DR Adel Salem Lectures 13

Oil Well Completion and Workover (1)
PTE 334 B-1
By
Dr. Adel Salem
Asst. Prof. of PE
Suez Canal University, Faculty of
Petroleum and Mining Eng.
SS 2010
Lecture 13
Part II:
Unstable Formations and
Sand Control
REFERENCE of these lectures:
Chapter 3: Well Completion and Design
Chapter 7: Production Technology ‐ II
Lectures 13-15: Contents
Unstable Formations and Sand Control

Introduction
Types of Sand Production
Prediction of Sand Failure
Cost of Sand Control
Sand Exclusion
Further Reading
SAND CONTROL
 Rock Strength and Sand Production Prediction
 Mitigating Sand Production Without Screens
 Sand Control Screen Types
 Standalone Screens
 Open Hole Gravel Packs
 Cased Hole Gravel Packs and Frac Packs
 Expandable Screens
 Chemical Consolidation
 Choosing the Appropriate Method of Sand Control
March 11, 2010 Oil Well Completion and Workover (1) _ PTE 334 B-1 Lecture 13: Page 3
Dr. Adel Salem
When is Sand Production a Problem?

The well’s sand production tendency may change during the lifetime
of the well. In particular, what was a negligible or marginal problem
may become much more severe late in field life due to:

1. Water Production. This results in:
1. Higher draw-downs (increased rock stress) for some production
rate due to relative permeability effects.
2. Loss of capillary pressure between the sand grains.
2. Production Plans that call for maintaining the net oil production.

3. Reservoir Pressure Depletion results in further increases in
stress on the rock.

Dr. Adel Salem
The Consequences of Sand Production
Sand production has numerous technical, environmental, operational
and economic consequences.

The effects of sand on production operations and the potential safety,
financial and environmental consequences will influence whether
sand production limits are set and their level.
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
Living With Sand Production
A sand management system has to be installed if the “living with
sand” option is chosen.

Further, the production system may be changed so that it becomes
more tolerant of the volumes of sand that are produced.
The measures taken could include:
1. Measurement of the amounts of sand produced;
2. Installation of hard faced chokes in the “bean” box;
3. Installation of appropriate artificial lift methods e.g. gas lift with
no moving parts through which the oil flows ‐ is more sand
tolerant than electric submersible pumps (ESP) with their rapidly
rotating impellers.
4. Monitor flow line wall thickness. An X‐ray or sonic measurement
device can be used for this purpose. The same techniques may be
used to monitor sand build up in surface vessels.
Dr. Adel Salem
Living With Sand Production, …

5. Design flow line so that large changes in velocity and direction do
not occur e.g. remove 90 pipe bends.
6. Install surface sand collection and disposal facilities e.g. water
jets installed at the bottom of separators.
7. Increase the well production in a number of steps (slow bean up)
and avoiding cycling the downhole pressure.
8. Ensure that fluid velocities are sufficient to transport sand to the
surface and transport it to an operationally convenient collection
point.

The settling velocity increases with increasing particle size and
decreases with increasing fluid viscosity (Next Figure).
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
It is not practical to live with unlimited amounts of sand production.
Typical operationally allowable levels are summarized in the Table.

Dr. Adel Salem
Monitoring of Sand Production

The various techniques used for monitoring sand production are summarized in the
next Table. This table indicates the measurement principle employed, its key points
and the associated drawbacks.
Dr. Adel Salem
Prediction of Sand Failure
A number of techniques have been employed when
deciding whether to install sand exclusion techniques.

These include:

(i) Field experience;
(ii) Petrophysical log and core analysis;
(iii) Wellsite rock strength estimation;
(iv) Rock mechanical measurements and calculation.

Unfortunately, none of these techniques yields a perfect
answer,!!!

Dr. Adel Salem
Field Experience
The production history of wells producing from the same formation
in the field where the new well is planned is the best guide as to
whether sand control should be installed.

