automatic plunger lift adjustment pilot using lean methodology

Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Sheraton Hotel, Denver, Colorado

February 17 – 20, 2013

Automatic Plunger Lift Adjustment Pilot

Using Lean Methodology

Kelli Poppenhagen, Production Engineer

Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.

Presentation Outline

• Lean approach overview

• Problem definition

• Baseline measurement

• Data analysis

• Improvement implementation

• Control plan / propagation

• Conclusions

Feb. 17 – 20, 2013 2013 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Denver, Colorado 2

Background

• Encana Piceance field

located near Parachute,

Colorado

• >1900 S-shaped wells

producing from tight gas

Williams Fork formation

• ~90% of wells on plunger lift

3 Feb. 17 – 20, 2013 2013 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Denver, Colorado

Lean Methodology

• Eliminate waste, improve business processes

and enhance bottom-line results

• Structured problem solving approach to identify

highest priority issue(s), determine the best

solution, achieve a robust implementation and

deliver sustainable results

• DMAIC phased approach – Define, Measure,

Analyze, Improve, Control


Denver, Colorado

First Things First- Project Charter

• Sets resource

requirements up front

• Reduces rework related to

poor scope definition

• Improves team member

and stakeholder buy-in

• Is customer driven –

customer requirements are

captured at the beginning

5

Charter Process Owner

Project Lead

Business Case

Problem Statement

Objective

Voice of Customer

Scope

Team Members

Stakeholders

Timeline

Add’l Support Required


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DMAIC

Define: Problem Statement

• ~1700 plunger wells to optimize

• Pumpers are burdened with many

responsibilities – less and less time to devote to

“pumping”

• Lacking standard optimization approach

• Impossible to watch every well every second and

react to every changing condition

• Keep the lights on – important to maximize base

production


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DMAIC

Additional Charter Details

• Objective:

– Improvement in place by 4/1/12

– Improve production of pilot wells by 5%

– Achieve 10% reduction in pumper man-hours

• Team Members:

– Project Lead

– Pumper

– Lead Pumper

– Automation Technician

– Production Engineer


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DMAIC

Determine Key Inputs (Production Output)


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DMAIC

Scope – Pilot Area Selection

• Hypothesis Test – Control Group and Test Group:

– Wells in close proximity

– Plungers already running

– High (99+ mcfd) and low (<=98 mcfd) producers

– Include wireless

– Coin toss:

• Group A - test (24 wells) Group B - control (24 wells)


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DMAIC

Baseline Output Data


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Gas Production

DMAIC

MC

FD

Production Statistics


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MCFD

Rate

Category High High Low Low

Group A B A B

Count 3105 3312 1863 1656

Mean 326 356 82 79

Stdev 115 166 25 21

Range 978 1105 245 163

Minimum 0 0 0 0

Maximum 978 1105 245 163 A B-100

100

300

500

700

900

1100

GA

S

Group - Rate Category: High

Median

25th

75th

Mean

Outliers

ExtremeOutliers A B-100

100

300

500

700

900

1100

GA

S

Group - Rate Category: Low

Median

25th

75th

Mean

Outliers

ExtremeOutliers

DMAIC

Potential Failure ModePotential Failure

EffectsPotential Causes Current Controls Actions Recommended Resp.

In what ways does the

Key Input go wrong?

What is the impact

on the Key Output

Variables

(Customer

Requirements)?

What causes the Key Input to go wrong?

What are the existing

controls and

procedures (inspection

and test) that prevent

either the cause or the

Failure Mode?

What are the actions for

reducing the occurrence of the

cause, or improving

detection?

Who is

responsible for

the

recommended

action?

Settings (optimization

process) not optimal

Well is not

producing at

maximum daily

volume

7 Optimial settings not known 8 No detection available 8 448Utilize AutoAdjust, monitor

flow-time and gas productionTeam

Plunger stops arriving

Lower gas

production, pumper

time to unload well

8

Loaded up - inhibitor loaded it up, loaded

up due to high line pressure, bad opt

settings, worn out plunger, etc.

