EFFICIENCY OF USING AN EJECTOR FOR LOW-PRESSURE GAS PRODUCTION AT AN OIL AND GAS CONDENSATE FIELD

Operation of the «well – gas gathering system – inlet separator – booster compressor station – complex gas processing unit» system in the final stages of reservoir development is characterized by depletion of the formation and well energy potential, periodic spontaneous shutdowns due to increasing water-gas ratios and a decrease in gas flow velocity in the lift pipes below critical values that ensure complete and continuous liquid removal at the wellhead. One technical solution to this problem is the use of ejectors that utilize the energy of high-pressure gas downstream of the booster compressor station.The objective of this study is to conduct a comparative assessment of the technological efficiency of two options for integrating an ejector into the gas gathering network – at the wellhead and at the valve switching station of the complex gas processing unit, in which the source of high-pressure gas is gas downstream of the booster compressor station. The following research methods were used: digital modeling of dynamic processes of gas-liquid mixture flow in the «well – gas gathering system – inlet separator – booster compressor station – valve switching station of complex gas processing unit» system. Using the OLGA software suite:- using gas-dynamic data from steady-state wellbore studies at one of the fields, a hydrodynamic model was constructed and verified;- three models were created and analyzed: a baseline (without an ejector) and two alternative models – one with an ejector at the wellhead and one with an ejector at the gas treatment unit switchover facility.The ejection coefficient, compression coefficient, and mass flow rate of a low-pressure well were used as performance criteria.It was shown that, at the current reservoir pressure (1.318 MPa), installing an ejector at the valve switching station increases wellbore flow rate by 6.7 % compared to the baseline scenario, while installing it at the wellhead results in a decrease. When reservoir pressure drops to 0.9 MPa, the ejector on the switching valve structure ensures stable well operation at a flow rate of 0.576 kg/s, demonstrating higher ejection (0.627) and compression (1.281) coefficients than with the wellhead ejector installation. Using compressed gas from a booster compressor station as the active flow is technologically feasible. This allows the ejector to be integrated into the existing gas gathering network infrastructure.For the conditions of the field in question, installing the ejector on the complex gas processing unit is technologically more feasible, as it not only intensifies production at the current stage but also extends the life of low-yield wells.