Abstract:
A method of optimizing fluid (gas/oil) throughput of a battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well. The method comprises one or more of the steps of; providing a master control unit within the battery complex; placing an individual control unit on each of the individual wells in said field of wells; arranging a communications network between each of the individual control units at each well in the field and the master control unit in the battery complex; reporting each individual well&#39;s gas production factors to the master control unit; and sending a control signal to each individual well to control its production based upon the monitoring of the collective signals received by the master control unit from the field of individual wells.

Description:
This application is based upon Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 60/790,848 filed Apr. 10, 2006, and is a continuation in part application of application Ser. No. 11/350,367 filed Feb. 8, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,865 and is a continuation in part of co-pending application Ser. No. 11/715,216, filed Mar. 7, 2007, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to gas and oil wells and more particularly to control systems for maximizing the efficiency and output particularly of a group of gas wells with respect to a single centralized control and collection arrangement. 
   2. Prior Art 
   Natural gas is a relatively inexpensive, clean-burning fuel which has replaced coal and oil in many areas for the generation of electric power. It has become one of the basic fuel commodities in the United States. However, the prices of oil and gas has increased dramatically over the past few years. Industry has responded by drilling many more wells. Often, such wells are drilled in a particular geographic pattern so as to supply a centralized production facility served by a number of wells, which is far more economical than having each well with its own production facility. 
   It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the current production and collection of gas from a plurality of wells into a centralized separation, collection and measurement facility. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a production facility arrangement which optimizes output of gas and oil from each well in a collection of wells in a production facility. 
   It is also an object of the, present invention to provide a means by which production “throughput” of the centralized facility may be maximized. 
   It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a means of controlling the production of a number of wells as well as monitoring the production from any particular well within that production facility, so as to optimize production of the highest producing wells and giving the lesser producing wells time to re-pressurize for optimum production therefrom. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to utilize a wireless plunger arrangement to signal respective individual well controllers about particular well conditions for “real-time” determination of optimum output by the system&#39;s central controller. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a plunger location arrangement for tracking plunger location and “well-bottom timing” of the plungers in the various wells for optimizing well output and for insuring safety in plunger speed control. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an arrangement for optimizing and maximizing the output of gas from a collection of separated gas wells in a drilled field. The drilled field may include gas and oil, as well as production of small amounts of water. The invention includes the collection of drilled wells which may number anywhere from 1 to about 8 or 10, are all in electronic and fluid communication with a production facility, or “battery.” The battery, or production facility, includes a separator, which feeds one or more tanks to hold the liquid, and a meter run, where the gas produced, is measured. Such a production facility is preferably within the middle of the field of drilled wells. 
   Gas and liquid that is produced from each well is transported through a pipeline to the separator at the production facility. The separator separates the gas from the liquid and further separates the liquid into its respective oil and water content. The gas in the separator leaves that separator and flows through the meter run, where it is measured. The gas then preferably flows into a sales pipeline and is then transported to market, a gas gatherer or holding tank. The oil leaves the separator via a separate pipe, and is deposited into an oil holding tank, which may be subsequently hauled off by a truck or through a feedline. Similarly, water may likewise be deposited in a separate holding tank for subsequent removal. 
   Each production well of the collection field is drilled into the earth&#39;s gas-producing formations from which the gas and liquid are retrieved. Each production well has a vertically displaceable plunger arranged within its vertically disposed well tubing. The plunger is pressurizably pushed to the top of the well tubing, whereupon a sensor at the wellhead records its arrival. Additional wellhead sensors read casing and tubing pressures, which along with the plunger sensor input, are relayed to an individual wellhead controller specific to each well in the group. Each particular well preferably has its own individual control unit thereon which opens and closes a motor valve in the flowline for that well. Control of the motor valve may be effected by a wired or wireless signal sent from the master controller 
   The production facility or battery has a master controller thereat. Each individual control unit at each particular well is in communication with the master control at the battery or production facility via a landline, internet, or RF or like communication connection therebetween. The master control unit at the production facility or battery continuously monitors the field of wells and their respective control units. When any number of programmed parameters are met at any individual well, the master control unit will change that specific well&#39;s state from “closed” to “ready-to-open”. Provided that there are no conflicts with any other well in the battery, the master control unit will instruct that well to open and thus begin its flow cycle. If a conflict exists such as another well already flowing or that more than one well is ready to open at a time, the master control unit will choose the well with the highest priority and cause it to go “open” and begin its flow cycle. The master control unit may monitor the supply of gas and liquid as the fluid itself is fed through the separator and the meter run from the particular currently producing well. 
