‫‪Gravel packing and‬‬

‫‪SAND CONTROL‬‬
‫سكشن‪2‬‬ ‫‪-1‬باسن ياسيليوس شاكر‬

‫سكشن‪2‬‬ ‫‪-2‬شريف هجذي هحوذ‬

‫سكشن‪3‬‬ ‫‪-3‬هحوذ عبذ الرحون عبذ الخالق‬
‫سكشن‪2‬‬ ‫‪-4‬حسام هاني هحوود‬
‫سكشن‪2‬‬ ‫‪-5‬تاهر حسني عبذ الحلين‬
‫سكشن‪3‬‬ ‫‪-6‬هحوذ عاشور عبذ الكرين‬

‫‪Under supervision/‬‬
‫‪Dr/ahmed elgebaly‬‬

‫‪1‬‬
Main points

 Definition of sand control.

 Critical flow rate.
 Goals of sand control.
 Causes of sand production.
 Sieve analysis

 Sand Control; Definition: It is the process during

well completion to make good control to formation
solids migration to achieve our goal of high
performance without restricting productivity with the
least cost.

Goals of sand control

 Stop/minimize production of formation solids.
 Maximize production rate/ minimizing
 Impairment (sand problems).
 Maintain performance over well life.

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Causes of sand production
 1- Drag forces:
 Definition: For totally unconsolidated formations,
sanding may be triggered during the first flow of
formation fluids as a result of drag from the liquid or
gas turbulence.
The effect grows with high production rate and high fluid
viscosity

Sand problems
 Sand Disposal.
 Casing / Liner Failure.
 Sand Erosion.
 Sand Bridges.

Sand disposal
Even wells with successful sand control measures will
produce small quantities of sand. In offshore installations,
where several wells produce into a common platform, this
may be critical.
Sand must be first separated from the produced fluids and
all oil removed prior to disposal.
1)Sand Separation.

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 2)Disposal.
 Can not be dumped overboard.
 Must be trucked away.
 Classified as NORM (natural occurring
radioactive material).

Casing/liner collapse
Failure may occur due to :
 Non uniform lateral loading as rock is produced.
 Cavities or voids behind casing are formed
 High axial compressive load due to slumping of the
overlying casing-bearing formation.

Sand Erosion
 Sand production can cause erosion in both surface and
downhole equipment such as :

Downhole Surface
Blast Joints Chokes
Gas lift Equipment Elbows / Tees
Standing Valves Swages
Pumps Valves
Safety Valves Metering Devices
Circulating sleeves Flanges
Nipples Wellhead
Tubulars
Sand Bridges

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Bridges may form in casing or tubing and obstruct well
flow.
Causes:
 Sand fall back over time.
 Increase in water production.
 Fluid Velocity too low.
They must be removed by bailing or washing with Coiled
Tubing. If bridging is severe sand control will be required.

Basic steps leading to sanding

1. Drilling and drawdown create shear bands which
Leads to localized disaggregation
2. Sand can be produced under high flow conditions.
Quantities will be limited (unless rock is totally
unconsolidated)
3. At a critical depletion inter-particle cementation
breaks down and potential for higher sanding
increases.
4. Water  >> sanding
 Loss of capillary cohesion
 Degradation of cement bond

Sanding mechanisms
In weak but consolidated formations:
There are two stages:
1) Failure of reservoir rock due to shear stresses
(failure of bonds between grains).
2) Transportation of failed material due to flow.

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 3) It is clear that if we eliminated first stage, we do not
need to worry about second stage.

