Chapter 4-F

SAUDI ARAMCO WORKOVER MANUAL
Drilling Technical Department September 2013

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CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES
SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

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SAND SCREEN COMPLETION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Back
2.0 METHODS OF SAND CONTROLS
3.0 TYPES OF SAND SCREENS

3.1 Conventional Sand Screens
3.1.1 Wire wrapped screens
3.1.2 Pre-Packed screens
3.1.3 Premium Screens
3.1.4 MeshRite Screens
3.2 Expandable Sand Screen System
4.0 SAND SCREENS SELECTION CRITERIA

4.1 Sand Grains
4.2 Particle Size Analysis
4.3 Particle Size Measurement
4.4 Particle Size Distributions
4.5 Uniformity Interpretation
4.6 Media Sizing Rules
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SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Sand production occurs when the stresses on the formation exceed the strength of
the formation. The induced stresses can be resulted from the tectonic actions,
overburden pressures, pore pressures, stress change due to drilling activities, drag
forces of the producing fluids and pressure depletion. The strength of the formation
is contributed by the natural cementing material and the cohesive forces due to
immobile formation water.
Sand control techniques are required to limit sand production from friable and
partially consolidated sandstone formations. Some of the problems associated with
sand production are:
• Reduction or production shut off due to sand fill or bridges inside the well bore
• Abrasive and erosion wear on surface and subsurface equipment
• Possible casing collapse due to creation of void spaces behind casing
Sand Erosion of Surface and Downhole Equipment
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Ideally, sand control would be about preventing any solid particle from moving into
the well stream and certainly from reaching the surface production facilities, while
at the same time not introducing an additional skin or pressure drop to the
completion. However in the real world, every filter will plug in time. So far systems
are being introduced that can control sand by achieving the balance between
producing small sand particles, which do not cause problem at surface and not
plugging the system downhole.
To determine whether a well will produce sand or not requires review of numbers
of factors. Some guiding principles that are being used for predicting sand
production are based on following:
• Experience in the area

• Drilling data
• Core samples evaluation
• Drill stem test
• Logs
• Production data
2.0 METHODS OF SAND CONTROL
In general, the methods of sand control can be divided into two categories:
a) Passive Sand Control

b) Active Sand Control
The methods of controlling sand production in oil and gas wells are constantly
changing. The objective of this write up is to familiarize Workover personnel with
sand controlled techniques and material. In Saudi Aramco operations, the Unayzah
formation is one producing horizon that is prone to sand production than any other
sand formation.
2.1 Passive Sand Control
This sand control method does not require any well completion hardware to
be installed across the producing reservoirs. The examples of passive sand
control are as follows:
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a) Choke Management (limit pressure drawdown)

b) Selective Perforation
c) Oriented Perforation
Effect of Passive Sand Control to Sand Production Tendency
2.2 Active Sand Control
This sand control method requires sand control hardware to be installed

across the producing reservoirs. The examples of active sand control are as
follows:
a) Stand Alone Screen (Conventional and Premium Screens)

b) Expandable Screen
c) Open Hole Gravelpack
d) Cased Hole Gravelpack
e) Frac and Pack
f) Sand Consolidation
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Types of Active Sand Control
Gravel/Proppant Sizes
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Perforating and Gravel packing Process
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In Saudi Aramco, to date the following types of Sand Control techniques have
been used to control formation sand.
• Conventional Gravel Pack system