   When a next available well is signaling the master controller from its own particular individual control unit, the master control will signal that next available well to begin production once the currently producing well is finished producing if it&#39;s priority is higher than the next well to open or upon its plunger arrival. Therefore, if the currently producing well is of lower priority than the next available well to open, the master control unit will close the currently producing well on plunger arrival or at any point during its afterflow cycle and cause the higher priority well to open. The constant monitoring by the master control unit of all of the wells within its particular field thus monitors and optimizes each well&#39;s output to the separator as well as determines which well is producing what quantity of gas, oil and water. This is significant in certain situations, because each particular well may have different interest owners and/or royalty interest owners from the other wells in the field. 
   Each particular well may be controlled by its own individual unit controller and being powered by, for example, a solar panel, and motor valves, which are ultimately controlled by the master control unit at the battery. Any particular well may be closed for a period of time, to permit pressure to build up therein, after which that wellhead will be open to flow, bringing that plunger and its liquid load to the surface. During such a flow, the particular well may have a high rate of output because of its optimized procedures. By controlling each individual well&#39;s flow into the separator, the volume of the gas and liquid may be easily handled, instead of being overwhelmed if all wells were to flow at their own particular flow rate. A strong well and a weak well, if allowed to flow simultaneously, would be detrimental to the weak well, where that weaker well may load up with fluid because its plunger could not make it to the surface to deliver its liquid load. In such a case, the weaker well may not be able to flow at all due to a higher pressure exerted by the stronger well impeding the flow from the weaker well. 
   Such plungers themselves, may have sensors therein, to provide an rf, sonic or b-field/wireless data feed to the local control units at each particular well. Such control unit at each wellhead is responsible for turning the well on and off, and reporting the casing and tubing pressure of the well as well as plunger arrival. When a well is ready to come online and begin producing, either as a function of time or a function of pressure, the master controller at the production facility would permit it to do so, via a return rf signal. Once the local control unit is turned on at a particular well, that well would continue to produce until its particular plunger rose to the surface. Once the plunger surfaces, the controller of that unit goes into an “after flow” cycle. Once in this after flow cycle, a well of higher priority would be allowed to come on if it is inits ready state, and override the remaining flow of this particular diminishing weaker well. The master controller at the separator in the production facility would signal the weaker well to close and signal the stronger well to come online. 
   The master controller at the separator therefore works at optimizing the throughput of the separator and its fed meter run. 
   Each well&#39;s production in the producing field is logged against its actual flow, and the priority may be established. The highest producing well of the collection would have the highest priority. The master control unit at the production facility or battery is programmed to assess what the priority should be according to the production on an operator programmed interval from typically every several hours, to perhaps, once a week. This permits the priority of the wells to change as producing characteristics of individual wells have changed. This also permits further optimization of individual wells by their respective local control units. The master control at the production facility constantly calculates and analyzes production volume from each particular well. If the flow rate of a particular producing well falls below a calculated average, and another well is ready to open, then the currently producing well will be signaled to close upon plunger arrival regardless of its programmed afterflow time, and the new well will be signaled to be open. If there are no wells ready to be open, the currently producing well will be permitted to flow even though it is below the average for the production facility, until its after-flow time expires, its close pressure parameter is reached, or another well is ready to open. 
   The invention thus comprises a method of optimizing fluid (gas/oil) throughput of a battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising the steps of providing a master control unit within the battery complex; placing an individual control unit on each of the individual wells in the field of wells; arranging a communications network between each of the individual control units at each well in the field and the master control unit in the battery complex; reporting each individual well&#39;s gas production factors to the master control unit; and sending a control signal to each individual well to control its production based upon the monitoring of the collective signals received by the master control unit from the field of individual wells. The method may include selecting one of the wells from the collection of wells to begin production. The method may include providing data on output and selected factors of each well in the field. The method may include shutting down production of a first well once the master control unit has determined a superior production may be generated by another well. The method may include the step of initiating production from another well after the first well has been shut down by instruction signaled from the master control unit to the individual control unit on the first well. The method may include sending signals from a plunger in an individual well to the individual control unit at the individual well. The method may include the step of providing a well tubing traveling plunger in at least one of the wells in the field of wells; and monitoring the location of the plunger in the well containing the plunger. The method may include the step of controlling movement of the plunger in the well containing the plunger. The method may include the step of tracking the plunger when the plunger is at any point in the wells vertical length or is at the bottom of a well, to factor in such “mid-point” or “bottom”-locations relative to time into the “well-control” functions. The method may include the step of sending signals received from the plunger in an individual well by the individual control unit thereat, to the master control unit in the battery complex for monitoring and control of the well&#39;s production. 
