Sand Control

Mohamed yashar Negm Eldin

z
IS

Sand
Control
really
important
Why

?!!!

z
IS

Sand
Control
really
important
Why

?!!!

z
IS

Sand
Control
really
important
Why

?!!!

Wellbore damage or pluggi

Surface handling
Subsea flowline plugging

z
IS

Sand
Control
really
important
Why

?!!!

Mohamed Wageih Mohamed

Ali Mohamed Ali Hassan

Ayman Mamdouh Abd Elkader

Term

BHN

Remarks

Unconsolidated

<2

No cementing
material

Partially

2-5

Crushed with fingers

Friable

5 - 10

Crushed when
rubbed

Consolidate

10 - 30

Crushed with force

> 30

Can not be broken

with force

Hard
Medium Hard

30 - 50

Hard

50 - 125

Very Hard

> 125

Waleed Nagi Ebrahim

:
Downhole

Surface

Blast Joints

Chokes

Gas lift Equipment

Elbows

Standing Valves

Tees

Pumps

Valves
Metering Devices

Safety Valves
Nipples
Tubulars

Flanges
Wellhead

Ahmed Mohamed Hassan

Contents
1.Gravel types
2.Gravel sizing
3.Amount of gravel
4.Types of gravel
pack

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.

Formation
sand

gravel

flow

The gravel is selected

and placed to stop the
formation sand.

Correct size? About

6 times the diameter
of the formation sand
in most cases, but
there are some cases
where larger gravel is
acceptable and more
productive.

Sand:
roundness = 0.8
handling produces fines

Man made

roundness = 0.9+
larger average size in any

range
Higher perm than sand
stronger, less fines.

For narrow range gravel

about double price.

Conventional (Sauciers
method)
Sorting and fines as
influences
Ordering special gravels

It all begins with getting a particle size

distribution from several representative
samples of each different segment of the
pay.
Use mesh screens if possible. Laser
equipment over estimates fines and under
estimates the coarser particles.

95 microns is the 50% intercept

Sauciers 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.

Factors:
Length of perforated or
open hole interval
Annular dimensions
Volume of perfs
Target for gravel outside
the perfs

Advantages
known/trusted method
moderate reliability
Disadvantages
higher cost
subject to erosion
low reliability
moderately easily plugged

Resin

Gravel

Formation
(Unconsol
idated)

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.
Advantages
Low Cost, onshore.

Screen

Particle size
of produced
fines: 80-100 u

GP sand

Formation

Particle size
of produced
fines: 30-60 u

Particle size
of produced
fines: 7 u

GP sand is (by design) 5-6 times

larger than formation sand.
GPing does not alter screen
behavior.
GPing will arrest annular flow
GP screen must allow
production of fines, otherwise
completion will plug.
Pore throat of most GP sands
will restrict production of fines.
GPing will arrest/trap formation
filter cake on the formation
surface.
GPing will not allow formation
to relax/de-stress.

Reversecirculation:

Gravel laden fluid -annulusscreens-flow back up the

tubing

Disadvantages:

Poss. of rust
debris from annuls mixed
gravel
Damage pack perm

Crossover:

Gravel laden fluid tubing

screen open hole annulusleave gravel annulus - flow
back up the annulus

Note:

All OH are underreamed

through the productive
interval to insure well
productivity

High rate water packing is a method of sand control

where fracturing the formation is employed to
place gravel outside of the casing and
perforations beyond the damage radius of the well

Advantages:
pressured packing of perfs
easier design/apply than frac pack
Good flow in mod. kh formations

Disadvantages:
lower flow capacity than frac
limited zone/water control
Unequal packing of gravel per foot
Injection rate rule of thumb:
1 bpm/10 ft of perfs

Ahmad Hassan Mansour

1. Frac & Pack.

2. ESS (Expandable sand
screen).
3. SMP (Shape memory
polymers).
4. Nanoparticle technology.
5. ICD (Inflow Control Device).

Basma Maged Elbanna

Omar Hussein Elshamy

High well productivity losses typically

60% - are observed after well killing
followed by gravel packing operations
see the next figure.

The next figure summarizes the result

of a field test in which the wells
productivity index was measured at
various stages in the completion
process.
The final well productivity, despite a 6month clean up period, was only 18% of
that achieved prior to gravel packing.

There is a varying efficiency for the

different types of sand control that can
be installed. Typical well productivity
and the implications for the various
sand control options for a West African
field study are: