24/06/2020 Advanced Sand Control methods – petroblogweb

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SAND PRODUCTION

Advanced Sand Control methods

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These are the advanced sand control methods that are used widely in oil industry to
enhance our oil production and decrease sand problems. For a reservoir when we have
knowledge about its properties and in-situ stresses, which predict sand production is
probable; companies go towards methods to limit the impact of this problem. So under
these circumstances here is a question whether to prevent this problem or to control this.
Sand control is used to exclude the production of sand which is mostly used when
production of sand is certain with high rates.

There is another basic division of methods to limit impact of sanding problem which
involve two methods, one is mechanical and other is chemical. The mechanical methods are
those which are used to control sanding problem by blocking fines, first larger one fines
which make a cake there and in turn block small size fines by using gravel packs, sand
screens and slo ed liners.

Chemical methods are mostly used to prevent sanding problem which involve injection of
binding materials like resins which are introduced into the formation to bind the sand
grains. We can also avoid sanding problem by handling the well with “tender loving care”
which means to control the shocks in the reservoir which can be produced due to in

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appropriate drawdown and production rates, but these both methods reduce production
which can affect the economics of the field. Below is the brief discussion of some of
chemical and mechanical methods.

1. Slotted liner and Pre-packed Screens:

This method is used in the reservoirs where formation is not completely unconsolidated
but it’s friable. These methods are mostly applied in the different fields of the USA,
California and in the Gulf of Mexico. In these fields mostly observed that permeability is
greater than 1 Darcy.

It is a mechanical mean of sand control which provide cheapest downhole sand filtration. It
is combination of the slo ed pipes, wire raped screens and prepacked screens where
slo ed pipe has bigger openings, wire raped screens have smaller openings and prepacked
screens which are coated with resin filer out finest sand particles.

Slots of the pipe are large enough to cause blocking of the biggest 10% of the formation
fines, which accumulate in the annulus between casing/open hole and screen which also
work as a filer for remaining 90% of the smaller sand grains. But this bridge is not stable
and can be deformed due to change in production rate or in case of well shut-in. This also
form a low permeability sand annulus which can cause decline in production and these
screens can be plugged sand particles even of small size after few hours of installation
which is not feasible.

There is another major disadvantage of erosion this slo ed linear and prepacked screen
before formation of bridge in case of high flow rate wells. Due to these drawbacks slo ed
linear and pre-packed screens are used only 5% in completions for sand control. But slo ed
linear and pre-packed screens when used with gravel pack can put effective results for
sand control.

2. Gravel Packing:

Gravel packs are being utilized in the petroleum industry since 1930 and now-a-days these
are most widely used in sand control completions. Of course gravel pack is a costly job
because it requires the both, more equipment and additional rig time. It would be right to
say that gavel packing is being utilized almost in three-quarters of the sand control
treatments. It is good for long intervals and is uneconomical for small intervals.

In this method, slurry of proper sized gravel sand w.r.t to size of formation grains with a
carrier fluid is pumped into the formation through the annulus between either open hole or
perforated casing and centralized screen which could be slo ed linear or pre-packed
screen. Typically size of this gravel sand is 5-6 times greater than sand size of formation.
This slurry with carrier fluid either leak off into the formation or flow out through
centralized screen. The slurry leaking off into the formation make a granular filter of very
high permeability almost 120 Darcy which block formation fines flowing into the well.
There is also bridging mechanism involve in which bridge of formation sand particles is

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formed which is stable unlike slo ed linear and pre-packed screens because gravel is
compactly packed between the screen and the formation which prevent shifting and
restoring of the sand particles. For be er results, all the space between the formation and
the pre-packed or wire raped screen should be filled properly with gravel pack sand of
high permeability which is easily achieved in open hole completions but much more
complicated in case of cased hole completion. If gravel pack is designed suitably and
completed properly, it can maintain its permeability under a large range of drawdown and
production rates.

Figure 1: Anatomy of cased-hole gravel pack

Design of Gravel Pack:

For a gravel pack to provide continuous productivity in long-run, its design should include
proper selection of followings:

Size of gravel
Carrier fluid
Placement technique

Regardless of above mentioned points its design also depend on proper cleanliness during
gravel placement process which avoid the contamination of gravel pack by small fines
which significantly reduce gravel pack permeability and give lesser production rates.

For successful gravel packing, reducing pressure drop in the formation channels is also
important and larger gravel size as much as possible is essential to prevail this condition
but its size should be within the ranges to act as effective filter to block formation fines.

Advantages of gravel pack:

High productivity and low drawdown due to high permeability gravel sand
Long life because of proper compaction between screen and formation

Disadvantages:

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Carrier fluid can damage permeability of formation and restrict productivity during
injection
Operating wellbore diameter is reduced
More complex and difficult in case of multi zone completion
Expensive technique for sand control

Despite of all these drawbacks, gravel pack is most efficient method to control sand
production and that’s why it is still being used in the industry.

Sieve Analysis:

For the selection of proper size gravel sand, a typical repetitive lab analysis of sand samples
of the formation is performed. It involves the plot between the ratio of effective and initial
pack permeability vs gravel to grain size ratio. Effective and initial pack permeability
represents the effect of fines of formation as they plug the gravel pack. When the ratio of
gravel to grain size exceeds above 6, fines move into the gravel and reduces its permeability
effectively.

Figure 2: Plot for sieve analysis

3. Expandable Sand Screens:

It is full bore completion without use of screen and surrounding gravel pack. It is made up
three layers, a slo ed base pipe, filtration medium and outer protective shroud. It expands
when a cone is pushed through the screen and hence gives lager internal diameter than any
other type of screen and eliminates the space between sandface and the screen and
minimizing sand movement, hence sand production. ESS offers Productivity higher than
the other sand control methods especially when used in open hole and have the advantage
of near well-bore access for well interventions operations if it is required during well life. In

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the case of open hole completion for horizontal wells, ESS is proved very efficient and most
of the horizontal wells are completed using this technique. But is one drawback related to
this case is of collapse in the formation prone to squeezing.