   The invention also includes a method of optimizing fluid (gas/oil) throughput of a battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising one or more of the steps of: monitoring continuously a plurality of wellhead control units in a well field; evaluating input data received wirelessly from each of the wellhead control units; selecting a priority well for a production run in a series of production runs; and recording volume flow of each successive well&#39;s production. 
   The invention also includes an fluid (gas/oil) battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising a plurality of gas wells in a production field, a local control unit at each of the wells in the field, a master control unit in the battery complex in communication with the local control unit at each of the wells in the field to monitor, control and report upon each individual well&#39;s gas production; and a separator to separate gas from other fluids produced from the wells. The fluid (gas/oil) battery complex may include a wireless plunger sensor arrangement in each of the wells to provide individual well data to the local control unit for that particular well. The fluid battery complex may include a wireless plunger to report data on its own well and the master control unit accumulates date from all of the well&#39;s wireless plungers to provide instantaneous optimization of a fields output and the wells identifying data. 
   The invention also includes the battery complex wherein the plunger has an alarm mechanism therewith to send an alert signal to the well&#39;s individual control unit that the plunger is at the bottom of the well. The alarm mechanism on the plunger nay be an acoustic alarm mechanism. The individual control unit at the wellhead is preferably arranged to monitor and control velocity of the plunger in the well. The plunger preferably has pressure and fluid condition sensors therein to signal the individual control unit on the wellhead relative to the well&#39;s production characteristics. The alarm mechanism may comprise different acoustic signals at different locations within the well. The well&#39;s individual control unit may be comprised of an acoustic sensor arranged at a wellhead of the well in the field so as to pick up and report upon the plunger&#39;s real-time location. 
   The invention also includes a method of optimizing fluid (gas/oil) throughput of a battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising one or more of the steps of: monitoring continuously a plurality of acoustic signal-receiving wellhead control units in a well field, evaluating acoustically generated input data received from each of the acoustic signal-receiving wellhead control units by a master control unit, selecting a priority well for a production run in a series of production runs by the master control unit, recording volume flow of each successive well&#39;s production by the master control unit, arranging an acoustic signal generating means in a bottom location of said wells, arranging a signal generating means in a plurality of spaced apart locations along the depth of the wells. 
   The invention also comprises a fluid (gas/oil) battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising: a plurality of gas wells in a production field; a local control unit for each of the wells in the field; a movable plunger arranged within tubing in at least one of the wells whose movement is arranged to generate a signal regarding said plungers location in the tubing at a particular time, to its respective local control unit; a master control unit in the battery complex in communication with the local control unit at each of the wells in the field to monitor the plunger, and to thereby control and report upon each individual well&#39;s gas production; and a separator to separate gas from other fluids produced from the wells. The signal generated by movement of the plunger may be an acoustic signal. The signal generated by movement of the plunger may be an electromagnetic signal. The signal generated by movement of the plunger may be transmitted to the local control unit by a signal receiver/transmitter arranged on the tubing. 
   The invention also comprises a method of optimizing fluid (gas/oil) throughput of a battery complex to monitor and control the flow of an individual well in a field of wells at any particular instance in time and to allocate production of a specific well, comprising one or more of the steps of: monitoring continuously a plurality of signal-receiving wellhead control units in a well field; evaluating generated input data received from each of the signal-receiving wellhead control units by a master control unit; selecting a priority well for a production run in a series of production runs by the master control unit; and recording volume flow of each successive well&#39;s production by the master control unit. 