• Frac Pack System
• Premium Screens System for Horizontal wells
• Open Hole Gravel Pack system for Horizontal wells
• Expandable Sand screen system for Horizontal wells
3.0 TYPES OF SAND SCREENS
Over the recent years sand screen completions are used more frequently than
Gravel pack completion. This is a cheap and easy method as compared to Gravel
packing method that becomes increasingly difficult and complex with hole angle
and length. Screen systems enable improved sand retention and plugging resistant
along with increasing flow area and minimizing erosion issues associated with high
velocities. Several types of sand screens have been introduced by the companies
involved in screen manufacturing and the designing of sand controlled systems
and services. These screens are of various gauge size varying from 60 microns to
325 microns, the most commonly use size for sand control screens in oil wells are
between 150 to 325 microns. There are two main types of Sand Screen completion
system being used by the Oil industry:
a) Conventional Sand Screens

b) Expandable Sand Screens
3.1 Conventional Sand Screens
To date there are four most common types of conventional screens available
in the industry;
d) Wire wrapped screens

e) Pre-packed screens
f) Premium screens
g) MeshRite screens
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3.1.1 Wire wrapped screens
Wire Wrapped screens are used in variety of applications including

the water well industry which is a very significant market on a global
scale. The Injection, disposal wells and environmental applications
wells have been using these wrap screens effectively along with Oil
wells.
The wire-wrapped screen’s high collapse and tensile strength coupled

with a competitive cost structure make it a superior alternative to
slotted casing. It is versatile and adapts to many types of applications.
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Due to unique perforation pattern conducive for producing or injecting

fluid flow the screen has been widely used for water well, injector and
even for low sand producing oil wells. The wire-wrapped screen is
custom built using different combinations of support rods and V-
shaped profile wire to meet specific well conditions. These screens
filtration may not be as robust as other types of screens like Pre-
packed or Premium therefore they are selected for application where
highly precise sorting of sand grains is not desirable or percentage of
sand production is not extremely high.
Wire wrapped screens are normally made from triangular shaped

wrap wire. The gap between the edges of the wrap wire is sufficient to
allow quite large sand grains to pass through. The triangular shape of
the wrap wire reduces the chance of these large or odd shaped sand
grains from getting trapped in the depth of the groove and hence
plugging the screen. The structure of the wire wrapped sand screens
only allow very fine particles to pass through the screens and into the
well streams. The large particles are stopped which can cause most
damage in terms of erosion and clogging of the surface production
facilities. Allowing the small sand particles and limiting the large one
give equilibrium in the flow of the sand, if the fines were stopped also,
they would likely plug the smaller pores of the filter cake and hence
reduce the overall permeability of the system.
The manufacturing process of the wire wrap screens involves forming

the steel wires themselves and then wrapping the formed triangular
wires over the straight rib wires in a lathe like machine. As the
machine rotates, it electric welds each rib to the wrap wire. The based
pip of the screens is normally threaded and perforated by the drilling
machine prior to wrapping the screens on the top. The material of the
base pipe is mainly carbon steel (typically J-55 and P-110), the wrap
wires are in form of wedge or triangular shaped and have varying
dimensions and metallurgies. Typically they are 0.09” and 0.105”
deep and material is either 304L, 316L or Incoloy 825.
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3.1.2 Pre-Packed screens
Pre-Packed screens are used in an open hole to provide a simple and

effective sand control completion in unconsolidated formations. It is
used to prevent the undesirable production of formation sand while
producing the reservoir fluid or gas with minimal or no restriction to
their flow. These screens are most commonly used in horizontal and
in wells with marginal production potential. The introduction of this
type of screens played a vital role in replacement of gravel packing
system which was deemed required in the well where gravel is
required to be placed near the sand face.
These screens are normally based on finer inner screen and a wire-
wrap outer screen, with gravel or proppant sandwiched in between.
The pre-pack gravel (or ceramic proppant beads) is the main filtration
medium and the wire-wrap jacket are designed to hold proppant in
place. The main concern regarding pre-packed screens is their
susceptibility to plugging with completion, drill-in fluid and muds. To
address the issue of screen plugging some of the manufacturers are
using ceramic beads and Carbolite instead of sand gravel as a
medium between the inner and outer screens, ceramic beads and
carbolite give advantage of larger pore throats and more precise
sorting, which improve global permeability of the system.
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3.1.3 Premium Screens
Premium screens are typically an all-metal design, with a metal mesh

