recip can be designed to move any particular volume from a and are capable of moving 6-10 bbl/day.
given suction pressure to a specific discharge pressure. Proper Electric Submersible Pumps
performance is only achieved when the suction pressure is Electric Submersible Pumps (ESP’s) are typically reserved
within ±5% (in psia) of design conditions. This narrow suc- for applications where the produced flow is primarily liquid at
tion range makes efficient use of recips on well sites very dif- a high inflow rate. Significant gas entering an electrical pump
ficult since wellhead pressure swings with water level in the can cause gas interference if the ESP installation is not de-
wellbore. The narrow suction range is usually not a problem signed properly. Free gas dramatically reduces the head pro-
on booster or mainline compressor stations because these sta- duced by an ESP, and may prevent the pumped liquid from
tions are generally designed for a narrow suction range. reaching the surface. In gas reservoirs that produce high vol-
Flooded screw compressors have a pair of helical screws umes of liquids, ESP installations can be designed to effec-
that mesh with each other as they rotate to compress gas. Oil tively remove the liquids from the wells while allowing the
is flooded into the compressor chamber to seal around the ro- gas to flow freely to the surface.
tors, prevent metal-to-metal contact between the rotors, lubri- The ESP system[16] consists of a downhole motor con-
cate metal parts, and remove the heat of compression. Moving nected to a seal-section which in turn is attached to a centrifu-
the oil requires some power, and a flooded screw is about as gal pump. A high-voltage electric cable connects the motor
efficient as a two-stage recip. Since screws don’t have rods to the surface where either a high voltage transformer or a
and since oil is a much more effective heat-transfer medium VSD (Variable Speed Drive) transformer supplies the electri-
than gas, 10-12 ratios are a reasonable performance expecta- cal power. It is imperative that the motor be cooled by the
tion. Each manufacturer specifies a maximum suction pres- produced fluid passing its outer casing. In the event that large
sure for their machine, but the flooded screws work very well quantities of gas pass the motor, the heat transfer from the
anywhere below that maximum. motor to the produced fluid will be drastically reduced, poten-
tially causing motor damage. The seal section houses a pump
thrust bearing and restricts the well bore fluids from entering
SPE 80900 7

the motor. The pump has an intake where the fluid enters the Pump-off control should generally be avoided with ESPs
pump at the bottom of the pump. The intake can be replaced in CBM because solids will quickly settle out of the static dis-
by a rotary gas separator, which separates gas to the annulus charge stream and can stick a pump. Any ESP in CBM should
while nearly all liquid enters the pump. The pump itself con- have an easy way to monitor current draw, and dataloggers
sists of a stack of impeller/diffuser combinations that generate have been used with good results.
head and pressure. The amount of head required to bring the Dew Point
liquids to surface dictates the numbers of impeller/diffuser At normal gas-field operating pressures, the amount of water
pairs and the flow rate required determines what type of stages that can move as water-vapor is small. At the pressures CBM
to use. requires, this is no longer true. As figure 6 shows, with 100°F
For shallow low-rate coal bed methane wells, the industry water at 30 psig bottom-hole conditions you can move 6
has adapted small water-well pumps and motors that are fairly bbl/MMCF of water as vapor. Since most CBM wells produce
inexpensive, normally with plastic stages or stamped stainless less than 6 bbl/MMCF, just providing low pressures can often
steel stages. The units last for a while and then are discarded be an adequate artificial-lift technique.
when they fail or wear and are not rebuilt. Single pumps are
used and there is no way to tandem the discardable pump 100.0
equipment. For deeper, higher-rate wells, oil-well equipment
is used, often using the special trim required to handle solids

bbl/mmcf
10.0
or sand. 100
Solids, depending on their shape and hardness, can cause
excessive radial wear in the top and bottom of the pump, 1.0 60F

