石油工程专业英语采油技术基础roductiontechnology.doc

Lesson 3 Production Technology Chapters 1 and 2 discussed in some detail the equipment and procedures used in drilling and completing a well. Now let’s consider the well as part of a dynamic production system. Up to this point, describing the static geologic structure has been a basic part of the exploration and development process. Wells are drilled and logged, maps are revised, and the reservoir begins to take shape as a volume having certain dimensions. (Big ones, hopefully!) But once production begins, the reservoir is only a part of a larger system that includes the reservoir, wellbore, tubing string, artificial lift equipment, surface control devices, gathering lines, separators, treaters, tanks, and metering devices. All of these elements behave according to their own specific performance relationships, but each, in turn, also depends upon and influences the other elements. Production engineers are concerned with the interaction of these performance relationships as production occurs over time, anticipating performance changes and designing the system to maximize recovery of oil and gas economically. Understanding this dynamic production system as well as the static geologic structure is a practical objective for everyone involved in the exploration and production effort. This chapter outlines production system equipment, starting with the completed well and moving along the flow path through the surface facilities. The same path is then retraced, but this time focusing on the dynamic flowing performance relationships that govern fluid movement through the system. 3.1 Completion Components The basis for any completion is the heavy steel pipe lining the wellbore?the casing. Together with the cement sheath holding it in place, the casing performs several important functions: ( supporting the sides of the hole; ( preventing communication of fluids and pressures between shallow and deep formations; ( allowing for control of pressures; and ( providing a base for