filtration media and a proactive metal shroud. The metal mesh can be
either metal-weave, typically a Dutch-twill, or fibres or powder
particles embedded within a square metal mesh. The pore throats are
generally from 150 to 300 micron. The concept is for the mesh to
prevent the larger sand particles from travelling through and allow the
formation fines to pass. The larger particles form a permeable filter on
the screen surface. Premium screens are typically run as standalone
screen on long horizontal wells, and have similar sand control
properties to pre-pack screens.
The main improvement in premium screens over other standalone

screens is high resistance to plugging and ability to flow back drilling
muds/ acid through the screens. The screens of pore throat size 120
to 200 microns are capable to allow mud particles to pass. The
premium screens were initially designed to emulate pre-packed
screens in filtration efficiency, however to date the quality of the
premium and its ability to increase the well life longevity has made the
premium screen the prime choice for use in horizontal wells where
retrieving of a completion is not a viable option.
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Various Types of Sand Filtration Media
The premium screens are manufactured in various filtration rating and

with variety of metallurgical combination. Standard service screen
construction consists of 304 stainless steel wire-wrapped jackets
assembled on API, new, seamless tubulars (J-55 or K-55 grades).
When bottomhole conditions are highly corrosive (H2S, CO2, high
temperatures, etc.) a more corrosion-resistant, stronger material
should be considered.
A higher grade of stainless steel is 316L stainless steel which is more

corrosion resistant and stronger than 304 stainless steel. This grade
of stainless steel is normally assembled on J-55, N-80 or L-80 API
new, seamless tubing.
If availability and cost are not determining factors, 316L stainless steel
is recommended for standard service screens as it provides additional
guarantees, is more corrosion resistant and exhibits improved welding
properties over other 300-series materials. For hostile environments,
the screen liner (wire and base pipe) can be constructed entirely from
corrosion-resistant alloys such as Inconel 600, Incoloy 825, Hastelloy
C-276, etc. Based on many years of operating experience in the
industry, galvanic corrosion between screen jackets and a base pipe
of dissimilar material is not a serious problem. Laboratory tests have
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demonstrated that as long as the screen jacket is welded to the pipe

base with compatible corrosion resistant filler materials such as
stainless steel, susceptibility to corrosion is minimal.
3.1.4 MeshRite Screens
MeshRite screens are initially designed to address sand control

challenges in thermal wells to assist the production of heavy oil. This
type of screen was originally developed in a project funded by Texaco
and the Alberta Development council to overcome problem with some
in situ combustion (ISC) production wells. The encouraging
performance of this type of screen motivated manufacturer and
supplier to market this product for other types of oil producing zones
where sand retention is desired. The MeshRite screens are now
available under trademark of Schlumberger.
MeshRite screens effectively handle sands with poor grain-size

sorting and resist failure because of plugging. The design of the
screen stabilized sand layer around the screen that enable delivering
of high productivity and low decline rates over the long term. Very low
pressure drops and a torturous flow path through the screen fibres
dissipate energy, making these screens erosion resistant even with
extended use. The construction of the screen is based on a perforated
pipe wrapped with special stainless steel mesh fibre.
The fibers are compressed to form angular pore spaces from 15 to

600 microns in a three dimensional structure that maximizes the
porosity and permeability within the filter element. A perforated outer
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jacket protects the filter element and provides significant additional

structural strength. The screen will retain the sand associated with
medium-to fine grained reservoirs. MeshRite screens are available in
a variety of base pipe sizes and fiber metallurgies, such as 316 and
434 stainless steel.
3.2 Expandable Sand Screen System
Expandable sand screens are a relatively new sand control system/

