Most of us who teach others have heard the adage that the
best way to learn a subject in depth is to teach it. As a case in point,
natural gas production engineering is a history of many years of successfully
using the material for natural gas engineering courses at the University of
Tulsa, the Pennsylvania state university, and adult education course in the
united states and overseas. This book is arranged so that it can be used as a
test or reference work for student and practicing engineers, geologists and
managers in the crude oil and natural gas production industry
Chapters 1 to 3 serve as an introduction to the subject.
Chapter 1 traces the development of the natural gas industry and tries to
install in the reader an awareness of the increased role natural gas will play
as source of energy. Chapter 2 reviews the properties of natural gases and
condensate system that are of importance in solving gas well performance, gas
production and gas transmission problems. Chapter 3 discusses some concepts of
thermodynamics that are used throughout the book.
Chapter 4 through 8 focus on separating and processing,
compression, measurement, and flow of gas in pipelines, tubings, and annuli.
Multiphase flow in pipes is treated and procedures for the design and selection
of surface equipment are clearly outlined. Methods for determining static and
flowing bottom hole pressure from wellhead data are presented for both shallow
wells and very deep wells producing sour gas. The problem of liquid loading in
gas wells is also addressed
Much of the material on which this book is based was drawn from the publications of the society of petroleum engineerings of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, the American Gas Association, the Division of Production of the American Petroleum Institute, the Gas Processors Suppliers Association, the Petroleum Extension Service of the University of Texas at Austin, and the Gas Condition Conference of the university.
