Maybe this has been answered before, but I have a question about the shape, size and pressure of a well flare relative to determining the gas production of that well.   Does more pressure & a tighter (longer stream) flare mean more or less gas production or does the appearance of less pressure & a wider flare mean more or less gas production.  I`m wanting to judge various wells by the shape of the flare.   Thanks!

Views: 3929

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

You won't be able to determine well pressure from flare shape.

Reason is that the flare is not directly connected to the well but to the separator (where water/oil/gas are separated). This separator is running at a specific pressure that depends on design and operator policies/requirements. A separator can run at 500 psi or 1000 psi or any other pressure  (on some wells you'll see 2 separators, a high and low pressure separator)

Upstream of the separator you'll have chokes that reduce the pressure from the wellhead pressure to separator pressure.

Because of the fact that a separator can run at 1000 psi on a well with 5000 psi wellhead pressure or on one with 2000 psi wellhead pressure, everything downstream of the separator (i.e. the flare stack) is totally independent from wellhead pressure.

Also shape is difficult to interprete since atmospheric conditions play a big role (with no wind the flare will be tall/narrow with lots of wind it will be wider/shorter)

What you can get from a flare is a general idea about production rate (but if the well is choked back as nearly all Utica wells initially are, that won't tell you anything either about how good the well is). In general the bigger the flare of course the higher the rate.

The second thing you can read from a flare is whether the gas is wet or dry (again just in a qualitative way). The more NGL's (Ethane, Propane, etc....) you have in the gas (meaning the wetter it is) the darker  yellow the flame will be. Pure methane (dry gas) burns with a very bright white/blue flame.

A great reply, thanks!

Thanks again!  Great info!

Interesting post, especially regarding the color of wet and dry gas in a flare.

Here is an XTO flare on a well pad in Forward Township, Butler County PA.  At the far left of the picture the two well "christmas trees" can be seen (behind the red water tankers).  To the right of the wells is a portable separator colored blue (again behind the red water tankers).  I believe the well gas went to that apparatus and then to the flare trailer.  The production separator and storage tanks (green) can be seen in the distance inside the spill barrier.  This is the wet Marcellus.

Phil

Here is the Noss well in Beaver county Pa.....one is Marcellus and the other is Upper Devonian....also here are the tanks on site..the flair looks yellow to me what do you think WET or Dry ?..and how much?

Attachments:

Nice Pictures Gary!

Who is the operator?

I do not have enough experience to judge NGL content from flare color.  From the maps I've seen that area is generally considered Wet.

Phil

Range Resources RRC

On pictures it's always difficult to estimate a color/brightness correctly due to so many factors (lighting, camera settings, background, etc....). However what gives away the fact that it's wet gas on picture 344, is the smoke one can see. Methan (=dry gas) doesn't smoke when flared. That's clearly a sign of NGL's (wet gas).

I've been staring at my gas stove, it is blue.  All the flares I've seen are yellow, you sure you ain't jiving me bro? 

Propane,In case the picture do'snt go thru its BLUE.

Acetalin {sp} burns yellow?

Attachments:

Methane burns blue when it has the proper orifices that give it the correct amount of oxygen for a complete burn. Turn the burner way up or dirty the orifices so that the gas doesn't mix properly and it will burn yellow like when your cooking boils over.

RSS

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service