technology as compared to other conventional system available in Oil
industry. It was designed to have a high productivity relative to other sand
control options. The expandable sand screens was planned to deliver wells
with greater return on investment than wells completed with conventional
sand control systems. Saudi Aramco is one of the world largest users of the
technology. The prime drivers for the Saudi Aramco in acquiring this
technology are to achieve high productivity, ability to immobilize shale streaks
that not proven successful by conventional mechanical techniques and ability
to subsequently isolate sources of unwanted water production.
There have been large number of case studies published which have looked
at Expandable Sand Screen (ESS) performance, in a wide variety of well
types, vertical, horizontal, gas, gas condensate, water and oil wells.
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The practical experience has shown the following major reasons of

expandable screen high performance:
• The expandable screen presents a large open area to the formation. This
gives a low pressure drop across the screen and minimizes the possibility
of plugging.
• The compliant expansion into contact with the wellbore limits the zone of
deformation around the hole.
• Compliance also improves filter cake clean up by reducing mixing with
failed sand.
The installation of expandable sand screen has proven increase in

productivity in comparison to conventional screens, for an example in a 6”
hole expandable sand screen production achieved by an operator was almost
equivalent to production of 6⅝” screen ran in 8½” hole of the well in the same
filed. This means operator gained tremendous saving in terms of casing and
completion.
The expandable sand screen is made of metallic components designed to

withstand the toughest well environment. It combines four basic elements to
deliver sand control in various well conditions while maintain high reliability,
longevity and optimum hydrocarbon production.
Slotted Base Pipe Perforated Base pipe
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The basic components of a typical expandable sand screen are:

• Base pipe
• Filtration media
• Outer protection shroud
• Integral expandable connector
This system is ideally designed to be deployed in horizontal hole, on one

hand unexpanded flexible pipe has ability to go through short curvature
radius whereas the expanded base pipe provides a very large area for the
produced fluid. The complete assembly of expandable sand screen including
joint’s connections is designed to accommodate the expansion of the
expandable slotted or perforated base pipe. The screen is manufactured in
316 L stainless steel and Nickel Alloy (Incoloy 825) with nominal micron size
150 to 300 micron.
4.0 SAND SCREENS SELECTION CRITERIA
Operators companies generally have a number of concerns when it comes to

select a sand face completion strategy. Primarily, revenue (expected production
rates) and expenditure both initial installation and also operational considerations
provide a package of possible solutions. Installation costs would include the totality
of well costs as the type of sand face completion impacts on the hole size and
drilling fluids used. Operating costs would include the cost of waste disposal and
interventions required (e.g., ESP replacement or remedial sand control).
To make decisions of the correct completion type to select it is important to be

aware of the sand control issues and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the
products & systems available to the operator.
4.1 Sand Grains
The terms sand, silt and clay are defined in terms of the particle size.
Sandstones are composed of sand-sized grains, usually quartz, and may be
cemented together with another material.
Clay minerals and other fine particles will be present in the pore spaces in
varying amounts depending on the rock. Shales or mudrocks are made up of
silt and clay sized grains. To decide on the most appropriate filtration or sand
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control system, it is very important to understand the size and types of sand
grains that may impact the screen.
Sand grain size can be defined according to their size as follows:
• Sand - strictly particles between 62 µm and 2mm

• Silt - strictly particles between 2 µm and 62 µm
• Clay - strictly particles less than 2 µm
One micron (μm) = 0.001 millimeters (mm).
The other important measurements for the sand grains are the uniformity
coefficient and sorting coefficient. These coefficients will guide the
operator to select the types of sand control system to be applied.
4.2 Particle Size Analysis
The particle size analysis is one of the concerns for selection of type of
screens. The samples to be used for particle size analysis should be
selected by visual examination and compressive strength measurements.
4.3 Particle Size Measurement
Particle size can be measured a number of ways:

