12 89 59 CWC physical simulator The feasibility of the CWC concept has been demonstrated using a laboratory scaled physical simulator. It has been shown, using the simulator, that the funnel in the lowest CWC module does effectively collect water and that the tubing pressure can effectively push the collected water upward to the maximum height linearly proportional to the pressure at the water collection point. A push-up module is also included in the simulator and it has been demonstrated that the module effectively pushes the water upward using the tubing pressure at its level. The simulator is built at approximately half the diameter scale of the real system and is mainly comprised of four types of polycarbonate tubes with different diameters for well casing 2” OD), module housing (1.75” OD), gas tubing (1” OD) and water tubing (0.25” OD). A rapid prototyping machine for building 3D parts and a laser cutter for building 2.5D parts are used. An accurate metering pump has been used to feed water into the gas tubing and air is metered in through the lower opening of the gas tubing. The physical simulator has demonstrated the success of the concept in a variety of situations and has provided invaluable insight regarding the operation of CWC. Figure 7 shows sections of the physical simulator. Conclusion The concept presented in this paper, Concurrent Water Collection (CWC), addresses the perennial and difficult problem of water accumulation that slows and finally cripples gas wells. The currently used methods can restrict gas production, use energy, or use chemicals that are expensive and harmful to the environment. The CWC method benefits from the fact that a portion of the water which returns to the well bottom is actually the result of the condensation of water vapor and consolidation of water mist in form of larger droplets in the upper segment of the well where the temperature is much reduced. Traditional methods allow for return of this condensed water to the bottom of the well, thereby losing all the valuable potential energy that
12 89 59 CWC physical simulator The feasibility of the CWC concept has been demonstrated using a laboratory scaled physical simulator. It has been shown, using the simulator, that the funnel in the lowest CWC module does effectively collect water and that the tubing pressure can effectively push the collected water upward to the maximum height linearly proportional to the pressure at the water collection point. A push-up module is also included in the simulator and it has been demonstrated that the module effectively pushes the water upward using the tubing pressure at its level. The simulator is built at approximately half the diameter scale of the real system and is mainly comprised of four types of polycarbonate tubes with different diameters for well casing 2” OD), module housing (1.75” OD), gas tubing (1” OD) and water tubing (0.25” OD). A rapid prototyping machine for building 3D parts and a laser cutter for building 2.5D parts are used. An accurate metering pump has been used to feed water into the gas tubing and air is metered in through the lower opening of the gas tubing. The physical simulator has demonstrated the success of the concept in a variety of situations and has provided invaluable insight regarding the operation of CWC. Figure 7 shows sections of the physical simulator. Conclusion The concept presented in this paper, Concurrent Water Collection (CWC), addresses the perennial and difficult problem of water accumulation that slows and finally cripples gas wells. The currently used methods can restrict gas production, use energy, or use chemicals that are expensive and harmful to the environment. The CWC method benefits from the fact that a portion of the water which returns to the well bottom is actually the result of the condensation of water vapor and consolidation of water mist in form of larger droplets in the upper segment of the well where the temperature is much reduced. Traditional methods allow for return of this condensed water to the bottom of the well, thereby losing all the valuable potential energy that
CWC_PaperJournal_Final4.docx