Alternatively the same formation may be found in a nearby field with
the same geological history.
Dr. Adel Salem
Petrophysical Analysis
Laboratory
measurements on core
material from the same
geological section
typically show that:

(i) The sonic travel time
(t, ms / ft) is
proportional to the
porosity i.e. the higher
the porosity, the longer
the travel time (Figure )

Porosity is linearly related to sonic
travel time and thick wall cylinder
strength

Dr. Adel Salem
Porosity is linearly related to sonic travel time and thick wall cylinder strength
Dr. Adel Salem
(ii) The rock strength (as measured by an unconfined compressive strength
test or thick wall cylinder collapse test) is inversely related to porosity
(previous Figure), i.e. the lower the porosity, the greater the rock strength.

N.B. These correlations are in the form of a trend line drawn through a cloud
of data points. This inexactness is due to the heterogeneity of the formation
properties and the errors in the measurements themselves.

The well's sonic travel time log can thus be processed to derive a continuous
estimate of the formation strength. This allows the identification of the
weakest sandstone which can be left (selectively) unperforated.

The method can be extended using the field observation that the vertical
stress near the wellbore i.e. overburden minus flowing total drawdown at
which continuous sand production is first observed is related to the acoustic
travel time (next Figure).
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
Rock Strength Measurement
1. On Site Strength Estimation:
The simplest approach is attributed to D. Sparlin who stated that “a
potential sand problem can be expected if the core is friable (finger
nail makes groove) or weaker”.

This judgment can be extended using next Table which relates the
rock classification to simple strength observations made on the core
to the approximate sonic travel time and the core recovery. The two
strength measurements also included in the table will be discussed in
the next section.
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
Rock Strength Measurement
2. Rock Mechanical Strength Measurements
A number of rock mechanical tests are used to characterize the rock.
They include:

1. Unconfined Compressive Strength;
2. Brinell Hardness Number;
3. Thick Wall Cylinder Collapse Strength;
4. Triaxial Rock Strength Measurement

Dr. Adel Salem
Prediction of Downhole Rock Failure

(Sand) failure of rock in a producing borehole is a complex process.
Characterisation of the downhole properties of the rock is a complex
subject that was briefly touched on in the paragraphs above.

Similarly, (sand) failure of rock in a producing borehole is complex ‐
a number of possible failure modes are sketched in the next Figure.
Dr. Adel Salem
Possible rock failure modes for a producing borehole
Dr. Adel Salem
The Cost of Sand Control

High well productivity losses ‐ typically 60% ‐ are observed after well
killing followed by gravel packing operations ‐ see next Figure. This
figure summarizes the result of a field test in which the well’s
productivity index was measured at various stages in the completion
process.

The final well productivity, despite a 6‐month clean up period, was
only 18% of that achieved prior to gravel packing. This high
impairment has been noted in many gravel packed wells completed
in different fields.
Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem
The Cost of Sand Control

These different types are illustrated in Next Figure. Installation of
sand control:

1. Increases the number of development wells
2. Increases the capital costs per well
3. Requires earlier installation of gas lift
4. Results in higher abandonment pressures and reduced oil
recovery
Dr. Adel Salem
SAND EXCLUSION
Dr. Adel Salem
Proposed References
1. Denis Perrin, Michel Caron and Georges Gaillot : “ Oil and Gas Field
Development Techniques WELL COMPLETION AND SERVICING,”
Institut Francais du Petrole Publications, ISBN 2‐7108‐0765‐3,
1999.
2. Jonathan Bellarby: “WELL COMPLETION DESIGN,” First Edition,
Elsevier, 2009.
3. Thomas O. Allen and Alan P. Roberts : “Production Operations,
Well Completions, Workover, and Stimulation, Vol. 1, 2nd Edition,”
Oil &. Gas Consultants International, Inc., Tulsa, 1982.
4. Thomas O. Allen and Alan P. Roberts : “Production Operations,
Well Completions, Workover, and Stimulation, Vol. 2, 3rd Edition,”
Oil &. Gas Consultants International, Inc., Tulsa, 1989.
5. “Production Technology ‐1 and 2”, Herriot Watt University,

Dr. Adel Salem
Dr. Adel Salem

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DR Adel Salem Lectures 13

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Oil Well Completion and Workover (1)

PTE 334 B-1

When is Sand Production a Problem?

Living With Sand Production, …

Living With Sand Production, …

Monitoring of Sand Production

Prediction of Downhole Rock Failure

The Cost of Sand Control

The Cost of Sand Control

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