4Detect visually on

Cygnet8 256

Utilize AutoRecovery, 2

missed arrival alarms, use tbg-

line pressure dp open setting

Team, Auto

Tech

Plunger arriving but not

being measured

Lower gas

production, pumper

time to unload well

7Arrival sensor fails, goes to max lift time

(ignores opt settings)5

No regular

maintenance, upfront

test to make sure it's

working

7 245

Set up report to ID two

consecutive non-arrivals, send

alarm to email. Fix it right

away.

Auto Tech


Lower gas

production,

slickline retrieval

cost, pumper time

to surface plunger

8 Downhole problem - sand, scale (stuck) 2Detect visually on

Cygnet8 128




away.

Auto Tech

Well not building

pressure - valve unable

to seal, well loads up

Lower gas

production, pumper

time to fix problem

and unload well

8

Stem and seat leaking, happens about

every 6 months, happens faster with more

plunger arrivals

3

Detect with missed

plunger arrivals,

equalized tbg/line

pressures

3 72




away.

Auto Tech

S

E

V

E

R

I

T

Y

O

C

C

U

R

R

E

N

C

E

D

E

T

E

C

T

I

O

N

RPN

Determine Best Solution

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)


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DMAIC

Potential Failure ModePotential Failure

EffectsPotential Causes Current Controls Actions Recommended

In what ways does the

Key Input go wrong?

What is the impact

on the Key Output

Variables

(Customer

Requirements)?

What causes the Key Input to go wrong?

What are the existing

controls and

procedures (inspection

and test) that prevent

either the cause or the

Failure Mode?

What are the actions for

reducing the occurrence of the

cause, or improving

detection?

Settings (optimization

process) not optimal

Well is not

producing at

maximum daily

volume

7 Optimial settings not known 8 No detection available 8 448Utilize AutoAdjust, monitor

flow-time and gas production


Lower gas

production, pumper

time to unload well

8 Loaded up - inhibitor loaded it up, loaded up due to high

line pressure, bad opt settings, worn out plunger, etc.4

Detect visually on

Cygnet8 256

Utilize AutoRecovery, 2

missed arrival alarms, use tbg-

line pressure dp open setting

Plunger arriving but not

being measured

Lower gas

production, pumper

time to unload well

7Arrival sensor fails, goes to max lift time (ignores opt

settings)5

No regular

maintenance, upfront

test to make sure it's

working

7 245




away.


Lower gas

production,

slickline retrieval

cost, pumper time

to surface plunger

8 Downhole problem - sand, scale (stuck) 2Detect visually on

Cygnet8 128




away.

Well not building

pressure - valve unable

to seal, well loads up

Lower gas

production, pumper

time to fix problem

and unload well

8Stem and seat leaking, happens about every 6 months,

happens faster with more plunger arrivals3

Detect with missed

plunger arrivals,

equalized tbg/line

pressures

3 72




away.

S

E

V

E

R

I

T

Y

O

C

C

U

R

R

E

N

C

E

D

E

T

E

C

T

I

O

N

RPN

Automatic Adjustment

• K-3512 RTU AutoAdjustTM - optimize plunger lift wells

– Controller adjusts well operation based on plunger

arrival time

– Open conditions (psi): tbg, csg, line, csg-tbg, tbg-

line, csg-line

– Close conditions (psi): tbg, csg, line, csg-tbg, tbg-

line, csg-line, orifice diff and flow rate

• K-3512 RTU AutoRecovery - react to missed plunger

arrivals

– Unique open condition or shut-in time

Feb. 17 – 20, 2013

2013 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Denver, Colorado

13

DMAIC

Automatic Adjustment

• Literature Search

– SPE 24296 Increasing Production Using

Microprocessors and Tracking Plunger-Lift

Velocity, 1992

– SPE 124911 Optimizing Mature Gas Wells in South

Texas – A Team Approach, 2009


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DMAIC

Pilot Process Flow Diagram – “Future State Map”


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Plunger Arrives Plunger Does Not Arrive

Multiple

consecutive failed

arrivals

Outside time

band

Single failed arrival: failed

trip adjustment: open

&/or close, larger

increment Full

adjustment:

open &/or

close

Proportional

adjustment:

open &/or

close

SI well for set time

period &/or use AR

increment (only on

open settings)