   The method includes one or more of the following steps: moving a plunger arrangement through a well&#39;s tubing, so as to generate a “well-condition” signal by virtue of said plunger&#39;s movement in said tubing, relative to a signal receiver/transmitter on said well&#39;s tubing. The “well-condition” signal may be an acoustic signal. The “well-condition” signal may be an electromagnetic signal. The plunger arrangement may have an electromagnetic field generator therein. The tubing may have an electromagnetic field generator thereon. The plunger arrangement may comprises a first upper plunger and a second lower plunger movable through the tubing. The upper plunger and the lower plunger may each emit well-condition reports on respective upper and lower portions of the well. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objects and advantages of the current invention will become more apparent, when viewed in conjunction with the following drawings, in which; 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic representation of a production facility, or battery, supplied by a plurality of adjacent wells in communication therewith; 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of an individual well showing the components thereof, and particularly with a single plunger therewith; 
       FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of an individual well showing the components thereof, particularly with more than one plunger therewith; and 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic representation of the system from the wells to the master controller and ultimately to the owners of the particular wells or well. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The present invention relates to a gas production arrangement  10  for optimizing and maximizing the output of gas from a collection of separated gas wells  12   a - 12   n  in a drilled field, as represented by  FIG. 1 . The drilled field production may include gas and oil, as well as production of small amounts of water. The invention includes the collection of drilled wells  12   a - 12   n  which may number anywhere from 1 to about 8 or 10, which may all be in electronic, acoustic, optical (lightwave) and/or fluid communication with a production facility, or “battery”  14 , as represented in  FIG. 1 . 
   The battery, or production facility  14 , includes a separator  16 , which may feed one or more tanks  18  and  20  to hold the liquid, and a meter run  22 , where the gas produced, is measured for each individual well  12   a - 12   n . However, upon leaving the separator and meter run  22  which is co-located with the master control unit  52 , the gas may then proceed into a sales line  26  to an off location site. Such a production facility is preferably within the middle of the field of drilled wells or along a service road. 
   Gas and liquid that is produced from each well  12   a - 12   n  is transported through a pipeline  24  to the separator at the production facility  14 . The separator  16  separates the gas from the liquid and further separates the liquid into its respective oil and water content. The gas in the separator  16  leaves that separator  16  and flows through the meter run  22 , where it is measured and then gas is fed to the sales pipeline  26 , as represented in  FIG. 1 . The oil leaves the separator  16  via a separate pipe  30 , and is deposited into a oil holding tank  32 , which may be subsequently hauled off by a truck or through a feedline. Similarly, water may likely be deposited in a separate holding tank  34  for subsequent removal. 
   Each production well  12   a - 12   n  of the collection field is drilled into the earth&#39;s oil/gas-production formation  40 , as represented in  FIG. 2 , from which the gas and liquid is retrieved. Each production well  12   a - 12   n  preferably has in one preferred embodiment thereof, a single vertically displaceable plunger  42  arranged within its vertically disposed well tubing  44 . A spring cup assembly  39  is preferably arranged at the bottom of the well  12   a  to cushion the plunger&#39;s  42  fall. The spring cup assembly  39  preferably includes a signal generator  37  therein, to provide a signal, acoustic and/or electronic, to wellhead sensors  49  at the local or master control units  50  and  52  respectively, that the plunger  42  is at the bottom or touched a particular cup assembly  39 , of a particular well. The plunger  42  is pressurizably pushed to the top or wellhead  46  of the well tubing  44 , whereupon the sensors  49  at the well top, lubricator or head  46  of each particular well  12   a - 12   n  may analyze the pressure, flow rate, viscosity, temperature and various conditions of the gas and liquid within that well. The wellhead  46  may have a plunger grasp-mechanism, not shown for clarity, to seize a plunger  42  when necessary, for servicing or replacing that plunger  42 . Such a plunger  42  may also have specific sensors and for example, rf, acoustic and/or light transmitters  43  therein, to permit further data and signals to be wirelessly sent to its particular wellhead  46  with its own individual signal receiving/transmitting/processing control unit  50  thereon or to the “field” master control unit  52 . Each plunger  42  may also have a signal generator  47  thereon, such as for example, an acoustic noise, rf signal generator or optical generator, which is actuated automatically when the plunger  42  strikes a spring cup  39 , or is near the bottom “plunger-stop” location of the tubing  44 . Such a plunger  42  may also be “sensed” when it communicably travels past any of a plurality of location-point detectors  51  at a mid point or any other point of the well&#39;s tubing  44 , such as for example, a female-female coupler  53  which connects adjacent sections of tubing  44  together, as represented in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Such a coupler  53  may have an electromagnet field therewith to generate a particular signal in a passing plunger  42  which sends its generated signal to a received-signal sensor  49 , within the wellhead  46 . Such a coupler  53  may also be located anywhere about the tubing  44 , to pickup such plunger mid-point, or at any point and/or bottom-indicating signals and transmit that signal preferably to the local well head control unit  50 , (or directly to the master controller  52 ), for factoring into the well&#39;s operating-time decision, so as to minimize the length of time any particular well stays closed or inoperable. Such plunger locations&#39; signals may preferably be an acoustic signal, for example, a bell, noise alarm, or the like picked up by the acoustic portion of the sensor  49  for reporting to the local (well head) control unit  50 , or master control unit  52  if this particular well has no local control unit other than for example, a acoustic sensor  49 . 