We have a number of techniques to control sand production from reservoir. But the most
advanced and effective one is expandable sand screen (ESS). It eradicate open annular
between wellbore and screens. This technique was established to overcome the deficiencies
of previous methods. It consists of multiple sheets overlapping of different mesh sizes to
control sand production. By using hydraulic cone, ESS expands.

Figure 3: Expandable sand screens (ESS)

By applying this technique, well stabilization is achieved after expansion of ESS. We will
select properly sized filter media to restrict sand production from reservoir. Due to
expansion, it manages reservoir flow more actively. Available filter area is increased due to
this expansion and it is beneficial for us. We can also set devices in the screens after
expansion to eradicate the sand influx into wellbore during production.

We shall find Screen opening, using formation sand samples and it is a difficult task for us.
Sieve analysis is used to find grain size ranges which are going to produce. It is the vital
step toward effective sand control . Cost, completion flexibility, operational simplicity, will
help us to select ESS screen. For zonal isolation, cased hole ESS is preferred.

Advantages of ESS:

Like traditional screens, we can install ESS speedily.

By eliminating the annulus, we can reduce sand plugging, sand influx, and fines
migration.
Due to more filtration area, future treatment to pay zone and control becomes possible.
Erosion risks are minimized due to ESS.
Decreases the drawdown significantly and increases well productivity and flow rate.
It delay early water breakthrough and gas coning.
Reservoir management and wellbore stability enhances.
Large open area to flow, resist plugging to take place.
Applicable to both open and cased hole in single/ multiple zone completion.
It is compatible with oil base mud, and water based mud.
Be er workover and fullbore access to pay zone after expansion of ESS.

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Drawbacks of ESS:

During running of ESS in wellbore, no rotation and torque is suggested because it is not
designed for this.
For ESS installation we require heavy weight drill pipe and drill collars.
For expansion of ESS, we have to provide minimum weight on bit.

4. Resin Injection:

It is a chemical method which is used to prevent sand production in which a resin is

injected into formations through perforation to bind the loosely bonded sand grains and
then flushed using a catalyst. Around the casing these resins form a stable matrix of
permeable and consolidated grains by cementing these rock particles. Most commonly
used are furan, phenol and epoxy resins which are in liquid form when enters into the
formation and a hardening catalyst is added mostly at the surface which needs time and
temperature to harden resin.

Effectiveness of binding of grains can be hindered by concentration of clay, so to mitigate

this clay stabilizer is mixed in the pre-flush. Consolidation strength development is also
held limited due to presence of residual water which can increase demand of resin to
achieve desirable strength. But reduction in permeability put upper limit on consolidation,
so we have to achieve optimum consolidation of formation. This concept is well illustrated
by following example in which an unconsolidated sand with 10 Darcy permeability is resin
treated to achieve compressive strength of 3400 psi, due to this permeability can be reduced
up to 30% and production can be reduced up to 12%.

Further difficulty is to achieve an even resin injection in all parts of the formation which is
not possible 100%, because of which some grains remain uncoated, so sand production
cannot prevented completely. To reduce this drawback to as much low level as possible,
short intervals are selected, between 3- 4 meter. Selective placement tools are used to
completely cover larger zones. Despite of this drawback, resign injection is successfully
used in more than 10% of the sand control completions.

Case Study: SPE-170278-MS (Successful placement of an advancing sand and fines

control chemical as remedial sand control, using subsea flow lines from an FPSO)

A field XYZ has subsea oil and gas producing wells and combined production of all wells is
directed to a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO). Sand production
problem exist in all of these wells and different control methods (gravel pack, frac-pack and
expandable sand screens) have been used. The well candidate for frac-pack lost its integrity
and sand production has increased erosion risk for X-tree and flow-line. Work over job
option was rejected because of high cost. A chemical sand control solution using zeta
potential altering system (ZPAS) chemical was considered appropriate for current problem.
ZPAS system contains an inner salt as active specie which coats the anionic substrate like
sandstone. It is not an absolute sand control solution like sand screen, gravel pack and frac-
pack rather it is a matrix treatment where relative permeability of formation is altered by
altering zeta potential of the anions from +3 to -5mV and creating an electrostatic a raction
between sand and fine particles. This result in maximum sand free flow rate (MSFR) and
reduction of fines migration.

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References:

1. Aborisade, O., PRACTICAL APPROACH TO EFFECTIVE SAND PREDICTION,

CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT. 2013.
2. Smith, G.E., Fluid flow and sand production in heavy-oil reservoirs under solution-gas drive.
SPE Production Engineering, 1988. 3(02): p. 169-180.
3. Vo, L. and J.W. Styler. An Assessment of Emerging Technologies for Production Optimization
in Saudi Aramco B Southern Area Production Engineering. in SPE Middle East Oil and Gas
Show and Conference. 2005. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
4. Wang, J., et al. An Alternative Wellbore Stabilisation and Sand Control Technology-
Application of Expandable Sand Control System in multi-lateral Wells. in SPE Asia Pacific Oil
and Gas Conference and Exhibition. 2003. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
5. Saeby, J., et al. The Use of Expandable Sand-Control Technology as a Step Change for Multiple-
Zone SMART Well Completion-A Case Study. in SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition. 2001. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
6. Piemontese, M., et al. Successful Placement of an Advancing Sand and Fines Control Chemical
as a Remedial Sand Control, using Subsea Flow Lines from an FPSO. in SPE Deepwater
Drilling and Completions Conference. 2014. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

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