which can cause leakage across packing glands. Wear can 20F
cause excessive stage downthrust wear and even cut through 0.1
the impeller. Erosive wear of particles passing though the 0 10 20 30 40
pump will reduce the stage head generation. Manufacturer’s
combat solids problems [9] by using stabilizer bearings in the psig
pump, coated stages and impellers, special materials for im-
pellers and diffusers in the pump, fixed stages (compression
pump) to reduce stage/impeller wear, and use of special hard- Figure 6: Water-carrying capacity of natural gas
ened modules to carry thrust to eliminate wear. Also there are Pressure or temperature drops up the tubulars can shift the
screens, filters, and swirling devices to eliminate solids from position on figure 6 and cause liquid water to flash or water
entering the pump. Operations are easier if solids can be car- vapor to condense. Neither of these conditions is particularly
ried through the pump so periodic bailing operations are not stable and both cause significant production problems.
necessary as would be required if solids are filtered at the Consequences of flashing water
pump intake. Formation water typically has something on the order of
In summary, ESP installations are expensive and usually 10,000 mg/l of total dissolved solids (TDS). If you flash a
consume more power than a beam pump system for the same barrel of this water, you will leave 3.5 pounds of solids some-
rates. Of course they should be compared only when the rates where. Since phase-change is not instantaneous, liquid water
are well within the good operational ranges for both the beam will generally stay liquid for a time after the phase envelope
and ESP systems. In addition, the efficiency of an ESP system would indicate that it should be vapor. When the water ex-
is significantly reduced (similarly for a beam system and other periences a large pressure drop across a short distance (e.g.,
systems excluding gas lift) when gas is allowed to enter the the wellhead piping configuration can cause a 0.5 psi drop
pump. These shortcomings limit the use of ESP’s for gas well across 4 feet), the water drops too far outside the phase enve-
de-watering applications. Also ESP’s show accelerated wear lope and flashes—leaving behind the solids. Phase-change
in the presence of solids and this is a minus when using ESP’s solids accumulate in control valves, tortuous piping, and sepa-
with CBM applications. As mentioned, the solids that do the rator mist pads. The nature of the solids deposition is a func-
most damage are often flow-back of fracturing sands as op- tion of the solids that are dissolved.
posed to coal fines. The industry has made economical use of Frequently, sodium salt (NaCl) makes up a significant por-
water-well discardable pumps to depths of about 1000 ft and tion of the TDS. Salt blocks form quickly in control valves or
low rates. For higher rates and deeper depths, typical oil field mist pads. As the salt collects, the pressure drop increases.
grade ESP’s are used with gas handling or separation methods As the pressure drop increases, even more salt collects. Salt
and often trim to handle solids is added. can completely close piping. If salt forms in the valves of a
The NPSH of an ESP in all liquid is low and may be only reciprocating compressor it starves the cylinder and signifi-
20-30 psi (46-70 ft), but with realistic expectations for gas cantly increases the compression ratios (increasing cylinder
inflow in tends to be well over 30 psi. When gas is present, a temperature and rod loading). In screw compressors, salt can
larger pressure is required at intake to allow the pump to per- collect inside the compressor frame and increase rotor wear.
form near its head curve. If the gradient is much below 0.28 Salt is soluble in hot water, but not quickly. Small accumula-
lb/ft, the pump will probably see gas interference regardless of tions can be treated with large quantities of hot water (e.g., up
the amount of head (due to the vapor pressure of liquid that to 20 bbl of 180°F water is required to dissolve 1 lb of salt).
light). Disassembling piping and breaking the salt out of the lines
8 SPE 80900

