INNOVATIVE PACKER TYPE GAS SEPARATOR:  OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND DESIGN CRITERIA

Wells with high depletion rate present high free gas at pump intake conditions. In all cases, the production of fluid with a high gas-liquid ratio leads to an inefficient performance of the rod pump systems. The initial solution to this problem is the installation of poor boy gas separators which capacity of gas separation is reduced and do not provide a high-performance solution.  Packer type gas separators are the most efficient downhole separators in the market, however, they usually have some operational limitations. This paper summarizes a new design of the packer type gas separator which uses more methods of separation than the traditional design and can be designed based on the conditions of each well overcoming the typical limitations. The design criteria are reviewed, and some operational guidelines are listed to reach the best performance in each application for gas separation.