Optimization of lift gas allocation in a gas lifted oil field as non-linear optimization problem.

Abstract

Proper allocation and distribution of lift gas is necessary for maximizing total oil production from a field with gas lifted oil wells. When the supply of the lift gas is limited, the total available gas should be optimally distributed among the oil wells of the field such that the total production of oil from the field is maximized. This paper describes a non-linear optimization problem with constraints associated with the optimal distribution of the lift gas. A non-linear objective function is developed using a simple dynamic model of the oil field where the decision variables represent the lift gas flow rate set points of each oil well of the field. The lift gas optimization problem is solved using the fmincon solver found in MATLAB. As an alternative and for verification, hill climbing method is utilized for solving the optimization problem. Using both of these methods, it has been shown that after optimization, the total oil production is increased by about 4%. For multiple oil wells sharing lift gas from a common source, a cascade control strategy along with a nonlinear steady state optimizer behaves as a self-optimizing control structure when the total supply of lift gas is assumed to be the only input disturbance present in the process. Simulation results show that repeated optimization performed after the first time optimization under the presence of the input disturbance has no effect in the total oil production.