mechanically is generally required to remove large accumula- operators install a single large flow line across location from
tions. Frequent pressure surveys are required to find salt ac- the wellhead to the separator. When the large line is dry, it
cumulations before they become large. provides good pressure performance. When the large line fills
When the formation water is buffered with bicarbonate with water, the pressure drop can become unacceptable both
(HCO3) and has sodium salt, phase change can form nahcolite because of reduced flow area and because the gas has to do
(NaHCO3), which is very hard and not soluble in water. work to shift the surface of the water. The traditional way to
Strong acid or mechanical scraping is required to remove remove water from wellsite flow lines is to blow the lines to
nahcolite. atmosphere to sweep the line. With large flow lines this
Different contaminates in formation water form other sol- works until the liquid level falls enough to drop the gas veloc-
ids aggregations—none of which are desirable. So far no one ity too low to have any sweep efficiency. At that point the gas
has developed a preventive approach to dealing with phase- just blows over the top of the water without moving any water.
change solids. Scale-prevention chemicals add mass to the A more effective design has been to lay multiple lines from
stream and when the water eventually flashes, the additional the wellhead to the separator. Together the lines provide simi-
mass remains behind. Some operators have tried injecting lar flow area to one large line, but you have the option of
water to wash solids out of lines as they form. Since cold wa- sending the entire well stream down any one line to sweep
ter has a limited ability to dissolve a limited number of the liquids from it.
types of solids that can form, this technique has been less than Water removal from production equipment
totally effective. Low wellhead pressures translate to even lower separator
Condensation in piping pressures. An API standard 400 bbl tank is 20 ft tall so a
Condensing water in vertical pipes significantly increases dump line into its top would require separator pressure to be at
the total pressure drop up the well. A downhole pressure sur- least 12 psig (to account for friction drop). Water-gathering
vey clearly shows where there is condensation—the pressure lines tend to have even higher backpressure. Many jurisdic-
gradient can nearly equal a water gradient in the condensation tions allow CBM operations to surface-discharge produced
region, which can be vertically above a gas gradient (Figure water. In these operations, there still needs to be enough pres-
7). sure to operate dump valves and to overcome friction drops in
Techniques to reduce condensation downhole have in- the piping to collection points.
cluded insulated tubing material and heating the tubing with When a dump valve opens and the downstream pressure is
higher than separator pressure then either a check valve will
F lo ra nc e K # 3 stay shut or the downstream fluid will flow back into the sepa-
rator—neither situation is effective at removing water from
Press. Gradient, psi/f t
the separator. Underground tanks can be used, but they tend
to be fairly small and have to be emptied frequently which
0.000 0.200 0.400 0.600 increases cost and raises the risk of produced-water spills.
-2,650 Options for removing water from production equipment
Blowcases provide an effective technique for shifting wa-
-2,750 ter from a low-pressure separator. A blowcase is a vessel that
Depth, ft

has two distinctly different modes of operation. In the “fill”

-2,850 mode, the separator drain is connected to the blowcase and the
blowcase is vented to the separator. During fill, both vessels
-2,950
are at the required low pressure. When a level switch is acti-
-3,050
vated, the blowcase goes to “drain” mode. During the transi-
tion to drain, the blowcase vent shuts, a power-gas supply
valve opens, the blowcase fill/drain line is isolated from the
Figure 7: Downhole pressure gradient separator (usually with a check valve), and a blowcase dump
valve opens. This allows a high-pressure source (such as the
electrical coils. There is not enough data on either of these compressor discharge) to empty the blowcase to a tank or a
techniques to assess their effectiveness or general applicability gathering system. When the level switch resets, the dump and
in CBM. power-gas supply valves close, and the vent opens to equalize
Condensing water in horizontal piping collects in low the pressure and allow water to flow from the separator into
points. This water reduces the effective pipe diameter, in- the blowcase. Blowcases have proven to be effective in CBM,
creases pressure drop, and provides a suitable environment for but have been susceptible to plugging from the collection of
accelerated corrosion. You can’t prevent water from condens- coal fines so any blowcase installed on a CBM well should
ing as gas reaches ground temperature, so you have to design have cleanout ports.
piping systems to allow removal of standing water. Pigging Pumps can also be used to move water from separators.
facilities are very effective at removing water, but not all lines Since the accumulation of liquid in a separator is intermittent,
were designed to be pigged. Retrofitting pigging facilities can any pump used must be able to start and stop automatically.
be difficult and expensive. Typically this is a low-head application that must take liquid
Gas velocities above 13 ft/sec have proven effective at from under 10 psig up to less than 100 psig. The most effec-
keeping water from collecting in horizontal pipes. Pipes tend- tive pump technology in this range has tended to be diaphragm
ing toward vertical require somewhat higher velocities. Some and centrifugal. Positive-displacement pumps are a poor
SPE 80900 9