   A further preferred embodiment of the plunger  42 , contemplates a magnet or an electrically (battery) powered induction coil  31  therein which effects the generation of a signal within spaced apart signal pickup transmitters  29  disposed along the length of the tubing  44  of the well  12   a , as represented in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The spaced apart transmitters  29  on the tubing  44  then become the signal generators for transmission of data to the local and/or master control units  50  and  52 . 
   A still further preferred embodiment of the plunger  42  is represented in  FIG. 3 , which shows a first or upper plunger  42 A and a second or lower plunger  42 B each preferably having the above-described signal generating and sensing means therewith, those plungers  42 A and  42 B each moving respectively in their respective upper and lower portions of the tubing  44  of the well  12   a . Each plunger  42 A and  42 B preferably separately report through their respective adjacent signal transmitters/receivers  31 ,  43  and  47 ,  53  and  29 , their respective “well portion” conditions. 
   The production field/facility or battery  14 , has the master controller  52  thereat, as represented in  FIG. 1 . Each individual control unit  50 , which preferably is located at each particular well  12   a - 12   n  is in electronic communication with the master control  52  at the battery or production facility  14  via a landline, internet, or RF or wireless communication, such as for example, a Zigbee network arrangement or communication connection  54  therebetween. The master control unit  52  at the production facility, or battery  14 , continuously monitors the field of wells  12   a - 12   n  and their respective individual control units  50 , or monitors each well&#39;s flow rate, pressure etc. directly, if any/that particular well does not have its own individual control unit  50 . When a particular plunger  42  has triggered certain preferred “identifier” signals through sensors  49  within its particular wellhead  46  in communication with the particular control unit  50  thereat, the master control  52  at the battery  14  may command that particular individual control unit  50  to initiate production of gas and liquid from that particular well  12   a  or  12   n  through its pipelines  56  and  24  to the separator  16 . 
   In the case of a well without a plunger  42  therewith, the particular individual control unit  50  may sense pressure, and/or flow rate and/or well operating-time-history directly measured by the sensor  49  at the wellhead  46 , for determining continuing operating control and flow maintenance. 
   The sensor  49  at the wellhead  46 , connected to the well&#39;s tubing  44  and casing  45  respectively, is preferably connected wirelessly or thru a wired connection  55 , to the well&#39;s control unit  50 , and then thru connection  54 , (wirelessly or by wire) to the master controller  52 . The master controller  52  has a virtual wellhead controller set up within it for each of the individual wells  12   a - 12   n . The virtual controller in the master controller  52  actually keeps all the time values for the individual well controller  50  and also monitors pressure in the casing  45  and tubing  44  for each well  12   a - 12   n , whether supported by a plunger  42  therein or not. These are the primary factors which determine whether a well is ready to flow or not. At this juncture, the plunger  42  is the only mechanical interface between the gas and liquid phases of fluid in the well and is utilized to prevent fluid fall back in the tubing  44  when the well is flowing. The master control unit  52  however, monitors the supply of gas and liquid as the gas itself is fed through the meter run  22  from the particular currently producing well  12   a  or  12   n.    
