Sustainable Strategy for Gas Supply in China: Based on Foam Drainage Gas Recovery Technology

With the increasing demand of natural gas in China, its production is extremely important to fulfill the requirement of society. However, in reality, the natural gas production from the gas well in the gas field is often accompanied by the production of formation water. For gas well with low production, the gas flow rate in the well is too low to carry out the formation water from the bottom of the well. The water will thus accumulate in the well bore and the gas production will be greatly diminished. To solve this problem, based on the developing status of M gas field in China, foaming surfactant Z301 is synthesized and then foaming agent ZK3012 is developed through combination of Z301 with CAT after optimization experiments. After that, the compatibility tests are conducted to ensure that ZK3012 can work together well with formation fluids, and the water carrying rate tests are conducted concerning the optimum concentration of ZK3012. Finally, pilot test is conducted in 2 gas wells on site in M gas field, good results are obtained that accumulated water is discharged by foam drainage and the gas well production is increased. Studies demonstrate the main steps involved for application of this technology. In regard to the high external dependence degree of China in gas supply, operators of gas fields should give prominence to related studies of this technology to achieve sustainable development.