Unconsolidated:

Zero strength “Dry sand”

Very very weak “damp sand”

Consolidated:

Very weak “Weakly cemented high Φ”

Consolidated “Stronger cement lower Φ”

Sand Structure
Structure of Sand Grains
Packed together by Overburden Stress
Additional support from Pore Pressure
Sand Grains kept in place by cementing material

Conditions for Rock Failure

Forces holding the Forces trying to fail the

Rock Structure Rock Structure
together
Intergranular bonds Differential Pressure between
(cementation) Reservoir and Wellbore

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 Overburden Drag forces related to Fluid
Viscosity
Pore Pressure Drag forces related to Fluid
Velocity
Intergranular friction Differential Pressure between
Reservoir and Wellbore
Gravity Drag forces related to Fluid
Viscosity
Capillary forces

Sand Transportation
In most sand formations, fines particles are water-wet and
move with the water phase. No water production so little
sand Production.

Triggering Sand Production

Sand Production is very much related to fluid production.
Even better consolidated formations can produce sand.
Production Rate Fluctuations. Drawdown changes. Onset of
water production. Change in Oil/Water ratio

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Time Dependence:
Reservoir Depletion
Reduction in Pore Pressure
Increase in Water Production
Dissolve natural cementing material and weaken bonds
Change capillary pressures
Formation Permeability Reduction
Fines migration
Paraffin and asphaltenes deposits
Increase in Drag Forces
Solids Production
 Early life sand bursts
 Generally due to excessive DD or DD rate.
 Sand bursts upon each start-up is a strong
indication that unconsolidated sand is present.
 Sand bursts should stabilize over time (less
frequent) unless DD is increased beyond the
previous max level.
 Increase in depletion should improve stability of
the failed sand.

 Mid-to-Late Life Sanding

 Caused by repeated start-ups (creating fatigue)
and depletion leading to disaggregation.
 Depletion-induced sanding is from regions where
the rock had cementation & the ability to retain
stable sand face and perf opening

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  It is usual to see sanding due to high DD brought
about by the operator’s desire to maintain rate
(sanding is triggered by DD and not rate)
 Watercut

 Mid-to-Late Life Sanding: Watercut

 Removes the capillary cohesion
 Weakens cementation, particularly if contains clay
minerals
 Sanding will be intense
 Sanding potential recurs w/ each start-up which will be
particularly exacerbated by the need to apply a high
initial DD to avoid slugging

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  For management: Minimize DD and freq of SD and be
prepared for repeated well conditioning

Perforating considerations for sand

control
 Phasing and SPF to minimize overlap of failure
(e.g., 12 SPF @ 45°, 6 SPF @ 99° or 4 SPF @
130°).
 Optimised orientation defers disaggregation but
also consider
 Potential increased problems after disaggregation
(high side ones w/ water)
 Often hard to get the perfs properly oriented
 High premium in some cases

Sand Production Prediction

 Experience
 Special Well Test

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 Core Inspection and Testing
 X-Ray, SEM
 Flow Tests
 Uniaxial and Triaxial Compressive Strength
Measurements
 Log Interpretation
 No direct measurements of Rock Strength.
Calculations from Sonic, Density and Neutron
Logs
 IMPACT
 Simulator which uses data from DST, Well Tests,
Core Analysis and Logs

Sand Control Methods

In Situ Consolidation
 Resin Injection into the formation
Resin Coated Gravel
 Placement of a “Filter” in the wellbore without
the use of screens
Screens - Natural Sand Packing
 Placement of Screens in the wellbore without
the use of Gravel
Gravel Pack
 Placement of Screens and Gravel
Completion Options
 No Shocks to the System
 Keep System as stable as possible

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 Restrictive Production Rate
 Limit drawdown

 Selective and Oriented Perforating

 Selective perforations placed in the strongest
formation (based on logs)
 Perforate in direction of maximum stress

 Implications to Production

Sand Control Methods

 Open Hole and Cavities
 Cased and Perforated
 Stand Alone Screen
 Slotted Liner
 Expandable Screen
 Resin Consolidation
 Cased Hole Gravel Pack
 Open Hole Gravel Pack
 High Rate Water Pack
 Fracturing

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 If formation sand is mixed with the gravel, the
permeability drops sharply. This one problem may
result in skins as high as 300 in high rate wells.
 The more clean gravel that is outside the casing, the
better the flow path.
 Efforts to clean the crushed sand in the perforations
before packing are a good investment.