choice in any environment where solids accumulation or Typical Ca- NPSHr (ft) Failure
freezing can dead-end the pump and build excessive pressure. pacity method
The local environment often limits choices of prime mov- (BBL/day)
ers for a pump. Electric motors are often the best choice if Eductor 6-10 0 Plug off
there is adequate electrical power available. Gas diaphragm Compressor 4-6 0 Plug off
pumps have proven effective in many situations, but the ex- PCP 4-600+ 60-100 Heat of
haust gas can be a significant cost and pollution source. Natu- Compression
ral-gas fueled engines have not proven to be very satisfactory
Beam Pump 20-500+ 75-100 Gas Lock
because auto-start capability has been difficult to implement in
Gas Lift 1,000+ 200-500 Erosion
3-5 hp sizes.
Jet Pump 10-45+ 450-1,000 Cavitation
Often wellsite separation causes more problems than it
cures. Several CBM operations rely on central compression ESP 70-1,000+ 150-2000 Cavitation
Table 2: Summary
and omit wellsite separators. This technique increases the
amount of water that can collect in gathering lines, but is very
effective if the gathering line can be regularly pigged. Re- Nomenclature
moving wellsite separators in not a good idea with wellhead A= cross-section of pipe open to flow, in2
compressors. bbl=Standard oil-field Barrel (42 gallons or 0.159 m3)
Conclusion cp= Back Pressure constant (MCFd/psi2)
CBM can remain profitable at reservoir pressures much lower Bg = Formation volume factor (BBL/MACF)
than the economic abandonment pressure in a conventional D= Inside diameter of a pipe (inches)
gas reservoir. These low pressures can create an environment hvp= Vapor pressure (ft)
that can be very difficult, but the extra work is often justified k= Isentropic exponent (no units)
by the field’s income. L= Length of a pipe (miles)
Solutions to problems in CBM often cause new problems MCF/d= Thousands of Standard Cubic Feet per day (28.3
that are at least as bad as original problem. Successful CBM m3/day)
operations have enough flexibility built into equipment design MMCF/d= Millions of Standard Cubic feet per day (28,317
to allow creative people to find solutions. For example, re- m3/day)
cently a rod-pumped well salted up in the tubing/casing annu- n= Non-linearity term in back-pressure gas flow
lus and the operator was able to redirect valving to send the equation
rod-pump discharge down the annulus to break the salt bridge. P = Average Reservoir Pressure (psia)
The salt bridge broke, but this technique put a significant Pbh= Flowing bottomhole pressure (psia)
amount of water into the wellsite fuel-gas system and the op- Pdn= Downstream pressure on a pipe (psia)
erator spent several hours restarting engines and drying out Pi= Initial Reservoir Pressure (psia)
control gas lines. This technique was not anticipated by any- Pin= Suction Pressure (psia)
one, but the valves, interconnects, and cross-connects that the Pout= Discharge Pressure (psia)
wellsite design included allowed this procedure (and the sub- Ps= Standard Pressure (psia)
sequent drying evolution). qgas=gas flow rate, bbl/day or MMSCF/d as indicated
Techniques that worked in the past may not continue to Tin= Suction temperature (R)
work at the next set of downhole conditions. For example, Tout= Discharge temperature (R)
soap was an important deliquification tool when reservoir Z=gas compressibility factor, dimensionless
pressures were over 200 psig. Somewhere under 200 psig, the γliq = Specific Gravity (relative to water)
soap stopped activating (i.e., the soap would dissolve without ϕ = ESP performance correlation
ever foaming) and it gave no relief from water accumulation. References
Lab testing with surfactants can save money vs. expensive 1. Stephens, Maynard M.: Natural Gas Engineering, Second Edi-
trials. tion, Mineral Industries Extension Services, School of Mineral
The essential point is that you must design your operation Industries, The Pennsylvania State College (1948), page 169
with a definite strategy in mind, and the strategy must include 2. Petrie, H.L., Wilson, P.M., Smart, E. E.: Jet Pumping Oil Wells,
enough flexibility to allow for emerging technologies, new Part 1, World Oil, Production ’83, November, 1983, page 51
ideas, and new problems. 3. Schraufnagel, D. G., Hill, D.G., McBane, R.A. Gas Research
Institute, SPE 28581, Coalbed Methane – A Decade of Success,
A lift strategy is crucial to an overall strategy. Various Society of Petroleum Engineers Library, Prepared for 69th An-
types of lift perform differently in CBM (really at low bottom nual Technical Conference & Exhibition, New Orleans, LA,
hole pressure, moderate water rate, and a solids-rich environ- September 25-28, 1994
ment). The techniques reviewed in this paper have been: 4. McCoy, J. N., Podio, A. L., “Improved Downhole Gas Separa-
tors”, Southwestern Petroleum Short Course, Lubbock, Texas,
April, 7 & 8, 1998.
5. Clegg, Joe Dunn: “Another Look at Gas Anchors,” proceedings
36th Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Petroleum Short
Course, Lubbock, TX (April 1989
6. Stanley Filter Company, 4444 E. 146th St. North, PO Box 130,
Skiatook, OK 74070
10 SPE 80900

