Abstract
Coal seam gas production in Eastern Australia has grown at an incredible rate over the past decade. The primary artificial lift form to de-water the coal seam gas wellbores has been progressing cavity pumps. PCPs were selected due to the high amount of produced solids including interburden and coal fines. During an evaluation of their run life statistics, several operators identified solids settling on top of the pump during a shut down as one of the primary failure modes. Once the pump was stuck and unable to be restarted, the operator either had to conduct a flushby or workover to bring the well back to production. Production Tool Solution proposed utilization of a tool called a Pressure Actuated Relief Valve (PAR Valve) above the PCP to eliminate solids settling during a shut down. After initial trials, the tool was deemed successful and full field implementation has resulted in a substantial reduction of flushbys and extended the run life of the PCPs.