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 Open Hole Completion
Skin = -2 to 2

Advantages:
lowest cost
simplest completion
least resistance

Disadvantages:
no zone/water control,
sand restrained only by choke
low reliability
possible loss of hole

Skin = 2 to >10

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Advantages:

moderate cost (lower than G.P.)

some solids control

Disadvantages:
screen running problems
subject to erosion
easy to plug
low reliability with high rate/fines

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Screen Types
 Wire Wrapped
 Pre-Packed
 Woven screens
 Special Designs

Tests on the plugging ability of screens.

Note – these commercial tests do not use a plain
wire wrapped screen – easily the most difficult
screen to plug.
Also Note – the most frequently used screen, a
prepacked screen, is the quickest to plug.

Some observations for (SAS) Completions

1. Open hole (if a SAS is run in a perforated completion

with active sand flow the sand will be focused against
the screen by the perf.
2. If the formation does not collapse around the screen,
the screen is not protected from erosion.
3. Failures with SAS indicate they are not as reliable in
laminated sands as they are in more consistent sands.

Wire Wrapped Screen

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  Simplest and cheapest
 Most difficult to plug
 Cannot withstand erosion
 Best in the lower part of a vertical well
 Easily damaged in running operations

Pre-Packed Screen

 Moderately expensive
 Easiest to plug
 Can withstand some erosion
 Best in the upper part of a vertical well and in
horizontal wells
 Easily damaged in running operations

Expandable Screen

Skin = 0 to >5

Advantages:

largest screen possible

little or no annulus
potential isolation capacity
Disadvantages:

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 higher cost
new, unproven reliability
subject to erosion in cased hole
compliant expansion not proved yet
Woven Screen
 Expensive
 Relatively easy to plug
 Can withstand some erosion
 Best in the upper part of a vertical well, in horizontal
wells,and in bare screen completions
 Easily damaged in running operations

The quality of the screen :

 The screen quality can be determine from Flow
capacity, tensile strength, collapse strength, and
corrosion resistance.

Control screen plugging :

 The v shape wire minimize plugging from particles
that are small enough to enter from the outer surface
because small dimensions are towards the mandrel .
 An annular clearance of ¾ inch to 1inch between O.D.
of the screen and the I.D. of the casing is necessary to
allow the screen to be washed easily .
Causes of screens failure
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  Running screens
drag, sharp turns, windows, dope, shale,
 Pumping past screens
erosion, pressure, screenouts
 Pumping through screens
Fines in packing fluid, rate, volume
 Producing through screens
Fines in drill-in fluid, mobile fines, pressure drop
 Compaction loads
Failure points in the flow path during gravel
packing
1. Crossover port
2. Casing opposite crossover port
3. The annular area between screen and casing wall.
a. Erosion from high velocity linear flow – minimal
problem
b. Erosion from high velocity flow as the slurry enters a
perforation.
c. Pressure drop in this area during high rate flow (fracs)
can collapse screens – problems are very rare, but
watch clearances

Reasons of Sand Control Damage

 Skin damage
 Reservoir-to-wellbore limits
 Invasion of fines into gravel
 Crushing/breaking of gravel

 Physical Damage

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 Screen Running Damage
 Erosion during production
 Corrosion – from produced and injected fluids

Primary Erosion Locations

 Directly opposite perforations
 sharp turns in the flow path
 where gas velocity is maximum
 eddy current and similar patterns
 constrictions in the flow path

Particle velocity

 Maximum flowing fluid velocity for increasing particle

diameters. Although smaller particles do less damage
than larger particles (less mass), the sheer number of
small particles can still do a significant amount of
damage.

