An apparatus and process for simultaneously compressing liquids and gases
and exchanging the heat of compression with fluids which may be the same
liquids and gasses compressed. An apparatus and process for heating
maintenance fluids using heat generated when the lift gas is compressed.
The compressor may be used for recovering oil and gas from a subterranean
formation wherein the production rate is controlled by the gas pressure
at the well head, resulting in very slow strokes or pulses and bubbles of
lift gas 500 feet long or longer. It may also be used for well
maintenance using cooled injection gas from the well and heated fluids,
which also may come from the well and be mixed with the well gas during
compression, may be conducted without interrupting production.