AR value is inserted

as new open setting

Within time

band

Prepare Well for Plunger Lift

Begin Plunger Lift (drop plunger, initial AA/AR* set-up)

Pumper, Production Engineer monitor results and adjust /

troubleshoot as needed

Arrives

Does not

arrive

Arrives

Does not arrive

*AA/AR: AutoAdjust

/ AutoRecovery

Hu

ma

n

Inte

rve

ntio

n

Hu

ma

n

Inte

rve

ntio

n

Au

tom

atic

Inte

rve

ntio

n

DMAIC

Determining Adjustment Windows


Denver, Colorado

Tbg Line DP Open starting minimum of 80 psi. Not low enough, decreased to

60 psi which was too low (multiple failed trip adjustments) -> increased to 70

psi.

DMAIC

Flow Rate AutoAdjust Example


Denver, Colorado

Small adjustments: Target arrival

time is 11:34 +/- 60 sec (750 fpm).

DMAIC

Results Summary

• Total production for the 23* Group A wells increased 2.5% with

the improvement

– Low rate wells responded better than high rate wells

– Group A daily production StDev (variability) decreased by 30

mcfd vs Group B decrease of 13 mcfd

• Daily plunger non-arrivals:

– Both groups maintained 0 non-arrivals as the median, however Group A variability decreased from 6 to 0 vs Group B decrease from 8 to 3

– Group A maximum decreased from 83 to 4 non-arrivals, Group B decreased from 98 to 26


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DMAIC

Results - Total Production


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Group A: 2.5%

increase

Group B: 0.2% increase

MC

FD

DMAIC

Results – Median Uplift


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0.07% chance of being

wrong about the

median difference

Mood's Median Test: Prod Variance

Test Information

H0: Median 1 = Median 2 = ... = Median k

Ha: At least one pair Median i ≠ Median j

MISC3 Group A Group B High Low Group A Group B Group A Group B

Count (N <= Overall Median) 494 713 410 191 359 431 138 279

Count (N > Overall Median) 707 500 353 247 404 386 300 117

Median 11 6 10 13 10 8 13 3

UC Median (2-sided, 95%) 12 6 11 15 11 9 15 4

LC Median (2-sided, 95%) 10 5 8 11 8 7 11 2

Overall Median

Chi-Square

DF

p-value (2-sided)

Low Wells

0.0235

1

5

8

High Wells

0.0000

1

126

6

1

0.0000 0.0007

1

Overall Group A

8

75 11

11

DMAIC

Results – Well Production Examples


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We

ll 1

W

ell 2

PILOT START

Mean CL: 0.10

-0.06

0.27

-2

0

2

4

6

8

Ind

ivid

ua

ls:

Pu

mp

er

hrs

by P

eri

od

Results – Pumper Time Burden


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Group A Control Chart

Before

Improvement

Transition After

Improvement

• The pumper’s time was reduced by ~1 hr/day for the Group A wells

• Less time spent trying to optimize settings

• Fewer unloading events and minimal troubleshooting required

• More time available to focus on other issues / wells

DMAIC

• Less manual unloading due to AutoRecovery - wells

do not continue to load with each missed arrival

• More consistent liquid production (more oil) - helps

with hauling and more revenue

• Increased measurement accuracy due to consistent

operation

• Less equipment wear and tear due to more

consistent arrivals

Results – Other Benefits


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DMAIC

• Preparation

– Prepare wells ahead of time and allow stabilization including choke changes, setting standing valves and changing plunger type

– Functioning arrival sensors are critical – ensure placement is correct

• AA/AR Set-up

– Start with 750-800 fpm target arrival speed

– Set Flow Rate Close AutoAdjust Condition on all wells at minimum off-time (plunger drop)