Slotted Liner

 Skin 4 to 10
 Advantages:
 Moderate cost
 Ease of installation
 Good for well sorted sands
 Disadvantages:

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 Low inflow area
 Subject to erosion
 Low reliability
 Easily plug

Resin injection
 To cement the sand grains a risen is injected through
the perforation and then flushed with catalysts .Most
commercially the resin is phenolic or epoxy resin.
 they bend rock together creating a stable matrix of
permeable . consolidated grains around the casing .
 Chemicals may be used to decrease the effect of clay
and residual water which affect on consolidation
strength , the quality of resin is comparison between
consolidation and permeability.
 This method Is used in short intervals10: 15 ft (3:4
m)to decrease uncoated sand
Gravel types
 Sand:
 roundness = 0.8
 average size is typically in finer end of range
 handling produces fines
 Man made:
 2 to 5x sand cost
 roundness = 0.9+
 larger average size in any range
 higher perm than sand
 stronger, less fines.
 For narrow range gravel – about double price.

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 What size gravel

 95 microns is the 50% intercept

 Saucier’s method
 6 x 50% intercept gives gravel that will not allow
invasion of grains into pack.
 The 6 x is an experience factor but it is also describes
the maximum pore opening between a pack of similar
sized grains.
 Sorting influence – can use 8x in frac pack or cases
where sorting is good and fines are limited.

Sorting
 Sorting is a measurement of how similar the grain sizes
are between largest and smallest.

Conventional Screen Sizing

 slot size stops gravel (inches or gauge)
 gravel in range, pick the smallest
 -20+40 mesh
 40 mesh is 0.0165”
 pick the slot at 50% to 75% of this small size
 0.0165” x 0.75 = 0.012 or 12 gauge

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 The heart of a gravel pack is the sizing of the gravel to
stop the formation sand. If the sand invades the pack,
the 100 to 400 darcy permeability level of the gravel
pack drops to 50 to 500 md and skins of 300 are
possible.

Amount of Gravel
 Length of perforated or open hole interval
 Annular dimensions
 Volume of perfs
 Target for gravel outside the perfs

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 Cased Hole Gravel Pack
 Skin = 10+

 Advantages

known/trusted method
moderate reliability

 Disadvantages

higher cost
low inflow area
subject to erosion
low reliability
moderately easily plugged
OH Gravel Pack
GP sand is (by design) 5-6 times larger than formation sand
d.
GP’ing does not alter screen behavior.
GP’ing will arrest annular flow, i.e. transport of moveable
material.
GP screen must allow production of fines, otherwise
completion will plug.
Pore throat of most GP sands will restrict production of
fines.
GP’ing will arrest/trap formation filter cake on the
formation surface.
GP’ing will not allow formation to relax/de-stress.

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 Resin Coated Gravel
Proppant ( Gravel ) is precoated with resin material.
Particles are mixed with viscous gel and squeezed into the
formation.
A resin coated gravel plug is left in the wellbore
Particles are contacted grain-to-grain.
Temperature + H2O fuses the particles together into a
consolidated permeable, drillable network
Low Cost, onshore

Avoid perforating shale

 Exposed shale bleeds fines and debris that can plug
screens or packs.
 Shale can be identified from logs
 But we should see if we perforate a section of the well
and still have a good producer with better completion
longevity.
High Rate Water Pack
Perf area open 6 to 10%
Skin = -1 to 10
Advantages:
pressured packing of perfs
easier design/apply than frac pack
Good flow in mod. kh formations
Disadvantages:
lower flow capacity than frac

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 limited zone/water control
Unequal packing of gravel per foot

Fracture placement of gravel

(noTSO)
 Screen area open to flow =6% to >10%
 Perf area open 6 to 10%
 Skin = -1 to 10
Advantages:
 links across layers and low vertical k
 easier design/apply than TSO
 Good flow in very low kh formations
Disadvantages:
 very low conductivity
 frac capacity vs. perm contrast critical
 height growth uncertainty?
 proppant stability problem at > depth

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 References
 Schlumberger & Halliburton tech. reports.
 Michael Economides, Petroleum Production System.
 Paul A. Price, GOM soft rock completions.
 Internet.

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