Automation of liquid removal from natural gas wells

Water and other liquids can cause production problems for natural gas wells. An established but labour-intensive method for removing these liquids is the use of absorbent foam sticks, which are lowered into the wells and then lifted back up again. This paper presents an automated solution for launching foam sticks down gas wells and recovering them – and without the need for a grid electricity supply. The foam-stick launching apparatus has an enclosed magazine with several chambers. It is controlled by a solar-powered skid-mounted electric–pneumatic control system, which includes a storage battery, time relays, a wireless switch module and a compressed gas supply. A typical water-producing gas well was selected to illustrate the technology. Its successful application indicates that engineers can remove liquid from water-producing gas wells and bring them back to production normally using this novel artificial lift technology, which can also be used in remote areas with no electrical supply.