– If using AutoAdjust Open Condition, use Tbg/Line DP

– Accurate line pressure is important – install transducers ahead of time

– Start small on AutoRecovery shut-in time

– Set adjustment windows wide to allow adjustment and limit determination

Lessons Learned


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DMAIC

Control Plan

• Definition

– The Control Plan documents the knowledge, control points,

and corrective measures needed to maintain the benefits of

the solution discovered during the improvement effort

• Benefits

– Provides the recipients of the solution – many of whom were

not on the project team - the documentation required to

control the improved / changed process

– The Control Plan provides guidance after the team has

dispersed to other assignments

– It formalizes the change in process ownership to the Site

Lead from the project team

Feb. 17 – 20, 2013

2013 Gas Well Deliquification Workshop

Denver, Colorado

25

DMAIC

Process RACI

• Maintain Group A Results


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DMAIC

Action ItemSite Lead

Prod

Coordinator

Lead

Pumper Pumper

Automation

Tech

Prod

Engineer Green Belt

PE Group

LeadDate Due

Review AA/AR settings and

adjust as neededA C, A R R C Quarterly

Investigate alarms (two

consecutive missed arrivals)C, A R C C, I C

Upon

Occurance

Check plungers and replace as

neededA R

Every 3

months

Run variance report (actual vs

forecast) to identify under-

performing wells

I R C A Monthly

Update production

charts/statistics and report

results

A, I I I I I R C I Monthly

Maintain Change Tracking

SpreadsheetA R R C

Upon

Occurance

Maintain Results in Insights I I I I I C, I R I Quarterly

Complete Audit Plan Tasks A, I I I C C R C, I A Quarterly

R - Responsible

A - Accountable

C- Consulted

I - Informed

Propagation Plan

• Q4 2012: Conduct second automatic adjustment pilot

– Different area, different team

– Utilize DMAIC Process

• 2013 – 2014: Implement automatic adjustment throughout South Piceance

– Risks-

• Can Automation meet this schedule?

• Budget constraints (hardware including arrival sensors, expansion boards)


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DMAIC

Conclusions

• Lean DMAIC methodology resulted in robust implementation

with statistically significant results

• Production from AutoAdjust / AutoRecovery wells improved

compared to existing optimization process

– AutoAdjust makes optimization adjustments on every cycle,

reacting to continuously changing surface pressures and

liquid loads

– AutoRecovery returns wells to normal production faster

without human intervention and manual unloading


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Acknowledgements

• Encana

• Lean Coach – Brent Chance

• Project Team – Travis Preble, Ty Tanner, Karl

Biermann, Paul Schroeder, Will Trump

• NRG Services LLC – Troy Malone

• Weatherford – Tom Held, Annette

Ausseresses, Jeb Bucher


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Copyright

Rights to this presentation are owned by Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. (“Encana”) listed on the title page. By submitting this presentation to the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop, Encana grants to the Workshop, the Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC), and the Southwestern Petroleum Short Course (SWPSC), only the following limited rights to:

– Display the presentation at the Workshop.

– Place it on the www.alrdc.com web site, with access to the site to be as directed by the Workshop Steering Committee.

– Place it on a CD for distribution and/or sale as directed by the Workshop Steering Committee.

Any other use of this presentation or any modification of the same is prohibited without the expressed written permission of Encana. Encana may publish this material in other journals or magazines if they refer to the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop where it was first presented. No right, title, or interest in or to any of Encana’s or its affiliates’ trade mark included in this presentation and any goodwill associated therewith is granted to ALRDC, SWPSC or the Workshop Steering Committee by the submission of this presentation by Encana.


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Disclaimer

The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council and its officers and trustees, and the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop Steering Committee members, and their supporting organizations and companies (hereinafter referred to as the Sponsoring Organizations), and the author(s) of this Technical Presentation or Continuing Education Training Course and their company(ies), provide this presentation and/or training material at the Gas Well Deliquification Workshop "as is" without any warranty of any kind, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information or the products or services referred to by any presenter (in so far as such warranties may be excluded under any relevant law) and these members and their companies will not be liable for unlawful actions and any losses or damage that may result from use of any presentation as a consequence of any inaccuracies in, or any omission from, the information which therein may be contained.

The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed in these presentations and/or training materials are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sponsoring Organizations. The author is solely responsible for the content of the materials.

The Sponsoring Organizations cannot and do not warrant the accuracy of these documents beyond the source documents, although we do make every attempt to work from authoritative sources. The Sponsoring Organizations provide these presentations and/or training materials as a service. The Sponsoring Organizations make no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the presentations and/or training materials, or any part thereof, including any warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others, merchantability, or fitness or suitability for any purpose.


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automatic plunger lift adjustment pilot using lean methodology

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