• Sieving (most common)
• Laser diffraction using a Malvern or Coulter counter
• Sedimentation – a gravity settling technique, rarely used
4.4 Particle Size Distributions
The results of a sieve analysis or laser diffraction measurement of a sand

sample are presented as a particle size distribution (PSD). This factor
plays a very important role in enhancing the life of the screen and delaying
the screen plugging.
From the PSD analysis, several important measurements will be derived

for sand control selection and design such as mean grain size (d50) of the
formation sand, uniformity coefficient (d40/d90), sorting coefficient
(d10/d90) and the fine content (sub 325 mesh).
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Sample of Particle Size Distribution (PSD)
4.5 Uniformity Interpretation (d40/d90)
This is basically a measure of the spread in particle size of the grains

making up the sand. This uniformity can give an indication of the sand’s
propensity to plug a screen, the more non-uniform the more troublesome
the sand.
4.6 Media Sizing Rules
This section briefly describes screen selection between retention efficiency

and pressure drop at screen, the better the retention the higher the
pressure drop across the screen.
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The paper SPE 39437 provides guidelines for the gravel and screen
selection for sand control using on sorting coefficient. However, the final
selection and design is still based on case by case basis. The summary of
the recommendation is as below:
a) d10/d95<10, d40/d90<3, sub 325 mesh<2% - the lowest sorting values

with low fines content. May be bare screen completion candidates.
Need >1 Darcy formation permeability for cased and perforated
completion with possible use of pre-packed screens.
b) d10/d95<10, d40/d90<5, sub 325 mesh<5% - low to medium sorting
ranges, or with fines just out of range. May best be served by bare
screen completions with woven mesh screens. Need >1 Darcy
formation permeability for cased and perforated completion.
c) d10/d95<20, d40/d90<5, sub 325 mesh<5% - medium ratio ranges
sorting. May use larger gravel (7 x or 8 x d50f) placed in high rate
water pack particularly if the formation sand is consistent over the
zone.
d) d10/d95<20, d40/d90<5, sub 325 mesh<10% - medium ratio ranges
sorting, large fines. HRWP candidates, large gravelpack sand and
fines passing screens.
e) d10/d95>20, d40/d90>5, sub 325 mesh>10% - largest ratios, high
fines content. Critical need for enlarging the wellbore through
fracturing, horizontal or multilateral well under-reaming or large volume
prepacking.
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SAUDI ARAMCO WORKOVER MANUAL

Drilling Technical Department September 2013

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

2.0 METHODS OF SAND CONTROLS

3.0 TYPES OF SAND SCREENS

4.0 SAND SCREENS SELECTION CRITERIA

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

Sand Erosion of Surface and Downhole Equipment

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

• Experience in the area

2.0 METHODS OF SAND CONTROL

a) Passive Sand Control

2.1 Passive Sand Control

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

a) Choke Management (limit pressure drawdown)

Effect of Passive Sand Control to Sand Production Tendency

2.2 Active Sand Control

This sand control method requires sand control hardware to be installed

a) Stand Alone Screen (Conventional and Premium Screens)

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

Types of Active Sand Control

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

Perforating and Gravel packing Process

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

• Conventional Gravel Pack system

3.0 TYPES OF SAND SCREENS

a) Conventional Sand Screens

3.1 Conventional Sand Screens

d) Wire wrapped screens

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

3.1.1 Wire wrapped screens

Wire Wrapped screens are used in variety of applications including

The wire-wrapped screen’s high collapse and tensile strength coupled

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

Due to unique perforation pattern conducive for producing or injecting

Wire wrapped screens are normally made from triangular shaped

The manufacturing process of the wire wrap screens involves forming

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

3.1.2 Pre-Packed screens

Pre-Packed screens are used in an open hole to provide a simple and

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

3.1.3 Premium Screens

Premium screens are typically an all-metal design, with a metal mesh

The main improvement in premium screens over other standalone

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES

SECTION F SAND SCREEN COMPLETION

Various Types of Sand Filtration Media

The premium screens are manufactured in various filtration rating and

A higher grade of stainless steel is 316L stainless steel which is more

CHAPTER 4 COMPLETION PRACTICES