How it Works – The

Fundamental
Principles to Particle
Monitoring

Christopher Mejia
Service & Support Manager,
ClampOn inc.
why
sand detectors?
 Why look for sand?
• Keep sand production under control
– expected or unanticipated
• Optimise production
– to the maximum sand free or acceptable sand rate
• Minimise sand removal/disposal cost
• Avoid erosion issues
– maintenance, safety, environment
• Avoid formation damage
– or even well collapse
• Avoid sand deposits in subsea flowlines
• Minimize risk/cost - max production
What can sand detectors do?
• Qualitative Measurement
No need for other input –Standalone system
» Sand Alarm
First sand production, screen failure etc.
» Sand production trending
Finding Maximum Sand Free Rate (MSFR)

• Quantitative Measurement
Requires input of flow data / flow speed
» How much sand are you producing
» Finding Maximum Acceptable Sand Rate (MASR)
how does it
work?
ultrasound
Working principle
• The sensor has to be
installed immediately
downstream of a
bend
• Particles being
transported with the
flow, will by gravity
hit the pipe wall in a
bend

• This will create ultrasonic pulses, detected by the

sensor
 ClampOn DSP Spectrum Analysis
Spectrum - Response from different media

100

Freq. for droplets Liquid Carry over

Freq. for Slug and flow detection
Freq. for Vibration Monitoring
90

Freq. for sand detection

Sand /
80
Particle

or FOAM detection
70

60
Percentage %

50

40

Gas /
30 Liquid
Mechanical
20 Water / Liquid

10

0
Frequency
frequency

Frequency
hearable
ultrasound
sound

flow
noise sand
Improved S/N ratio
ClampOn’s DSP technology enables the
sensor to discriminate background noise
so that the pattern of sound made by
the sand particles is illustrated clearly on
the operator’s computer screen.
All signal processing is done within the
sensor itself (patented technology). This
way there is no chance for any signal
loss or chance for interference from
external noise sources.
 Measuring Unit
• The detector output is a raw value,
representing the energy. This signal has no
unit.
• Each sensor is calibrated during
manufacturing, to have exactly the same
response to a certain impact.
• This can be done because the ClampOn
detector has all the processing done inside
the sensor.
Differences between Intrusive and Non-intrusive Probes
• Erosion Based • Acoustic Based
• Complex Installation – • Easy to install – No
Cutting and welding cutting or welding.
involved (more costs!) Clamped on to the
outside of the pipe
• Well must be shut-in in
(Non-intrusive)
order to install
• Once there is sand • No loss of production
during installation.
present, probe life starts
to decrease • Easy to relocate
• Thicker probes provide • Sensor very robust,
longer life but they are MTBF is >30 years.
not so sensitive and • No parts to
response time is very maintain/replace
slow • Highly sensitive to sand
• Higher erosion risk due • No erosion risk due to
to flow disturbance. sensor installation.
installation

flow
installation
installation
installation
installation

Remove Coating

Add Silicone

75
%
installation
installation

100
%
installation
installation
advantages
and
limitations
 Advantages and Limitations
Benefits
- Easy installation (and relocation)
- Real time
- Durable
- Quantification possible
- Can be calibrated (against known amount of sand)

Limitations
- Particle must hit
- Limitations typically combination of low velocity and…:
- high viscosity
- low particle size
-…
- Cannot distinguish between different particles (sand/salt…)
 Sensitivity
• General Numbers:
• Minimum detectable sand rate is 0.01g/s
• Minimum detectable particle size in gas is 15µ
• Minimum detectable particle size in oil is 25µ
• Repeatability 1%
• Higher velocity - Increased sensitivity
• Larger particle size – Increased energy
sand rate
calculation
 Measuring principle
• The output from sensor is called
«Raw data», updated every
second

• The higher this number is, the

higher is the sound/energy level
where the sensor is installed
 Measuring Principle
The sound is converted to sand in g/s
by a formula:

RAW –measured by the sensor

Zero –Background noise, depending on flow rate, found manually
Step -a number converting the sound/energy to mass in gram/second.
Number is depending on flow velocity
kinetic
sand rate
energy
formula
measured energy
1 -zero
raw background2 noise
E = mv
sand
step
2energy/gram
 raw

step
zero
Zero
- The signal level at sand free production

▪ Is a function of the flow rate and/or choke opening

▪ Unique for each sensor installation

The zero level must be analyzed under different production conditions and noted in a
lookup table – the zero table.

▪ Zero Table Maintenance can be critical

The zero curve changes over time with the GOR, choke wear etc. Lack of maintenance
may cause errors in the calculated sand rate.
 Manual Zero
Generating the zero table

Zero level for this velocity

Margin
Minimum

Zero Table:
Velocity Zero
1 2420

1.Find minimum during stable production 2

3
2680
2900
4 3200
6 3500
2.Add margin (e.g. 10% of step factor or minimum) 8
10
4050
4760
12 5150
15 5200
3.Input in zero table 20 5850
ClampOn Software
Thank you for your
attention!
Any questions?
Christopher Mejia,
Christopher.mejia@clampon.com
ClampOn
www.clampon.com