This is my post from another board. The discussion
Post# of 39368
You will always choke a well. Not being a smart behind. Just in case someone out there does not know, you install a choke on the wing of a tree, right before the flowline. Lets just say that the flowline is 3". On a 1440psi rated flowline that will be sch 80 pipe. You will put a choke broke down into 64/64. If you don't choke the well back you have no restriction between the production equipment and the reservoir except the tubing and the flowline. Lets just say the the tubing is 2 9/16. Imagine the choke as 2 parts. One part is shaped like a cone, large at one end and pointed on the other. The second part is a circle with a bevel cut into the top. The cone part will be attached to a stem and a wheel. You turn the wheel, righty tighty lefty loosy, to adjust the choke. It has numbers on the handle or wheel called an indicator. You set the indicator to 0 with an adjustment screw when the choke is closed off. Whatever number you put the choke on is the fraction of 64(12/64) you are riding on. The choke breaks the pressure down for you. The production equipment they are flowing is probably riding just above the gas pipeline pressure. They said the well has 600psi on the tubing. I am just guessing that the gas pipeline is somewhere around 100 to 200psi. So, the choke will restrict or break the pressure from the 600psi that the tubing has down to the production equipment pressure. We just brought a well on yesterday with a SITP( Shut In Tubing Pressure ) of 9563psi. We are flowing the well at a FTP ( Flowing Tubing Pressure ) of 9276psi. The well is making 1023bbls of oil at a 41 API gravity, 0 bbls water, and 14107mcf on the first 24 hour test. We have to use 2 chokes to keep the well from freezing. Our gas sales pipeline runs at 850psi. So we have to break the reservoir pressure down from 9300psi to 850psi. On average with gas you loose 10 degrees for every 100 psi you break down. Even know there is water to speak of there is hydrates. If we were to use just one choke then it would freeze in the choke, so we use 2 choke and split the drops in half. Just some useful info about why a well has to be choked. GO TECO