Sand Control Techniques

Reservoir Stimulation Techniques

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

What we learnt in last lecture

Reason for Sand Production
Factors Affecting Sand Production
Formation Sand Characteristics and Classification
Predicting Sand Production
Sand Production Monitoring

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Content
Introduction
Sand Control Techniques

Reactive Techniques
Resin Consolidation
Standalone Screens
Gravel Pack
High Rate Water Pack
Frac-Pac

Summary

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session student will be able to
understand the techniques for sand control

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Introduction
The objective of any sand control completion is to control
sand while maintaining/maximizing hydrocarbon
production
Various techniques are used in the industry, including
reactive, mechanical and chemical
Selection of a particular technique for a well depends on
many factors

Reservoir and wellbore conditions

Availability of surface and downhole equipment
Completion cost
Etc.
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Sand Control Techniques

Reactive
Surface Sand Handling
Rate Control

Chemical
Resin Consolidation

Mechanical

Generally Increasing
Cost and Complexity

Slotted liners
Standalone screens
Pre-packed screens
Gravel packs
High rate water packs
Frac packs

Reactive Techniques
Surface Sand Handling

Allow sand to be produced and

handle/ disposed at surface
Surface handling equipment is
required

Downhole equipment/ tubulars

still susceptible to erosion and
failure
Wellbore access can be impacted
by accumulation of sand
Generally not feasible as a long
term solution

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Rate Control

Restricted Production rate to

minimize drag forces and
likelihood of sand production
Cheap and easy option but
results in lost production
Rate will need to be continuously
reduced which is usually not
viable economically

Generally not feasible as a long

term solution

Resin Consolidation
Pump commercially
available liquid resins into
formation:
Epoxies
Furan (Including
furan/phenolic blends)
Pure phenolic

Consolidates individual
sand grains and increases
unconfined compressive
strength
Increase in UCS must be
sufficient to withstand drag
forces at desired
production rate
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Resin Consolidation
Resin usually pumped in liquid
form but can also be applied to
the gravel (resin coated gravel)
Catalyst or curing agent
required for hardening which
can be mixed with resin or
pumped separately (activates
with time and/or temperature)
Treatment guidelines
Need a good cement job
Perforations and near wellbore
should be cleaned to ensure
resin treatment is effective
Ideal for short zones with
uniform permeability

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Resin Consolidation
Pros

Good technique for marginal well

with relatively low flow rates
Comparatively inexpensive and
easy to install

No hardware deployment
required
Leaves wellbore open for large
completion

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons

Difficult to get good zonal

coverage (limited to perforated
intervals of 20 30 ft)
Limited to formation with
temperature < 250 deg F
Generally leads to impairment of
permeability
Careful treatment planning
required as many stages involved

10

Standalone Screens
Screens (no gravel pack)
installed across producing
interval:
Slotted Liner
Wire Wrap
Premium

Screens allow
hydrocarbon to pass but
contain formation sand
Generally sized for D10 of
the formation PSD to
retain larger particles but
allow fines to be
produced
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

11

Standalone Screens
Sand control mechanism relies
on formation of a natural sand
pack
Larger grains form stable
arches (or bridges) agains the
filter with progressively
smaller grains being held
behind them
Generally used in formations
with well-sorted, clean sands
and relatively large grain sizes
The industry as a whole is
trying to extend the
application envelope of these
types of completions

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

12

Slotted Liners
Pipe with fixed size slots to
prevent sand production
Manufactured by
machining slot openings
through oilfield tubular
using rotary saws or laser
Slot available only in rage of
0.012 to 0.250 (increased
cost for slots <0.02)
Open flow area varies
between 1 4 %
Generally used for low cost
wells with large grained
uniform sands
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

13

Slotted Liners
Pros
Relatively simple solution
good for low cost wells
Fized slot size good for wellsorted, clean sands with
relatively large particle sizes
Comparatively inexpensive
and easy to instal

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons
Low open flow area results
in higher pressure drops
during production
Expensive to manufacture
with slot size less than
0.02
Natural sand pack is
inherently unstable and can
breakdown with changes in
rate or shutdown
Susceptible to plugging,
especially in poorly sorted
sands
14

Wire-Wrap Screens
Wire wrapped around a
perforated base pipe with
fixed gap between wires
providing sand control filter
mechanism
Gap size can be between
0.006 and 0.02(typically
keystone or house shaped)
Screen jacket can be slip-on or
wrap-on type
Significantly higher flow area
than slotted liners (6-12%)
Gap size tolerances are
typically plus 0.001 and
minus 0.002
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

15

Wire-Wrap Screens

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

16

Wire-Wrap Screens

Pros
High open flow area
results in low pressure
drops during production
Robust, proven design
Fixed and controllable
gap size
Lower cost than premium
screens

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons
Lower flow area than
premium screens
Difficult to manufacture
with gap size < 6 gauge
Screen plugging could be
an issue in poorly sorted
sands or due to poor
completion practices
Limited applicability as
standalone screens in
non-uniform sands

17

Premium Screens
Different types of filters
offered by various
companies:

Multiple layers of sintered

woven wire mesh that form
a filter
Compressed stainless steel
wool as filtration medium

Gap size cannot be directly

controlled but is quoted as
an average value
Include a drainage layer to
minimize erosion and
pressure drop during
production
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

18

Premium Screens
Pros
Cons
High open flow area (20 Comparatively high cost
40%) results in low
Relatively new,
pressure drops during
unproven technology
production
Cannot replace gravel
Better plugging
packs in all types of
resistance than other
reservoir
types of screens
Better sand retention
capabilities than other
types of screens
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

19

Pre-Packed Screens
Layer of resin-coated gravel
prepacked between two
concentric screens
Can be used as standalone
screen or in conjunction
with a gravel pack
Gravel layer acts as a
secondary or backup filter
(e.g. in case of void in
gravel pack)
Thickness and size of gravel
can be varied for specific
conditions
Not commonly used today
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

20

Pre-Packed Screens
Pros
Gravel layer provides
backup for voids in gravel
pack
Cheaper than premium
screens and gravel pack

Cons
Tend to plug easily,
leading to high skins and
eventual failure due to
hot spots
For a given basepipe,
they have a larger OD
than other screens
Cannot replace the sand
control effectiveness of a
gravel pack
Not commonly used

21

Gravel Pack
Screen placed in the wellbore
and the surrounding annulus
packed with high permeability
gravel
Gravel is sized to retain the
formation sand and the screen
is sized to retain the gravel
Gravel pack stabilizes
formation with minimal
impairment to well
productivity
Complete packing of wellbore
annulus is critical for
preventing movment of
formation sand
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

22

Gravel Pack
Alpha/Beta and
Alpha/Alpha

Brine carrier flud with low

gravel concentration
Primarily used in horizontal
open hole completions

Slurry Pack

Viscous carrier fluid with

higher gravel concentration
Can avoid fracturing by
allowing placement at lower
pump rates

Shunt Tubes

Slurry pack with the use of

shunt tube technology to
overcome bridging

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

23

Gravel Pack

Pros
Generally accepted as the
most successful and widely
applicable sand control
technique
Proven effective in
controlling sand production
in poorly sorted and fine
sands
Provides an additional
filtration layer via the gravel
to contain formation sand
Stabilizes the open hole

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons
Expensive in comparison to
standalone screens and
resin consolidation
Successful design and
execution may present
challenges depending on
reservoir/wellbore
conditions
Requires pumping
equipment which brings
additional cost and
logistical considerations

24

High Rate Water Pack

Gravel packs pumped above
fracture pressure to initiate
small fractures in the
formation
Aim to place very short (5 - 15
ft) and relatively thin fractures
Generally use brine carrier
fluis at low gravel
concentration
Important to pack both
perforations and wellbore
annulus with gravel to ensure
success
Can be cheaper alternative to
frac-packs in low cost wells
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

25

High Rate Water Pack

Pros
Provides some of the
benefits of fracturing (e.g.
bypass near wellbore
damage)
Saves cost of fracturing
fluids and breakers
Minimizes risk of fracturing
into proximate water or gas
zones
Preferred over frac-packs in
wells requiring low cost
completion

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons
Can be more expensive,
complex and risky than
gravel pack
Requires the same
equipment as a frac-pack,
which brings additional cost
and logistical
considerations
Short, thin frac do not
provide the high
conductivity and and low
skin associated with fracpacks
26

Frac-Pack
Simultaneous hydraulic
fracturing of the formation and
placement of gravel pack
Used primarily in cased hole
wells with moderate to high
permeability that are prone to
sand production
Performed above fracturing
pressure using viscous fluid
with high gravel concentration
Typical designed for relatively
short fractures (around 30-50
ft) with large width (>1)
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

27

Frac-Pack
Bypasses near wellbore
damage and creates a
highly conductive path for
fluid to flow
Lowers sand production by
reducing flow velocity and
drawdown
Potential to obtain negative
skins and increases
productivity
Can be more expensive,
complex and risky than
other sand control
techniques
Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

28

Frac-Pack

Pros
Bypasses near wellbore
damage
Increases effective wellbore
radius (can result in
negative skin)
Reduces sand production
by lowering flow velocity
and pressure drop
Gravel pack prevents
formation sand being
produced

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

Cons
Increased cost, complexity
and risk in comparison to
other techniques
Not feasible in reservoirs
without containment or
those with proximate
water/gas zones
Productivity limitations in
wells with very high
transmissibility (kh/m) due
to presence of perforations

29

Summary
A number of techniques are used in the industry to control sand
production
Reactive techniques are usually not economically viable, so
proactive techniques are required for longer term solutions
Chemical techniques are cheap and relatively easy to install but have
limited applications (usually in marginal wells with low flow rates)
Mechanical techniques are the most commonly used with each
having its own advantages and challenges
Technique selection depends on a number of factors including:

Reservoir conditions (permeability, pre/frac window, etc)

Wellbore conditions (cased/open hole, deviation, etc)
Cost Considerations
Etc

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

30

End of Section
Thank You

Dr Sia Chee Wee (Petroleum Engineering Department)

31