Patent ID: 9644462
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: E21B

Claim:
1. A system for providing lift gas to a well for producing fossil fuel from said well, said well projecting downwardly from a surface and having production tubing and a casing-tubing annulus, said system comprising: gas lift injection piping connected to said casing-tubing annulus; a first valve connected to said gas lift injection piping for injecting when said first valve is open said lift gas at a controlled rate into said gas lift injection piping to thereby produce said fossil fuel; and an instrument programmed to use a predetermined criteria to dynamically control said late of injection of said lift gas into said gas lift injection piping, wherein said predetermined criteria includes a critical rate indicative of a flow rate at which a gas in said well carries liquids from said well to said production tubing, said predetermined criteria further including a production rate indicative of a rate at which said well produces fossil fuel, wherein said controllable rate at which said lift gas is injected is dynamically controlled in response to a difference between said critical rate and said production rate, wherein said predetermined criteria further includes terminating injection of said lift gas into said gas lift injection piping based on said production rate staying below said critical rate in response to said lift gas being injected at a predetermined maximum injection rate for a predetermined maximum rate time.