CO2 injection, water injection and gas lift in the oil & gas industry
Enhanced oil recovery
The natural pressure in an oil field decreases over time, as oil is extracted. To maintain an efficient oil production rate for such a reservoir, pressure can be increased by well water injection (also called water-flooding) – which can re-circulate produced water recovered from the oil-water separators. Artificial lift techniques can also be applied, using gas lift to assist the flow of oil up the well bore tube, or CO2 injection into the reservoir, which helps reduce the oil viscosity and help oil flow.
In cases where a well has insufficient reservoir pressure to push the oil up to the top of the bore hole, the artificial gas lift can be used to aerate the oil, and so reduce its density. The formation pressure is then able to lift the oil column and forces the two phase fluid out of the well. Gas may be injected continuously or intermittently: by measuring the gas flow with a gas lift flowmeter, and the multiphase oil/gas production flow using a mass flowmeter, the gas injection can be optimized.
KROHNE offers a range of high pressure flow meters for accurate and reliable measurement of liquids and gasses for well water injection or CO2 injection, and for artificial lift flowmeters. These include OPTIFLUX electromagnetic flowmeters rated at up to 2500 bar. The KROHNE OPTIMASS Coriolis mass flowmeters, available in Super Duplex materials, offer entrained gas management, enabling oil production measurement to custody transfer standards despite any remaining entrained gas.
Process details
Requirements:
- Avoid damage to bearings of the pump
- Avoid unexpected downtime
Recommended products and solutions:
OPTIFLEX 2200
Guided radar (TDR) level transmitter for storage and process applications
Requirements:
- Controlling CO2 injection for production optimization
- High accuracy measurement for maximum control
Recommended products and solutions:
Requirements:
- Controlling well water injection for production optimization
- High pressure application (up to 1,000 bar / 15,000 psi)
- High accuracy measurement for maximum control
Recommended products and solutions:
OPTIFLUX 4300
Electromagnetic flowmeter for advanced process and custody transfer (CT) applications
Requirements:
- Controlling the gas flow for production optimization
- High accuracy measurement for maximum control
Recommended products and solutions:
OPTISONIC 7300
Ultrasonic flowmeter for natural gas, process gas and utility gas applications
Requirements:
- Continuous measurement to enable production optimization
- Entrained gas in the oil
Recommended products and solutions:
Requirements:
- Avoid damage to bearings of the pump
- Indication of the flow
Recommended products and solutions:
DK32
Variable area flowmeter with mechanical indication and horizontal connections