7. Parker, R. M., “How to Prevent Gas-Locked Sucker Rod Pumps”,

World Oil, June 1992, 47-50
8. Lea, J. F., “New Pump-Off Controls Improve Performance”, Pe-
troleum Engineer International, December, 1986, pp 41-44.
9. Klein, S. T., “ Selecting a Progressive Cavity Pumping System”,
Southwestern Petroleum Short Course, Lubbock, Texas, April
20-21, 1994
10. Trammel, P., & Praisnar, A., “Continuous Removal of Liquids
from Gas Wells by use of Gas Lift” SWPSC, Lubbock, Texas,
1976, P. 139.
11. Stephenson, G. B., and Rouen, B., “Gas-Well Dewatering: A Co-
ordinated Approach”, SPE 58984, presented at the SPE Interna-
tional Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Villahemosa,
Mexico, February 1-3, 2000.
12. Johnson, K. J., Coats, A., and Marinello, S. A., “Gas-Lift Tech-
nology Applied to Dewatering of Coalbed Methane Wells in the
Black Warrior Basin”, SPE Production Engineering, November,
1992.
13. Thrash, P. J., “What About Gas Lifting Tubingless Completions”,
The Petroleum Engineer, September, 1960, p. 33-38.
14. Johnson, K. J., Coats, A., and Marinello, S. A., “Gas-Lift Tech-
nology Applied to Dewatering of Coalbed Methane Wells in the
Black Warrior Basin”, SPE Production Engineering, November,
1992.
15. Boswell, J. T., & Hacksma, J. D., ” Controlling Liquid Load-Up
with ”Continuous Gas Circulation”, SPE 37426, presented at the
Production Operations Symposium, Oklahoma City, OK, March
9-11, 1997.
16. Adair, R. L, Kramer, T., ” New Technologies for Progressive
Cavity Pumps”, Southwestern Petroleum Short Course, Lub-
bock, Texas, April 25-26, 2001.
17. McCoy, J. N., “Analysis and Optimization of Progressing Cavity
Pumping Systems by Total Well Management”, paper presented
at the 2nd SPE Progressing Cavity Pump Workshop, Tulsa, Oka-
lahoma, November 19, 1996.
18. Griffin Pumps Operators Manual, 5654 55th Street, S. E. , Cal-
gary, Alberta, Canada, T2C 3G9
19. Weatherford ALS Progressive Cavity Pump Manual
20. Saveth, K.J.,”Field Study of Efficiencies Between Progressing
Cavity, Reciprocating and Electric Submersible Pumps”, SPE
25448 presented at the Production Operations Symposium ,
Oklahoma City, OK, March 21-23, 1993.
21. Centrilift Submersible Pump Handbook, 6th Edition.
22. Schlumerger-REDA bulletin on the Advanced Gas Handler
(AGH) stages.
23. Lea, J. F., Turpin, J. L., & Bearden, J. L., “ Correlation of Per-
formance Data for Electric Submersible Pumps with Gas-Liquid
Flow”, presented at the SWPSC, Lubbock, TX, April 23-25,
1986, pp 267-281.
24. Hebert, D. W., “ A Systemic Approach to Design of Rod Pumps
in Coal Degasification Wells”, SPE 19011, presented a the SPE
Joint Rocky Mountain Region/Low Permeability Reservoirs
Symposium and Exhibition, held in Denver, Colorado, March 6-
8, 1989