   When a next available priority well  12   n  or  12   a  is signaling the master controller  52  from its own particular individual control unit  50 , the master control  52  will signal that next available well  12   n  or  12   a  to begin production once the currently producing well&#39;s plunger  42  has arrived or it&#39;s respective valve has closed depending upon the relative priority of one to the other. The constant monitoring by the master control unit  52  of all of the wells  12   a - 12   n  within its particular field thus monitors and optimizes each well&#39;s output to the separator  16 , as well as determines which well  12   a - 12   n  is producing what quantity of gas. This is significant in certain situations, because each particular well may be owned by a different entity. A mechanical override may be permitted by the operator in case of a special field condition, as for example, to permit a weak well to flow occasionally to “hold a lease” or to insure that such a slow well doesn&#39;t become sealed off or develop other downhole and/or surface problems. 
   Each particular well may be controlled by its own individual unit controller  50  and being powered by, for example, a solar panel  60  and motor valves  62 , which are ultimately controlled by the master control unit  52  at the battery  14 , as represented in  FIG. 2 . The controller  50  activates the motor valves  62  and causes it/them to open or close as it receives a signal to do so from the master controller  52 . Any particular well may be closed for time, to permit pressure to build up therein, wherein that wellhead  46  will be open to flow, bringing that plunger  42  and its liquid load to the surface. During such a flow, the particular well may have a high rate of output because of its optimized procedures. By controlling each individual well&#39;s flow into the separator  16 , the volume of the gas and liquid may be easily handled, instead of being overwhelmed if all wells were to flow at their own particular flow rate. A strong well and a weak well, if allowed to flow simultaneously, would be detrimental to the weak well, where that weaker well would load up with fluid because its plunger  42  could not make it to the surface to deliver its liquid load. 
   Such plungers  42  themselves, may have sensors therein, to provide an rf, sonic, microphone (acoustic), certain fluid penetratable light or wireless data feed to corresponding sensor(s) in/at the local control units  50  at each particular well  12   a - 12   n . Such communication between the plunger  42  (or  42 A and  42 B) and the individual control unit  50  would preferably be via radio (rf) or acoustic or like communication therebetween. Such control unit  50  at each wellhead is preferably responsible for turning the well on and off, and reporting the pressure in the casing  45  and the tubing  44  of the well  12   a - 12   n  to the master controller  52 . The control unit  50  may be programmed to slow down speed of its plunger  42  by controlling flow rate and pressure within the wellhead  46 , so as to prevent any damage to the well  12   a  by an excessively fast plunger  42  therein. 
   When a well  12   a - 12   n  is ready to come online and begin producing, either inclusively or exclusively as a function of time, flow rate, well history and/or a function of pressure, the master controller  52  at the production facility  14  would permit it to do so, via a return signal through communication link  54 . Once the local control unit  50  is turned on at a particular well  12   a - 12   n , that well would continue to produce until its particular plunger  42  rose to the surface. Once the plunger  42  surfaces, the controller  50  of that unit  12   a - 12   n  goes into a “after flow” cycle. Once in this after flow cycle, any well  12   a - 12   n  of higher priority than the flowing well in the “ready-to-open” state would be allowed to come on and override the remaining flow of this particular diminishing weaker well. The master controller  52  at the separator  16  in the production facility  14  would signal the weaker well to close and signal the stronger well to come online. 
   The master controller  52  at the separator  16  therefore works at optimizing the throughput of the separator  16  and its fed meter run  22 . Such optimization may preferably be based upon the data output of the wireless plungers  42  reporting in each of the system&#39;s wells in conjunction with factors reported from all the wells in the system. 
   Each well&#39;s production in the producing field is logged against its actual flow, and the priority is established. The highest producing well of the collection  12   a - 12   n  would normally have the highest priority, unless overridden manually. The master control unit  52  at the production facility or battery  14  is programmed to assess what the priority should be according to the production on an operator programmed interval from typically every several hours, to perhaps, once a week. This permits the priority of the wells  12   a - 12   n  to change as producing characteristics of individual wells have changed. This also permits further optimization of individual wells by their respective local control units  50 . The master control  52  at the production facility  14  constantly calculates and analyzes production volume from each particular well. If the flow rate of a particular producing well falls below a calculated average and another well is ready to open, then the currently producing well will be signaled to close and the new well will be signaled to be open. If there are no wells ready to be open, the currently producing well will be permitted to flow even though it is below the average for the production facility, until its after-flow time expires, its close pressure parameter is reached, or another well is ready to open. 
     FIG. 4  schematically represents the well field  70 , the production facility (master control unit)  14 , and the members  74  of the system which receive reports and system conditions over an internet reporting arrangement  72 .